Sunday, September 24, 2006

Bear Shock




Can you imagine this happening while you're asleep in your tent? Well, I can. That's why I have never had a decent night's sleep on any of my many camping trips in bear country. It's also why I always thought I would never be able to go camping in grizzly-infested places like Glacier National Park. But that may be changing: in Backpacker magazine yesterday, I I read about the Bear Shock electric fence. It's a portable, 3.7-pound electric fence that runs on two D batteries and allows you to enclose a 30 ft X 30 ft area. When a bear touches it, it gets a 6,000-volt shock. During testing by the National Outdoor Leadership School, it was extremely effective at turning back bears coming into camp for food.

Of course, this not as good as my idea of fencing off an entire state or two for those hikers who want to remain bear-free. Still, it means we're moving in the right direction.

3 comments:

Amanda G. said...

I love bears and I want them to have thriving populations because bears are awesome. But, I also want to camp. I think this is a good idea.

There were 3 bears at the campsite up from mine at Glacier - 3 bears! And I was sleeping in a tent with someone who wanted to keep honey flavored cough drops by her side!

Nell said...

Okay, but you're carrying it...

Sweet Cactus said...

will it keep my mother away?