Tips to help keep campers safe from bears

The annual Memorial Day weekend, always a popular time to go camping, is almost here. And the Division of Wildlife Resources is offering a list of tips to help keep campers safe from the possibility of having an uninvited guest — a black bear — visit your campsite.

Campers can do five simple things to decrease the chance that a bear might come calling this year.

1. Store food and scented items, such as deodorants and toothpaste, where bears cannot smell them or get to them.

2. Keep the campsite or cabin area clean. Be careful not to toss food scraps and other trash around where a bear might find them.

3. Do not keep any food in the same area where you are sleeping.

4. If an item has a strong scent it should probably be left at home.

5. If you see a bear, never try to feed it.

"If you follow these rules, you'll not only help yourself, you'll help other people too," says Justin Dolling, game mammals coordinator for the DWR. "A bear may not visit your campsite while you're there, but the food you leave out and the litter you leave behind could bring a bear to that same area after you leave. And that could create a serious problem for people who camp in the area after you."

According to Dolling, bears are usually attracted to people by strong smells and the food that's usually associated with those smells. By doing a few simple things, campers can cut down on those smells, and that will greatly reduce the chance that a bear might come visit your camp or cabin.

The DWR expands on those five tips listed above:

 First and foremost, don't leave food out at your campsite. Instead, lock your food and coolers inside your vehicle with the windows rolled up. You can also suspend coolers at least 12 feet high between two trees, so bears can't reach them.

You can also store your food in a bear-proof container. But campers should be mindful that most containers, including plastic food coolers, are not bear proof. However, various sporting goods stores and outdoors stores sell containers that are bear proof.

 Whatever you do, don't scatter garbage, food scraps and fat drippings around your campsite. And don't leave them in your fire pit, either. This works like an open invitation to bears and other wildlife that might be in the area looking for food. Instead, place them in an airtight container, lock them securely in the trunk of your car or inside your trailer and take them home with you.

If bear-proof garbage cans are available in your campground, you can also leave these food items in the cans.

After you're done cooking and eating, immediately clean your cooking grills. The smell which might emanate from a recently used grill can attract bears as well. And also clean anything used to prepare, eat or clean up food.