Are you planning to go camping, but you are still holding back because there are bears around the area? Camping is one of the best ways to have fun. However, it can be tricky fun if everything goes wrong at the campsite, and the fun turns into injuries.
Safety is important. And in everything you do, always remember that you will risk your life without practicing reasonable safety measures. When it comes to camping, you want to ensure that you follow the same protocols. There are a few things you need to know before going camping. The most important thing to know is that bears always try to avoid humans; therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure that you follow guidelines to keep yourself safe at your camping area. Even though bears try to stay away from humans, please don’t take it lightly, thinking you will be safe. Things can happen, and suddenly, you will be in a terrible position colliding with a bear from nowhere.
It will be best to research and get some tips to protect you from such situations. Whether the area you are planning to go camping has bears or not, yes, you can go. But before you start packing your bags, read through this article to the end to prepare yourself by knowing what you must bring and what not to get. Additionally, this article will equip you to understand how to respond to a bear attack in case it happens. You might still be wondering how you will keep the bears out. Bears will stay away from you, but you have to make it happen by not doing something that will give bears no other choice but to come to you. The following are some of the things you can do to keep bears out of your campsite.
6 Ways to Keep Bears Out of Your Campsite
1. Avoid Aromatic Foods
You might have been thinking about bringing along some great meals from home. Bringing along aromatic food is bad because bears have a high sense of food. Once you store your food in the camps, the bears will surely start walking around to find out where the pleasant smell of food is.
Consider packing dry foods or other foods with no smells like potatoes or fresh foods that don’t smell. Alternatively, you can avoid fish, beef, chicken, etc. Because whether cooked on raw, these foods draw a lot of smell to the environment, which can cost you terribly.
Additionally, watch what you cook. Some foods can start producing aromas once you start cooking them, and in the process, the bears will start smelling and following the lead. Please keep it simple cooking; mark your boundaries, and no bear will come around.
2. Manage Your Garbage Properly
Because bears have a high sense of smell, you don’t want to leave your garbage around your campsite carelessly. After a few days of the trash sticking around, the bears will start smelling and eventually following the smell at your camp. A great way to manage garbage is by packing them well and taking them to a disposal area away from the campsite. Also, don’t burry the trash around for safety reasons because the bear will still come looking for it.
3. Leash Your Pet
You might have been thinking about taking your pet with you. It is not a bad idea. However, ensure that your pet will be leashed somewhere not to move around like it is used to when it is at home. Even if you are taking a walk around the tent, ensure that the leash is in your hands.
If you leave your pet around carelessly, the bears might come to attack it. A pet is not human, and therefore, no bear will think twice before attacking it. Consider restricting your dog or cat’s movements around the campsite.
4. Don’t Cook Around Your Tent.
Prepare your meals away from the tent to keep bears out. If you prepare meals around and the bears happen to smell whatever you cooked, they will come to the tent knowing that something is inside. You can select a place of about 100 meters or so. If bears come, they will concentrate on that area instead of coming to your tent.
Furthermore, take off all the clothes you wore when cooking so that the food aroma of whatever you cooked will not have to follow you. You can decide to wash the clothes, keep them in bear-resistant storage boxes, or keep them in the boot of the car.
5. Proper Storage
Before going to Your campsite, ensure to pack your foodstuffs in bear-resistant food storage containers. Don’t leave your food around in the open. You never know; a bear may just be walking by, and when it senses the presence of food, even if the food is not aromatic, it will come looking around.
Maybe your campsite is in remote areas where there are no markets to buy extra food. So, you take care of what you have. Bears may not be coming to eat because there was no smell. But if they find your food hanging around, they will destroy it if it’s something they can’t eat. You don’t want to go through a loss on your fun days; camping without cooking isn’t that fun.
6. Don’t Forget a Flashlight and Bear Spray.
Before you sleep, confirm that there is a flashlight next to your bed for security reasons. The bear spray will save if an expected attack occurs at night or during the day; always carry your bear spray just in case of an attack. Just because bears don’t usually approach humans, it does not mean that a bear will recognize you in the dark. It is going to attack you, and you will end up with severe injuries if not dead.
What Should You Do When a Bear Attacks You?
Some kinds of bears are capable of attacking you. However, this depends significantly on the response you give the bear. If you start running, it will follow you. In the dark, a bear may not be able to recognize you unless you help it know that you are not a fellow predator. In case you hear an approaching bear outside your tent, don’t panic.
The first thing to do is turn your lights on to see you if it gets through. Stay in the light calmly. If it goes away, don’t follow to look if it’s gone because you can trigger its predatorial instincts, and it can turn to attack. However, if it gets through the tent, it is time to convince it that you are human. How can you prove that?
After ensuring that you are in the light and the bear can see you, start talking to yourself in a low voice, and avoid direct eye contact. Ensure that the bear can see your arms, and then you can begin waving them slowly. Do it in an up and down motion. It will take time, but it will go away once it realizes that you are human. Once it leaves, don’t follow it. Remain in the tent and take a breath.
What Bear Spray Should You Use?
Some bears are not as friendly. Like the Territorial bears. What should you do when such a bear attacks you? If an aggressive bear attacks you, lay on the ground and protect your head using your hands. Once the attack is over, wait until the bear is gone before you decide to look around. But if the attack continues and you can’t take it anymore, use the bear spray to turn it away.
Conclusion
Keeping bears away from your campsite is easy. All you have to do is stay watchful once you are around the grounds and adhere to different safety requirements, including the use of bear sprays in case a bear invades your campsite. Additionally, don’t try to outsmart bears because, in the end, bears will surprise you with their intelligence. Nonetheless, the tips outlined in this context will ensure that bears cannot invade your campsite easily.
