Quote:
Originally Posted by Woody.303  I would worry about the skunks, and ignore the bears.
Woody |
LOL. Black bears are usually not a problem. If you make enough noise, they disappear long before you ever see them. However, younger ones seem to less fearful and more of a nuisance, and will come to campgrounds at night looking for garbage. (They also like consuming leftover fruit - from trees that were not picked - in the fall, and I've been told that they will happily gorge themselves, perhaps eating 40 lbs at a sitting, without any regard for the gastrointestinal consequences!)
Grizzlies are the real cause for concern, but I've been told that they tend to stick to the upper 1/3 of the mountains, e.g. above 4000 or 5000 ft elevation, and that sightings are quite rare. A friend had a grizzly tag last fall, and wasted several weekends hunting for one, without success.
I'm more concerned about mountain lions. They are known to stalk humans hiking alone, but are not an issue as long as people stick together.