I was watching a learning channel show about survival and a ranger in
montana or canada told a story about a westy owner who had left a small
morsel of cheese under his seat and a grisly bear completely totalled the
van looking for it. that would be an unpleasant surprise.

-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Pollard <poll7356@UIDAHO.EDU>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 2:43 PM
Subject: Re: bears and westys

>I've never had problems while camping in my bus in bear country.  Just be
>sure to keep the food in a bear locker when possible.   Hanging? No way.
>I've seen full sized black bears climb 30' up, 15' out and chew through a
>fat rope, and eventually destroy my food.  In most national parks they say
>not to hang your food either.  I'm careful to keep the food in a box or
>quickly removable container so i can slip them into the food locker.  Also
>watch out for things like your chapstick and candy wrappers.  When a
>locker is not available, just be wise. Don't wash your dishes anywhere
>near your rig, throw out all trash, and keep all coolers covered. THey
>know what coolers look like. You may want to invest in bear spray
>(hot peper spray)- but bear spray is ILLEGAL in Canada. Silly canadians.
>
>knock on wood... but i've NEVER seen a VW bus (old or new) get broken into
>by a bear (and i lived for two summers in yosemite valley).
>
>Cheers!
>m
>
>Matthew Pollard          "Racing with the wind and flirting with death
>Dept. Of Chemistry        So have a cup of coffee and catch your breath"
>University of Idaho
>www.uidaho.edu/~poll7356
>
>
>
>On Wed, 18 Jul 2001, Bill Kasper wrote:
>
>> on 7/18/01 1:40 PM, Emmet McGovern at webmaster@beachin.net wrote:
>>
>> > Dont store anything food related in your van.  Wash all your dishes
away
>> > from your site. Haul your food and garbage up in a tree with a rope at
night
>> > away from your site.  Ive been camping in the grand tetons where bears
where
>> > breaking into backcounry campers cars in the middle of the night for
food
>> > stored in a tighly lidded cooler.  Good luck
>>
>>
>> so, rather than have any food in the cupboards, put it in a plastic tub
with
>> a lid, tape it shut, and hang it?
>>
>> what about any grime on the stove?  do they come after that?  do we have
to
>> keep martha stewart clean while travelling in bear country?
>>
>> thanks emmet.
>>
>> bill
>> '87 syncro westfalia
>> http://www.scruznet.com/~kasper/pics/westy/
>>
>