Food Safety to Help Avoid Bears in the Wilderness

If you plan on venturing into the wilderness on a camping or hiking trip, you need to be prepared to deal with potentially dangerous wildlife. Bears in particular need to be respected and avoided. One of the easiest ways to avoid bears is to be careful with storing and preparing food.

Choosing the Safest Camping Food

Strong smelling food like tuna or garlic can attract bears easiest. When you choose which foods to pack, try to avoid foods that have strong odors. Canned or dried food is a much better choice. Not only do these types of food last longer, but they give off fewer odors too. Individual packaged food is better than larger packages that have to be manually resealed.

Safely Storing Your Camping Food

One mistake many campers make is not taking adequate precautions for storing food. All too often food is stored either in the same tent you sleep in or in a nearby cooler. This can be a very bad idea. You are essentially drawing the bears right to wear you are vulnerably sleeping.

Your food should be stored a good distance away from your tent (at least 100 meters). To prevent food odors from blowing through your campsite, your food storage location should also be downwind from your campsite. When picking a location to store food, think of how close to your campsite you would be comfortable having bears. Obviously that is not very close at all.

For actual food storage, you have a few choices. There are bear proof containers available in a variety of sizes. These bear proof storage lockers make it nearly impossible for bears to get at your food. It might not be practical to carry one of these durable containers to camp though.

The more traditional method for camping food storage is to hang your food up in a tree in an airtight bag. Since bears do have some tree climbing capabilities, it is best to hang the food at least 5 meters above ground and at least 4 feet away from the trunk of the tree. A bear could easily reach a bag if it is too low or too close to the trunk of the tree. This is not the most secure method because using too small a branch makes it possible for a bear to break the branch and using too large a branch makes it possible for a bear to climb out to your bag. Bears can also chew through ropes holding bags up in trees. So if you plan on hanging your food, counterbalance the rope with a second bag. Then use a long stick to retrieve tour bags afterwards. Or you can suspend the food bag between two trees. Some camps have existing ropes or poles setup to use instead of hanging food from branches.

As a last resort, you could also store your food in the trunk of your vehicle. This should be avoided though, as vehicles are not airtight and odors could leak out. This could lead to a bear scratching up your vehicle to get at your food. Bears with previous human contact may recognize coolers or other food containers. So don't just put food easily in sight in the front seat of your vehicle.

As your garbage may also have food odors, it is recommended that you also safely store your garbage with your food supply. Other fragrant items such as soap, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant and perfume should be stored with food too. If any of your clothes smell like food, be on the safe side and store these garments with your food. Ensure that no extra snacks are still in your daypack when you go to sleep. Tampons, napkins and toilet paper can also lure bears if not stored properly.

Safely Cooking Food While Camping

Another mistake campers make is to cook food in the middle of the campsite. This will leave traces of food odors throughout your camping area. Assume that bears will come investigate your cooking area and position it away from your tent with your food supply.

While you are cooking, try to keep the area well ventilated. If you are inside a tent, open the flap to air out some of the odors. You don't want these areas still strongly smelling like food when you go to sleep. Do not cook in the tent you plan on sleeping in! Covering any frying food prevents excess odors too. When you are done frying food, completely burn any excess grease and oil.

Many people like to go fishing while they camp. If you are one of these people, don't clean your fish near your camp. Ideally, you would gut the fish in the middle of a lake where a bear would not smell the remains. Burying fish remains nearby is a bad idea.

Another tip for camp cooking is to avoid cooking too much food. Don't cook more than you can eat as leftovers smell more than packaged food.

Cleaning Up To Prevent Bears

Keeping your campsite clean of garbage and food scraps will help keep bears away. Immediately after cooking and eating, you should thoroughly clean all your dishes. Strain the pieces of food from your dishwater and store that with the rest of your garbage and food. To dispose of the dishwater, dig a shallow pit. Then poor in the dishwater and cover it with ashes or disinfectant. This will stop odors and decomposition.

While some people do not recommend burning any garbage while camping, it may be a good idea for any food scraps and food wrappers. It is better to burn these items leaving a temporary odor rather than keeping the items emitting bear attracting odors.

Always pack out what you pack in. Leaving any garbage behind can turn the campsite into a regular bear hang out.

Conclusion

Be aware of the necessary food storage and cooking precautions while camping. Do everything you can to keep food odors away from your camp. Taking these precautions is the easiest way to prevent a bear encounter.

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How to Avoid and Repel Bear Attacks in the Woods

Bear attacks can be a big problem for you to face if you have planned a nice picnic or a camping trip in the woods. People may often face such problems when camping, and things may turn out to be quite ugly with a bear ravaging through your tent and taking over your food supplies. The whole camping trip may get spoilt, and you may have to pack up and leave earlier than you thought because of such bear attacks.

Even though such attacks are not absolutely common, precaution against it can be a good idea when you are planning for a camping trip in the forest. There may be a number of things that you can use to prevent such a situation. Here are ways to avoid bear attacks and keep these animals away from your camp.

Safety against Bears

If you haven't heard of the bear safety kits, or at least have not tried using them, it may be a good idea to check these before you start for your camping trip to the forest. A number of such bear safety kits can be available in the market according to your requirements. You may come across bear repellent and bear spray as well. It is a good idea to check these products out for the best results.

