This was posted on YouTube last August (Amazing nobody found it sooner).
It underscores the importance of NOT leaving any food available -- especially at night. Bears have learned to sneak up, grab and run.
This gal got into her car and just watched, so bear stuck around.
It is pretty sorry that this gal watches the bear for THREE FULL MINUTES as it helps itself to her grocery bag. FINALLY, when it starts sniffing her backpack, she lays on the horn and that easily scares the bear off.
Boy, where to start? A great and depressing example of why there are problem bears. That didn't appear to be an especially habituated bear, just doing his bear thing. But you can be sure after such an easy experience, it'll happen more often.
Somewhere in there she says "I guess this is why bear boxes are so important." duh...
g.
None of the views expressed here in any way represent those of the unidentified agency that I work for or, often, reality. It's just me, fired up by coffee and powerful prose.
It was an audio clip of 7 words from this bit if dialog.
Quote:
Percy Garris: [singing] Oh don't you remember sweet Betsy from Pike / Crossed the high mountains with her lover Ike / Two yoke of oxen and big yellow dog / Called Shanghai rooster and one spotted hog / Hoodle-dang-hootie-i-doh, hoodle-dang-hootie-ay, hoodle-dang-hootie-i-doh, hoodle-dang-hootie-ay / Shanghai ran off and the cattle all died / last piece of bacon that morning was fried... Butch Cassidy: [interrupting] I think they're in the trees up ahead. Sundance Kid: In the bushes on the left. Butch Cassidy: I'm telling you they're in the trees up ahead. Sundance Kid: You take the trees, I'll take the bushes. Percy Garris: Will you two beginners cut it out. Butch Cassidy: Well, we're just trying to spot an ambush, Mr. Garris. Percy Garris: Morons. I've got morons on my team. Nobody is going to rob us going down the mountain. We have got no money going down the mountain. When we have got the money, on the way back, then you can sweat.
Doug Sr made a good post here regarding the video:
Originally Posted By: Doug Sr
Hi I started to respond the other day and Laura, Miles and Amy came by so we put the feed bag on instead.
The comments are from years of living with the bears, we see the area from a little different color of glasses.
First the bag of food was not secure , this happens all the time "I was just getting my pack ready and....."
The bear started eating the food "I didn't know what to do...."
I was afraid the bear would attack !!!
And the list grows.
The only reason the bear was in the campground was it /they had found food many times before, The guilty parties were months before and the bears continue to return to the same area each night for more food . The response follows the same pattern THE PEOPLE WATCH THE BEARS EAT THE FOOD!!!! When the food is gone the bears will go to the next feeding area. Repeat. All the signs and warning must only apply to the other people???
So as the bear eats the food the person says I hope it leaves the pack alone ???? Why would it, the bear is not aware of your great plans and how those will change once they destroy the pack and get the food.
OK next you see the bear leave, the food is gone but... notice when the bear returns it heads to the area where the pack was on the ground? This is the level of skill you are facing, the bear had located the pack by sight/smell recorded the location made a choice to finish the big easy bag then return for the small portion. The car/truck had food in it also and would have been the third target. The bear had located it as a food source and if the bear not moved away it would have entered the truck.
The story I didn't have anything out .........or only a small .......... fails the test when you then say the bear got my food, pack clothing bag, ice chest.
What bothers you the most? The fear the bear has on your ego of finding out you are really not much in the food chain? It got your food , destroyed your pack,car and maybe even your trip? Forced you to take charge and protect you property? We don't have a bear problem in the Portal. Do we? Thanks Doug
Doug is correct but there are other factors at work here. Whenever I am in Whitney Portal, I check notices of parked vehicles. They are of the "You've been a bad boy, don't do it again" variety rather than the "Moron, you left food in your car, do not pass Go, go directly to court and pay the stinking fine". If people knew there was a cost associated with this type of behavior, they would not do it anywhere near as much as they do.
Over the years, I've seen different notices left on people's vehicles, ranging from "Please clean up your act" to "If you don't fix this ___, you'll be ticketed" to an actual ticket.
I would support the "no warning, here's a ticket" approach for hikers, as they've clearly been notified of the need to leave a clean vehicle during the permit process. However, not everyone who parks at the Portal is "educated". There are lots of visitors who drive, park and walk around sight-seeing, fishing, etc. You do provide your make, model and license plate # as part of the permitting process, but I don't know if that info is checked before a ticket is issued.
I think that the more effective message is "if these bears become too habituated to humans and human food, they become a threat to humans and are therefore killed"
They should also list how many bears have to be killed in the Sierras every year because they become a threat to humans due to food being too easy to acquire.
I wonder if that woman would have laid on the horn a little sooner if she knew that letting him have the food so easily could mean a death sentence for the bear.
...I wonder if that woman would have laid on the horn a little sooner if she knew that letting him have the food so easily could mean a death sentence for the bear.
Agreed. Often there are notices which contain the phrase "A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear", but I wonder how many people read the notices to understand what/how this means.
Doug at the store reports that bears are quite active at the Portal now.
Everyone, PLEASE make sure you keep all your food locked away in the bear boxes. When you are getting ready to hike, make sure you keep your back pack close, as the bears like to grab them and run.
Only put those items in the bear boxes that need to be protected, water, reading materials and full packs do not belong in these boxes. Bear box space is limited in Whitney Portal.