Any ideas for keeping bears out?

[SouthParkSteve]

This may be an odd one. I have a 1978 bumper pull travel trailer that I park in my driveway. I do not keep food in it, but it is a 1978 trailer, so obviously many meals have been prepared inside it.

I live in an area where many people come to camp--at almost 11,000 feet at the base of the Continental Divide in central Colorado. My house is very near the Pike/San Isabel National Forest.

I bought my camper a year ago, and last year I had no troubles. However, this year, a bear decided he wanted to check out the inside of my camper--and tore the door off in the process. This happened about 5 days before I was supposed to leave on a week-long camping trip. I got if fixed and went on the trip, but then about 2 months later....he did it again:

I can't afford to replace the door several times per year, but I also can't really afford off-site storage.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to dissuade a bear from trying to enter an unoccupied camper?

[turbojimmy]

That is definitely not bear damage. As someone else said, bears will claw and gnaw on things to gain entrance. They're not smart enough to go right for the bottom edge of the entry door, and if they did they'd tear it up. Heck, I had a bear claw up my garbage can pretty bad and all he had to do was flip the unlocked, hinged lid back.

There was an article this past September about a woman at Yosemite that spent 2 hours inside an RV while a bear clawed and gnawed at it trying to gain entry. It made a mess of the outside of the camper but did not gain entry. I googled it quickly but couldn't find the pics.

There's a human getting inside your camper for some reason. You don't need to call fish and game - you need to call the police.

[newman_fulltime]

if you look in the bottom corner your bear is using a crow bar to get in

[Dave_H_M]

so what does the inside look like after an intruder that enters that way?

[DiskDoctr]

If it's a small area the bear is getting into (such as your camper door) I've heard putting Ammonia in a balloon can be helpful.

...here, I found a google link with more info...

http://warnercnr.colostate.edu/~sharonbm/bear%20deterrents.htm

[mowermech]

That doesn't look like bear damage to me, either!

[nomad297]

All it should take is 230 grains of strategically placed lead.

Bruce

[WyoTraveler]

Check with Fish & Game. In WY they will trap a bear and move it to another location.

[Tvov]

JaxDad wrote:
You may well have had a bear in your trailer, but I assure you, that door was not opened by a bear. That door was opened by two-legged wildlife.

Bears are good at getting into things, but not very neat about it. There'd by claw and bite marks all over that door and the area around it if it was a bears handiwork.

I was wondering about that. Most bear damage I've seen has very obvious claw marks. Except... if your particular bear has learned how to just hook a claw into the lower corner of the door to pry it open - it certainly is possible.

I don't have any advice for keeping a bear out, but have you thought about setting up a "game camera" (or plain old security camera) near the trailer to watch over the area?

[JaxDad]

You may well have had a bear in your trailer, but I assure you, that door was not opened by a bear. That door was opened by two-legged wildlife.

Bears are good at getting into things, but not very neat about it. There'd by claw and bite marks all over that door and the area around it if it was a bears handiwork.

[WishWeWereCampi]

Electric fence?

[Muddydogs]

Have you contacted fish and game? It sounds like you might have a problem bear which could cause a lot more problems then tearing up your camper. Other then that a well place bit of lead will take care of the problem.

[Fizz]

I've seen wilderness cabins where the doormat is a sheet of plywood with dozens of nails sticking up.

[Executive45]

Leave the door unlocked....:W....Dennis

[guidry]

Try keeping a bowl of bleach outside and inside the door. Used coffee grounds around the camper.