Sharing
the wilderness areas we travel through with wild animals is part
of the special appeal of canoeing. Losing a week's worth
of groceries to these local critters is definitely not part of
this appeal.
Bears (and other
animals) that have easy access to human food quickly change from
wild animal to scavenger.
Bears are intelligent creatures that quickly learn that hauling
away a good pack is less work than rooting for the plants,
insects carrion and berries which they usually eat. If we we
reinforce this behaviour by providing easy access to our food,
we encourage that behaviour pattern. Soon the local bears make a
routine of stopping at the regularly used sites to search out an
easy meal.
This type of event is damaging to all - a wild animal is
conditioned to lose its natural fear of humans; and we lose our
food pack, probably meaning a premature end to our canoe trip.
What can we do to prevent this from happening? The simplest
method is to bear-proof our food pack by suspending it out of
reach of bears, raccoons, porcupines and other local wildlife.
Bears are extremely good climbers - hoisting a food pack with a
rope so that it hangs next to the trunk of a tree is no more
effective than leaving it on the ground. The food pack has to be
at least 10 ft. from the trunk or any large overhanging branch
that might support a bear; and a minimum of 12 ft. from the
ground.
The procedure below shows the steps in hanging a food pack
properly.
Step 1:
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