My younger daughter and I are going hammock camping tonight. Fortune may come true… Hopefully not the same kind of thrilling as last time I went hammock camping, when I met a bear. :-)

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Edward Morbius August 28, 2015 20:26

Reminds me of a long-ago camping trip. One hammock. A younger sibling. A dispute over who would have the privilege of sleeping in the hammock. Tears. And a late-night campsite visit from a bear following which younger sib was much less interested in sleeping in the hammock, but encountered challenges in getting out (it was small, laces were used to avoid unintentional tumblage).

Behan Webster August 28, 2015 20:29

#bearwithme ?

Michael K Johnson August 28, 2015 20:31

+Behan Webster not this time I hope! But we’re at a campground this time, not in the wilderness, so fewer bears with us as far as I know…

Edward Morbius August 28, 2015 20:44

+Behan Webster  #bearhugs   

Edward Morbius August 28, 2015 20:45

+Michael K Johnson Depends a lot on location, but bears tend to like campgrounds. Far more food. They get surprisingly used to people.

Michael K Johnson August 28, 2015 21:17

True… It’s just that my two bear encounters so far were in wilderness areas; Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area and North Carolina’s Pisgah. In Pisgah, the bear encounter was at a remote camp site without other people obviously nearby; the following night we were close to other camp sites and weren’t bothered (the bear canisters weren’t disturbed, at least).

More apropos: I’m about 50 miles from nearest bear population according to ncwildlife.org

Behan Webster August 28, 2015 22:21

+Edward Morbius depends. A lot of bears where I have lived. Regularly in my former back yard near Ottawa Canada and on many wilderness trips and weekend trips when I was a kid. Bears don’t have to get used to people if people don’t do stupid things to attract them, and respect bears enough to give them a wide berth. That, and wildlife professionals who can relocate problem bears.

Michael K Johnson August 28, 2015 22:24

There are plenty of places where landfills have been the places where bears have become habituated to human-sourced food. Must be something like 25 years ago one such bear decided to visit a Perkins in or near Duluth, MN… ISTR that it did quite a number on the buffet.

Behan Webster August 29, 2015 11:36

Those kinds of “garbage bears” (ones who learn to eat garbage) can be prevented by denying them access to landfills with fences, bear proof garbage cans, locked dumpsters, and other barriers. It is a solvable problem. Again it’s about people not doing stupid things.

Edward Morbius August 29, 2015 17:42

+Behan Webster As numerous park rangers have noted, there’s a broad overlap between the smartest bears and the dumbest humans.

Behan Webster August 29, 2015 18:57

+Edward Morbius I’m definitely blaming the humans.

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