Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2011 19:03:31 -0800
Reply-To: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: camping amidst bears, safety question
In-Reply-To: <205582.33315.qm@web111718.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
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We bring our dogs camping, one is 76 lbs, the other 100 lbs. I would
say they are farm dogs.
One time, in the Cariboo region of BC, isolated campsite, they were
with us as we rode mtn bikes along trail. We suddenly came upon ( and
that is a problem with bike riding in that kind of area, you move fast
and relatively quietly) a sow black bear and 2 cubs. I mean we came
over a short rise and there they were, about 20 ft away. The dogs went
after the mother and chased her away, the cubs went up a tree, and we
rode on quickly to a vacant hunting cabin where we thought we could
find refuge.
The dogs came back unharmed after about 30 min or so.
I wouldn't make a habit of this though.
In the fall when I go fishing on west coast rivers I leave the dogs at
home as there are lots of bears on the streams. But on the whole I
feel safer with the dogs with me. And I feel ok when they go along the
river (not in fall) with my son and friend as they go fishing.
On the whole, I like having them along camping, but mostly we don't
camp in organized sites.
alistair
On 12-Feb-11, at 1:00 PM, Scott Greiner wrote:
> I would like to ask the people that camp in bear country that bring
> dogs. Do
> dogs help with safety or cause bears to come closer when sleeping in
> a Westy and
> the dogs start barking when they hear the bears coming near the camp
> site? I am
> talking medium to large dogs. We have a blank lab and a golden
> retreiver.
>
> SOG
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Sent: Sat, February 12, 2011 6:39:34 AM
> Subject: Re: camping amidst bears, safety question
>
> Re if they find nothing, they will not come back: In Yosemite,
> where campers
> outside the developed campgrounds are required to use bear boxes and
> advised to
> sleep 100 yards from their storage and cooking site, they are also
> told to leave
> the bear box in plain site. The bears have learned that if the box
> is there, it
> means that they can't get food. Here I am talking about the
> portable boxes that
> we carry when backpacking. I have not camped in Yosemite, nor even
> near there
> in many years, but I reviewed the regulations last year when I was
> considering
> it. Chose another trip for other reasons. In Yellowstone, however,
> we were
> told that even if we carry a box, we must hang the box. Same in
> Glacier, though
> at some locations in Glacier, there was nothing to hang it from.
>
> mcneely
>
> ---- neil n <musomuso@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>> On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 2:25 PM, Richard A Jones
>> <Jones@colorado.edu> wrote:
>>
>> 1) more and more campgrounds have bear-proof food lockers so
>>> there will NOT be bear problems. As they say: A Fed Bear Is A
>>> Dead Bear. If one wanders through camp and finds nothing it
>>> might not come back. If it does find something it will come back.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Good point. Hadn't thought of my Jedidiah CG experience in that
>> light.
>>
>> They are creatures of habit. I can attest to that. Like clock work,
>> any time
>> the neighbours leave their garbage out the night before pickup, Mr.
>> or Mrs.
>> Bear comes by, eats the garbage in my yard and leaves a coil of a
>> calling
>> card.
>>
>> ;)
>>
>> Neil.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"
>>
>> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>>
>> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines
>
> --
> David McNeely
>
>
>
| 
