In regards to the many comments on bears and safety... Bear sprays may work...but don't count on it...they have worked and have failed. If cubs are involved...all bets on predicting behavior are off...but getting stuck between any bear and the cubs is very bad news, and again, making noise is important to avoid surprising a bear. Two years ago in Yellowstone the rangers were claiming that there are no alive bears known at that time to be aclimated to humans or human food as a source of bear food. I don't believe this is true in Glacier. Polar bears are much more likely to stalk people as prey, even if the bear has no human exposure, than the either black or grizzly bears...(I have never seen a polar bear in the wild, but have known people that have worked with them...and this is what they have told me.). I have wondered in regards to food storage...if no trees are available would it be effectivie to put your food in a waterproof bag, that can collapese to equalize pressures, and then sink it to the bottom of a lake or ocean about twenty feet, with a float and rope for retrieval? Would this keep a bear away, prevent a bear from detecting or raiding the food? Has anyone done or heard of this technique...in a pinch. And would sea lions and seals get into it if it were properly sealed? Just wondering.....my guesss it that it would work well for bears, and who knows for sea mammalls.... Michael Orchard, DVM Vancouver, Washington *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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