Bears and cars

Hello again. In our upcoming trip to Yellowstone in July(this year now, hooray!), we%26#39;ll be moving around to different lodgings within the park. This of course means that during the day while we are hiking and seeing the sites before check-in that our car will have all of our luggage including food and other things attractive to bears. I am most familiar with California National Parks, in Yosemite or Sequoia for example we absolutely could not do this, the bears regularly break into cars with anything with an odor, even deoderant and shampoo is not allowed to be kept in the car while parked during the day because black bears will break in. I haven%26#39;t heard anyone mention this problem, yet people who move between different lodgings must have their things in the car. Do the bears not break into cars at Yellowstone? The rangers would go ballistic with cars full of stuff being parked for hours at Yosemite.

Bears and cars

I haven%26#39;t heard about anyone having problems. We always have an ice chest in Yellowstone and I understand that%26#39;s an invitation to meet a black bear in Yosemite. When we moved to a new location, we did have everything in the car and no bear problems. I was somewhat more worried about people and cameras in the car but no problems there either.

Bears and cars

I don%26#39;t think the bears in Yellowstone are nearly as conditioned to the humans as the black bears. Grizzlies by nature try to stay away from people and the rangers do a good job of keeping them at a distance.

That said, if you have food in your car try to put it in a cooler or some other sealed container that will help diminish any odors. Do not leave to go wrappers the the like in the car as that%26#39;s the fastest way to attract wildlife.

Anytime you are in bear country with food you run a chance of encounters, but you should be fairly safe. Most of the serious bear encounters in Yellowstone in the last few years have been in the back country.

Watch for the bison though. People tend to underestimate them and while they look lazy and slow, if they get cornered they get very aggressive. If they happen to be on the road don%26#39;t try to drive your car through them. All they have to do is bump your window with their horns and the glass shatters. When I lived in Wyoming and worked in insurance I actually had to pay claims on this type of incident!

One other note - black bears frequent Cooke City quite often and if you are close to that area you may have more issues with leaving things in your car.

When it doubt, as a ranger!

Thanks, sounds like it will be fine. We%26#39;ll keep the food in a cooler and sealed bags.

Good question for the rangers there!

They do have bearproof food containers in some campgrounds, ask that you do not leave food unattended, and store it in the trunk of your car.

I too would agree that the bears in Yellowstone are much less aggressive reagrding getting food from vehicles. In my 20 years of travel through Yellowstone, I never heard of anyone having trouble with secured vehicles and bears. There have been times when people left ther coolers in the bed of pickup trucks, but the was just stupidity on their parts.

At the end of the day, just follow the basic rules posted everywhere about bear safety and you will have a fantastic trip. And remember to keep a safe distance from all wildlife in the park, as the bison by far are the most dangerous animal after the human beings.

Enjoy your trip,

- Kery