[pct-l] Scary bear story & not hanging food

[dude at fastmail.ca (dude)]

> 'cmon.....the black bears want food, they don't just rip up stuff that
> doesn't smell like food...

yes they do!!  I've seen it!  I saw it two weeks ago at the top of 
Nevada Falls.  A bear was wondering around getting into every single 
pack that was laying around unattended.  No food in these packs.  The 
bear would rip them open, find nothing, and move on to the next pack.

The Park Service at Yosemite has uncounted stories of cars that were 
smashed in by bears because there was an *empty* pack or cooler in 
plain sight inside the car;  nothing in the cooler or pack.  The 
explanation is that bears have had so much experience already locating 
food inside packs and coolers that they now associate them with food 
regardless of if they actually have food in them.  Humans have trained 
bears to not only ignore, but to actually *distrust* their noses.

This is a fact.  If you want to test it out, I suggest you take an 
empty pack up to Cathedral Lakes in Yosemite and leave it next to your 
tent when a bear wanders by.  See what happens.

peace,
dude

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