[philmont] Bear Boxes

Bears in Yosemite and Yellowstone open cars now days. Locked cars. I
haven't looked for a while but there was a video on the web of a bear
opening a car at Yosemite. The bear runs, jumps on the roof and pries open
the door in the space between the hood and the door with their claws.
Quicker than you can do it with a key. All food at campgrounds in Yosemite
are put in bear boxes.

What is an effective bear box. Based on Yosemite, it is a steel storage
container that you see on semi's going down the interstate that is locked.
The ranger comes around and everyone takes there food and puts it in the
container and the ranger locks it up. Comes back the next morning and
unlocks it for people.

The small bear boxes you can carry in our pack are very ineffective. The
bear cannot get in to them, but there is no way to secure them. If you want
them around the next day you have to put them in a bear bag in a tree.
Bears bat them around and out of camp.

So we either haul in semi's with steel continues to use or use the present
system.

Philmont has done a great job with bears, which is why you don't see them.

Jim Moss

-----Original Message-----
From: philmont@troop47.com [mailto:philmont@troop47.com] On Behalf Of Lou
Schwing
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 4:35 PM
To: philmont List Member
Subject: [philmont] Bear Boxes

On Jan 18, 2007, at 2:59 PM, Terry Pogue wrote:

> There is a whole industry out there that makes all kinds of bear
> proof containers; some are for trash in suburban areas that have
> increasing bear populations.

There was a bear in our local mountains that figured out how to open the
"bear proof" trash cans. Basically, all he did was hit it so hard, the lid
would spring open. The trash cans, and the bear, have been removed.

> The western campsite boxes are pretty clever. I was very surprised to
> see all the tree damage done by the improperly attached cables to
> trees and the damage done by crew ropes; I think PSR is 10 to 12 years
> behind most bear management food programs.

The Tetons require canisters, but they also provide bear boxes in all the
group sites. That was very handy!

> Don't ask crews to bring the bear-proof cannisters, put in the steel
> boxes.

It would be expensive, because of all the camp sites. But there would be a
way to centralize some of the boxes and eliminate the need for one at every
site. They're pretty hardy too - they'd last quite a while!

Lou

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Received on Thu Jan 18 20:43:39 2007