Bears Bears Bears April 20, 2011 05:15PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 22 |
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Re: Bears Bears Bears April 20, 2011 06:43PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 923 |
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Re: Bears Bears Bears April 20, 2011 08:28PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 25 |
April 20, 2011 08:42PM | Admin Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 17,096 |
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michaelrosso
Is it advisable to take pictures?
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Will the bears approach us? Is it an issue if we run?
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Re: Bears Bears Bears April 23, 2011 04:35PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 22 |
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plawrence
What I read, it was mainly the ranchers and sheep herders that killed off the grizzlies because the bears attacked and killed their livestock.
The California grizzlies natural habitat wasn't the mid and higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada where the black bears live, but it was the Central Valley and the Sierra foothills (and also in the Coastal Valleys and Coastal Range of California). Again, it was mostly ranchers that killed them off, though some were also hunted down for sport.
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Re: Bears Bears Bears April 21, 2011 02:01PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 66 |
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April 23, 2011 04:45PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,374 |
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Red Lipstick
One thing I've learned about bears is that they hate confrontation. If you have a dog or camp near someone that has a dog, they usually won't bother. Dogs will blow their cover. They are extemely quiet, when comming through your site, unless they find something they like. Bears usually wait until every camplight is out in the campground (there are exceptions, like above) before entering. Odds are, if you've camped in yosemite, a bear has come through your site, while you were asleep, and you didn't know it. They are that prevalent.
April 21, 2011 09:34PM | Moderator Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,347 |
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Re: Bears Bears Bears April 22, 2011 09:32AM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 39 |
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Re: Bears Bears Bears April 22, 2011 10:40AM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 66 |
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Re: Bears Bears Bears April 23, 2011 04:10PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 34 |
Re: Bears Bears Bears April 24, 2011 04:25PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 25 |
April 24, 2011 05:47PM | Admin Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 17,096 |
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michaelrosso
Yikes. Is that in the valley?
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It is not that expensive where I live yet. Are there gas stations near the valley?
Re: Bears Bears Bears May 09, 2011 08:42AM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 25 |
April 24, 2011 05:55PM | Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 426 |
Re: Bears Bears Bears April 25, 2011 09:20AM | Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 190 |
April 25, 2011 10:00AM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 4,173 |
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Ulysses61
I've never encountered an aggresive bear, not even when with cubs. Almost every time in Yosemite I have bumped into them on the trail while hiking, they run away (VERY fast, some of them!) It breaks my heart that people erroneously think bears are violent or ferocious. They are generally shy and timid when in the presence of people, unless they're foolishly being fed.
April 25, 2011 10:14AM | Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 426 |
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Re: Bears Bears Bears April 27, 2011 10:22AM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 66 |
Re: Bears Bears Bears April 30, 2011 12:07AM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 39 |
Re: Bears Bears Bears April 30, 2011 01:23AM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 48 |
Re: Bears Bears Bears April 30, 2011 12:36PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 65 |
Re: Bears Bears Bears April 30, 2011 09:34AM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 22 |
Re: Bears Bears Bears May 08, 2011 11:51PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 65 |
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Re: Bears Bears Bears April 30, 2011 04:56PM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 22 |
Re: Bears Bears Bears April 30, 2011 09:40PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 923 |
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rick
I think I am now more confused than before. It seems the bears will pretty much keep to themslves then.
April 30, 2011 06:15PM | Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 426 |
April 30, 2011 07:28PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,374 |
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itchbay
While checking the Sierra NF site, I saw this: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sierra/recreation/camping/index.shtml
Specifically:
Keeping a neat campsite, free of trash and discarding all food containers, will help protect Forest wildlife. Bears, raccoons, and other critters generally become a problem in campgrounds when visitors are careless with food storage. Store food items in the trunk or inside your automobile with the windows closed. Bears consider all products with an odor as food. Toothpaste, suntan lotion, insect repellent, and chewing gum should be stored carefully. To help maintain a clean, safe environment, please place trash in provided receptacles or pack it out. When campfire rings or stoves are used, please make certain your fire is cold prior to leaving the campsite.
Re: Bears Bears Bears April 30, 2011 09:43PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 923 |
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itchbay
Store food items in the trunk or inside your automobile with the windows closed. Bears consider all products with an odor as food. Toothpaste, suntan lotion, insect repellent, and chewing gum should be stored carefully. To help maintain a clean, safe environment, please place trash in provided receptacles or pack it out. When campfire rings or stoves are used, please make certain your fire is cold prior to leaving the campsite.
April 30, 2011 10:42PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,374 |
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AlmostThere
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itchbay
Store food items in the trunk or inside your automobile with the windows closed. Bears consider all products with an odor as food. Toothpaste, suntan lotion, insect repellent, and chewing gum should be stored carefully. To help maintain a clean, safe environment, please place trash in provided receptacles or pack it out. When campfire rings or stoves are used, please make certain your fire is cold prior to leaving the campsite.
