Bears

[paddleboy17]

All:

It does not matter if you are in bear country or not.  The techniques for camping in bear country should be practiced everywhere.  There are other more likey varmints that you will encounter, and hanging your food up in a tree is just as effective against them.  Besides, just because a camp site was not in bear country last year is not guarantee that there are not bears nearby this year.

[PeteJack]

If you hang your food in a tree or put it in a bear box don't forget to take it with you next morning. Sounds daft but it's been done, I know whereof I speak.

[bobbys beard]

i only encountered one bear in the states while stealth camping. i was in woods, less than 50 yds from the road and in georgia of all places! never expected to find bears in the south.

it was just walking through and probably wouldn't have stopped if i hadn't started making noise and shouting. it came over to take a look at me for what felt like forever, then calmly sloped back off into the woods. i slept in the same spot and had no more encounters all night.

i had a far scarier encounter with a coyote on a proper campsite in california though. it ended up ripping my rucksack to pieces and carrying off a bag of food i had in there. that was terrifying as i was in my tent just by it.

but the biggest problem of all was raccoons. they NEVER give up!!!

[freightbike]

I wonder if anyone has experience with Cougars. You know, the four legged kind.

[TwoWheeledExplorer]

I wonder if anyone has experience with Cougars. You know, the four legged kind.

I'd be more scared to run into the two-legged kind! Seriously, there was a mountain biker attacked and killed by a (four legged, furry) cougar in California in early 2004, and a 2nd was wounded. Sounded like the cat was actually stalking them before it attacked. But that was the only reported attack I could find.

Ride safe,
Hans