Questions tagged [bears]
Questions about bears
99
questions
6
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3
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390
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Will listening to a podcast at moderate volume decrease the likelihood of a bear approaching my tent?
I am on a long trek in the Balkans and am sometimes camping when there is no cheap accommodation available. I am not yet very experienced in camping, and at this stage I am normally camping near ...
- 261
1
vote
1
answer
140
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How can I dissuade bears from visiting my garden at night?
I live in the country with a large yard that goes into the woods a decent way away from my house. I have two indoor-outdoor cats, and also regularly set up bird feeders. Recently, I've been having a ...
- 11
6
votes
3
answers
409
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Desolation Wilderness - Store backpack in tent overnight?
We are going backpacking in Desolation Wilderness for the first time. It's black bear country. We will be using bear canisters to store all food and other scented items away from our tent, and make ...
- 61
4
votes
4
answers
3k
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Claw marks: Bear or cougar?
A friend of mine took the following picture of the tree with claw marks on it, in the pacific northwest Washington while on a hike. Both cougars and black bears are known to be in the area. Is this ...
- 303
14
votes
2
answers
5k
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Why do predators seem as abundant as prey in trail camera footage?
From basic thermodynamic principles, I would normally expect prey species to be much more abundant than predators. Applying that to North American species like deer, wolves and bears, I would expect ...
- 1,701
6
votes
2
answers
227
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Overnight cooking in active bear area
I have sometimes heard people suggest cooking long meals overnight while camping. For example, the book "Gastronomie en plein air" written by Odile Dumais, talks about cooking pea soup or ...
- 211
4
votes
4
answers
948
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Why be passive while attacked by a brown bear?
Recently I walked through Dolomites in Italy, and there was a warning sign that this is bear-encounter area. There were tips on what to do in general. But one of tips was "if bear approaches you ...
- 575
3
votes
1
answer
325
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Do predators understand human footprints?
I am guessing that because bears have extremely sensitive smell, even if a bear understood footprints, they would not find this nearly as reliable as following their scent. But could it actually be ...
- 223
0
votes
1
answer
211
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Are predators attracted by fire?
While I know that bears and wolves can be scared off by, say, a burning stick, wouldn't they also know that a fire indicates there are humans who either have food or might be eaten themselves?
- 223
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3
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How high need a concrete wall to be so bears can't climb it
This question is a bit similar with how high does a fence need to be to prevent European brown bear to climb it? question but not exactly (that one specifies a fence, and needs to provide vision and ...
- 121
10
votes
1
answer
1k
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Are bears attracted to factory sealed food?
I was recently backpacking in a relatively remote area in Washington where black bears are known to be present. For this trip we've only packed single use dry food bags in their original packaging and ...
- 3,017
4
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2
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459
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Is a bear canister needed for day hikes?
Is a bear canister or other anti-animal food protection method needed for (long) day hikes in bear country?
For example, is it unsafe to go on a 20-mile hike/trail run in Yosemite with a sandwich in ...
- 636
-1
votes
1
answer
143
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If you were confronted a by a bear and had no defense would offering it food perhaps work? [duplicate]
It seems like this gesture is well understood by a dog or cat and perhaps the combination of distracting the bear plus the indication that you mean no harm would work? Maybe a bear would even reason ...
- 223
2
votes
5
answers
2k
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How frequent are encounters with bears/mountain lions/etc?
I'm wondering how common it is to see or encounter large carnivores like bears and mountain lions in the lower 48 when hiking in the United States (okay, bears are tehnically omnivores, but you get ...
- 636
5
votes
1
answer
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Do Glacier National Park (USA) backcountry camps have bear poles / bear canisters?
In Glacier National Park (USA), there are 63 backcountry campgrounds. I looked at the backcountry campground website including the map and campsite information. Are there bear poles/boxes at ...
- 27.3k