[pct-l] Bear Canister thoughts and deterrence

[BWIL5272@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Brad Wilson)]

I was sixteen when I was getting ready for my AT thru-hike, it was one of my
first solo winter hikes - I was hiking all of NJ during my Feb vacation. I
hadn't seen anyone for four days when I stopped by a ranger station in high
point state park to warm up. I overheard a x-country skier talking to a
ranger about bear activity and if they were in danger skiing. The ranger
said they didn't have anything to worry about - that there were a lot of
bears in the area and that they were very active - but they would only go
after backpackers with food. Remember - this was one of my first solo hikes
and I was still terrified of bears. That night I peed a "yellow line of
defense" around the front of the lean-to (and used the supplied bear box). I
remembered seeing the guy in "Dances with Wolves" do something similar to
mark his territory - it seemed to work and as long as you're not camping
right next to a stream, I don't see what's wrong with it. Good to hear I'm
not the only one that has ever tried it!

-Zeb

On 1/26/03 12:18 AM, "Marion Davison" <mardav@charter.net> wrote:

> This post reminds me of the seemingly lost art of peeing around your tent to
> deter bears.  Anyone who has had a diaper pail in their house understands the
> connection.  We used this technique as one more weapon in our arsenal of bear
> deterrence strategies when we stealth camped the JMT in 96 and we had no bear
> visits in our camp that year.
> Marion Davison "llamalady"
>
> Jeff Bohannon wrote:
>
>> Made me think about the clerk at Kennedy Meadows telling me about them
>> spraying ammonia all around the outside of the store to keep bears away
>> after the 2000 fire.Apparently it really messes with a bears sense of smell.
>>
>> Would there be anything wrong with carrying say a 1 oz. spray bottle and
>> using a small amount on bear bag or canister as a deterrence? It is a
>> naturally occuring substance.
>>
>> rogue
>>
>>> I've never heard of a bear going after Listerine! Especially if you use
>>> that
>>> gross yellow kind.
>> pct-l
>>
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