Date:         Tue, 21 Sep 1999 17:36:48 -0400
Reply-To:     Caston/Payne <happycampers@PICUSNET.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Caston/Payne <happycampers@PICUSNET.COM>
Subject:      Re: Bears, Food & Westies
Comments: To: Mark Dierbeck <mdierbeck@NETSCAPE.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <19990921191702.11019.qmail@www0l.netaddress.usa.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

At 1:17 PM -0600 9/21/99, Mark Dierbeck wrote:
>I know its not a good idea to sleep in a tent with food.  Is there any issue
>with respect to bears as far as having food in a Westy?  Has anyone heard of a
>problem related to this?

A Westy is just a sturdier tent to a bear. And it has the strength to get
into most vehicles short of a tank. Now, I'm no biologist type bear expert,
but do spend a good amount of time out-of-doors.
So, having said thatŠ
Bears are nature's garbage collectors for the most part. Omnivores with
brute strength that want one thing most of their waking hoursŠFOOD. And
they will eat all kinds of crap! Wild bears have a natural shyness and will
for the most part avoid human contact. However, when they put together that
humans=food bringers into the woods--then the trouble starts. They "learn"
that humans often bring food and, hey, they have nothing else to do but go
after the food in the most energy effecient way possible. A bear's caloric
requirements are huge. People feeding bears only exacerbates the problem.

When camped, the best policy is to store anything with a scent (which
includes food, insect repellant, that nice cherry lip balm you love so
much, toothpaste, etc) in either a bear proof box/container or hang it in a
sturdy water resistant  stuff sack at least 15 feet off the ground and 10
feet out from the trunk. Techniques for this are readily found at you
specialty outdoor store. If you use a cooler find a way to hang it when car
camping. Hanging still results in some thefts. But hopefully not from your
car. Let the unwarry nitwit (that prolly knows better but can't help
themselves) trying to feed that cute little bear have their car destroyed.
Later,

Dave & Sherrie
Williamsburg, VA
           zzzzzzzzzz__
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