I was a ranger for 8 years at yosemite. The answer is YES. The bears won't bother going through the canvas though, the sheet metal is simple enough. In yosemite we only have little bitty black bears -- a big one is still usually under 500 lbs. I personally saw one casually rip the door of a Chevy Suburban, because the guy left a soup can (full of pencils and other crap) on the dash. Bear left hungry. There was a story -- ask around Yosemite and you'll probably still hear it, about a bear on the Tioga road that only broke into beetles. They are pretty airtight, and this bear would merely jump up and down on the roof a few times until the doors would pop open... Bears are messy eaters, and they smell really bad. They have very large claws and are clumsy. They seem to have no appreciation for upolstery. Personally, I'd *never* leave any food in the camper. "Food" to a bear is relative, as well. Deodorant, soap, garbage, toothpaste -- it's at least as tasty as rotting squirrels and termites, their normal snack choices. Bears can read. Honest. They seem particularly fond of the word "Coleman". Cans look edible to bears (they seem to have no trouble eating them!). The can-on-the-dash in the Suburban was good for probably $3k repairs... If you've ever seen a dog perform any trick, be assured that a bear can learn the same things even faster. The rangers at any park will have lots of stories to tell. I used to go on for half an hour during campfire programs.
malcolm
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