Always - always keep food away from you in bear country. I usually store it hanging in a tree at least 100 meters away.
Prayers for the family. A very sad and horrible event.
You’re correct. Bear bags strung high in the trees is usually the only safe way to prevent this type of occurrence. Even bear canisters need to be stored away from your tents in an area that doesn’t present an opportunity for the bear to get too curious about the rest of the campsite. Bear canisters only keep the bears out of your food, not out of the storage area they’re in.
A friend of mine had an incident at a campground where they had storage bins for folks to store their canisters. One group just placed unprotected food in the bin and a bear(s) got into the bin. Canisters were strewn all over the place, needless to say, the dopes who just placed their food in there went hungry.
It’s possible the boy had snacks or some such in his section of the tent. I’ve had this problem multiple times with the boys in my Scout Troop. Especially the younger ones who tend to dismiss the threat with the typical “It can’t happen to me” mentality.
SZ
Recently a bear pulled a sleeping boy scout out of his tent...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/943370/posts
A woman from Ohio is hospitalized with serious injuries after a bear attacked her near her home in Ashtabula County ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1636916/posts
“In 28 years of law enforcement this is the first bear attack that I know of in Utah County,” Harris said.
As the number of bears increases and the number of campers and hikers in bear country increases, incidents like this will grow in numbers.
People camping or hiking in bear country should include at least one person familiar with firarms who is capable of taking down a bear and is armed. People camping in bear country should also be required to have a dog of an appropriate kind with them - Plott Hound, etc.
First thought I had was to wonder how much food he had in the tent with him.
I’ve heard of campers being mauled by a grizzly because they had had bacon that morning and the scent still lingered.
Please note that the bear attacked a young human, not an adult.
Predators preferentially predate young prey for numerous reasons.
When a predator loses its fear of man, that animal MUST BE SHOT!
Thanks to the Endangered Species Act, and animal rights whackos, America now has an irrupting population of large bodied predators which have no fear of man.
Fear of ESA prosecution, and an agency predisposition to avoid controversy resulting from killing such predators near campgrounds is the probable reason for this tragic and totally avoidable horrific death.
Please note that the bear attacked a young human, not an adult.
Predators preferentially predate young prey for numerous reasons.
When a predator loses its fear of man, that animal MUST BE SHOT!
Thanks to the Endangered Species Act, and animal rights whackos, America now has an irrupting population of large bodied predators which have no fear of man.
Fear of ESA prosecution, and an agency predisposition to avoid controversy resulting from killing such predators near campgrounds is the probable reason for this tragic and totally avoidable horrific death.
Global warming is to blame.
animals are animals.....period....
so if that bear wanted to attack a human, he was going to no matter about the food supply, the toothpaste in the knap sack, mom having her monthly, etc.....
sometimes all the excuses in the world don't apply when it comes to wild animals.