These are the bears who went to University of Phoenix instead of Harvard...
They just don't know how yet. Hopefully they never learn. I suspect Yosemite bears learned to hop in open windows first, then when the windows were shut they learned to bust or pull out the window...
April 30, 2011 10:50PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 4,173 |
Re: Bears Bears Bears May 01, 2011 09:19PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 923 |
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y_p_w
I recall at the coastal portion Olympic NP a park ranger said during a campfire program that there were at least four known black bears in the area. He indicated that they avoided people ("the hate people" was the exact phrase) because there was legal hunting in the area. I'm not sure about Mt Rainier, but the only requirement was that food should be stored inside the car.
When I was at Yellowstone (not camping) the requirement was that food should be in the trunk or otherwise out of sight. It sounds as if they've occasionally had bears breaking into cars if they saw food through a window.
So Yosemite is where bears have mastered breaking into cars. They have a similar prohibition on food storage at SEKI. Tahoe is interesting too. All campgrounds in the area have bear boxes and require that cars be cleared of food at night. However - there are so many places where such restrictions aren't in place. You could be parking at the Harrah's Lake Tahoe parking lot where there are occasionally bears nearby. I think they tend to avoid getting too close because of all the people. South Lake Tahoe doesn't seem to have too many problems, but I suppose the smaller communities around Tahoe probably have less traffic for bears to avoid.
May 02, 2011 08:01AM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,374 |
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AlmostThere
Yosemite is at a disadvantage because the park service used to encourage bear feeding. Generations upon generations of bears enjoying people's leavings - teaching each other and their cubs how to get that wonderful, high calorie nummy stuff.
April 30, 2011 11:14PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 141 |
May 01, 2011 10:47AM | Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 426 |
May 01, 2011 11:49AM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,374 |
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robinjayp
The rangers do check cars at night. One year I noticed someone looking in my car with a flashlight in the middle of the night. I called out from my tent and it was a ranger looking for storage violations in cars (they did this many times during our visit). The ranger then went to the next campsite, woke the people up, and told them to take their visible cooler out of their car and put it in the bear box. They actually argued with the ranger and finally complied. I believe they received a ticket too. Once the ranger left, they took the cooler out of the bear box and put it back in their car. Sigh...
May 01, 2011 12:06PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,882 |
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y_p_w
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robinjayp
The rangers do check cars at night. One year I noticed someone looking in my car with a flashlight in the middle of the night. I called out from my tent and it was a ranger looking for storage violations in cars (they did this many times during our visit). The ranger then went to the next campsite, woke the people up, and told them to take their visible cooler out of their car and put it in the bear box. They actually argued with the ranger and finally complied. I believe they received a ticket too. Once the ranger left, they took the cooler out of the bear box and put it back in their car. Sigh...
I saw a warning ticket on a car once - parked at the Yosemite Lodge parking lot. It was for storage of (I kid you not) cleaning fluids in the passenger compartment.
May 01, 2011 02:00PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,374 |
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tomdisco
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y_p_w
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robinjayp
The rangers do check cars at night. One year I noticed someone looking in my car with a flashlight in the middle of the night. I called out from my tent and it was a ranger looking for storage violations in cars (they did this many times during our visit). The ranger then went to the next campsite, woke the people up, and told them to take their visible cooler out of their car and put it in the bear box. They actually argued with the ranger and finally complied. I believe they received a ticket too. Once the ranger left, they took the cooler out of the bear box and put it back in their car. Sigh...
I saw a warning ticket on a car once - parked at the Yosemite Lodge parking lot. It was for storage of (I kid you not) cleaning fluids in the passenger compartment.
Bears have been know to break into a car to get to a can of engine oil. It it looks like a food container, it is a food container as far as they are concerned. You basically should not store anything in site. Some folks think you can hide food in the trunk but the bears just bust through a window and tear out the back seat to get at it. There are no short cuts. Don't store food or food cantainers anywhere in a car and don't leave a lot of miscellaneous items in plain site.
May 01, 2011 04:19PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 4,173 |
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tomdisco
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y_p_w
I saw a warning ticket on a car once - parked at the Yosemite Lodge parking lot. It was for storage of (I kid you not) cleaning fluids in the passenger compartment.
Bears have been know to break into a car to get to a can of engine oil. It it looks like a food container, it is a food container as far as they are concerned. You basically should not store anything in site. Some folks think you can hide food in the trunk but the bears just bust through a window and tear out the back seat to get at it. There are no short cuts. Don't store food or food cantainers anywhere in a car and don't leave a lot of miscellaneous items in plain site.
May 01, 2011 06:07PM | Admin Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 17,096 |
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plawrence
And yet none of the Yosemite bears have figured out how to break into the outdoor vending machines at the Yosemite Lodge, including the ones that display candybars in all illuminated glory at night. Not to mention the soda machines too.
