Torch advice

[CharlesHarris]

I live in bear country, and the majority of the time I am on the bear's side, because people do not appreciate that they are wild animals and therefore do stupid things. Paramount is keeping food secured in an airtight, odor tight, rugged container, and hoisted up in a tree away from your camp. In bear country the cooking and eating area must be well separated from the sleeping area. You do not keep snacks in the tent which you sleep in.

The biggest offenders are city people who think that bears are cute, and they want to feed them and get too close to take pictures. The bears become conditioned to city people driving small cars, carrying cameras and talking baby-talk to them as a source of food. They loose their natural fear of humans and become a nuisance.

Such people who claim to "love" the animals are culpable in their death, because nuisance bears will be tagged, removed to a remote area, and be released, and if they return again they will be killed. Life isn't fair.

I "love" the bears by yelling loudly and cursing at them, shooting at them with rubber buckshot from my 12-bore if they come inside the tree line of my property, and I send the dogs after them to chase, which they absolutely LOVE doing! I instill a proper fear of humans into them, and try to impress upon my part-time vacationing neighbors not to leave bird and pet food outside, and to keep garbage cans, etc. secured inside the garage until trash day. If cans must be left outside, the n they are liberally sprayed with MACE chemical protective spray (which is legal here) to discourage the bears, racoons and other critters.

Yes, I LOVE watching the bears, from a discreet distance, with a telephoto lens. I smile when he reacts to my banging the metal trash can lid with a hammer. He has learned his lesson well. Long Live The Bear!
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm