Black Bear in camp

[SeldomSeen]

We’ve been camping on Allegheny NF in Pennsylvania for 40 years. A little backpacking, some overnight canoeing, a few different campgrounds. I never saw a bear in that time. My daughter in law has a much better bear discovery rate than me, and was concerned about Tracy Ridge in a tent. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the bear would have simply opened the tailgate to get at the garbage that I foolishly left there. So she, the guy she married, and their Australian Shepard joined us in the 19 at 2:00AM. Replacement tonneau cover on order. Live and learn.

[UncleTim]

I was thinking about a hard shell cover, to prevent this kind of break in. I wonder if it would have worked in this case?

[Ron in BC]

Mine's pretty darn tough. But the smell would have still been there and the bear would likely still have tried to get to it. The end result would probably be similar, a lot of damage.

Ron

[Thane]

On our last camping trip, the five of us adults were sitting around the campfire when my son looked up and saw a 200 plus pound bear less than 4 steps away, right next to the trailer door and our ice chest.

We chased him off and now I have a can of bear spray mounted on the inside of the trailer door.

There were three bears in the campground that evening and night. We were at Camp High Sierra in Mammoth Lakes, Ca. It was a nice campground, nestled in a housing development. Our bear ended up in the subdivision, we had no way to control where he went.

They know they have a bear problem. Someone called the cops and three cop cars responded. Not a good night to be in a tent.

[Bea]

Hi SeldomSeen, Wow sorry about your Tonneau cover but glad everyone is Ok. Hope the replacement goes well and isn't too costly. Always enjoy bear stories! Thanks for sharing! Hope you don't mind if I share one I just heard...

A couple weeks ago, my niece and her husband went boon docking in their tent trailer (that they got from us - so fun to see our previous TT being used again). Anyways, his brother also joined them and decided to sleep out in a hammock on this trip.

One night, in the middle of the night the brother awoke to some noise and saw a bear snooping around their camp. He didn't know what to do since everyone was sleeping so he decided to stay quiet, pretend he was sleeping, hoping it would just go away.... but this bear was a curious fellow. He checked out everything, including him! He strolled over and got up on his hind legs and put his bear paws on him started to rock him back and forth - in the hammock! When he got tired of it, he stopped and checked out a few more things around camp, and left.

This poor chap then laid in that hammock with his eye wide open for an hour, unable to go back to sleep. Then hoping and praying this bear was long gone he slowly slipped out, knocked on the door of the TT, and joined them at 3AM, too! I doubt he'll ever sleep in a hammock again! -Bea

[Ian and Sue]

Originally Posted by UncleTim

I was thinking about a hard shell cover, to prevent this kind of break in. I wonder if it would have worked in this case?

Around here problem bears break into dumpsters by crunching the lid down. Will your hard cover take that kind of abuse? Take a stroll after dinner and get rid of the garbage, don't leave food or garbage out in bear country...they will find it and get into it. lock up the snacks, toothpaste, cooking gear and anything else that might have a smell that would interest a bear. If you do these things they should leave you alone...A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear....

[gbaglo]

Not sure I want to lock food inside my car either.


https://www.blackbearheaven.com/girz...pscarapart.htm

[Randy in Maine]

I prefer not to cook in the camper when in bear country.

[Oldtimer]

I guess the insult the bear left was the deciding factor in totaling it and not repairing it

[Mike G]

When in bear country, 'one man's trash is another bear's treasure!'

[gbaglo]

Bear trashed a couple locking organics cans just up the block. I've now got bear spray and bear bangers sitting on the dining room table, where they are handy.
Problem is, I don't want to voluntarily get close enough to the bear to use the spray, and if i use a bear banger, will the bear go tearing through a neighbour's yard?

[steve dunham]

One rule I learned about camping in bear country , Always dump your bacon / sausage grease in the firepit of the campsite farthest from yours .

[TX_Clint]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

One rule I learned about camping in bear country , Always dump your bacon / sausage grease in the firepit of the campsite farthest from yours .

Common practice when roughing it in bear country is to put your bacon grease in a can and leave it about a mile up the trail. Keeps the bears entertained. Remember to pick it up before you leave. If you can find any of the pieces.

[P&L]

Originally Posted by Randy in Maine

I prefer not to cook in the camper when in bear country.

In Yosemite, you can't keep food in the car and there are no restrictions about keeping food in a travel vehicle. This doesn't make sense to me. We cooked outside. I'm sure we had food inside the trailer that was 'snif-able' by bears!


Lorna

[dfandrews]

In bear country, use the bear box, don't leave foods, perfumes, flavored toothpaste, or other things with odors out. Have everything in the bear box by sundown. Bears that are used to humans, and, that they can get food from around humans, will be around, guaranteed. Dispose of your trash every day if possible.
A couple of examples:

We went with our fishing buddies to Mary Lake-Mammoth Lakes, CA last year. We set up camp, then went fishing, while the wives went down the mt. to town just before noon. When they got there, people were running out of their campsites, leaving their lunches on the picnic tables. People were clearing out of the outside dining at the local cafe. There was mama bear and two cubs that had learned that there was free food at lunchtime.
Rant starts:
When we were first backing in to our campsite the hosts showed up and were very concerned about how we were going to park and not block their road. Nothing was said about bear safety. Not good.

Yes, Mammoth Lakes has a bear problem. When we contacted CA Fish & Game (CDFW) HQ. in Sacramento, they thanked us for the info; they were unaware. The local hosts weren't doing their job, and the public had been disregarding the signs and other notices regarding bear safety. Hence: Bears!!!


Counter example: Next day, we moved down the highway to Convict Lake. That afternoon, the camp host came by, and reminded us to use the bear box, & have everything with an odor put away before sundown. We watched as he went around to every campsite telling each camper the reminders. He did this each day we were there.
Convict Lake does not have a bear problem. They avoid the humans.


Additional info: in bear-prone areas (E.G.: National Parks), bears have learned that those bright colored things in the vehicles (the coolers) are associated with food, so they will rip their way into vehicles to get to them even if they don't smell anything. (If we're in those areas, we cover our cooler (that only has cold drinks) with a cammo tarp, so it's not visible to the bears).
Rant over.

[HABBERDABBER]

One, while kayaking in the Apostle Island in northern Wisconsin, Lake Superior, bears messed about briefly at our site but got jack. The next camp site over, folks had left a bottle of gin and a bottle of Dawn dish detergent on the picnic table. BOTH were consumed.


Tiny bubbles?

[BC Rockcrawler]

We carry a bottle of original Pine Sol in case we're in an area of known bear activity as it will deter bears from 'sniffing' around your camper and vehicle.. If you have pets, be careful with it's use as the same vapors that deter the bear are harmful to your dog or cat.

[gbaglo]

Don't bears live in pine forests?

[Fox hunt]

so when i was in bear country they said to put our food in our trailer and our barbecue away in truck or camper leave nothing out. but wont the bear rip open our camper/truck to get food?

[UncleTim]

I can't remember the last time I was not in bear country.