Apparently our Tennessee bears are wimps.  The official word in the
Smokies is that you
should put all of your food in the trunk of your car.  Or, if
backpacking, tie it eight feet up in
the air between two trees.  Tennessee bears are also short.  And in
recorded history
(around here that's since the mid 1700's) there's only been one person
killed by a bear.
And even that one is questionable.

I've hiked all over these hills and seen numerous bears.  I once come
around a very
tight corner (on a trail with a cliff on one side and a drop off on the
other with about one
foot of trail between) and found myself face to face with a bear about
three feet away.  I
don't know who was more surprise and frightened - me or the bear.  It
ran away.  I had
to stop and change pants!  Mostly the bears I've seen on the trails
always just mosey off.
That said, I've never slept with food in, or near, my tent.

r

Ron Tipton
IT Specialist III
Laboratory for Information Technologies
University of Tennessee