George S. wrote:
>I wasn't camping there at the time, but a Park Ranger at Yellowstone was
>giving a lecture on what not to do while camping.... She advised (not sure
if
>it was mandatory) to keep all your cooking gear, your trash, AND the clothes
>you were wearing while cooking that day, locked in the trunk of you car, and
>to park said car a far distance from your actual campsite during the night.
>They said the problem of bears coming down for a meal from the campers was
>such a problem, that they did shoot a couple of bears that no longer showed
>any fear of humans, and mingled casually around campsites.
They've had to shoot more than a couple. They've also tried to truck them
off into the wilderness, far from parks, campgrounds, humans. They sometimes
just find their way back.
We now have black bears wandering into the suburbs that continue to push into
the Cascade foothills. New homeowners ("cityfolk", as Jack Palance would
call 'em) are horrified to look out the patio door to see a bear sniffing
around the dog food and swing set. Coyotes are taking dogs, cats. Cougars
showing up, stalking everything, including the kids. A little intro to the
Cascades should be included with the sales pitch ("Yer not from 'round these
parts, are ya Boy?").
Bears are just big overgrown dogs. Most are shy, some aren't. Most you
"bump into" in the wild do a quick 360 and run off faster than you would ever
imagine a bear could move. Some hikers in these parts wear bells so as to
give notice that they are "coming" and don't walk into a face-off with a
beasty. I'm always a bit nervous hiking thru the salmonberry and blackberry
patches, where vision is limited.
Keep anything food related up in a tree, suspended from a branch, at 8 feet
or so off the ground, away from your tent/campsite, and you'll be fine when
camping. Food inside cars, RVs, etc. in Yellowstone or other major parks
isn't exactly safe. I've seen film of bears breaking car windows and ripping
off car doors to get at it. I think they know the difference between a
Coleman and a Thermos cooler. They can rip the bark right off a tree, turn
over logs, just to get at honey, ants. Amazing strength.
Hairiest two bear encounters I've had: 1) Mother bear with cubs. Cubs
scampered up a tree. We kept hiking on a parallel course avoiding eye
contact. No problem. And 2) Still hunting for deer (slow & quiet) I walked
RIGHT into a black bear. We both just about, well, you know. He spun around
and flew straight downhill. That, ah, made my day, once I was able to
breathe again.
Haven't seen a grizzly yet. Don't want to, in person, thank you very much.
Like the great white shark, they fear NOTHING. Just tracks so far. BIG
tracks. That sight alone makes the hair on the back of one's neck stand up.
Weirdest wilderness encounter: a high school buddy and I hiked into one of
the Alpine Lakes. No tent, just sleepin' under the stars. He woke up with a
porcupine sniffing right at the tip of his nose. He shooed it away. A
couple hours later, there it was again. I'm crackin' up (because it's
happening to HIM, not me, of course). Third time, about 3 a.m., he got mad,
chased it down and beat it to death with a big branch (sorry PAWS and SPCA).
Sad thing about the Yellowstone-behavior (prowling, breaking & entering)
bears is that once a bear becomes "bold" ITS life is in danger, because about
the only "cure" for that is to destroy the bear.
Oh, one other bear story: Where I grew up, in NC WA apple country, we knew
this family that lived up one of the canyons. One evening, the boys noticed
a bear in the "neighborhood". They barked like dogs, and the bear went up a
tree. One stayed there and continued to bark while the other boy ran home
for the rifle. They got the bear. True story. Their mother used to crawl
under the house with a pistol and flashlight to shoot rattlesnakes. Tough ol
gal.
Rich
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