[pct-l] new cheap bear can

[warren@valcourplantation.com (Bruce Warren)]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Carl,

Thanks for your input. Looks like I am going to be driving out to Yellowsto=
ne and doing my own tests just like I did in New Mexico.

I never leave my pack out alone, the squirrels and the coons and the ants w=
ill get it. It's either on my back, next to me as I cook, or in the tent. W=
hen I sleep, everything goes into my tent, including me, my pack, and two s=
tealth cans with all my food, firstaid, toiletries, kitchen gear, and trash=
... i.e. all smellables.  The only thing I leave out is the camp towel/bib =
I wear to catch any food slobber. I wash it and hang it on a tree some dist=
ance away to dry. These habits were developed to keep out the fire ants, no=
t the bears. Fire ants will find a spec of food a bear would never detect. =
A lot of folks think a plastic bag seals in odors, and can't figure out how=
 the bear discovered their food. (The Garcia folks ship a plastic bag with =
their can.). No plastic film stops odors.

At the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, about 800 bears share 125,000 ac=
res with 30,000 backpackers each summer. They are second only to Yellowston=
e bears in their quest for human food. One of the manned remote cabins used=
 to store and issue backpacking food had the siding ripped off one night by=
 a hungry black bear, another cabin had the front door smashed in. They sho=
t the bears and put an electric fence around the cabins, energized at night=
.

When Yellowstone bears start attacking tents that emit only the smell of a =
stinky hiker, it'll be time to start shooting some bears.
And we will all be carrying an ultra-light electric fence rig to set up aro=
und the tent each night. But the ants would still come!

Bruce Warren

...When in doubt, gas it!