Food in tents

[shortridge]

 

A general query ... What does it take to get Scouts, especially younger ones, to keep food and other smellables out of their tents? What techniques does your unit use to reinforce that rule? Any good food-in-tent stories (or bad ones!) that you'd like to share?

[scoutingagain]

An older scout displaying the shreaded remains of a backpack opened by a bear to access said contraband.

 

Or better yet having a bear walkthrough the campsite.

 

 

 

SA

[Eagle92]

My old troop has some rules about tents: no food in tents, no metal frame backpacks, and no shoes. You got caught breaking the rules, the PLC made you sleep in one of the heavy canvas Baker tents like summer camp with no netting, and no floor. The tens were old, but still usable. You wouldn't get wet if it rained, but you would have to deal with a muddy floor, insects, and the heat.

 

 

Alot of us scouts were ticked when the CO used our fiberglass shed as a dart board, causing all of our tents to get mildew damage, including the bakers. Once that happened, we never did get new bakers, but we did implement a tarp only policy.(This message has been edited by eagle92)

[eisely]

I don't know of any magic way to teach scouts about this. Two stories told to me.

 

A group of Webelos was on a camp out in skunk territory with all the boys sharing a large tent. Boys left chocolate in tent. Skunk went into tent to get chocolate. Skunk still enjoying chocolate in tent when boys showed up to hit the sack and entered tent. Skunk defends him or her self in customary manner.

 

Our troop in Southern California had an incident on Cataline Island at summer camp where one scout smeared another scout's tent with food (peanut butter and jelly?) to deliberately attract local wilde hogs. The stunt was successful and the offender was disciplined.

[momma_bee]

I have no ideas, but I'll tell a few stories...

 

We talked about 'no food in the tents' at summer camp and my 1st year scouts bear-proofed their food, until it was gone the next day. Meanwhile, my SPL was spending lots of time in his tent with the flaps down. On Wednesday, family night, his folks came up and asked him if he needed more bread, peanut butter or jelly. Seems he had the fixin's under his bed and was making food when he was hungry. I repeated that there wasn't supposed to be food in the tents and Mom informed me it was fine, after all, nothing had got into it all week and cited the brand of plasticware that always has worked for her. I told her to take the stuff home and she agreed. On Saturday, he pulled the container out from under his bed...I told the SM (not my PBee) and as far as I know, nothing was done.

 

Two years later, we went again and I announced I was not bear proofing food. No way, no how, and I wasn't taking any food up, or supplies to do so. I had a mom all over me six ways to Sunday about how I had to do it because she didn't want her son drug out of his tent. I explained that either he should not bring food, or he should come prepared to bear proof it himself. To the best of my knowledge, nothing came up, but on Wednesday...Mom brought food up to cook and then just left it on the table when she went home. I put it in my van and locked the door. I sent it home on Saturday and explained that was the only thing I had to bear proof it and said that boys couldn't get into my van. Which was true, I had it locked...

 

Different Mom's each time but the PB&J boy was there, without his PB&J.

 

The in-between year? BigBee and I went by ourselves and the site next to us was skunked. He told everyone and it was a food related issue.

 

[Eagle1982]

Google stories of bear attacks on people in tents. Usually food is involved. There are plenty of articles.

 

Share the articles with the scouts.

 

 

[Eagle92]

Not a tent story, but a backpacking one that plastic story reminded me of. At Brownsea 22, we were beginning the backpacking portion, and my buddy decided to go see the medic b/c he had a really bad blister, a blsiter the size of a fist b/c he deliberately infected it so that he could leave early . Anyway while I took the buddy to the medic, my patrol decided to load his portion of the patrol gear into my backpack so that as soon as I came back we could be off. They placed the can PB that was opened, but sealed with the plastic top in my backpack, placed the pack on the ground, and waited. About 2 hours later when I show finally show back up, I put on the pack only to find it's covered with ants. Those suckeres ate through the plastic cover and had a field day.

[Hal_Crawford]

I'll start with a "How stupid could I be?" story. I was a new Cubmaster at Webelos' camp. They told us to bring seasonings for foil dinners and it did not occur to me that an unopened plastic jar of garlic salt was in fact food. In the middle of the night I heard a rustling sound and when I reached for my flashlight I got fur. I pulled back my hand and started kicking the foot bar on my cot which caused the critter (raccoon, I think) to skedaddle. On checking I discovered that even I could smell the garlic through the plastic. I was an idiot (opinions vary as to whether that has changed).

 

At Boy Scout Camp we have had some close encounters. A scout left food in his tent and returned to find a faint but distinct odor of skunk. Rendered the tent uninhabitable for the week.

 

Last year, two scouts at summer camp were awakened by rustling and heavy breathing outside their tent. They did not have food in their tent and whatever it was it went away. They went back to sleep thinking that their buddies were playing a prank on them. In the morning they found a very distinct bear print in the mud behind their tent.

 

I suspect that our experiences are typical. Our older scouts know to secure food in the chuck box at summer camp and in bear bags on the trail. The older scouts who have done high adventure treks know what the smellables are. We regularly camp in bear country but fortunately our bears are not as resourceful as the ones at Philmont.

