Animals

[Dangofaster]

Hey all,

My wife and I were talking about the logistics of our new to us camper when we had an interesting question I thought I'd pose here. We've been long time tenters who's cardinal ruke was you don't eat in the tent and always store your trash and food in the car to keep nosey bears and critters away. The camper is far less secure than the car and you eat and sleep where you keep your food. So the question is why don't animals bother campers or what do you do to mitigate your risk of animal issues? (We are fairly clean individuals but our 3 young boys are another story.

Thanks in advance for you help.

[S. Heisley]

Maybe the bears just haven't figured out how to open the trailer galley doors yet? (Let's hope they never figure it out!)
Some campgrounds now ask people to move the food out of their trailers into bear boxes, though.
I think it may depend upon how timid or aggressive the bears are in that particular area.

If my campsite has a bear box in it, I move all my food to it.
My sink drains into a container which can retain the smells of leftover food; so, I pour a little ammonia in it.
A bear came by, took one whiff and hightailed out of there! ...It's nice to know when something works.

[GuitarPhotog]

I have been "told" at several parks that all food or food-smelling stuff must be in the bear box. At one park, somewhat famous for it's nosy bears, a Ranger inspected my galley to make sure.

A bear could open my aluminum trailer faster than a can opener could, I have no problem complying with the ranger's request.

<Chas>

[PKCSPT]

I have often wondered why raccoons and squirrels don't make more of a nuisance of themselves. I don't worry as much about the Minnesota Black Bears. I am guessing the smells my dog leaves may discourage them? He marks every tree he can

[stumphugger]

I have often wondered why raccoons and squirrels don't make more of a nuisance of themselves. I don't worry as much about the Minnesota Black Bears. I am guessing the smells my dog leaves may discourage them? He marks every tree he can

I have been harassed by raccoons. I kept my dog's dogfood in the heavy duty plastic box that is on the front of my A-frame trailer.
The raccoons never were able to get at it, but they woke me up a few times making a racket and I think one big guy was jumping up and down on the box. My fearless chocolate lab slept through all of this. I jumped out and scared the beasties away, which may be foolish but worked.

I think the dog food will go inside from now on when we're in raccoon country and maybe I'll get more sleep, unless they start scratching at the doors and windows--Night Of The Living Raccoons.

This shows the raccoon magnet box.

[GuitarPhotog]

My trailer was raided by racoons last June while camping in Oregon. I had forgotten to put the box of cookies in the car

They could not get into the coolers because had fabric and insulation "cooler cozies" over them.

They didn't figure out how to open the plastic cookie box, so were dragging it away when I apprehended them. It took me a while to get the muddy paw prints out of my white painted galley.

Putting your food in the car/truck is adequate prevention to keep racoons out. Bears can open car windows to get at the goodies, from the outside

<Chas>

[48Rob]

Very simple bears don't bother my camper because I don't camp where there are bears (or any other large carnivore that might choose to eat me... )

Where we camp, the worst fear is raccoons, which do sometimes reach up and or walk on the camper if they smell something. Annoying, but not enough to bother with, as it is just part of sharing the outdoors. Our solution is to keep the galley shut when not in use, and place all food scraps and trash in a can, or car at night.

I'm not sure I'd be willing to take my current camper into bear country, since we have never tried to eliminate food/cooking odors, it may not be able to be eliminated enough a bear couldn't smell it by simply cleaning?
If I was to start camping with that danger, I think I'd start with a camper that never had food in it, or have a dog to warn me, and a means to eliminate any danger if it decided to ignore the dog. (plus of course I would educate myself on bear behavior and any potential danger(s)
Please know that I've never camped in bear country, so my experience level is zero, but I'd sure think twice, or thrice, about taking my (young) children where bears might be a danger to them...

Rob

[Mary C]

Chase, how big are the bear "safes". I am planning in 2015 to make my bucket list trip and I will be going to camp in several parks that have bears. Just wondering, also wondering if I should get one large yeti or two smaller ones. I have never camped but once in a bear area and there were no bear 'safes" .
Thank you.

Mary C.

[Midget]

When camping in critter infested areas we always wipe down the counters and areas around the rear hatch with sanitary wipes. The smell of the disinfectant keeps the critters from getting interested.

[GuitarPhotog]

The bear box at Jed Smith Redwoods State Park in No. Calif was about 36" high, 30" deep, and 60" or so wide with two doors. It easily accommodated my 48 qt cooler, my 72 qt cooler, and 2 grocery bags.

The biggest hassle for me traveling alone was lifting the 72 qt cooler (30 lbs of ice) in and out of the box each day.

