Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Is there a smell that repels bears?

Howdy, Matt and the Elves:

Sponsored
Sponsored

I'm planning a trip to Yosemite and reading up on safety in bear country. Apparently the main reason bears encounter humans in the first place is because their sense of smell is so acute that they can pick up even residual traces of human food. The Yosemite website implies that bears have been known to rip a car door off its hinges just to get at an empty soda can or a stick of gum. So if the bears' sense of smell is that sharp, hasn't anybody found a smell that repels them? I should think that a whiff of badly cooked cabbage or something could be sprayed on one's clothing to keep the bears away.

-- Kevin Wohlmut, San Diego

You'll probably have the campground all to yourself if you take a bath in old cabbage water, but of course the gum-chewing bears will be lined up at the tent with their plates and forks. If Dumpsters smell like a banquet hall, there's not much future in pursuing a repellant smell that would be a practical bear-chaser. Most animals repelled by smells react to the smells of natural predators, not noxious odors. Bears should be wary of human smell, so maybe a really ripe T-shirt and old underwear would do the trick. But most bears that hikers encounter have learned otherwise. While the animals don't see us as a primary food source, they also know we won't charge at them screaming "ooga-booga-booga!" and hack up their loved ones. Another problem with smell research is that bear behavior varies a lot; if Test Bears A through F flee at the smell of a shot of bus exhaust from an aerosol can, when you encounter Random Bear G in the woods, there's no telling what he'll do. The final problem may be getting scientists to volunteer for the field testing.

The newest wrinkle in Bear-B-Gone technology goes by the coy name of "bear spanking." For years the town of Mammoth Lakes has been plagued with the bear equivalent of beer runs. A naturalist finally discovered that bears will retreat if they're shot with nonlethal rubber bullets. Pain seems to be the universal deterrent. I doubt that's feasible in Yellowstone, so go with the traditional remedies: hike on-trail, in the daytime, wear "bear bells" or otherwise make a lot of noise so you don't startle them, steer way clear of cubs, and as a last resort carry a can of large-animal pepper spray. Of course, for the spray to work the bear has to be (at most) 30 feet from you, and in your hysterical state you have to hit him in the eyes, nose, and/or mouth. But I'm sure you can handle it.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations

Howdy, Matt and the Elves:

Sponsored
Sponsored

I'm planning a trip to Yosemite and reading up on safety in bear country. Apparently the main reason bears encounter humans in the first place is because their sense of smell is so acute that they can pick up even residual traces of human food. The Yosemite website implies that bears have been known to rip a car door off its hinges just to get at an empty soda can or a stick of gum. So if the bears' sense of smell is that sharp, hasn't anybody found a smell that repels them? I should think that a whiff of badly cooked cabbage or something could be sprayed on one's clothing to keep the bears away.

-- Kevin Wohlmut, San Diego

You'll probably have the campground all to yourself if you take a bath in old cabbage water, but of course the gum-chewing bears will be lined up at the tent with their plates and forks. If Dumpsters smell like a banquet hall, there's not much future in pursuing a repellant smell that would be a practical bear-chaser. Most animals repelled by smells react to the smells of natural predators, not noxious odors. Bears should be wary of human smell, so maybe a really ripe T-shirt and old underwear would do the trick. But most bears that hikers encounter have learned otherwise. While the animals don't see us as a primary food source, they also know we won't charge at them screaming "ooga-booga-booga!" and hack up their loved ones. Another problem with smell research is that bear behavior varies a lot; if Test Bears A through F flee at the smell of a shot of bus exhaust from an aerosol can, when you encounter Random Bear G in the woods, there's no telling what he'll do. The final problem may be getting scientists to volunteer for the field testing.

The newest wrinkle in Bear-B-Gone technology goes by the coy name of "bear spanking." For years the town of Mammoth Lakes has been plagued with the bear equivalent of beer runs. A naturalist finally discovered that bears will retreat if they're shot with nonlethal rubber bullets. Pain seems to be the universal deterrent. I doubt that's feasible in Yellowstone, so go with the traditional remedies: hike on-trail, in the daytime, wear "bear bells" or otherwise make a lot of noise so you don't startle them, steer way clear of cubs, and as a last resort carry a can of large-animal pepper spray. Of course, for the spray to work the bear has to be (at most) 30 feet from you, and in your hysterical state you have to hit him in the eyes, nose, and/or mouth. But I'm sure you can handle it.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mang Tomas, banana ketchup barred in San Diego

What will happen to Filipino Christmas here?
Next Article

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader