I remember Yellowstone as a kid in 1963 and the stories the rangers
told us about bears opening cars. I'd guess they have been opening
various tin cans for a long time.

Rob
becida@comcast.net

At  6/26/2010 07:59 PM,B wrote:
>I still wonder about two issues:
>
>(1) Open windows, for ventilation at night.  Bears, especially at
>Yosemite, are getting more and more clever about opening the various
>tin cans they're presented with.
>
>(2) A raised pop-top, with us two sleeping up there.  Since we do
>sleep up there, I'm guessing if we ever camp in bear country we'd be
>wise to move our food outside the van.  Which wouldn't necessarily
>be easy, since we keep survival food in the Westy (it's our escape
>pod from earthquake/wildfire).
>
>B&S
>'87 Westy 'Esmerelda Blanc'
>SoCal
>
>
>On Jun 26, 2010, at 9:46 AM, Dave Mcneely wrote:
>
> > ---- Pat Sloan <pmsloan@SHAW.CA> wrote:
> >> This thread brings up two questions that have been lurking in my
> >> subconscious:
> >>
> >> 1.      How bear-proof is a Vanagon? Since I like to camp in
> remote forestry
> >> campsites or even just pull over at a wide spot in the road, how
> easy would
> >> it be for a bear to open the oblong tin can that a Vanagon is,
> if there were
> >> leftover cooking smells wafting on the night air? Anyone heard of any
> >> experiences? A bear did a masterful and completely silent job on
> my backpack
> >> once, years ago. As I slept in my tent about 10 yards away!