Date:         Fri, 3 Aug 2007 23:06:50 -0700
Reply-To:     W Peabody <w.peabody@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         W Peabody <w.peabody@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: in bear country - food in the van or not?
In-Reply-To:  <46B401EB.9030609@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

On 8/3/07, Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ranger lady at Highland Lakes didn't see a problem with our poptop. Said
> that folks leave their food unprotected then seem surprised that bears
> get it. Same at Woods Lake and Silver Creek and East Fork. Poptops don't
> seem to trigger any warnings from the folk who try to keep us idiots
> from getting into too much trouble.

Well, in that case, as long as the rangers don't have a problem with
the poptop campers...   :)

To add insult to injury, (though it is ultimately the car owner's
fault) I recall stories of how the authorities at parks look at the
person's destroyed car, shake their heads, offer to arrange for a tow
truck, and then write the car owner a ticket for  a $500 fine for
feeding the animals. Or something like that... I don't know exactly
what the fines are, but up at Mt. St. Helens, it is a hefty fine if
they even catch you feeding so much as a sesame seed to a chipmunk.
And such aggressive little critters they are, wanting to climb into
your vehicle, put their feet up on your table and then eat your Ritz
crackers. Hehe. We had to eat with the doors closed. Yet they
resolutely stood outside, hitting the door window with their tiny
fists... ;D