Bear country is beautiful country. When we venture into the wild, and into the habitat of black bears and grizzlies, it’s important to take a few precautions that will protect us and bears.
Here are 2 tips on how to protect yourself from bears when camping. You can use these tips for any kind of camping trip—from car camping to backpacking to hunting.
Tip #1 — Camping Food Storage
Camping food storage is quite possibly the most important thing you can do to protect yourself from unwanted bear encounters. Though a campsite feels like a makeshift kitchen, you need to think of it as a food-free zone (when you’re not having a meal), to avoid attracting wildlife. Bears and other wildlife may be attracted by any food lying around at your campsite; and once they find and devour one tasty morsel, they’ll continue to forage.
In the evening, when you’re done with dinner and making s’mores, create a food-free campsite by putting all of your food items, plus things like chewing gum, toothpaste, lip balm, and anything else that’s remotely foodlike (it’s better to be overly cautious), into a dry bag. Then, take your dry bag far from your campsite, and find a big tree that you can hang it from; you’ll need a rope for this. The goal is to get the bag high off the ground, so it’s impossible for a bear to reach it from the ground or the tree.
The next morning, you’ll find that, more often than not, nothing disturbed your dry bag overnight.
If you’re car camping, and have a hard-sided vehicle, you can store all of your food and hygiene products in the car. Just remember to lock the doors before you turn in, since bears are smart enough to open them!
Tip #2 — Nite Guard Solar
With Nite Guard Solar lights, you can create a campsite where no bear, no deer, no raccoon, no fox, nothing even thinks about coming near. Nite Guard Solar lights send out a flashing red light, and to nocturnal creatures, this looks like the presence of a predator. These lights make bears run away scared, since they would prefer to forage somewhere else than confront another nocturnal predator.
Another benefit of using Nite Guard Solar lights as your campsite bear deterrent is that they automatically turn on at dusk. This means that you can keep on roasting marshmallows and telling spooky campfire stories.
Going camping? Pack your lights.
If you have a camping adventure on the horizon, you can prepare by shopping for Nite Guard Solar lights in our online store! And if you have questions about Nite Guard Solar lights, how they work, and how to use them at your campsite, we’d be delighted to help you over the phone or via email. Give us a call at 1-800-328-6647, or send us an email.