Camping with WVO (Bears)

[Jordan]

I converted my rig to WVO the end of last fall and have only camped in it during the winter. With summer approaching and bear season already begun I have been thinking about having all that smelly oil onboard. Anyone camping on WVO have more encounters than usual?

[TardisDeli]

Hhmmm, I had not thought of that ... and I am soooooo paranoid about everything. I bought the deli because you stay inside the van and drive away if needed (not having to get out of the back as with a pickup truck) in case of bears.

Have never had a bear problem (used to have lots of bears around when we were kids, so I have seen how destructive they can be). I run veg oil in warmer weather, and we go camping year round on little backroads alone (sometimes with one or 2 other delicas also on wvo). Have never had a bear around our delica, and I wake at every twig snap in the night, and am especially wary of bear scat (if there is fresh then I don't park there) or bear claw digging up roots such as skunk cabbage (they love it). However, I am very careful about cooking smells so I only reheat precooked foods in the microwave so reduce our food smells, never frying raw meat (but we do camp with Profister and Sima who cook gorgeous steaks over the campfire and I have never seen bear evidence). It also depends on your oil source, mine doesnt have much scent as partly from vegetable tempura, and also highly filtered. We camped with Frisch years ago, as we followed his wvo delica I thought someone was having a BBQ nearby, but still no bears (despite Frisch's lovely baby girl as tempting bear bait).

Do be careful not to startle bears, make lots of loud singing and thump the ground with your walking stick. When Fexlboi Felix and Toni were camping with us at a high altitude very remote spot near Chilliwack river, we would sing songs loudly to Mr Bear while walking around so the bears knew we were there.

My rule is the drivers seat must always be empty, the key in the ignition, the centre console clear to crawl over easily, and the car pointing in the proper direction with no gear to hinder a quick drive away.

I think citronella is the new attractant to bears (mothballs and bear bells used to be the bear attractant to hikers).

Christine.

[jessef]

I've seen a bear crawl up a two story unit in whistler that looked impossible and went in through a huge window.

I've seen a bear tear into a van like it was a tin can.

If you have wvo inside your Delica and you have even a faint smell of it outside, nothing you do short of tank armor will keep a bear from getting inside your Delica.

I've never travelled into bear territory on wvo solo for this reason alone.

Be careful.

If you have a window, door handle or latches, a bear will get through it. I've see some amazing feats by bears.

[CloudMountain]

I'm sure just parking it anywhere in Nelson will soon tell you if its a Bear Magnet.

[Jordan]

My 'oil refinery' is in my garage and my rig is always infront of my house, I haven't had any problems with critters so far but I'm downtown and saw more wildlife when I lived further up the Mtn. My partner and I are vegetarians and are good about keeping potential bear lures out of the rig but even if I don't bring additional veg oil I'm assuming a bear could smell my vented veg tank.

[Profister]

(but we do camp with Profister and Sima who cook gorgeous steaks over the campfire and I have never seen bear evidence)

We are taking off to Nahatlatch in 3 hours with some lamb meat on board. No WVO yet but I am working on it, so the bear test results will come later this summer.

[sasquatch-hunter]

Bears? Who cares? Just wear just protective clothing.

[nxski]

I've never worried too much about bears. I do a lot of backpacking and always bring bear mace, bells, talk loudly etc and know what to do when encountering certain types of bears. As long as you don't travel solo (and even if you do) they typically won't attack you. I've been up close and personal with many a bear but there have only been two times I've been slightly worried. Once was when 2 cubs were climbing in a tree above me and the other was when a cub decided to come say hi to us while on a portage. Both tomes you have to wonder...where's the mum?

As for smells, I occasionally keep food with me in the tent but only if it doesn't give off much of an odor and if there is something potent tied in a tree nearby.

If you're in a van with easy access to the drivers seat you should be fine. It might be work it to bring a stinky salmon with you and hang it from a tree a way away to distract any predators too!?

[BCDelica]

Isn't it said that the way to identify bear poop is by the pepper smell and the bells in it?

Having camped in a WVO Delica for many years, including the Bella Coola valley during Grizzly, I mean Salmon spawning season, we never had a bear approach the van. Even our last time camping trip on the Atnarko River, other campers had some bear visits but not us. Split the WVO filling the van once well staying on Hwy 24, the South Cariboo, and left the absorbed puddled all week long in an area where black bears are common. Only the flies paid it any attention. Relieved my fears that as long as my WVO equipment, was kept clean and well sealed all should be fine from bear safety concerns. Therefore can fall asleep comfy in the Delica, the only worries being of forgotten fish slime left on clothing and the possibility of Yogi licking the overflow strip of WVO off the side of the van.

