RE: [pct-l] Bear-bagging

["Eric Lee (Office)" <elee@MICROSOFT.com>]

Kurt wrote:

>
It occurs to me that if that's the case perhaps using a 50 foot piece of
stranded
wire instead of parachute cord might improve the odds.  I am thinking of
hanging
over a stout limb, but not counterbalancing.  The wire would be tied-off to
itself,
probably at the base of the hang tree.  The bag, of course, would be located
at the
recommended distances from limb, trunk, and ground.
>

I don't know much about bear-bagging in general, but it seems to me that a
smart bear could simply find your wire where you've tied it off to the tree
and tug on it until it pulls your bag up and over the branch.

In any case, it's likely that any wire that's flexible enough to be uncoiled
and thrown over a tree branch would probably be able to be severed with some
determined gnawing.  I suppose you could conduct a rough test by placing
your wire on a rock, putting some tension on it, then sawing away vigorously
with a sharp stone.  Remember, bear's jaws are a lot stronger than ours, and
animals can be much more determined that you'd imagine.  On the other hand,
any wire that's sturdy enough to pass that test would probably be extremely
difficult to get hung over a branch.

Given what I've heard of the Sierra bears (where most of the problems
occur), any bear-proofing plan that relies on the animals being too weak,
too impatient, or too stupid to defeat it probably won't work.  Bear
canisters work because bears are physically unable to delicately manipulate
small objects such as locking screws, no matter how smart, strong, or
determined they are.  Your plan assumes that bears are too weak and
impatient to chew through stranded wire, or to remove it from the branch in
some other way.  I wouldn't bet on that.

Eric
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