 

If your older scouts have similar experiences they should share them with the younger ones. IMHO, scouts will get the message from older scouts much more clearly than from us.

 

Hal

[Eagledad]

I found it interesting at Philmont that the crews very first task after reaching a camp is putting up the bear bag. Back county protocol any other place in the world is set up your tent first incase bad weather sets in. But the bear attacks at Philmont motivated the staff to create an aggressive bear policy. They are so serious about bear safety at Philmont that one adult in another crew was pulled off the trail for being caught not following the bear prevention policies. He was warned once and then asked to leave when he contested the policy to the ranger. The ranger left camp and came back with the camp director who was in no listening mood. And yes, we did have staff members walking through a couple of our camps checking that we were following the bear policies. They are very serious about protecting the scouts against bear attacks.

 

As for our experiences, we found skunks wondering through the camp to be pretty convincing.

 

Beary

 

[Hal_Crawford]

We start with the bear bag too. One reason is that it is often difficult to find a suitable tree limb (Strong enough, high enough but not too high to throw a line over) so the bear bag location often drives everything else. When we arrive at a site the patrol leader/crew chief decides bear bag location, cook area and latrine area. If it is raining or rain is threatening we will set up our fly first and put the packs under it. Scouts will then set up the bear bags. Other scouts may be detailed to filter water at this time. Once everything else is done the scouts are free to set up tents. The mantra is Crew Comes First.

 

A trick that we learned is to have a second line with a "Oops" or "Hurry up" bag for the smellables that scouts (or adults) forgot. This is light enough that one person can raise and lower it so it isn't a big deal when someone realizes that they still have a granola bar in their pocket. The First Aid kit and smellable meds also go in this bag.

[John-in-KC]

One year at Scout Camp, one of our Scouts, who happens to really like critters, didn't wash before bed, and had peanut butter on his face.

 

About 3 AM, he was awakened by a couple of raccoons testing his kissing technique by licking the peanut butter off his face.

 

He was delighted. His Dad (not I, but also on that camp), wasn't.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

[momma_bee]

I forgot I had a fun story - rather than a 'they got away with it' story.

 

We were at Cub Resident Camp and I had a tent to myself. I woke up at just-before-dawn to hear 'rustle, rattle' that became a 'rustle, rattle, crunch, crunch' coming from under my tent. It was early enough I figured I could wait it out. Soon a lot of rustling was going on and some growling added it. And the distinct smell of eau'du'skunk. That was when I saw the flashlight. Back and forth until it shone under my tent.

 

"Go back to your tent boys."

 

- Mrs Bee, there is something under your tent

 

"Go back to your tent boys."

 

- But Mrs Bee, we can see it under there.

 

"I know boys, go back to your tent NOW"

 

- But Mrs Bee, it looks like a skunk.

 

At which point, they decided to go back to their tent and watch.

 

It seems that one critter got ahold of a bag of bugles and drug it under the tent platform and another one decided to share. A skunk and a raccoon came out from under and I have forgotten who won that battle.

 

Come to think of it, one of those fellows just made Eagle, I could have used that story.

[Eagledad]

I guess we are all different in our habits, but I was taught a long time ago that shelter always comes first in the wilderness because a person is a lot more susceptible to hypothermia when they are fatigued. I actually saw this happen to a few scouts on a Northern Tier trip and it certainly made me more aware of the risk. Thatis also what is taught at servival schools. Also the odds to me that a bear will wonder through a bunch of loud campers busy setting up their camp is much smaller compared to being caught in an afternoon rain shower.

 

Ironically the BSA Guides on our Pecos backpacking trip werent near as worry about bears as their counterparts are 100 miles away at Philmont. The Frank Rand Staff were very concerned with hypothermia because they had a couple of very serious incidents. But Philmont has 40000 scouts come through every year and they have to worry about public perception of safety, so they have to show an aggressive reaction to incidents. I think their policy is wrong because it doesnt set a good example for boys who will be future wilderness campers, and I told them that. But they explained their marketing situation and I understand.

 

Im not trying to be defensive because I want everyone to think I am a know it all, Im just explaining why I do it this way. Truth is we are only talking a matter minutes either way. But I guess my experience with hypothermia just reinforced what I was taught. And while I have a very deep respect for bears, Ive set up camp in the rain a lot more than I seen a bear even near a camp. So I play the odds I guess.

 

Barry

 

[GernBlansten]

Philmont lore...

 

A scout preparing his hot chocolate, opened the packet, emptied it out into a cup, then blew into the packet to get the last bits out. the powder blew back on his face and hair. Later that night, he awoke to a bear licking the powder off his head.

[eisely]

There also appears to be a difference among bears even in relatively small spaces. The stories I hear about Yosemite bears suggests that they have lost all fear of humans and have learned a great deal over the years about human habits. Alledgedly they even know what ice chests are for. Similarly, Philmont bears probably get more exposure to humans than bears in less intensively used areas. So modifying one's priorities to adapt to local bear behaviors makes a certain amount of sense. I have no science to support this, but I think it is a reasonable hypothesis.