[at-l] Prepackaged foods and bears

[Point North]

By this logic, unless you step under a Biohazard Level 4 radiation shower to eliminate all residual odors on your clothing and pack before you step on the trail, a bear will sniff out those pizza scent molecules that drifted into your clothing at the last town stop and will have you for lunch.

Scent does not travel through vacuum sealed foil packages.  And if you practice leave no trace, you always be carry around a messy ziplock trash baggie that smells like a garbage dump to Mr. Grizz from 2 miles away.  The key is to keep a clean camp and as you say, never sleep where you ate supper.

Sloetoe <sloetoe at yahoo.com> wrote: --- Point North 
 wrote:

> I don't think bears can smell anything from
> vacuum-sealed foil packages like Mountain House. 
> There just isn't any way for the smell molecules to
> escape.

### You're thinking logically. Bears don't think
logically, they think with their noses. They (and all
other scavengers) smell every little bit of history on
that package, including the last time you handled it
to bypass it for another dinner choice. Your hands
(and your food bag, and all acoutrement') smell
alluringly of fooooooood (MMmmmm, fooooooood). Ergo,
ripped food (or ripped car, ripped cooler, ripped
pack, ripped food bag, ripped tent, ripped whatever). 

### In the same manner, the bears and mice and such
don't know that the package is empty afterwards, and
will have a lusty (if ultimately frustrating) time
afterwards dancing up a storm with the empty (and now
noisy) package. So mind your trash, too.

### 'ell, in grizzly territory, you don't even want to
sleep in the same *location* that you cook. I would
not attempt to explain to the bear that the food had
been bagged up a tree hours ago (wafting in the wind
for him to come a'callin'), and that he should just go
on his way.

Personally, I think they do it for the cameras.

sloetoe

Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
   Pro Pondera Et Meliora.



 		
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