Yellowstone

[kathy884]

Wow --After that I'd put all my food in a bear box too. At Yellowstone any bear that makes the association between people and food or minivans and food gets destroyed. Really sad for the bears. That's why they make such a big deal of not keeping the food out, so the association is never made. Everyone is cool with the bears passing through the campground, but not cool with any evidence of looking for food from humans.

 

[bcla]

Wow --After that I'd put all my food in a bear box too. At Yellowstone any bear that makes the association between people and food or minivans and food gets destroyed. Really sad for the bears. That's why they make such a big deal of not keeping the food out, so the association is never made. Everyone is cool with the bears passing through the campground, but not cool with any evidence of looking for food from humans.

I mentioned food storage to a ranger at Grand Teton, and he relayed a story of the time he went camping on vacation in Yosemite. He was about to stash his cooler in a bear box when he turned around for a second and then saw a juvenile bear jump in an try to drag the cooler. He was able to scare it away. He said Yosemite bears are a completely different category of sneaky. Some in the Rockies call them "gangster bears".

Bears in Yellowstone or GT are pretty tame compared to that, when it comes to raiding campgrounds. Now grizzly bears and defensive attacks are another thing. That's the reason why the superintendents have approved the carrying of bear pepper spray and why every gift shop sells it. I have never seen a grizzly bear sow with cubs. They're the most dangerous because they may try to neutralize any perceived threat to the cubs. I would piss in my pants if I ever came across one.