[pct-l] Re: Bearvault, why not a bear dog?

[mardav at charter.net (Marion Davison)]

Wayne Kraft wrote:

> I am kinda fascinated by the possibilities of Karelian Bear Dogs for  
> protecting camps against bears.

In 2003 we spent 40 days wandering the trails in Yosemite and Sequoia.  
We had 8 bears in camp (8 separate incidents) in that 40 day period.  
While we were in Sequoia, an unidentified predator killed, and a bear 
ate, someone else's llama.  We had one very aggressive bear at Pinto 
Lake camp.  This really turned us off to camping among the park bears. 
In 2004 and 2005 we did 30 day pack trips, but stayed out of the 
National Parks and took a dog with us.  We never saw or heard a single 
bear in these two seasons.  A couple of times at night the dog barked 
furiously and briefly.  The llamas never did their bear alarm call. 
So as far as we know, no bears came by.  We enjoyed getting good sleep 
every night, plus the advantage of the added solitude of the PCT outside 
the parks. 
The dogs were a Queensland Heeler in 2004 and a large husky in 2005.  No 
special training.  We also carry a couple wrist rocket slingshots but 
have only used them on horses who invaded camp in the middle of the 
night to push the llamas around.  The Yosemite wildlife ranger told me 
to feel free to use the slingshot to scare off a bear. 
llamalady