Dave Said... "Mind you, all of these interactions were with bears which were **not** habituated to associate humans with food they like to eat. Bears which are habituated to seek out human encampments as a food source are very different in their behavior." Absolutely something good to keep in mind...my only bear encounters(here in the White Mountains of New Hampshire) happened a few weeks ago while camping in a roadside campground- not only did I wake up one morning with a large black bear peeking in my tent door(I could have poked him in the nose he was so close...I decide not too:)), but he came back later that evening and climbed up on a picnic table that we were all sitting at up until the bear arrived. He must have developed a fondness for Doritos and beer from previous campers. Sadly, once bears begin to make habits of certain campgrounds , they often end up destroyed(according to the ranger who showed up that evening) That said, the insane reaction of fellow campers in the campsite to the presence of the bear, and the realization that habitual and irresponsible use of campgrounds in bear country is leading to the creation of many more "bad bears" has made me vow to never again use a large public campground. I have been camping for years in bear areas-every time I have hung my food and taken special precautions, and I've never even seen a footprint in the morning... Sorry if this is a bit of a digression... *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Aug 16 1999 - 12:24:26 PDT
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