by statesofminds

Created on: November 10, 2008

While many people enjoy viewing wildlife at a distance while camping, most of us would draw the line at having our food supply (or worse, ourselves!) ravaged by a hungry bear. There are several points to consider, all of them drawing on common sense and discipline.

Asking how to "bear proof" food supplies in a campsite, however, is a trick question though, because the food supply should never be in the campsite in the first place. Most wildlife, bears included, when searching for food can be compared with a back alley mugger in a city-they want the biggest payoff with the least risk and energy consumption. For a bear it is far more challenging to hunt and search for its natural food than it is to tear through a plastic wrapper into a Twinkie!

It would be nice if the plastic wrapper would keep bears away, but it will not. That Twinkie package was handled by many people including yourself-and did you sneak and eat one while packing for your trip? If you did, I bet you did so by taking an occassional bite while packing other items-so then everything you touched has a distinctive Twinkie scent that will draw every animal in the area. The point is not to frighten people but to illustrate that small slip ups can have negative consequences, so it is best to be diligent and take precautions.

The usual precaution is the bear bag, a bag holding all food and trash that could attract animals, dangled from a tree branch well outside campsite (40-50 feet). To hang the bag, use a long cord (thin but strong); tie a rock or stick to the end to give it some weight so it can be tossed over the branch, the secure the bag to one end and pull it into the air. It should be a stout branch about twenty feet up so that the food bag is at least 15 feet about the ground and 5 feet below the branch to discourage any animals from going onto the limb to retrieve the food.

In most cases, the bear bag is sufficient protection for the food, however in some areas with heavy populations of bears and raccoons, a bear cannister may be needed. A bear cannister is an impact resistant container used much the same as a bag, but with added protection.

Now, the one thing worse than a bear eating my grub is a bear attempting to eat me! The idea of bear proofing yourself is largely ignored but is a very important point. To illustrate I'll give an example: a hiker stops for the night setting up a campsite. Of course they are hungry and tired, so they set about cooking their dinner and eating. They then hang their bear bag (with all food, trash, and dirty dishes) and turn in for the night.

Anyone who has camped in serious bear country can spot the dangerous flaws in the example. The hiker cooked dinner in the campsite they plan to sleep in-probably having spilled a bit of dinner in the process, but at least permeating the area with the smell of good home cooking-including their clothing! Any bear would find the hanging bear bag and move on to investigate the rest of the scent, following it directly to the campsite and to the giant looking Twinkie where the hiker is resting, since they probably wore the same clothes to bed!

It takes common sense, discipline and consistancy to safely navigate the outdoors. After a long day on the trail, no one wants to go through the routine of setting up camp then moving 50 feet away in order to cook and eat, then hang everything that smells of food in a tree, changing clothes and washing up before turning in. However, after getting into the routine of doing so, it becomes second nature and takes much less time while keeping you safer.

Learn more about this author, statesofminds.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.