Don Baccus wrote:

>You mean I shouldn't eat in my tent??? Darn... :) (no, I'm not
trivializing
>this training, it is unreal, though, what people will do in bear country!)

For more than one reason, depending on the area!!

In Kenya and Uganda, if you tent, you must put down a sturdy plastic
groundsheet because stuff eats through the floor of your tent! Mostly
termites because you allow the moisture that would normally evaporate from
the soil to condense were you pitch your tent. The termites, at least the
terrestrial ones, like moisture and seem to show up under your tent (or
anything else you lay on the ground for awhile) and start eating pieces of
stick, vegetation, backpack straps (salt??) within hours or, maybe,
minutes. Sooner or later your plastic becomes a sieve and holes appear in
your tent floor inspite of all precautions!! Ants crawl everywhere and you
do not leave anything in the way of food in your tent unless in screw-top,
glass jars or metal, tightly closed containers.

One night a young lady birding with us started screaming, "ANTS! ANTS!"
She was extremely outgoing and a major addition to our group as she was a
nurse and a blonde and loves people but had a tendency to stash goodies in
her tent. The general reaction was , "Well, we told you not to have
cookies in your tent." "No, she says, "I have ants! Millions of ants!"

She sure did. We were on the front edge of foraging safari/army ant column
and they had come to her tent first. The stashed goodies had little to do
with that attack but the other ants could find anything that wasn't
containerized.

If we had been more perceptive we would have known of the columns of ants
earlier because while we were fixing supper we were having critters crash
into our campfire and there was the constant 'plop' of stuff bouncing off
the tents. Stuff scatters when the marauders are on the prowl! The locals
riding down the road on their bicycles, stop, lift their bikes over the
columns, get back on and ride away. They don't ride through them because
they grab the tires and get thrown up on the rider. Looking at some of the
ant's jaws one can quickly understand the bikers caution!

One of her other tent encounters had been when she left supper and the
campfire to get the all important list for the nightly Bird List Ritual.
That's when everyone sits around with their headlight on and ticks the days
sightings for posterity. Her departure to her tent was followed by screams
of "HELP!" followed by ridiculous laughter. So nobody responded. Then
more screams and more laughter with some of us headed that way. More
screams. ...........

Turns out when she unzipped her tent and looked inside, one of those big
green, red-eyed tree frogs jumped toward her haedlight and landed on her
face. She screamed, knocked it off. And, of course, looked to see where
it went. Naturall, the frog jumped back on her face. She screamed....
..... ...... Good thing she was a good sport and had a strong heart!

I am not making fun of her. We all had our encounters and escapades that
we shall never forget (and that's in addition to the birds!). I got
tracked by a leopard (the Ranger said that they are just curious.
Apparently this one was.) And three of us, exploring a river sandbar,
ended up with hippos on three sides of us and other things in the fourth
direction. The hour and half wait for our pickup boat was w-a-a-y t-o-o-o
long!

Sorry to get sidetracked away from bears. I am not making little of any of
it. It has been one of the best discussions I have seen. The comments are
excellent and appropriate. Especially in light of Kelly's comments about
Tiger Mtn large mammals and the sighting of Mountain Lions in Auburn and
the devouring of NorthWaet Trek animals by one. Every place I have gone, I
have sought the advice of biologists/researchers/field staff/guides
because I hope to extend my life span beyond that one experience. I have
been told to bow my head and be meek if faced down by a gorilla. To stand
by a tree when elephants move through. And to stand by a large rock or
climb a tree when cape buffalo are close. Anything large and predatory can
be fearsome and create panic. It is difficult not to panic for a wasp or a
bee for some. A small dog that appears vicious can be a problem. Facing a
WILD animal is both an intimidating and an awesome event. May everyone
that wishes have the opportunity and savor the experience. One of our most
experienced birders had a face-to-face with a Pantera (mountain lion) in
Panama and could not talk for two days ... but that's another story.

Birding has its moments --- the encounters, the country, the other
birders and the "birds". Enjoy.

Thanks to Tweeters for having such a loose and educational structure and
the allowance for these 'threads'. The info may only be needed once and
that could be critical. BTW -- we are going to be birding in Alaska
again!

Bob/Elaine
Federal Way, WA
taylorrt at foxinternet.net