Camping In Style

Bear Country Precautions ●    Keep a close watch on children and teach them what to do if they encounter a bear. ●    While hiking, make noise to avoid a surprise encounter with a bear. ●    Never keep food, gum, wet wipes etc...  in your tent. ●    Store food and toiletries in bear-proof containers or in an airtight container in the trunk of your vehicle. ONLY IF there is no bear box. Bears WILL break into cars.  ●    Keep a clean camp by cleaning up and storing food and garbage immediately after meals. ●    Use bear-proof garbage cans whenever possible or store your garbage in a secure location with your food. ●    Don't bury or burn excess food; bears will still be attracted to the residual smell. ●    Garbage should be packed out of camp if no trash receptacles are available. ●    Never approach a bear or pic...

Facts about Black Bears The only species of bears in California are black bears. However, they do range in color from blonde to black, with cinnamon brown being the most common color. There are an estimated 25,000 to 35,000 black bears in California. Black bears will seek to avoid confrontation with humans. If encountered, always leave them an escape route. Males are much larger than females and can weigh over 500 pounds, although average weight is about 300 pounds. Black bears can sprint up to 35 mph and they are strong swimmers and great tree climbers. A typical wild bear diet consists of berries, plants, nuts, roots, honey, honeycomb, insects, larvae, carrion and small mammals. As winter approaches, bears will forage for food up to 20 hours a day, storing enough fat to sustain them through hibernation. Bears often hibernate in large hollow trees 40 to 60 feet off the ground. Bears that are accustomed to people can become too bold and lose their fear of humans. For...

Bear Country Precautions ●    Keep a close watch on children and teach them what to do if they encounter a bear. ●    While hiking, make noise to avoid a surprise encounter with a bear. ●    Never keep food, gum, wet wipes etc...  in your tent. ●    Store food and toiletries in bear-proof containers or in an airtight container in the trunk of your vehicle. ONLY IF there is no bear box. Bears WILL break into cars.  ●    Keep a clean camp by cleaning up and storing food and garbage immediately after meals. ●    Use bear-proof garbage cans whenever possible or store your garbage in a secure location with your food. ●    Don't bury or burn excess food; bears will still be attracted to the residual smell. ●    Garbage should be packed out of camp if no trash receptacles are available. ●    Never approach a bear or ...

Add caption California Department of Fish and Game News Release May 5, 2011 DFG Offers Tips on Staying Safe in Bear Country The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) reminds campers, anglers and hikers enjoying the outdoors to take precautions to limit black bear encounters. A key element to safe camping and recreating in bear country is to limit food odors that attract bears. “Bears are constantly in search of easily obtainable food sources," said Marc Kenyon, DFG statewide bear program coordinator. "A bear’s fate is almost always sealed once it associates human activity with potential food. It’s always unfortunate when a bear has to be killed because people either haven’t learned how to appropriately store food and trash, or simply don’t care." California’s growing black bear population is now estimated at more than 40,000. Black bears are located in most of the state where suitable habitat exists and bear/human encounters are ...

Hermit Thrush As Spring nears I hear more and more birds every morning. It makes me feel hopeful, excited and curious about what birds we have here in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. Then in my research I found two great resources.  Barn Owl at Folsom Zoo * South Yuba River Park Association Birding at Bridgeport by local expert Bill Cortright Bring In The Clowns photo by Mark Schmitt w/ GREAT photos Schedule for South Yuba Bird Watch Red Tailed Hawk at Folsom Zoo And a beautiful resource site through San Francisco State University listing details about the Birds of The Sierra Valley and The Yuba Pass Area click here to see their report. American Dipper taken from Wikipedia SUGGESTED READING Sierra Nevada Natural History, T. I. Storer, R. L. Usinger,D. Lukas; The classic book on all aspects of the natural history of the Range of Light. Order at Amazon A Sierra Club Naturalist's Guide to the Sierra Nevada, S. Whitney. ...

  An amazing chance encounter with a  troop of wild mountain gorillas near  Bwindi National Park, Uganda Silver back Gorilla Image from Wikipedia My girlfriend sent this YouTube video to me and  I think I must have been smiling as big as the  man who experienced them in person. Gorilla Skull Image From Wikipedia SEE Folsom Zoo SEE Counting Bear Cubs SEE Bears In Our Neighborhood SEE Camping With Dogs

Last week we went to The Folsom Zoo with my daughters Expeditionary Learning School. I have never been fond of zoos. However this zoo has the healthiest rescue animals who are the happiest animals I have ever seen. All the animals are fed organic food, the deer come up to be pet and the animals are loved by the staff. Check it out if your ever in the area. 

Here is a video I had to watch two or three times. Perfect for kiddos too    Bear Counting in Canada - You HAVE to watch this  (The link to this is at the bottom of the page. The park is named after the Algonquin Indians.)  This clip is great for animal lovers and young children  Momma Bear and her three very young cubs in the wild of northern Ontario, Canada. Humane wildlife experts taking a winter bear census right in the hibernation dens. CLICK ON LINK BELOW   http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=vJRDpTUIrJI&vq=medium Note to my bloggies: "blogger" was not allowing me to post due to many problems with the program, it looks like they have upgraded and I am back on track.  Thanks for visiting my site and Happy Camping In Style! Ruth    

My neighbors always seem to catch our local bear. On this night he or she was in pursuit of a meal. 

Image from Fish and Game California California Department of Fish and Game News Release May 5, 2011 DFG Offers Tips on Staying Safe in Bear Country The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) reminds campers, anglers and hikers enjoying the outdoors to take precautions to limit black bear encounters. A key element to safe camping and recreating in bear country is to limit food odors that attract bears. Image from Keep Me Wild “Bears are constantly in search of easily obtainable food sources," said Marc Kenyon, DFG statewide bear program coordinator. "A bear’s fate is almost always sealed once it associates human activity with potential food. It’s always unfortunate when a bear has to be killed because people either haven’t learned how to appropriately store food and trash, or simply don’t care." California’s growing black bear population is now estimated at more than 40,000. Black bears are located in most of the state where sui...