Bears stealing food bags again

[Mother Nature]

Smokestack just called from Low Gap and he asked that I pass along a warning to be extra careful with food storage in Georgia. He met several people today reporting their food bags were stolen by bears. This bear activity is in the same area that had a lot of bear bags stolen last year.

There are two areas.

The first report was south of Neels Gap; between Woods Hole Shelter and Blood Mountain.

The second report was north of Neels Gap on Cowrock Mountain. One hiker on Cowrock observed the bear and cub. The hiker reported that it looked like the mother bear was teaching the cub the fine art of taking food bags off a bear rope.

Josh Saint from the Hiker Hostel was picking up these hikers to get resupplied.

[crazystick]

Hey we told Neels about a bear taking two fellow hikers food bags. It was a couple nights ago at the slaughter creek campsite on the south side of blood Mtn in GA

[Pedaling Fool]

Damn food-hangers feeding bears; don't they know a fed bear is a dead bear

[kanga]

The second report was north of Neels Gap on Cowrock Mountain. One hiker on Cowrock observed the bear and cub. The hiker reported that it looked like the mother bear was teaching the cub the fine art of taking food bags off a bear rope.

that's because there's a bear den on the far side of the rockface.

[Skidsteer]

that's because there's a bear den on the far side of the rockface.

...and they're probably hanging their food bags on the shrubs. Not many suitable trees at that site.

[SouthMark]

In Eagles Nest Township, MN, residents have fed wild black bears for over 40 years. Dozens of bears have lost their fear of people over the years. No one was attacked.

In Pennsylvania, Dr. Gary Alt spent over a decade studying a 7-square-mile community called Hemlock Farms where 7,000 people coexisted with 21 bears. That many bears in 7 square miles is a higher bear density than exists in any national park or national forest. People regularly hand-fed the bears. No one was attacked.

In Smoky Mountains National Park, Dr. Jane Tate studied wild black bears that people fed along roadsides (Tate 1983). She watched in disbelief as raucous tourists crowded around bears to hand-feed them, pour beer over their heads, lure them into cars for photos, and put honey on kids’ faces for bears to lick. She reported that the bears were “amazingly tolerant and restrained.” When people tried to pet bears that were not used to it, some bears defensively nipped or cuffed people, causing minor injuries, but the bears did not attack. The more accustomed to people the bears became, the less likely they were to cause injury.

[Skidsteer]

Oh boy. Here we go.

[WingedMonkey]

Skidsteer;1134818]Oh boy. Here we go.

[vamelungeon]

IBTL
(In Before The Lock)

[Lone Wolf]

gotta sleep with your food. it won't get taken.

[swjohnsey]

Are you serious? I'm serious. I don't have alot of experience with bears. I am prepared with gear for a bear bag. I have lots of experience hangin' stuff from trees even in the middle of the night after years of experience stringin' short wave radio antennas for clandestine radio transmissions. Are bears more afraid of people than they are hungry for food? Are they mostly around shelters?

I'm not really afraid of bears. I looking forward to seeing bears. I don't want to loose my food or my gear. I don't plan on stayin' at or near shelters. What is the best approach?

[Lone Wolf]

Are you serious? I'm serious. I don't have alot of experience with bears. I am prepared with gear for a bear bag. I have lots of experience hangin' stuff from trees even in the middle of the night after years of experience stringin' short wave radio antennas for clandestine radio transmissions. Are bears more afraid of people than they are hungry for food? Are they mostly around shelters?

I'm not really afraid of bears. I looking forward to seeing bears. I don't want to loose my food or my gear. I don't plan on stayin' at or near shelters. What is the best approach?

i'm very serious. i've hiked around 16,000 miles on the AT and never bear bagged food. i always sleep with it in my tent. never had a problem with bears or other critters. works for me

[Skidsteer]

Are you serious? I'm serious. I don't have alot of experience with bears. I am prepared with gear for a bear bag. I have lots of experience hangin' stuff from trees even in the middle of the night after years of experience stringin' short wave radio antennas for clandestine radio transmissions. Are bears more afraid of people than they are hungry for food?

They are in areas that allow hunting, in my opinion.

Are they mostly around shelters?

Yes, again in my opinion.

I'm not really afraid of bears. I looking forward to seeing bears. I don't want to loose my food or my gear. I don't plan on stayin' at or near shelters. What is the best approach?

It's a personal decision. Whether you stay near a shelter or not if you decide to hang your food then do the job right for crying out loud. Google the PCT method. The vast majority of hikers do a pathetic job and it reinforces bad behaviour in a bear, again in my opinion. Keep in mind that Georgia shelters have installed bear cables and it's still not unusual for bears to get to the food bags. It costs them nothing but time to solve the problem of food hanging in the air and bears don't wear watches.

I think the reason so many of us get away with sleeping with our food is that the bears sense it will cost them more than they are willing to pay.

[Blissful]

Chaco had a bear go into his tent near Max Patch or something, didn't he?

[Skidsteer]

Yeah but it is Chaco after all.

[SouthMark]

Of the 65 deaths to humans by black bears since 1900 only two have been attributed to food and only one, in Colorado, was a camper in a tent.

Check out the North American Bear Center's we site and click on the Bear Facts tab. They have been studying black bears for the last 40 years.

[SouthMark]

Forgot the link:

http://www.bear.org/website/

[mikec]

On the ATC site, they are recommending that people camping in GA use bear cannisters:

The U.S. Forest Service advises backpackers to properly hang their food and scraps, and seriously consider the use of bear-proof food canisters. Bears in the area seem to have found ways to reach food hung by standard methods. For more information on the closure call the U.S. Forest Service at (706) 745-6928. For more information on hiking in bear country visit the wildlife section of our website.

www.appalachiantrail.org -> Trail Updates

[kanga]

just a question? how many hikers do we read about that reported food bags stolen? how many of those hikers hung their food and how many slept with it?

[WingedMonkey]

Of the 65 deaths to humans by black bears since 1900 only two have been attributed to food and only one, in Colorado, was a camper in a tent.

Check out the North American Bear Center's we site and click on the Bear Facts tab. They have been studying black bears for the last 40 years.

Don't think anyone is afraid of Black Bear attacks, the subject was about loosing food you are depending on.