Richard wrote
>
In Alaska, tourists are warned to wear tiny bells on their clothing when
hiking in bear country. <

Actually, the bells can be almost any size ;), our bears aren't fussy.

But to expound on the habits of bears, I have been so much more
relaxed out in the woods since capsicum spray was invented,
feeling that if a bear came my way I would have *some* action I
might take. Other people, using people-logic, have been using
the pepper spray to surround their campsites, coat their canoes
and what have you. Bad idea, as it turns out. A bear might not like
to get sprayed right in the face with it, be he *loves* the smell and
taste when it's on things. People have videos of bears rolling
blissfully on the ground in residual pepper spray.

Besides that consideration, black bears aren't deterred by
pepper spray shot right in their faces.

Besides that, many of the smaller spray cans fizzle on the
first use and even the larger cans can get stale and caked up
on the inside after a couple of years. So for those of us not
skilled in wielding firearms, it's back to singing loudly and
wearing bells.

Chris Maack
Anchorage, AK
CMaack at compuserve.com