[pct-l] bears & food - and dogs

[goslowgofar at yahoo.com (goslowgofar)]

Well, I admit I've been deleting almost all of the "bear" posts, but I will comment on a couple of things here.
Yosemite did use bear dogs for a short while and they were somewhat successful.  I got to go out one night with the team in Tuolumne Meadows campground, and it was pretty cool to see the bears turn right around as soon as the dogs started after them.  The idea was to keep them outside of the camp boundary.  I don't remember the exact details about why the program didn't continue, but I think it wasn't cost effective and probably didn't work as well as had been hoped.  
The other comment I wish to make is that Yosemite does do more of the adverse conditioning than in the past.  For example, last summer the Rancheria area was closed to backpackers for awhile so the bear techs could do some hazing with rubber bullets.  There was a very aggressive sow who bluff charged unsuspecting hikers and she was teaching the method to her cubs.  
Okay, one more comment!  The park's wildlife biologist, who has an office next to mine (yes I'm one of those evil NPS employees) thought Monte's suggestion of using a wrist rocket (he made that post a year or two ago?) was a good one!  
 
And Dave, honestly, not all rangers are bad - but like every law enforcement agency, there are some that are better than others.
Peace,
Katy


Marshall Karon <m.karon@comcast.net> wrote:
On my hike through the High Sierras in August one year (think it was 1997),
I got into Tuolumne Meadows when the Park Service had some bear hunting dogs
on loan to keep the bears away. Didn't hear about then doing that in 1994 or
2000. Wonder if they are still doing it.

Marshall Karon
Portland, OR
m.karon@comcast.net

----- Original Message -----
From: 
To: 

Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 5:13 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] bears & food


> Hey, I agree that bear cans are harder for bears to get into than hung
food.
> My main point is that neither causes a bear to become afraid of humans. As
has
> been posted by others, bears have an incredible sense of smell. They are
> going to detect the fact that you have food no matter what you do with it.
They
> have no way of knowing from a distance whether they will be able to get
your
> food or not. If they are not afraid of you, they are going to enter your
camp to
> investigate. This close proximity is not good for them or us and is not a
> natural thing in the wilderness. They could get hurt by scared hikers
throwing
> rocks, we could get hurt if they get aggressive for some reason. I would
like to
> see the Park Service use methods that have been used in other areas with
> success to condition the bears to not enter our camps, mainly with non
injurious
> methods such as dog harassment. It makes sense to me. I just want the Park
> Officials to have open minds on this. I don't feel that they do when they
simply
> pass new regulations that rely on inexperienced hikers to solve the
problem for
> them. I am hoping that one of the many hundreds of people on this list
knows
> somebody in Park management well enough to influence them enough to at
least
> give the conditioning method a try.
> My experience with Park Officials here in Washington has shown that they
> pretty much do as they want and ignore public input. (the goat fiasco in
the
> Olympics -e-mail me if you want details). I fear that is the case in the
Sierra.
> I don't like the idea of being forced to carry extra weight, but that is
quite
> secondary to the welfare of the bears. I don't think they are on the right
> track and that is why I am speaking out. I guess it boils down to whether
or not
> you think bears should be afraid of us or not. Some people don't want them
to
> be so they can get up close and gawk at them and get close up pictures.
That
> is why they once had open dumps in Yosemite
> Hope this makes sense.
> _______________________________________________


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