ELI5: how effective is bear-safe storage for scented items/food at campsites?

Submitted by togapartywalkofshame t3_z86s49 in explainlikeimfive

As I understand it, bears can smell food inside bear vaults/boxes, canisters, and cars. And they can definitely smell people and their soaps, shampoos, etc. at a built-up campsite with bathrooms and trash bins, regardless of whether people follow bear safety protocol for storing their food and scented items. So, how effective are bear-safe storage practices for deterring bears? Is the goal to prevent the bears from learning they can access what they smell - and in this case, does putting your food in a bear vault really deter a bear from coming into your camp to seek out your food and stuff?

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Volcan_R t1_iya2kzf wrote

The problem isn't a curious bear, it is a habituated bear. All bears are curious. They will sniff things out and try to extract food. When they are not successful they will move on. When the bear keeps getting fed it will come back expecting a food source and eager to maintain control over that food source.

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the_maestr0 t1_iya3ofu wrote

Yogi was not your average bear, he was habituated. That's why he would not leave Jellystone park. That cartoon was a poor PSA but I'm glad they cut out all of the maulings.

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ethnicbonsai t1_iyacpt2 wrote

I remember someone (maybe a park ranger?) posted here on Reddit not too long ago that the problem with "bear proof" containers is that it's almost impossible to make something hard enough to get into that a bear can't figure it out, but easy enough to get into that most people can get into.

I don't remember the exact quote, but the sentiment has stuck with me.

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WeaponB t1_iyahe08 wrote

There's considerable overlap between the smartest bear and the dumbest human camper.

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Turtley13 t1_iyad9t5 wrote

It's not impossible. The sentiment is that people are stupid.

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krovek42 t1_iya8fle wrote

Another “problem” with bear canisters, is that bears have really great smell. It may not ben that they can smell food through an air-tight container, but the container itself likely has trace amounts of food smell on the outside that got there as you handle it. As u/Volcan_R said, the idea is to make the food too hard to get, so the bear decides to put its effort elsewhere. So wether it’s hung from a tree, in a bear box, or behind an electric fence, (Yes such a product exists) even if the bear can smell it, it will decide it can’t get to it and learn to just move on.

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Turtley13 t1_iya8omp wrote

If you could smell a delicious pie in someone's house and couldn't get into the house to eat it. You wouldn't bother sticking around or coming back cuz you never got any pie.

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dkf295 t1_iyaay5z wrote

But imagine you're a bear and can just bust out a window and go in and grab the pie. And now not only is your pie eaten, but you have a bear in your house.

Not only do you need to lock the pie up, you need to hang it from a rope from a tree such that a bear cannot access it, sufficiently far from the campsite that the bear is not presenting a danger to you/others. Keep in mind that bears can climb trees.

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druppolo t1_iyajbgd wrote

Is effective.

A bear can smell food even if properly packed. But let’s say the smell of the at food is 10 times less, that’s the difference between drawing any bear to you in a radius of 1 km or 10 km.

The math may not be exact but I hope you get e point. If the smell is kept small, you basically alert the bears that are close enough to be encountered anyway.

As most topics, prevention does not guarantee success, but meeting one bear that happens to be close enough every 30 hike you do is way better than meeting a bear every hike.

Most importantly, never feed animals. You teach them human=restaurant. Imagine next time you get invited to a restaurant everyone gets food except you… you get angry, do you? Imagine how angry a bear gets being fooled that way.

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ViciousKnids t1_iybnwy0 wrote

Not as effective as a bear bag. And it's not just food you have to worry about: soap, toothpaste, flavored drinks. It doesn't matter how "bear proof" a container is, they might come a sniffing. Using a bear bag a good distance away from camp will make them less likely to poke around your tent. For those unaware, a bear bag is a bag that you toss all your smell-ables into at night and suspend from a tree branch high off the ground. Not only does it keep your food safe from being eaten, but being far away from camp means it draws the bears away from where you sleep, which is good for your health.

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