Sleeping in vehicle in black bear country (what to do with food)

[ThundahBeagle]

Lots of good stuff here, but a point on dogs. With a solitary bear a barking dog moving towards the bear will often cause the bear to go elsewhere. Against a mother and cubs it can end very badly for your dog, not matter how big a dog you have a 300 lb bear that wants to hurt the dog will win.

I once thought the same and am still careful about it. However, the science does not actually show that, among black bears at least. Researchers have shown that even black bear mamas with cubs are going to move away from you and the cubs, if they can not keep up with her, will go up a tree or something.

The only catch might be if they are cornered, although the researchers in the upper midwest have actually been able to enter dens with mother and cubs.

 

[rgallant]

@ThundahBeagle I should have been more clear a barking dog at a distance, is not generally a problem but I have seen dogs charge right up to a bear that was moving off. The bear did not take it well, it cuffed the dog hard and broke one of the dog's legs, I have also seen a bear chase the dog back to the owners. I have observed both of those.

To be fair in 50 years the only issue I have had was a young black bear investigating my brand new empty trasharoo, at the BC overland show. He was quite used to humans. And a pair of cubs trying to figure out what my 2 gas cans were, I figure they thought huge salmonberries, did not even touch my cast iron frying pan.

I have had to go swimming twice, when cubs popped out of the brush damm near right beside me while shore fishing, but that was just proactive common sense, mom huffed and bounced but took the kids and left.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

@ThundahBeagle I should have been more clear a barking dog at a distance, is not generally a problem but I have seen dogs charge right up to a bear that was moving off. The bear did not take it well, it cuffed the dog hard and broke one of the dog's legs, I have also seen a bear chase the dog back to the owners. I have observed both of those.

To be fair in 50 years the only issue I have had was a young black bear investigating my brand new empty trasharoo, at the BC overland show. He was quite used to humans. And a pair of cubs trying to figure out what my 2 gas cans were, I figure they thought huge salmonberries, did not even touch my cast iron frying pan.

I have had to go swimming twice, when cubs popped out of the brush damm near right beside me while shore fishing, but that was just proactive common sense, mom huffed and bounced but took the kids and left.

Absolutely I am not the expert. Yeah, there is definitely at least one story just this year alone of a black bear chasing a dog back to the owner, for sure. In that case, the owner was half right and half wrong. She made herself big and made noise, which was good. But she also charged at the black bear while doing so, which is not recommended, and she got bit as a result.

That research I talked about went on to say that even bluff charges are not attacks so much as they are an attempt to get you to go away. Honestly dont know if I'd have the quejones to stand my ground but I've seen video of the researchers and the bluff charges always ended in the bear leaving if the researchers stood their ground. Again, I wouldn't want to be the one to test that theory in my own real life.

Your experience swimming and having the cubs pop up nearby, was that grizzly or black bears?

 

[ThundahBeagle]

@ThundahBeagle I should have been more clear a barking dog at a distance, is not generally a problem but I have seen dogs charge right up to a bear that was moving off. The bear did not take it well, it cuffed the dog hard and broke one of the dog's legs, I have also seen a bear chase the dog back to the owners. I have observed both of those.

To be fair in 50 years the only issue I have had was a young black bear investigating my brand new empty trasharoo, at the BC overland show. He was quite used to humans. And a pair of cubs trying to figure out what my 2 gas cans were, I figure they thought huge salmonberries, did not even touch my cast iron frying pan.

I have had to go swimming twice, when cubs popped out of the brush damm near right beside me while shore fishing, but that was just proactive common sense, mom huffed and bounced but took the kids and left.

Scout ran after the bears in my yard. Mama bear ran across the creek, and the cubs each climbed a tree. And I stopped Scout before he got too close. I'm not in the city, but I'm not in the wilderness either. Maybe where you are is more remote and the bears behave differently? I know that Minnesota vs Northeastern US black bears hibernate at slightly different times, for example, so I suppose they could behave differently depending on how populated the area

 

[rgallant]

@ThundahBeagle The mom and cubs black bears, the dogs incidents were in the back country black bears as well. When lived in town in Mission BC I got black bears on my deck pretty regular, used bang on the glass, they would leave but at pretty slow pace. Mostly young ones, maybe 160 lbs ,but had a couple 300+ lb's too. Checking the bird feeder.

The problem with bears is their behavior is so varied, we had a grizzly wander by 14 land rovers while we all cooking dinner and he could not have been less interested, freaked a lot of folks out.