Camping in Bear Country

[Mike_S]

Are there any special precautions to use when camping in a TM in bear country?

For example, my only previous experience was in a popup camper in Yellowstone. There were plenty of warning signs about bears and all we did in the popup was boil water. All other cooking was done outside and we didn't store any food in the camper. We washed dishes away from the camper.

We never saw any bears around the campgrounds, thankfully.

In these areas, is it safe to cook all food in the TM and store food in the TM?

Has anyone ever had any problems with animals (large or small) trying to enter around the Velco coverings along the walls?

[camperboy]

Here's our experience with bear country in the TM.

We live in northern NJ with a growing blackbear population. Some here say that it is a problem and want to hunt them while others hold the oppisite opinion. Our state parks have the same basic rules about bears that Yellowstone has. We cook and keep food in the frig in the TM. Always put BBQ and, if we have it along, the cooler away at night. Usually in the back of the pick-up locked in the "topper". So far we've never had a problem. Even when we had a pop-up we had no problems, though the precautions were stricter, as you detailed in your post.

We camped at Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone in August/Sept of 2002. No BBQs left out, no garbage left out and no coolers. Rangers came around each night with a searchlight and checked every site. Had no problems. We cooked and kept food in the TM. No open food outside the frig except when using it. Only canned and dried foods in airtight containers outside the fridge. The only creature of any size we heard about passing through the campground while we were there was a timberwolf who had been through almost daily all summer. Didn't bother anyone. The skunk doesn't count for this discussion.

Only animals or creatures that have invaded or even tried to are ants. Bug bomb got rid of them—they were carpenter ants! Thankfully I caught them and got rid of them before they could do thier destructive thing.

Don't know what anyone else does, but this is our experience.

Camperboy

[kdrickard]

Here in California, anything that can not be stored in the refrigerator or out of sight in cupboards in the TM needs to go in metal "bear box" if there is one at the campsite. Most National Parks (Sequoia/Kings Canyon and Yosemite) around here have them; National Forests may not. In Sequoia this summer, since we ate mostly outdoors, it was most convenient to keep most of the food in the bear box, but we had some food inside the TM as well. I just follow whatever "bear aware" advice/rules that the campground advises. We (with our kids) have observed many a black bear from a safe distance and talked about bear safety, food storage, human impact on their environment, etc.

Unattended cars, however, are a different matter here in California. Cars with coolers or things that look like coolers or cars with food scents do get damaged by black bears from time to time. Backpackers also need to take precautions.

In areas where Grizzly bears live, somewhat more caution is needed should you encounter one. However, considering how many people visit Yellowstone NP where both Black Bears and Grizzly's live the following NPS link should put things into perspective:

http://www.nps.gov/yell/nature/animals/bear/infopaper/info1.html

Kevin