On 15 Apr 2004 10:21:55 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

~
~In article ,
(jane) writes:
~| ~
~| ~Hell, the Californians are scared of bobcats! Ignore 90% of their
~| ~phobias.
~|
~| :-) I didn't ignore the one that said don't leave food in the car in
~| Yosemite though... bears *will* open them like a foodcan if you do!
~
~Hmm. A grizzly bear's claws are strong, but I rather doubt that
~they would claw through even the flimsy steel that most cars are
~made of. When I was there (25 years ago), the warning was about
~softtops; I can believe that they have learnt to break windows,
~but have serious difficulty in believing that they tear open car
~boots.
~
http://www.nps.gov/yose/bears.htm

I suspect most damage is indeed done by claws on the bodywork - makes
keying look tame, though they will break windows. I have seen one
photo of a car torn to bits, but it was while I was out there in '94
(They put them up in the shop to stop folk leaving food out)

http://www.epinions.com/park-review-...398DEC15-prod1
is another account of this.

Having said that, we stayed in a tent cabin, put all food into the
bear locker and never heard a peep out of any wildlife all night
(thank goodness).

And it's rarely the poor bears' faults either - there are reports of
people putting food deliberately on tables to get photographs, then
wondering why the bear gets grumpy when it gets cornered by the
tourists. The bear, not the tourists, can wind up shot.

Ho hum. Least we aren't in danger of getting *those* in our gardens!


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!