I don't close up the galley every night because to do so requires disconnecting the propane to the stove and removing it, then removing the counter top and stowing the stove and counter top. When my trailer was built in 1948 the designers weren't thinking about ease of set-up and tear-down

Pretty much where ever you camp in the west, you have to at least be conscious of bears. They aren't everywhere, but they were there first and have a prior claim.

<Chas>

[Shadow Catcher]

Our critter experience includes chipmunks that have learned to gnaw through bins. Lake Superior Provincial Park back in our tenting days we returned to find the lids gnawed through. One of the problems with the refrigerator is that it needs power and when we were in camp sites where there might be bears it stays in the car plugged into its power cord. The car battery is back fed by the battery in the trailer and the solar panel.

[S. Heisley]

Chase, how big are the bear "safes". I am planning in 2015 to make my bucket list trip and I will be going to camp in several parks that have bears. Just wondering, also wondering if I should get one large yeti or two smaller ones. I have never camped but once in a bear area and there were no bear 'safes" .
Thank you.

Mary C.

Mary, I had trouble finding that information. I called the local national park rangers and they never bothered to find out or tell me. However, after some research online, I did find one place that had measurements for their steel bear safes/boxes:

Bear Locker dimensions given at the Donner Memorial State Park website are: 43”Wx36”Dx28”H

Assuming that there aren't that many companies that make metal bear boxes, I went with those dimensions for my 3 week trip to the midwest, figuring that, if it didn't all fit, the rangers would either let me use an additional bear box or would store some of my boxes in their office. (I've seen them do that for campers.) Using those dimensions, I was able to pack enough food for 3 weeks, in boxes which I set together, measured and then took pictures for use here, should they be needed:




All this food fit well in the back of my car, too, right next to the trailer steps and emptied grey water jug.The black and red container is a tool chest, which works great as a type of pantry. The red insert was used to carry small items like spices and teas. The little gray areas on the lid worked well to hold vitamins and matches...smaller items that are easily lost when put with bigger ones. I washed and saved empty peanut butter jars, with clear plastic bottoms and light colored tops and filled those with dog biscuits, coffee, sugar, etc. The lids' contents were then noted on the lid using a black Sharpie pen. That way, I could sit them upright in the bottom of the tool chest yet find what I wanted very easily. I also marked the tops of all cans, for easy identification. This has worked so well, it has become my standard packing methodology.

It took a bit of planning and the storage was tight at first; but this combination of boxes worked everywhere my dog and I went and the only food I bought on the trip was cheese, milk, and fresh spinach leaves, for the ice chest. I used Rubbermaid upright plastic storage containers for my ice, freezing water in the containers before I started and replacing the thawed water with ice cubes in the containers thereafter; thus, keeping everything in the ice chest from swimming in the ice-thawed water. I used some dehydrated and backpackers food, as well as canned food. Backpackers dehydrated meals came in handy for those few nights where I was unexpectedly late getting to camp; so, even though they cost about $5 per serving, they were well worth it. (Twice, I got into camp after 10PM!) Note: Most bears will not bother a closed box, left in the car, that has nothing but canned food in it; but, check with the rangers rather than assuming this one.

...More than you wanted to know; but, I hope that at least some of it helps.

[KCStudly]

Very well organized, Sharon. Thanks for sharing.

[atahoekid]

I live and camp in bear country and here's what I do. Anything "smellable" like the cooler, goes into the bear locker. Cans are OK to leave stored in the trailer but must be out of sight. Boxes are not OK and goes into the cooler. Cosmetics, lotions, toothpaste, toiletries go into the locker. Candy and late night snacks in bed are FORBIDDEN. Ammonia in the grey water tank is a great idea as is the antiseptic wipe idea. Don't try to attract other animals like birds or squirrels by leaving food out for them, that same food will attract bears

Just know that a bears sense of smell is something like 2000 times better than ours and are intelligent enough to know that coolers contain goodies and are strong enough to break through a garage door (ask my neighbor) or take the door off an RV (ask another neighbor).

And just to confuse matters, grizzlies are much more dangerous than black bears (which come in lots of color). Know which bears are prevalent in the area you're camping in.

[Dangofaster]

Thanks all for the great info! We are planning on camping in some state parks for a week or less ( a majority will be weekend trips). I am still designing a bunch of stuff for the camper including part of the galley. I wasnt planning on making the ice box removable but may reconsider.
We have been at the campgrounds we will likely be visiting before but I haven't seen bear boxes. I do know that atleast at Ricketts Glenn there are bears there. Maybe i'll make the ice box removable incase it does become an issue or we travel to bear problem areas.
I like the idea of using the disinfectant wipes ans ammonia. I wonder if vinegar would work too?