Re: Bear facts campground

hi

i found this site because of the weeklt bear facts, now we want to go camping in yosemite next year end July begin August (in a tent).
Now i just have to convince my wife that the chance of a bear roaming the campground at night is small.
I know about storing the food and not having any smelly stuf in the tent should keep you safe.

But are there any campgrounds that have less bear encounters then others ? Also i read that ranger "guard"some campgrounds at night for bears which campgrounds are these ?

thanks

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onyx666
hi

i found this site because of the weeklt bear facts, now we want to go camping in yosemite next year end July begin August (in a tent).
Now i just have to convince my wife that the chance of a bear roaming the campground at night is small.
I know about storing the food and not having any smelly stuf in the tent should keep you safe.

It WILL keep you safe. No question about it.

If one's food (and scented items) are properly stored in the bear-proof food lockers that each campsite has, there is — for all intent and purposes — ZERO chance that a bear will enter one's tent at night.

On the other hand, there is ALWAYS a chance that a bear (or bears) will wonder through your campsite at night. But Yosemite bears (as long as there's no food or scented items to attract them) are basically giant, but harmless, fur balls that wonder around the park in search of food but will leave us humans alone (as long as our food is stored away safely from them).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2013 01:40PM by plawrence.

Quote
onyx666
hi

i found this site because of the weeklt bear facts, now we want to go camping in yosemite next year end July begin August (in a tent).
Now i just have to convince my wife that the chance of a bear roaming the campground at night is small.
I know about storing the food and not having any smelly stuf in the tent should keep you safe.

But are there any campgrounds that have less bear encounters then others ? Also i read that ranger "guard"some campgrounds at night for bears which campgrounds are these ?

thanks

Are you asking about Yosemite Valley campgrounds, or back country campgrounds, or car camping campgrounds outside of the Valley?

The Valley campgrounds are patroled every night by "bear patrol." They carry flashlights and noise makers to scare the bears away. I have not heard, in recent history, of a bear entering an occupied tent in Yosemite Valley. The noisy drunks in the next site over are more of a problem than bears.

One thing to keep in mind though; since the Park was established the ONLY animal that has killed a human are deer. Both times the person was being stupid and feeding the deer. So, stay away from the deer and forget about the bears.

Yes valley campgrounds

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onyx666
Yes valley campgrounds

Over the years I have camped in the Valley campgrounds, usually in late May or early June. This is not a scientific fact but when listening to my scanner I seem to hear more calls for bears in Upper Pines than the other 2 campgrounds. However in the last few years it seems there have been a lot less spottings of bears in those campgrounds. Plawrence's advice is right on. Just keep anything that may have a scent, including toothpaste, perfume, etc. out of your tent (and car) 24 hr.s/day...Keep everything in the bear box. The bears, if you are lucky enough to see one, are much more of a novelty than a danger as long as you follow the rules. But the bottom line as to which campground to choose in early August (don't know if you've ever tried getting a reservation that time of year) is that you'll be lucky to even get a site, so don't worry about trying to single out one campground for bear reasons.

Wrong question! It is pretty-much guaranteed that one or more bears will roam each campground every night. Since the campgrounds are 100% full every night with hundreds of people in their tents, many of whom will get out of their tents and visit the bathrooms, etc. in the dark, and there are ZERO instances of those bears harming anyone, your wife should realise that the presence of bears is not any kind of problem that she should be concerned about in any way. IOW, don't try to persuade your wife that there are no bears, try to help her understand that the bears are totally harmless.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2013 12:15PM by Royalist.

I don't know if this will help your wife or not but this is an abbreviated story that I have posted here in the past. We were camping in Upper Pines when I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Since I could see the lights of the bathroom a few campsites away, I did not take a flashlight with me. As I was walking to the bathroom, I could hear breathing and footstep behind me and thought it was one of the guys playing a joke. When I got to the bathroom and could see around me, I noticed that it was a bear that had been following behind me. As I was standing next to the bathroom, it walked past me and it did not even look in my direction and continued to walk in the direction it was going. It was not following me but it just happened that I was going in the same direction it was going. Unless she plans to slather herself with peanut butter and walk to the bathroom in the dark, she has nothing to worry about.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2013 01:30PM by parklover.

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parklover
slather herself with peanut butter

Hey, some people like that kind of thing...