Comments on: Camping Mishaps: Critters

By: Jan

Jan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:33:43 +0000

My husband and I have been to Alaska 5 times – once on the motorcycles (Honda Goldwings) and four times in the truck. We don’t like summer heat and we hate bugs, so we go in the late fall to early winter. Camping in Alaska during that time of the year, you really do have to worry about wild animals, bears in particular. We have learned to put anything that has a smell up between two trees with ropes or, if provided, bear boxes. Love your blog – Thanks!

By: Adam Shake

Adam Shake — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:56:22 +0000

Having spent much of my life outdoors in the Military, then being a "deep woods" and "mountain" guy as a civilian, I can attest to the concern of "critters" My scariest moment was when I was sitting on the porch of a rented remote cabin in West Virginia, writing and had a brown bear climb the stairs right next to me. I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I didnt even hear it. I think I might have smelled it first, not sure, but I jumped up and screamed the first thing I could think of. "Go Away BAD BEAR!" Wife came running out of the cabin to see me crouched over, hands out like I was ready to attack, and she starts laughing at me. "Bad Bear?" It's still a joke around our house. Adam Adam Shake’s last blog post..Those Things We Choose to Reuse, are Those Things That Define Us.

By: Roy Scribner

Roy Scribner — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:22:15 +0000

Alan – I can remember when I was 9 or 10 and somebody must have thrown some food away in one of the garbage cans, when we were camping in Yosemite. This was around 1975, when the garbage cans were “bear proof” in name only, and that thing was torn open and scattered all over the place.

Nowadays the Rangers will write you a hefty ticket if you leave food in your car and the bears make a mess of it.

By: Alan Kassirer

Alan Kassirer — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:35:14 +0000

I can remember the first time my family went camping when I was 13 years old. We knew absolutely nothing about what we were doing. The first night we left a garbage bag out and when we woke up the entire campsite was a mess. We never did find out what kind of critter invaded us but we sure did learn our lesson.

By: Eddie Frueh

Eddie Frueh — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:32:37 +0000

I would love to hear your story Mike.