Bears

[John Nelson]

I shooed him away.

My experience with raccoons is that they ignore my shooing attempts. I think they know that I don’t have a gun.

[BikeliciousBabe]

I shooed him away.

My experience with raccoons is that they ignore my shooing attempts. I think they know that I don’t have a gun.

My first ever tour was ACA's unsupported Northern Tier. The first night marked the first night I had ever camped. Went to use the facilities in the middle of the night. Walking back to my tent I discovered a raccoon on the picnic table about to get into our food. So you see, grasshopper, I have been honing my technique ever since. I sometimes get to practice my skills when out on my back deck as they sometimes roam the urban alleyways.

[hikerjer]

I remember a park service sign I saw in one national park on a picnic table and I can't remember if it referred to raccoons or ravens, but it said to the effect,

"Secure your food and camp. They are (raccoons or ravens) clever, persistent and nasty".  Seemed appropriate.

[BikeliciousBabe]

I remember a park service sign I saw in one national park on a picnic table and I can't remember if it referred to raccoons or ravens, but it said to the effect,

"Secure your food and camp. They are (raccoons or ravens) clever, persistent and nasty".  Seemed appropriate.

During my June trip in MT and ID the crows (or ravens) were off the hook. In Avery, ID, there is a set of dumpsters for residents to dispose of their trash. Maybe 6 or 7 of them. Lots of trash on the ground around them. Local told me the crows are responsible most of the mess.

[Pat Lamb]

Shouldn't be very difficult to make crow-resistant dumpsters!  Getting the residents to close the doors might be a problem, though.

[BikeliciousBabe]

Yeah. Some of them were left wide open and were quite full, making for easy pickin's. Not exactly a tony area. Looked like the dumpsters are not emptied frequently.

[geotrouvetout67]

If you fly to a pretty remote place, you can’t carry bear sprays in your luggage. How do you folks do? One option is to buy it locally but if you are not 100% sure it’s available locally, it’s a risky option. Maybe have it shipped to the post office and pick it up at destination? I don’t know if pose offices do that.

[John Nettles]

I have shipped via ground shipping, can't remember if it was USPS or UPS but it had to be ground.  If UPS, then ship to a hotel, bike shop, etc. but get permission first so they don't reject the shipment.
Tailwinds, John

[staehpj1]

I have never bothered with bear spray.  That said my understanding is that it can be mailed USPS ground.  You can use general delivery to mail things to yourself via a local post office near your starting location.  Google "general delivery".

I know that when mailing isobutane canisters they needed to have some specific language on the package.  That included the "ORM–D" designation, but I don't have any idea if that apples to bear spray.  I don't think it does, but you might want to google it to be sure.

BTW, I agree that burying trash is a big no no.

[geotrouvetout67]

yes indeed stove gas is a similar situation, would have to be mailed. For sure burying trash is a huge no-no, it's not much different than just dropping it on the ground. Bears or no bears.

[hikerjer]

You know,  I'll be the first to admit that I like bears and love seeing them but let's face it, black bears can be a bit of a nuisance and sometime a real pain in the behind.  Grizzlies while magnificent animals, are just plain scary and dangerous.

[BikeliciousBabe]

You know,  I'll be the first to admit that I like bears and love seeing them but let's face it, black bears can be a bit of a nuisance and sometime a real pain in the behind. 

Yeah. They can really interrupt a nice hike:

https://komonews.com/news/local/i-was-terrified-says-lacey-woman-on-heart-pounding-encounter-with-bear

Notice how the bugger did not mess with anyone. They are not all out to kill you.

[Pat Lamb]

But sometimes they are. 

There were a couple of serious black bear attacks in east Tennessee some 10 years ago.  One killed a woman in the Great Smoky Mountains NP, the other either injured or badly killed (can't remember now) a young child in Cherokee National Forest south of there.  First fatai bear attack in the Smokies since it was founded, IIRC.

The bears I've encountered haven't been that bad.  And I ended up really close to one getting between it and my wife and daughter -- then it walked off.

[BikeliciousBabe]

But sometimes they are. 

Sometimes. Last month I rode and up and back on the Great Allegheny Passage to have dinner with an old friend/former student who lives in Pittsburgh. Her ex-husband was the volunteer who was killed, partially consumed and cached by a grizzly in Yellowstone maybe 3 or 4 years ago. It's believed that he came between a mom and her two cubs while out for a short hike, possibly to test his knee that he had injured earlier in the summer.  Mom was "euthanized." Plan was to do the same to the cubs.