Decades ago did a lot of camping at Elkmont and Smokemont in the Smokies. The tradition for cooler was to tie a rope around it and hoist it in the air overnight. Usually about twelve feet up kept the contents safe. Then one year we noticed a black bear who would circle under the cooler, then go over to where the rope was tied off and wrap a paw around the rope and try to climb the rope, which resulted in the cooler coming down for scavaging. The next time we camped there (two years later) the bear showed up or one who had learned from the first and this bear didn’t circle around under the cooler. It came into the site, stood on it’s hind paws, sniffed the air, then went directly to the rope tied off on a tree. That cooler didn’t last long, and the bear had a little black and white stripped sidekick. Bears aRE smarter than people think!
Hahahahaha! Came in with a bodyguard to scare the humans off!
Funny, humans might try to take pictures of bears or feed them, but when they see skunks...they run!
Have a nice New Year, MHGinTN!
There’s a video of a bear in a kitchen and opens the fridge...Looks around,then shuts the fridge and goes upstairs..Everybody was sleeping,luckily he didn’t stay upstairs..Funny part was just before he left the house,he looks in the fridge again..You know,he might have missed something the first time around....