by Bella Cooper

Created on: April 30, 2009   Last Updated: May 01, 2009

Dealing with bears, coyotes and other uninvited guests while camping

Getting your food stolen while you are camping can be frustrating and interacting with wildlife it's also quite dangerous. If an animal is attracted to your campsite because of the smell of food, it may become a threat to you as well. It is important to protect you food, and yourself, from wildlife when backpacking.

There are several measures you should plan to take on each camping trip.

First, determine what type of animals reside in the area. If there are bears or other large animals, you should plan to do the following every evening before you go to bed:

Place all of your food and garbage into sealed-tight bags. In addition, if you have anything else that smells like food (cookware, utensils, bug spray, toothpaste, other toiletries, etc.), you should also place these items into the bags. Next place the sealed tight food bags in a stuff bag. Throw a rope tied to a rock around a tree branch about 20-30 feet above ground, and at least 8 feet from the tree trunk. Tie one of the food bags that has been placed into a stuff sack to end the string with a knot containing a loop. Lift this bag up by pulling the other end of the rope that is tied to the rock. Replace the rock with the second food back in a stuff sack. Balance the two bags so that they are both at least 12 feet high, which should be sufficient to prevent a bear from grabbing it. The next morning, you can bring the food down use a stick placed in the loop in the knot. Be sure to choose where you are going to hang the food bags before it gets dark to be sure that it is a good spot where there is no possible way an animal could access it. You should also choose a campsite that is not a common place for wildlife to be (bears tend to be near streams, lakes, etc.), and if you see any signs of wildlife (droppings, footprints, claw marks, etc.) it is generally not a good place to camp. If small critters are the only concern in the area you are camping in, you can use a similar technique hanging food except the food will only need to hang about 5 feet from the ground.

Other tips to reduce the smell of food in your campsite:
Water that has been used for cooking or cleaning of cookware should be dumped far away from the campsite. Burn all garbage or food remnants, otherwise be sure to include them in the food bag that you are hanging from the tree branch.

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