[pct-l]smelling bears

[jape at nethere.com (Eckert)]

Steve Courtway wrote:

><snip> the women who run with the squirrels are 3, and I don't
>think they want to enforce a code of silence when camping.
>Again, bears can HEAR and SMELL further than they can SEE.
><snip>
>
we had a conversation at work today, revolving around this topic.  I 
have read that bears have much better sniffers than dogs, and dogs are 
famous for their ability to nose out narcotics and such, even when the 
odors are disguised by coffee, gasoline and all that.  This would 
suggest to me then, that every car in the Yosemite parking lot would be 
a candidate for destruction...in that every car is going to contain a 
substantial amount of residual food odor from the last fast food joint, 
the groceries that just traveled 400 miles in the trunk...

But, only cars with visible enticements seem to be torn open.  In fact, 
visitors are repetitively told to hide, cover up, and remove everything 
from the car, in the way of candy wrappers, ice chests, and pick-a-nick 
baskets.  What appears to be a bear's need for visual support of an 
encouraging odor might might be a part of the explanation of why stealth 
camping has been so successful, so far.  A stuff sack, full of stanky 
food, and a-danglin' from a tree branch provides both scent and sight 
signals to the bear, and the animal will work for hours to be able to 
make off with it.  But a stuffed sleeping bag, full of stanky hiker, on 
top of a food bag would not offer the visual clue to the bear that would 
support his olfactory suspicions.

Of course, the first time a bi-polar bruin chose to chomp, and "to hell 
with visual confirmation", a whole new bear problem would emerge.

my thoughts,

Eckert