RE: [Philmont]: Re: Bears

The bear advice should be taken --- very --- seriously. When I was at
Philmont in 1965 we saw a "bear box" of that era (a place to store excess or
unwanted trail food) that had been smashed open by a bear looking for his
next meal.

Even now I can recall a sense of incredulity that a bear could have the
strength to smash the box as it had been designed to be "bear proof".

Needless to say if that bear had attacked a person in the same way there
would have been at least a major injury or even a fatality.

So be sure you listen closely to the part of the briefing given by the
Philmont ranger on bear safety measures.

In a nonscouting backpacking venue in the Smokey Mountains during my
honeymoon my spouse, who has much better hearing than I do, insisted there
was a bear outside our tent and that we should beat pots and pans to keep
him away. I could hear nothing. We kept at this for most of the night.
Next morning we cautiously emerged from our tent and sure enough there was a
bear a few dozen yards away. He spotted us looking at him and then took
off.

We were lucky.

Joe Jansen
JAJansenJr@gmail.com

>From: Mmmeenehan@aol.com
>Reply-To: philmont@troop47.com
>To: Multiple recipients of list philmont <philmont@troop47.com>
>Subject: [Philmont]: Re: Bears
>Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 19:39:56 EDT
>
> >I know I'm getting facetious, but how much of this bear advice is
>good advice that is rarely required, and how much is it sober precautions
>for a real risk?
>
>One aspect that I haven't seen mentioned is that many of the protocols at
>Philmont are as much to protect the bears as to protect the campers. Sure
>you
>can probably get by with leaving smellables out of the bear bag. But what
>about the bear that gets used to hanging around campsites due to
>careless/reckless campers who don't want to take the time to follow the
>rules? I believe
>that bears at Philmont who don't have the proper fear of humans stand the
>risk
>of being trapped and relocated. More aggressive ones have been captured
>and
>destroyed. Everyone should religiously follow the Philmont bear
>protocols,
>not only for your protection but for the bear's welfare also. After all,
>while there may be 20,000 humans at Philmont each summer, there are only a
>couple of hundred bears!
>
>In my 10 trips to Philmont (including 2 Rayado treks & a season of
>Rangering) I've only seen 5-6 bears.
>
>Mike Meenehan
>National Capital Area Council

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Received on Wed Jun 1 21:46:24 2005