Bear safety tips

[Ridgerunner]

Here is a link to some good tips for traveling in bear territory!

http://usparks.about.com/od/backcountry/a/Bear-Safety.htm

[zelph]

I'm not going to backpack in bear country

Lots of good advice there RR. Thanks for the link.

Campground and Picnic Area Precautions

Never cook or store food in or near your tent.
Hang food and other items with strong odors (ie, toothpaste, bug repellent, soap, etc.) out of reach of bears. Hang items at least 10 ft above the ground and. If no trees are available, store your food in airtight or bear-proof containers.
Change your clothing before you go to sleep; don't wear what you cooked in to go to bed and be sure to store smelly clothing along with your food/smelly items.
Keep the area clean. Be sure to wash dishes, dispose of garbage, and wipe down tables.
Burn garbage completely in a hot fire and pack trash out - don't bury it.

Didn't know bears brush their teeth

[sudden]

Maybe you're not in bear country but that advice probably works well in raccoon country too

[Pnw.hiker]

I'm very worried about bears as I always go solo, often in remote areas. I've avoided backpacking in Grizzly country for the last two decades for this reason. From what I've read, if you run into a grizzly you're about 200 times more likely to be attacked than if you run into a black bear.

The black bears where I live are skidish and don't bother me - but their behavior varies by location. Just a couple of hundred miles north and south of me the black bears cause more problems. One thing I always do is cook and eat dinner few miles before making camping for the night - leave the odors behind. I've started carrying pepper spray but am more likely to have to use it on a human, I believe.

Grizzlies are returning to some areas they haven't been for generations, like northern Washington State. There's been reliable sighting as far south as Mt. Rainier. I no longer do solo trips Northern Washington.

P.S. I've always heard you treat Grizzles and black bears differently, yelling and throwing things at the latter, not the former. But every black bear I've ever seen has run as soon as it saw me. Only had to yell and throw things once, but that was at cougers.

[sudden]

The way I understand it, a Grizzly may false charge you or attack you but a Black Bear that shows an interest in you is looking at you like a meal. If a Black Bear does not run away you have to fight.

[zelph]

I don't like to be in bear territory without proper equipment. I don't like to carry proper equipment so I'll keep my distance

The first time I went up into Canada to a fly-in lake I saw how powerful bear claws are on the outside of a log cabin that we stayed in. I did not like what I saw. They make deeeeep claw marks.

Those Grizzlies were here in the Midwest back in the days of the early pioneers. Pioneers killed them all off except for one or two that made their way back across the mighty Mississippi. There were places on the river where man could walk across Those 2 grizzlies passed on the info about what we had done to their kin folk and we've been harassed ever since by their false charges

[realityguy]

Those 2 grizzlies passed on the info about what we had done to their kin folk and we've been harassed ever since by their false charges

Can I sue them for defamation of character and their harrassment?..I've never said/done anything bad about grizzlies! ... ..Oh never mind..you meant those kinds of charges....I thought you were talking about lying WSP...

[zelph]

Next time a grizzly false charges you ask one of the rangers what actions to take