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From: Matt Broze <mkayaks_at_oz.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Bears
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 22:27:42 -0700
-----Original Message-----
From: E. Sullivan <sullivaned_at_pop.mts.kpnw.org>
To: p w <PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Date: Monday, August 16, 1999 5:25 PM
Subject: [Paddlewise] Bears


>Has anybody ever heard of a kayak being opened by a bear
>looking for treats? The only banditry I have ever
>experienced has been rodential or winged, so I sometimes
>secure food below deck when good hanging trees are not
>available.


Some friends of mine had a bear get into all four hatches of their kayaks on
the South shore of  Lake Superior shortly after starting a planned U.S.
circumnavigation. The bear did some damage at first but by the forth hatch
had it so well figured out that that hatch only suffered one fang hole in
the neoprene cover. Funny thing is that many people in my shop can't figure
out how to open this same hatch until I show them. Moral: Hang your food.
I've been in the woods a lot and seen dozens of bears but since the one
chased me down the hill to our camp in Yellowstone when I was four years old
i haven't had a problem with them. My mother chased it off with a big stick
from the firepalce while I scampered into the car. That bear probably knew
it wasn't safe to get between a human mother and her kids.
My dad once had to shoot a charging Black Bear while hunting Elk in Idaho.
He did everything he could to wave and whistle the huge black bear off
(figuring he hadn't been seen). When it charged to within ten yards or so
directly at him he reluctantly shot it.
Matt Broze
http://www.marinerkayaks.com


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