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help racoons

Started by jmckinle1, May 15, 2007, 09:00 PM

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Camping Coxes

Quote from: DrayMy next trip is in an area known to have bears. I was wondering what kind of advice you all have for camping in these types of places. Should I have food in the fridge? Thanks.
Based on where you are, I'm thinking you're going to Sequioa or Tahoe.  Both places have bear boxes and I strongly suggest you use them.  Call ahead and find out the dimensions of the box to be sure your cooler will fit (most will, but I had one with a domed lid that didn't).  Keep only canned, sealed things in the trailer.  By sealed, I basically mean canned.  Keep your toiletries in the box too.  I kept our curtains closed most of the time so the pots and pans I had on racks weren't visible.  The bears have learned what food containers look like.
 
The rangers are very helpful in advising you what you can keep and not keep in the trailer.   When you've emptied a cooler, store it OPEN so the bear can see there's nothing in there and mosey on his way.  They don't want to bother you, they don't want to eat you -- they just want to find food.  We've camped both places several times, even had a family of bears amble by our site during the day, look at us, and keep going.  DH has been in the bathroom in the middle of the night and had a bear come in, look around for trash, and leave.  
 
Only problem we had was when DH left a beer bottle on the picnic table as we hiked.  And we didn't have a problem with a bear, but the rangers left us a "love note" informing us we had done a no-no.

Dray

Thanks Trina.

I am actually fascinated with bears.  But I also have a certain level of fear about them too.  I know about the special lockers and if the site has them we will use of course.  If they don't I will keep stuff in my TV.  I don't want one busting my TV but it's better than going into the PU!  

By the way.  We're goin to a place called Bear River Lake Resort.  Does the name of the place give a clue that there may be bears in the area.

curryp

As you can see I am from the Adirondacks of NYS where black bears are common. I have done mostly tent camping on islands of a lake. The bear problem varies from year to year. One year we had a small bear at our site looking for food. From my experiences here is what I can offer.

*Use the fridge for beverages only.
*Don't prepare meals or eat meals in the camper.
*If you should spill a drink, be sure you clean it up good right away.
*Don't store empty food or beverage containers in the camper.
*Store coolers and containers outside the camper and cover with a space blanket (to help with insulation) from Cabelas. Covering will deter the bear from seeing the container. They have learned that containers have food and they will do what they can to get one including going through vehicle windows.  
*Place moth balls around the coolers to mask any food odors.
*Be sure garbage is taken from the site nightly or put up high in a tree.
*Don't feed ducks or other animals by spreading out food. What they don't eat will be left there and will attract bears.

I have done the above things and have never had problems with bears while other sites nearby have. One year around 5 am I heard campers at a nearby site banging pots and pans.  A bear was trying to get in their tent. They had two small children who had been snacking in the tent earlier in the day and food scraps were in the tent. Later in the day they packed up all their gear and ended their camping trip early.  The week after we left the site where we had no problems the people camping there did have problems. They were feeding cornmeal to the ducks and what the ducks didn't get the bears did.