[pct-l] BEAR AVOIDANCE - - - BEAR REPELLENT

[David Margavage]

In Kentucky I've seen campsites that were littered with Moth Balls.  When I
asked what it was about they told me, to keep snake away.  I think these
might replace the "anti-snake & bear tone generator."

On 1/22/09, Tortoise <Tortoise73 at charter.net> wrote:
>
> I have heard of using mothballs before and have wondered how well this
> works in practice.
>
> I tired it once but did not use the packaging method you used. We had
> moth ball odors (and thus chemicals) penetrating into our food.
>
> So it is good to hear of your experience.
>
> I'm wondering if there are any other problems with using the mothballs?
> The active ingredient is, I've heard, pretty nasty to humans. So I'm
> interested in knowledge.
>
> Tortoise
>
> <> He who finishes last, wins! <>
>
>
>
> Jereen Anderson wrote:
> > From: MendoRider/ Ed Anderson
> > With all this discussion relating to BEARS I finally decided to chime in.
> First a little background. I started backpacking in the Sierra in the early
> 1950's and did the JMT in the late 50's. During the 50's and 60's I covered
> about 2500 miles on backpacking/fishing/climbing trips. It is significent
> that bears were not a problem in the high country, where I spent most ofmy
> time. I never even saw a bear except at lower elevations at trail heads or
> at car-accessible campgrounds. I did'nt see many people either. I recall, in
> 1958, on a forth-of-july weekend, crossing ffom Whitney Portal to Mineral
> King via the Kern and Rattlesnake Creek and not seeing one person. I did see
> American Red Wolves juth south of Kern Hot Spring. I was to learn that three
> pairs had been introduced to help control rodent populations.
> > By the 1970' and 1980's there were more backpackers and packers - more
> people- and bears became a problem. Even at high country camps we sometimes
> were visited and sometimes lost food. You can't really hang your food from
> tree limbs when you are near or above timberline. There  were no bear
> canisters. I remember having to keep food under water, weighted and in a
> waterproof bag on the end of a cord and tossed into a lake or into a still
> pool. It worked.
> > 25 years ago Jereen and I discovered horses. We did a lot of endurance
> riding and eventually taking saddlebagging trips into wilderness areas for
> up to 5 days, since that was the limit of what we could carry on just one
> horse.
> > About 19 years ago we found out about Bear Charms from friends who had
> spent a lot of time in the Yukon and Alaska on canoeing trips. They told us
> about their trips and about what they had learned about how to discourage
> bears. This from others who lived and traveled in the North. They used
> mothballs in cotton tobacco sacks, referred to as "bear Charms". We have
> used them since then on all of our saddlebagging trips onto wilderness areas
> of California and Oregon. Bears never bother us.
> > What follows is what I did to keep bears out of my camps during my 2008
> solo thru-ride on the PCT. Please note that I did'nt go through the Sierra
> with my horse because of the deep snow. I mostly lived on the trail for
> nearly 4 months. I did not go into towns for 0 days as most of the hikers
> did. I drove ahead and cached my supplies instead.
> > It's my in-camp approach that might interest some of the hikers. I
> usually camped alone since my horses needs were different (grass, water,
> trees to highline) from the hikers needs in a camp. I never slept with food
> in my tent. Primos food included COB with molasses---lots of scent. I
> prepacked all horse food in sealed Food Saver bags, which are air-tight. My
> food was stored in double ZipLock bags.At night, all of these in a large
> OpSak, which lets out no smells. I would make a pile, usually on top of a
> large rock or log, of my saddle, saddle pad, pack bags and my OpSak,
> containing my food. This pile would be covered by a tarp.Now we come to the
> Bear Charms. I carried 24 of these (2or 3 mothballs inside each cotton
> tobacco sack) These were stored while travelling in a double ZipLock bag
> inside a small OpSak. This weighs 6 or 7 ounces. I would surround my
> saddle/food pile and my tent with the Bear Charms, using about half at each
> location. If there
> >  would have been any lingering food smells they were masked by the moth
> ball smell. Moth balls apparently don"t smell anything like food to the
> bears. They have a great sense of smell and don't check out my camps.This
> approach has so far worked for me.
> >
> >
> >
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