Keeping Yosemite’s Bears Wild

With spring upon us, "...a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love," and an awakening bear's fancy turns to thoughts of food!

A National Park Service ranger tells the story of a young couple on their honeymoon in Yosemite. After a day filled with activity, the two crawled into sleeping bags to sleep under star-filled skies. Before retiring, the bride had slathered her face with her usual night creme -- her favorite, the strawberry-scented one. She drifted off to a night of deep refreshing sleep. Later that night we see her stirring in her sleep, half waking as she sensed her new husband making amorous advances, smothering her face with kisses. She woke only enough to moan, "Oh Honey, I love you, but please let me get some sleep." She brushed away his kisses, but sensed he was pressing her close, his arm draped over her. She felt his weight on her chest. He would not stop kissing her. Now she was annoyed enough to open her eyes and discover that it was not her husband on her chest, but a bear, standing on her chest, licking the creme from her face! She was terrified and began shrieking loudly for her husband. This frightened the bear, who excused himself and fled into the woods.

Every year there are bear encounters in Yosemite that range from bears raiding campsites as campers sleep in their tents, to destroying cars. A bear's sense of smell is so keen, it may lead him to your car where you have left a half eaten candy bar or crumbs in the baby's car seat. Bears are heavy and powerful creatures and can easily destroy a car. I have seen a car that had an encounter with a bear. It was not a pretty sight. The door had been ripped from its hinges, the roof was dented and the rear window was smashed and ripped out. The evidence spoke for itself-- an empty doughnut box lay on the ground nearby

Visiting Yosemite can be a transformative experience. For many people who have not seen wild animals up close, the natural inclination is to offer them food. This can be a thrilling experience, but it is deadly for the animals. One Thin Mint cookie one time might not seem harmful, but when park visitors routinely feed animals, wildlife are being trained to depend on this, and soon forget how to forage for themselves. Bears who eat human food develop tooth decay (which, since they don't have dentists, becomes quite painful) and even chronic diseases that are common to --- you guessed it -- humans! As recently as the mid-1960's, feeding animals was allowed. According to a study in the March 2014 issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, a comprehensive program educating the public, requiring the use of bear-proof lockers, containers and disposal bins, has markedly decreased the bears' consumption of picnic food.

When you visit Yosemite be on the lookout for bears. Take lots of pictures, but stay a safe distance from bears (about the length of  four tour buses). And keep the bears safe from people food by making sure your picnic basket is within arm's reach -- especially the Thin Mint Cookies -- you want all those for yourself!

Oh, the picture?  That is my husband's encounter with the stuffed bear in Yosemite's grocery store (plus  a little background magic.)