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Posted by Fred on May 1, 2008 at 11:55:39 am EDT
In reply to Bear Food Ediquette While Camping Question CO posted by skinny_duck on April 28, 2008 at 12:16:03 am EDT

There are few moments more unforgettable than opening your bear bag, which you dangled from a tree the night before, to be greeted by a well fed little critter that you just woke up .... generally they're NOT in a great mood (chocolate hangover, perhaps?) ... back East "mini-bears" (AKA Chipmunks, racoons and grey squirrels (althogh the racoons tend to rip the bag apart rather than sneaking in throgh the hole at the drawstring) are expert at this tactic.

As for bears, again, back East, hanging the food bag seems to be enough, except for the well trained Black bears along some Southern sections of the AT.

I've encounterd bears, both in the East and the Rockies and have always found the experience to be rewarding (even when one bruin managed to make off with a weeks food, leaving me with a very "empty" feeling as I plodded back to my car) -the wilderness would seem empty without bears. My brown bear encounters have, I'm happy to report, been from a fair distance, maybe because I tend to hang everything with a food scent on it (including the clothes I cook in) with my food, maybe it's because I'm a lousy cook and my food doesn't appeal to them.

But look at it this way, from the bears point of view, you're a food source. Imagine yourself hungry, driving through a town - you pass a diner and the smells come wafting into your car - your natural reaction would be to stop and get some food. Same applies to the bear - only you're the greasy spoon chef - they're hungry - they smell food - they come in to eat.

When I was at Philmont 35 years ago I watched a rather shocked scout from another crew emerge and run away from his tarp - a few minutes later a bear emerged - having found the candy bars the scout had (against all warnings) taken into the tent with him. Yeah, it could have been tragic if the scout hadn't abandoned ship, but at 14 years old it was some of the finest comedy I'd seen to date!

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