Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 10:18:48 -0700
Reply-To: Steve@SCHWENK-LAW.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Steve@SCHWENK-LAW.COM
Subject: Re: Bears, Food, and Westies ( TRUE BEAR STORY)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
I have had lots of bear encounters in Alaska and
Wyoming, but the worst was in the Adirondaks. We were
in a tent and I heard the tell-tale sound of an animal
poking around. My girlfriend and I had just settled
down. I was hoping whatever it was, it would just go
away, but it did not, so I crawled over to the door and
unzipped it a crack so i could look out. We were
camped by a lake and the moon was bright enough to
illuminate the area. About 18 inches from the tent was
a huge balck bear, about 300 lbs. I think the hair
stood up on the back of my neck. "What is it, dear?"
"Oh, nothing, dear, just a raccoon," I said, trembling,
as I zipped the tent closed. We had no food and there
were other camps around, so i assumed the bear would
move on, which he did without further ado after a few
more minutes of poking around.
In the Tetons, I had a mother and cub visit one night
when i forgot to put my food in my trunk...not
pleasant. I was living in my tent that summer, and had
a big card board food box with a lid. As I lay in my
tent, I heard the sound of a jar being unscrewed. I
madfe a bunch of noise and flashed my flashlight. The
cub headed straight up a tree in my camp and the mother
took off a short distance. Upon inspection, i
discovered that the mother had lifed the lid off of the
food box without spilling anything, had pulled the
peanut butter jar out and had unscrewed the lid before
proceeding to insert her tongue. I was amazed.
Obviously quite accomplished camground bears. I got in
my car and drove away to a lookout point to give the
bear cub and mom some space so the cub would come out
of the tree and they would leave, which they did.
Debi Webi wrote:
>
> Hello William,
>
> In response to this message I have a quote for you...
> One of the Rangers up in YOSEMITE told me when I inquired to the rumored
> "Bear in the area"...He said the reason we have bear problems is because
> "They can READ"...and he goes on to say these bears are so smart that they
> can read simple words like IGLOO, and COLEMAN then goes on to say: "We seem
> to have one Black bear that fancies OREO's, that's how he keeps his color
> and hence we named him code name OREO", to alert other Rangers that he's in
> the area....I don't know how much of this is true because he was laughing
> while he told his story.
>
> [For what it's worth: He did tell us when those metal boxes are not
> available in a camping site the safest place to keep your food is (out of
> your vehicle) and suspended from a tree limb...]
>
> Before our two week camping trip in tents was over:
> My then 2 1/2 years old twins were (when I exited the tent) wandering around
> the picnic table screaming PUPPY, PUPPY and reaching out to PET the BEAR!!!!
> I personally chased that bear out of my camp, tossing pine cones and
> anything else I could find!!!
> The touring Orientals thought I lost my mind, hell maybe I did... that
> mother instinct is a viscous monster, too.... ;0)
>
> A short time after our trip there was a front page
> article where a bear in that same area had opened
> the passenger window of a tourists car like a pop-
> top can (easily folded the window frame down).
>
> Later a story was told that a bear mauled a woman
> while she slept in a hammock, with cookies....
> Rumor was:
> He didn't attack her, he just mauled her a bit
> while he tried to get the cookies away from
> her, but when she awoke screaming hysterically
> the bear freaked out and ran with the box.
>
> I'm here to say, "All Is Well" but we haven't camped in that area for
> the past 4 years.
>
> Mtngal
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: William Dummitt <williamd@COMPUSERVE.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 1999 1:07 PM
> Subject: Re: Bears, Food, and Westies
>
> This subject comes up on the list from time to time, and I can only offer
> my personal experience.
>
> I have never experienced, nor heard of, a bear searching for food entering
> a Westy occupied by people. I've spent several weeks a year for the past
> several years camping in a VW in bear country in the US and Canada and
> haven't seen it yet. So I don't think you have to worry too much about
> sleeping in your Westy with your food in the cabinets and fridge.
>
> Bears entering an unoccupied vehicle for food is a different story- this
> happens all the time, with Westys or any other vehicle. Years ago in
> Yosemite I had a bear tear the interior of my unoccupied car to shreds to
> get at food in the trunk. ( For some reason Yosemite is and always has been
> one of the worst places for bears breaking into cars, much worse than
> Yellowstone, Alaska, Canada, or other well-known bear habitat.) And I've
> dashed out of a tent more than once to chase away a bear trying to get into
> an unoccupied car nearby. But I think for the most part bears will choose
> targets other than occupied vehicles.
>
> Your best bet in places where bears are numerous is to keep food out of
> sight- don't leave food containers or coolers where they can be seen by a
> bear looking in. Keep the vehicle and your camp as clean as possible and
> avoid really odiferous food such as bacon. I think if the inside of your
> vehicle is uncluttered looking without piles of bags and boxes(hard to do
> on long trips) they are less likely to try to break in.
>
> And make sure your comprehensive insurance is paid up.
>
> Bill
> www.geocities.com/yosemite/gorge/1706
| 
