"Holy. Shit!"

[Lauren Johnson]

[Magda Hassan]

Smarter than the average bear! Moments like this you need a packet of berries to hand out and distract them.

[David Guyatt]

Seemed to me the bear was just very curious, but otherwise quite passive and friendly.

But I was in the aircraft above the tree looking down at the time... No sweat.

[Lauren Johnson]

Seemed to me the bear was just very curious, but otherwise quite passive and friendly.

But I was in the aircraft above the tree looking down at the time... No sweat.

Having been around many bears in the mountains, this is not surprising behavior. But had the bear smelled something it wanted, it would have been ugly. Black bears attack a lot of campers and hikers every year. The guy is lucky.

[David Guyatt]

Seemed to me the bear was just very curious, but otherwise quite passive and friendly.

But I was in the aircraft above the tree looking down at the time... No sweat.

Having been around many bears in the mountains, this is not surprising behavior. But had the bear smelled something it wanted, it would have been ugly. Black bears attack a lot of campers and hikers every year. The guy is lucky.

Understood Lauren. Black bears became extinct here a long time ago, but can still be found in the more remote parts of Europe. I understand the safe thing to do is to suspend food up over a high branch by rope tied off lower down the tree. Makes sense to me.

[Lauren Johnson]

I understand the safe thing to do is to suspend food up over a high branch by rope tied off lower down the tree.

In some places, there is not safe thing when the bears have had multiple generations to adapt. Bears are rather amazing. These bears can figure out and defeating the best attempts at tying up food -- which I still do if I am still in a treed area. So people now resort to packing in bear canisters which are strong and tightly sealed.

True story. When my family and I were camping in the Yosemite Valley some 50 years ago, we returned to our camp site only to find that a bear had gotten into our ice chest which we had left out on the ground. We found a jar of mayonnaise was open scooped out. Our neighbors in the next campsite said they saw it all. The bear came into the camp, found our ice chest, sat down and bounced the ice chest on his legs. It quickly popped open as they all do of course. The bear rummaged around and found what it wanted -- the never opened jar of mayo. It pressed the jar against its chest and twisted off the cap! It then held the jar to its mouth with both paws and scooped out most of it. I looked in the jar and saw the long skinny marks from its tongue. Amazing.

Nevertheless, I don't ever want a curious bear to come sniffing up close to me! They can quickly become un-curious.

[David Guyatt]

I am reminded of my late dog who stole a box of chocolates, opened them, ate them, but left all the wrappers in their designed cavities inside the shell of the box. Clever.

There was also the recent case of a smart squirrel who had learned how to access a metal grill nut feeder designed for birds that hung from a tree branch. He (maybe She, I have no idea) climbed down the branch, used it's tail to hang from said branch, hauled up the string from which the feeder hun, lifted the metal grill nut feeder, turned it upside down and quickly chewed through the plastic base (I didn't even know it had a plastic base - it had been bought just a day prior to keep squirrels at bay... fat chance, eh), and then jumped down to collect the nuts now on the floor.

Critters ain't stupid!

The day might comer when we have to relearn lost skills like these. Hope not, but I don't ignore the possibility.

[Jan Klimkowski]

I understand the safe thing to do is to suspend food up over a high branch by rope tied off lower down the tree.

In some places, there is not safe thing when the bears have had multiple generations to adapt. Bears are rather amazing. These bears can figure out and defeating the best attempts at tying up food -- which I still do if I am still in a treed area. So people now resort to packing in bear canisters which are strong and tightly sealed.

True story. When my family and I were camping in the Yosemite Valley some 50 years ago, we returned to our camp site only to find that a bear had gotten into our ice chest which we had left out on the ground. We found a jar of mayonnaise was open scooped out. Our neighbors in the next campsite said they saw it all. The bear came into the camp, found our ice chest, sat down and bounced the ice chest on his legs. It quickly popped open as they all do of course. The bear rummaged around and found what it wanted -- the never opened jar of mayo. It pressed the jar against its chest and twisted off the cap! It then held the jar to its mouth with both paws and scooped out most of it. I looked in the jar and saw the long skinny marks from its tongue. Amazing.

Nevertheless, I don't ever want a curious bear to come sniffing up close to me! They can quickly become un-curious.

What a great story!

A mayo-loving bear.

[Lauren Johnson]

I understand the safe thing to do is to suspend food up over a high branch by rope tied off lower down the tree.

In some places, there is not safe thing when the bears have had multiple generations to adapt. Bears are rather amazing. These bears can figure out and defeating the best attempts at tying up food -- which I still do if I am still in a treed area. So people now resort to packing in bear canisters which are strong and tightly sealed.

True story. When my family and I were camping in the Yosemite Valley some 50 years ago, we returned to our camp site only to find that a bear had gotten into our ice chest which we had left out on the ground. We found a jar of mayonnaise was open scooped out. Our neighbors in the next campsite said they saw it all. The bear came into the camp, found our ice chest, sat down and bounced the ice chest on his legs. It quickly popped open as they all do of course. The bear rummaged around and found what it wanted -- the never opened jar of mayo. It pressed the jar against its chest and twisted off the cap! It then held the jar to its mouth with both paws and scooped out most of it. I looked in the jar and saw the long skinny marks from its tongue. Amazing.

Nevertheless, I don't ever want a curious bear to come sniffing up close to me! They can quickly become un-curious.

What a great story!

A mayo-loving bear.

The real point is that the bears are so intelligent that this knowledge is passed from generation to the next. They just keep getting better at defeating every attempt to stop them except things like anti-bear garbage cans, etc. I heard stories of bears breaking into cars through smashing in the windows and ripping into the trunk through the back seat to get what was once hidden!

[Jan Klimkowski]

What a great story!

A mayo-loving bear.

The real point is that the bears are so intelligent that this knowledge is passed from generation to the next. They just keep getting better at defeating every attempt to stop them except things like anti-bear garbage cans, etc. I heard stories of bears breaking into cars through smashing in the windows and ripping into the trunk through the back seat to get what was once hidden!

Presumably knowledge of how to crack open an ice chest or unscrew a jar is passed on through a young bear watching an older bear performing the task?