Also kept the filling nozzles, rags, and gloves doubled bagged.

[glenn]

List of fatal bear attacks in North America over the last Century:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fa ... th_America
Not very many.

In B.C it looks like about one or two people per decade.

In contrast - one person was killed in car accident in BC every 21 hours (417 people) in 2007.

about 60 pedestrians are killed each year in BC by cars.

We should be much, much more afraid of cars than bears - but are we? Of course, common sense precautions need to be taken when in the bush - who wants to be eaten. But don't let irrational fears taint your enjoyment of the back country.

[Jordan]

Thanks for the replies, we get a decent amount of bears in Nelson and I see them often camping and hiking. The deal breaker isn't bears, it's the 200 liters of smelly cooking grease.

I have heard about bears going through wvo totes, no one has had a problem with their rig?

[Jordan]

In contrast - one person was killed in car accident in BC every 21 hours (417 people) in 2007.

about 60 pedestrians are killed each year in BC by cars.

We should be much, much more afraid of cars than bears - but are we? Of course, common sense precautions need to be taken when in the bush - who wants to be eaten. But don't let irrational fears taint your enjoyment of the back country.

While I agree with you and have personally see a motor vehicle kill a family of 5, the fact of the matter is not that I am more scared of bears than cars.
Provided cars had a powerful sense of smell and were attracted to the aromas of deep fried foods I would be more wary of traveling with WVO through car country. Since cars are not more likely to 'seek out' WVO than a bear I will be more concerned with a bear tampering with my rig than getting hit by a car in the backcountry.

[grolly6]

List of fatal bear attacks in North America over the last Century:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fa ... th_America
Not very many.

In B.C it looks like about one or two people per decade.

In contrast - one person was killed in car accident in BC every 21 hours (417 people) in 2007.

about 60 pedestrians are killed each year in BC by cars.

We should be much, much more afraid of cars than bears - but are we? Of course, common sense precautions need to be taken when in the bush - who wants to be eaten. But don't let irrational fears taint your enjoyment of the back country.

I don't think that list of fatalities is accurate. Back in 1989 I worked for Noranda out of their Prince George office and I clearly recall hearing from one of the project geologists about how difficult it was for him to have to phone the parents of a drill rig helper who was killed by a bear on one of his project sites about 2 years prior. And, I didn't see anything on that wikipedia page that would line up with the information I received from that geologist.

[zu!]

List of fatal bear attacks in North America over the last Century:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fa ... th_America
Not very many.

In B.C it looks like about one or two people per decade.

In contrast - one person was killed in car accident in BC every 21 hours (417 people) in 2007.

about 60 pedestrians are killed each year in BC by cars.

We should be much, much more afraid of cars than bears - but are we? Of course, common sense precautions need to be taken when in the bush - who wants to be eaten. But don't let irrational fears taint your enjoyment of the back country.

I don't think that list of fatalities is accurate. Back in 1989 I worked for Noranda out of their Prince George office and I clearly recall hearing from one of the project geologists about how difficult it was for him to have to phone the parents of a drill rig helper who was killed by a bear on one of his project sites about 2 years prior. And, I didn't see anything on that wikipedia page that would line up with the information I received from that geologist.

That list is inaccurate. Ask anyone who hunts bears. Bears fear of people is a learned reaction. The problem is too many people feeding bears and making them not fear us humans. Don't be nice to bears. You see one, make sure to let it know its not welcome. More people do this and there will be less attacks. In the wild, just be careful. Be warned that if a bear decides it wants you for lunch, chances are, its going to get you while you're sleeping.

Remember the two guys in BC last year? I think they survived out of sheer luck, just slightly munched on. Having said that, I've camped out quite a few times with nothing but a canvas tent and a good sleeping bag. But that was in late fall when all the bears were already asleep (or so I thought). I woke up to feel a large warm shape lying against me through the wall tent, sharing my warmth, I guess.

[FalcoColumbarius]

And remember kids:

• Your parents might tell you that a couple of people per decade is not many. That's true.
  They might also tell you that there are no more scary monsters out there. That's a lie.
  But they are not all out there... Some of them are hiding under your bed or in your wardrobe.

Sweet dreams.

Falco.