I once asked a ranger about this. He didn't know the answer to this Yosemite paradox.
May 01, 2011 06:42PM | Moderator Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,876 |
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eeek
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plawrence
And yet none of the Yosemite bears have figured out how to break into the outdoor vending machines at the Yosemite Lodge, including the ones that display candybars in all illuminated glory at night. Not to mention the soda machines too.
I once asked a ranger about this. He didn't know the answer to this Yosemite paradox.
Perhaps it is because vending machines are build to withstand human abuse?
Re: Bears Bears Bears May 01, 2011 09:23PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 923 |
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szalkowski
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eeek
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plawrence
And yet none of the Yosemite bears have figured out how to break into the outdoor vending machines at the Yosemite Lodge, including the ones that display candybars in all illuminated glory at night. Not to mention the soda machines too.
I once asked a ranger about this. He didn't know the answer to this Yosemite paradox.
Perhaps it is because vending machines are build to withstand human abuse?
... or that they don't contain actual food.
May 01, 2011 09:29PM | Registered: 14 years ago Posts: 426 |
May 01, 2011 11:12PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 4,173 |
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AlmostThere
All it will take is a bear seeing someone getting a vac sealed goodie out of it and walking away eating it. Proximity of bear + person using machine will eventually coincide.
Re: Bears Bears Bears May 03, 2011 04:47PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 923 |
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plawrence
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AlmostThere
All it will take is a bear seeing someone getting a vac sealed goodie out of it and walking away eating it. Proximity of bear + person using machine will eventually coincide.
But if Yosemite black bears have such a great sense of smell that they can sniff out food hidden in a trunk of a car, and have good enough vision and memory to recognize prepackaged and wrapped food by sight, they ought to already know that there is a lot of yummy food in them thar vending machines.
My theory is they don't attack the vending machines for possibly two reasons. First, the vending machines constantly make noise and give off heat, so maybe the bears think the vending machines are these big hulking creatures that are alive so they live them alone -- unlike cars that when the motor isn't running, don't make any noise and can get quite cold, like a dead animal.
Second, maybe the bears have tried attacking the vending machines and have a received a nice electrical shock for their efforts, so that could have discouraged the Yosemite bears from further pursuing the food and soda contained inside the vending machines.
May 03, 2011 05:48PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 4,173 |
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AlmostThere
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plawrence
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AlmostThere
All it will take is a bear seeing someone getting a vac sealed goodie out of it and walking away eating it. Proximity of bear + person using machine will eventually coincide.
But if Yosemite black bears have such a great sense of smell that they can sniff out food hidden in a trunk of a car, and have good enough vision and memory to recognize prepackaged and wrapped food by sight, they ought to already know that there is a lot of yummy food in them thar vending machines.
My theory is they don't attack the vending machines for possibly two reasons. First, the vending machines constantly make noise and give off heat, so maybe the bears think the vending machines are these big hulking creatures that are alive so they live them alone -- unlike cars that when the motor isn't running, don't make any noise and can get quite cold, like a dead animal.
Second, maybe the bears have tried attacking the vending machines and have a received a nice electrical shock for their efforts, so that could have discouraged the Yosemite bears from further pursuing the food and soda contained inside the vending machines.
X Ray vision might help them....
May 05, 2011 07:19PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,374 |
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AlmostThere
I doubt there is enough electricity in the front of the machine to drive away a bear - though, animals in general do not like electricity. There was actually a bear bag that was being sold with a battery pack, based on the notion that electric charges would drive away critters in general, and the current was in special wired straps around the bag. I was really interested in it and waiting to see if the setup would show up on the approved list. It never did. The last chatter about the system I could find in forums was 2007 - the website for the product has disappeared. The last page in the Wayback Machine is from 2009. All gone. So did the product fail, or did they simply run out of money to produce it? Don't know. But I bet you a bear could figure out the shock is merely surprising and get past it.
Re: Bears Bears Bears May 02, 2011 10:00AM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 670 |
May 02, 2011 04:34PM | Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 2,321 |
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mtn man
Was camping at Mono Village at Upper Twin Lake near Bridgeport. In the middle of the night I could hear a bear munching on what sounded like a styrofoam ice chest. This went on for at least an hour and a half. When I got up the next morning I looked around my neighbors' sites but couldn't see any ice chest or trash. Then I saw that a window was broken out of a small SUV. I walked up to it and saw that the bear had eaten the enitre interior of the car! He ate the dash, the headliner, the steering wheel, the seats, etc. All that was left were the wire structures of the seats and the metal part of the steering wheel! The people had left a bag of chips in the car. Get this, they still started it up and drove the car!
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Re: Bears Bears Bears May 15, 2011 07:37AM | Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 7 |
May 15, 2011 08:17AM | Moderator Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 1,918 |
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lovechris
I never remember a bear issue back then. Later in the 1970's there were designated campsites and then I remember bears roaming about looking for goodies.