3 ms·
I woke up once to what I thought was the sound of Velcro outside my tent. I called out to my cousin (his backpack was leaning against the tree next to my tent)
by Cerium 10y ago
I woke up once to what I thought was the sound of Velcro outside my tent. I called out to my cousin (his backpack was leaning against the tree next to my tent) that it is too early and I was trying to sleep.
Unzipped the tent and took a look out. The sound was a bear ripping my cousin's backpack open. He did not leave any food inside, but had let some food touch the pack and left a scent.
I quickly closed the tent and let the rest of the group run the bear off.
- arethuza 10y agoI don't think I could camp anywhere that had bears!
- Cerium 10y agoSince the requirement in the US for the use of bear canisters (plastic cylinders that bears cannot open) for food storage the problem has gotten a lot better. Bears used to be more aggressive once they learned that people have food. Now in general they have learned that the food cannot be accessed and tend to stay away; though some have learned that if you scare the people when the canister is open they can get the food out.
- wavefunction 10y ago@Cerium I'm not aware of any such requirement per se, mostly just that it's good advice. We used to tie our food up but you have to pick the right tree or the bear will simply climb up the tree or pull the tree over to bring the food within reach.
- Cerium 10y agoThe regulations are not national, but enforced by individual park services. As far as I'm aware all national parks with bears require proper food storage. Many states have regulations as well. A quick search shows that parks in New York with bears require their use during the summer.