But before you go for buying such products, it is a good idea to understand what makes bears attack you camp. There are a number of factors that can make a bear consider paying a visit to your camp. The smell of food cooking can be one of the main factors. The other reason for bears to attack a camp can be because it is a mother bear who is scared that the campers may actually harm her young cubs!

So What to Do?

There may be a host of other reasons why you may have to consider items like bear spray, bear repellent or some of the other bear safety kits to help you keep he bears at bay while you camp in the forest. You can carry a bear horn or a bear banger to create a good deal of noise, which frightens the bear away quite easily if you are loud enough! The bear repellent spray should be used as a last minute resort against these animals.

Moreover, it is an important matter to learn to be still and not panic when a bear attacks the camp you are a part of. You must learn exactly how to react understand such circumstances, or else all your safety measures against the bear may prove worthless. Keep your calm and use your resources wisely to drive the uninvited guest away!

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How to Avoid a Bear Attack

Most Canadian adventures will inevitably take you through bear country. Knowing how to avoid a bear attack is the best way to keep safe in the great outdoors.

There's different advice to follow when dealing with the three types of bears in Canada (black, grizzly & polar bear) but most people quickly forget them when they actually encounter a bear in the back-country.

The two general rules that have kept me safe in the Canadian Rockies for the past 20 years are:

Use common sense and always give notice of your location - Make noise every 100 meters or so and especially when rounding a corner or coming up to thick bush. Black & grizzly bears avoid human contact and alerting them before a human intrusion gives them enough time to retreat, most times without us even knowing they were there. Polar bears, being the largest land carnivore, aren't scared of puny humans.
Use common sense and don't attract bears. Black, grizzly and polar bears have excellent sense of smell and can sniff out food from over a kilometer away. Don't attract bears to you with tempting smells.

I am not a bear expert, ecologist or even an adventure guide. I'm just a regular weekend warrior who loves to discover Canada and have seen all three types of bears in their natural territory. Bears can be found across all of Canada except for the southern prairies, southern Ontario & Prince Edward Island.

The two rules mentioned above are what I use all the time when hiking, camping & boating (yes, bears can swim). Giving these intelligent creatures the room and respect that they deserve has prevented me from getting into a bear attack. However, if such an unfortunate escalation happens, knowing how to survive a bear attack is vital knowledge in the back-country.

Black Bears are the smallest of the bears in Canada and are more scavengers than hunters. They are opportunistic when it comes to food (and garbage). They lack the massive shoulder hump of muscle that characterizes the grizzly Bear.

Black bears in Canada can be black, brown or white-ish in colour. They are not endangered and estimated put their numbers at around 600,000 in North America. The white Spirit bear, or Kermode bear, is actually a black bear and can not mate with the grizzly or polar bear.

When encountering a black bear, do not be intimidated and do not show fear. Make yourself look as big as possible and make lots of noise to show that you will not cower. Even if it charges, stand your ground. I treat black bears as if they were a wild dog. Hold your ground and never run away.

Grizzly Bears have a MASSIVE shoulder hump and a large, circular face. They are solitary creatures and require large territories for each adult.

When encountering a grizzly bear, do not come across as a threat. Speak quietly, walk backwards slowly and do not make eye-contact. Do not run! Give them plenty of room and try to convince them that you do not threaten them in anyway. These are large powerful animals and they know their strength.

Polar Bears are the largest land carnivore on the planet. They are supreme hunters and can smell prey over a mile away. They are found along the coast of the Arctic Ocean & the Hudson Bay and on the rest of the Canadian Arctic islands.

Polar bears are formidable hunters so always walk with spray, bangers or a firearm. Do not run or show fear but be prepared to defend yourself.

Prevent a Bear Attack

It's always better to avoid a bear attack than to survive an attack. Here are a few tips to prevent an altercation:

Never trap a bear. Always give them plenty of room so they can keep clear. I give a high-pitch whistle every 100 meters which, I've been told by oncoming hikers, can be heard up to 500 meters away, much further than tiny bear-bells.
Give them time to acknowledge that a human is near and they will retreat.
Don't attract a bear. Stay aware and alert at all times. This may be hard to do when it's pitch black at night when they have the advantage, but black & grizzly bears don't usually hunt people, they hunt for the food that you're carrying. Seal all food in airtight bags & containers. When camping, place the food bag well away from the tent.
Don't wear scents and odours from cooking on your clothes or tent. You may not look like a delicious pasta dinner but to a bear, you may smell like one.
When encountering berry patches, fishing holes or dead animal carcasses be very careful as this may be their feeding area. Be vigilant near rivers (where they catch fish), roadside openings (where they graze on fresh vegetation) and berry patches (where they devour fresh crops). A hungry bear may protect its food source from intruders.
Stay away from mothers & cubs. The maternal instinct is strong and she may protect her family. Do not come across as a threat. Try praying at this point!

Scenic Travel Canada is a website that helps travelers and nature-lovers to discover Canada. There are plenty of things to do in Canada that cater to people of all fitness levels. From hiking in the Rockies to walking the sandy shores in the Maritimes, you'll be amazed at the beautiful Canadian scenery that awaits.

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