Amen
Do they only eat what they can digest?
kayak trip
This happened around Wrangell which is a long way from any Coast Guard station.
Bear canisters are required in a few popular wilderness areas, not on all Federal lands. They are probably not required anywhere in Alaska outside of Denali NP.
If you are on an overnight kayak trip you are going to have to carry food in your boat. There is no getting around it.
Carrying versus eating
Even without a bear canister, carrying food can probably be done in some kind of containment that would also mask smells. If that’s not enough load down the kayak itself with some of that pepper spray. I’ve had to treat garbage cans in the house with straight pepper for a time when I have adopted a cat with a bit too much in the way of feral anxieties. It always works out after a while, pepper seems to be a very effective deterrent.
Handling food outside of that container while in the boat would leave a lot of scent behind.
Meanwhile, the woman obviously had the wrong bear protection along. 
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/10/05/heroic-20-pound-puppy-ferociously-chases-away-2-big-bears/21245032/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmaing5%7Cdl16%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D-1069823317s
Might not be a deterrent
– Last Updated: Oct-05-15 5:12 PM EST –
Cliff Jacobson says that bears commonly try to eat items that have been exposed to pepper spray. He speculates that for bears, just like humans, the same pepper that feels awful in the nose and eyes gets a completely different reaction when in the mouth. You know what happens if even the tiniest trace of jalapeno residue from delicious spicy food gets in your eye!
I wonder
if they should sell dog scent as a bear deterrent.
Well, sorry about that
It sure works for cats. They hate walking around sneezing after trying to dig in the garbage.
Maybe bears are less easily embarrassed.
Maybe because bears will eat anything
When I heard about that, I thought it was kind of humorous. On the other hand, there are plenty of people looking for ways to keep stray cats away from their houses. What you know could be worth something in the land of unusual inventions.
missed the
obvious…
the woman communicated with bear in English and telepathy …that’s why bear went down to her yak and beat on it.
beasr
understand English as well as you.
from the field…
This evening’s example of talking with animals.
Birdy, current flock patriarch and Speaker and I trade ‘peeps’ during mating season when I ‘peep’ Birdy referring to the many offspring he and his mates have with our breeding program for intelligent grackles.
Birdy ‘peeps’ back with obvious satisfaction.
Autumn is upon us. this week, post hurricane, a peak time for conversation tween me and the flock.
Brutus, who is Birdy’s off spring, is a very large Florida grackle. Brutus eats dog food bits from my fingers when perched on the open van door
Thump, Brut came in for a landing….and after a few pleasant whistle’s I asked Brut , in English, if he was Birdy’s son.
Birdy up on the thick hi voltage cell tower supply line abt 75’ out of sight to the rear chirped a long string of positive short whistles….
I grinned….Brutus leaned forward and whistled a deep
PEEEP
You perch on an open van door?
Perching is legal anywhere in Florida…
silly…
…it’s his fingers that are perched on the van door…
bear repellent
For as long as I have been recreating in the outdoors the common advice from rangers and naturalists has been that taking your dog into the wilds will tend to ATTRACT bears and other predators, rather than repel them. So I seriously doubt dog scent would be of any use in mitigating bear encroachment. I can tell you from experience that coyote urine has no affect on them.
On the other hand, there are lots of YouTube videos of black bears being chased off by dogs, cats and even birds. It is more the attitude of the individual animal than its size that succeeds in those cases. Like most intelligent mammals (and birds), bears recognize dominance displays from any other animal, regardless of its size,and will characteristically back down. This is not true of grizzlies.
Honestly, I have tried to imagine what I would have done had I found myself in that solo paddler’s shoes that day. But for sure I would not have been standing around and filming and narrating it.
I’ve done the same thing
I think I’d be too preoccupied to film it.
well…good point.
his dexterity is impressive
I thought it was Brutus
Brutus wants the car keys
typical teenager.