Dave Kruger wrote: >>>>>>Note: "dumb bear" = one that has not figured out people food is bear food (yet); smart bear = otherwise<<<<<< I disagree, I think there are only smart bears that have been protected from humans (and therefore don't fear messing with their food or walking into their cars or camps and helping themselves) and smart bears in the wild that have been hunted by humans. This second group of smart bears, try to avoid being seen by humans and tend to run like hell when they are surprised by one. Either type can smell food that isn't in sealed tin cans or some equally airtight container, my understanding is that a bear's sense of smell is about 10 times better than a dogs. Of course the smart park bears have learned that the tin cans are crunchy on the outside but good on the inside without having to smell them. They have also learned to check the camping cooler first. One of these protected smart bears broke into a couple of my friend's kayaks on Lake Superior one evening. They watched as she messed up the first hatch pretty bad getting into it but then quickly learned the system with the next two hatches so that she only put one eyetooth through the rubber seal as she peeled off the fourth gasket seal with a deft circular motion of the head and then did the same with the inner edge seal (a seal that most humans in my shop have trouble figuring out how to open on their own). Because bears are smart they are unpredictable, just like humans. They don't act just out of primitive instincts but also behave according to the things they have learned (and probably the emotions of the moment too). Matt Broze, (who outran a black bear chasing him down a steep hill when he was only four). That early 50's vintage Yellowstone Park bear gave up the chase and came screeching to a halt when faced with a momma human standing her ground (and wielding a big stick she had hastily chosen to transform from firewood to a club once she saw the situation I was in). www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri May 31 2002 - 21:09:32 PDT
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