Keeping bears away in Yellowstone
Hello, I will be camping for a week with my travel trailer in Yellowstone. It says "bear food locker" required and provided by the campsite. Can I cook inside the camper, or is that asking...
Forum Discussion
coolmom42 wrote:
It is also safe to have food and coolers in a LOCKED vehicle.
NEVER leave trash outside.
Understand that these rules are to protect bears from people, because a fed bear is a dead bear. Yellowstone rangers are much more concerned (and rightly so) about wildlife, than about visitors.
If you have doubts, consult the camp host or a ranger.
It may be safe to leave food and coolers in a LOCKED vehicle where @coolmom42 lives, but this is not universally true. It depends upon whether the bears have learned how to rip cars open yet or not. The rangers will know; follow their advice, not the advice of faceless folks on the 'net.
I spent the month of May as a volunteer camp host in an eastern US Forest Service park. We had bear issues, but the bears hadn't learned to rip open cars yet, unlike some of the bears in the Great Smokey Mountains NP or in Yosemite. I understand that in some western parks, the rangers go through the parking lots routinely and will impound and drag away any vehicle they find with food or coolers visible inside because the bears will soon find them and rip the cars open.
As others have said, millions of people visit Yellowstone every year, and bad bear encounters are very rare. Talk to the rangers about the issue, they are there to see that you have a safe and enjoyable trip without bad encounters with the wildlife.
There is no reason to be fearful about it, but plenty of reason to pay attention to the details and follow the rules and suggestions of the rangers, who, after all, know the tricks of the LOCAL bears.
