A newbie question on bears

[gailkaitschuck]

So...I'm reading on future camping with the tear up in the Great Smokey Mountain Park and I come across warnings on how to deal with bears. BEARS!!! Oh geeze! Raccoons and 'possums are bad enough but bears???

I wonder how bears see teardrops (Bill says they see them like "oh look, fajitas").

I've read the back posting on bears (still can't figure out why one must abstain from sexual relationships in bear country; are they drawn to moaning and groaning?). Anyone had run ins with bears while camping in a teardrop?

While tent camping with a group (in the Great Smokeys), a bear did try to get into the tent Bill was in. They had placed all their food in a safe place but one of the campers carried a chapstick in her back pack and they figured the bear was after that.

Gail

P.S. Our teardrop has only one door so I'm volunteering Bill to sleep on that side.

[angib]

Yeah, you wanna watch out - they got into Gage's car and just drove it off with the trailer:



Coming from a country with no living thing that can kill you (well, except humans!), all this bear talk seems really strange and not a little scary. I did see one once in the Rockies and it wasn't as scary as the pictures in the bear information trailer at the entrance to the park.... Didn't move as fast as me neither.....

Andrew

[madjack]

...geez PB, you are gonna scare po' ol' Gail to death...she is talkin about the relatively small(300#s) Eastern Black Bear not the infamous Western Grizzly...don't know much about either but do know that both should be taken seriously and basic common "Bear" sense should be practiced around both...like hide your food wherever you aren't
madjack

p.s. wonder how either of them would react to black pepper spread around campsite

[Guest]

Gail,
I wouldn't let black bear worry you too much.
They are more of a nuisance than a threat...
Every close encounter I've had with black bears were short and sweet.
On all but two occasions, the bear took off like wild banchies as soon as they detected my pressence. I have had to bang some cooking pans together and make a lot of noise to shoo them away on the other two encounters... They didn't want me, just my food.
I've never seen a bear when camping with or close to other campers...

I would be concerned if you're talking about grizzley.
Maybe our members from Alaska can offer upsome advise about grizzley bear safety tips...
I've never heard that about the sex thing...

[Normspeed]

Powderburn, I hear that bear droppings smell like pepper spray. Coincidence?

[madjack]

Powderburn, I hear that bear droppings smell like pepper spray. Coincidence?

I also hear it contains little bells similar to the ones some hiker/backpackers wear

madjack

[Bigwoods]

We see a occasional bear when we camp. Like Dean said, they scare off pretty easily. They are just looking for a free meal and are opportunistic. Never leave food around the campsite and never in the tent. Also, they tend to stay on traveled paths. When they conoe camp some folks hang food from trees to keep the food out of the bears reach. This year we started putting food in a sealed bucket and hiding it 100 yards off the beaten path. Works great, but we miss the occasional banging around in the night when the bears try to get the bucket down from trees.

[Guy]

Am I thankful, in just one week our new administrator is already protectin us from bears.

Howmany administrators does it take to protect the board from bears?

Two! Dino and Mr. Jack (no longer "Madjack" since going straight,but Mr. Jack sounds like a hairdresser not a hairraiser, so it will have to change to Messr. Jacques in homage to his Louisiana homeland)

[madjack]

Am I thankful, in just one week our new administrator is already protectin us from bears.

Howmany administrators does it take to protect the board from bears?

Two! Dino and Mr. Jack (no longer "Madjack" since going straight,but Mr. Jack sounds like a hairdresser not a hairraiser, so it will have to change to Messr. Jacques in homage to his Louisiana homeland)

with either of those two name I could open up a salon in San Francisco ...I think madjack will continue to suffice
madjack(still)

[bledsoe3]

I've never heard that about the sex thing...

I'm sorry!

[alaska teardrop]

Well Dean, I could go on and on with Alaska bear stories and . It seems a new tale every 2-3 weeks. And then there's those folks who simply disappear . From those reports, I've obserbed that any bear (black, brown or white) is absolutely unpredictable. By way of personal observation in the wild and sometimes wandering through the yard (non-violent ) I've noted that bears are so fast of movement that even a bear of our size can easily overwhelm a human . All kinds of the reasons for an encounter to begin, ways they end and protection theories. My theory is that anything less than a handy working high powered pistol as a last resort is foolish. Some bears eat people for nothing more than a meal . Bears were certainly a concern in my teardrop design because, no mater the precautions it's really a rolling bear bait station! Gail - maybe try whisling instead . Sure like the bear jokes. Wouldn't dare send the last one I saw. Fred - the worlds' farthest North teardrop builder .

[madjack]

PB, I truly wasn't meaning to slight your post, I agree totally with everything you and AlaskanTD are saying. I have been a hunter and outdoorsman all my life also, I have been tracked by a Cougar and surronded by coyotes, I have had face ot face confrontations with black bears. Your advice is well taken by me and I hope by others. I think the governent plan to reintroduce large pedators into areas they have been eradicated from is absolutely foolish...just look at what has been happening with the big cats in some western areas where they have been overly protected. The same will happen with the wolves and bears being reintroduced into some areas in the western states...
Having said all of that, I just didn't want Gail to feel she had to carry a large firearm into The Great Smokey Mtns to protect herself from black bears when a couple of pots banging will generally do the trick...and by the way I have seen a black Smokey Mtn bear run over a tourist, ripping him up to get a piece of bread another tourist thru out for that bear...Common sense, situational awareness and basic backwoods precautions are always needed when dealing with wild animals of anykind
madjack

[madjack]

PB, have you ever heard of sprinkling pepper(red or black) around your campsite to deter bears or other nocturnal guests? Just wondering if it would be a deterrent or would it just PO a bear
madjack

[Cutterpup]

Backpacker magazine did a study and found that if you spray bear spray around an area bears will be attracted to the area, but when you use the spray at the bear he (or she) will run. So there best advice is to put your food up in a tree away from all limbs and keep bear spray handy.
Dan

[madjack]

...I'm with you, a bear can have my groceries as long as those groceries are not me When I was stalked by the cougar(cougar, mt lion, panther are all the same...a
VERY LARGE tawny colored cat) we ( abuddy and me) were in the deep woods and had a breakdown at night and decided to walk out, when the cat first screamed we jumped and ran...about a hundred feet before we stopped, realizing the futility and danger of running(not to mention being to outta shape to go far). After that we walked along making lots of noise and occasionally stopping and grunting/hollering at the cat(he probably figured we were nuts) after several miles we came upon a house with dogs...the dogs started raising 7 kinds of hell and after that we heard the cat no more...an experience I never wish to repeat...if we ever get together I have several more cougar/panther stories, a couple of alligator stories and more poisonous snake stories than you can shake a stick at
madjack