Page 1 of 1

Food and Bears and Cars

PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 3:38 pm
by camilley
I know not to leave anything with a scent in the car overnight, or really anytime, in areas where there are bears.

But, what about water?
We will have a bear box we don't have tons of room in it.
If there is room I have no problem putting water in the box but
Is it safe to leave either water bottles or gallon jugs of water in the car at night?
Also, what about dirty clothes....they might have a scent so I am thinking no.

I would much rather be safe than sorry!!

Thanks :]

Re: Food and Bears and Cars

PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:28 pm
by dan
Bears aren't after water. This assumes they don't have food scent on them and it's not flavored water (such as Gatorade).

Bears also aren't sniffing for dirty clothes. It's food (and food scent) they are after, not you. Again, assuming you or the clothes don't have food scent. Bears are smart--they know what food smells like.

That said, bears are also unpredictable. They sometimes break into cars without any food in them. Also, don't let them approach you, even if they seem harmless at the moment--scare them away.

For more information about bears, see the NPS webpage
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm