Hungry Yosemite bears zero in on minivans

[RamboLiberal]

The rebellious bears of Yosemite Valley have developed a taste for that old standard of the suburban family life, the minivan.

The kid-friendly vehicles are quickly becoming a bear necessity along with handouts and garbage slop, according to a study published in the October issue of the Journal of Mammalogy.

Specifically, the burly bruins select minivans over all other types of vehicles, no matter how sporty, colorful or expensive, and rip them open looking for grub, said the study "Selective Foraging for Anthropogenic Resources by Black Bears: Minivans in Yosemite National Park."

"They target minivans," said Stewart Breck, a research biologist with the National Wildlife Research Center, who co-authored the study. "They will pop open windows, peel open a door, rip out back seats. They can do a lot of damage."

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The study analyzed 908 vehicles in Yosemite National Park that black bears opened like soup cans between 2001 and 2007. Minivans were the first or second preference every year, accounting for 26 percent of all the break-ins. That's despite the fact that they make up only 7 percent of the vehicles parked in Yosemite Valley.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/24/MN081A863P.DTL#ixzz0UsH4WkQw

For the study, which was sponsored by Yosemite National Park and the National Wildlife Research Center, researchers analyzed data on 908 car break-ins by black bears in the Yosemite Valley from 2001 to 2007. During that period, bears broke into nine different vehicle types at the following rates:

Minivans (26.0 percent)
Sport-utility vehicles (22.5 percent)
Small cars (17.1 percent)
Sedans (13.7 percent)
Trucks (11.9 percent)
Vans (4.2 percent),
Sports cars (1.7 percent)
Coupes (1.7 percent)
Station wagons (1.4 percent)

http://environment.about.com/b/2009/10/17/black-bears-choose-minivans.htm

Smarter than the average bear Boo-Boo!

[Zomby Woof]

1. Mmmm minivans

Crunchy on the outside, with soft chewy centers!

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. lol n/t

[otohara]

2. Karma

it's payback time to the humans.

Go away or we'll eat your shiny cars.

[lunatica]

3. They can probably get inside more easily

Not so easy for them to get into a Honda Civic

[vadawg]

4. nah the civics they just take with them. :) for snacks later..

[rufus dog]

13. The LA Times did an article on this about 5 years ago

There are certain models that they go after. Easy to pop open the back hatch on certain models. Yogi is getting pretty smart.

[petronius]

19. Maybe they've figured out that minivans are more likely to have kids in them,

and kids are more likely to drop tasty treat in the passenger area.

It never pays to underestimate a bear's ability to seek out food - I've seen a lot of trashed campsites in the Sierra, and the rangers tend (rightly) not to be too sympathetic...

[customerserviceguy]

5. Bears evolve to deal with canned food

Isn't nature wonderful?

[MadHound]

6. Interesting,

There's a little invention for antique autos that keeps mice away, essentially it runs a small current throughout the car that shocks the mice and they generally stay away. I wonder if that would work with minivans and bears:shrug:

[Warpy]

Probably not

unless it provided enough current to knock the bear on its can.

Remember, these guys raid wild hives for the honey. They're not afraid of a sting.

[mitchum]

7. That's because bears salivate at the smell of children

[bumblebee1]

8. Do these bears eat the minivans with ketchup?

Or maybe they're like our President: they like their minivans with Grey poupon mustard.

[Cleita]

9. I love bears. They really think creatively.

When DH and I were living out in the woods in Idaho, they had figured out that people living in cabins kept their food in rectangular boxes. Many a vacationer walked into their kitchen to find a bear foraging in their refrigerator after entering through the back door, which no one in those places kept locked.

[DontTreadOnMe]

10. It has to do with smell.

A bear can smell any type of food within hundreds of feet of the car. Even an empty soda can has enough sugar residue for them to smell.

Minivans tend to have kids who drop or spill food or drinks all over the vehicle. Thus minivans smell like a meal to bears.

When you visit Yosemite, they give you a flier and it warns you to not have ANYTHING of food left in your car. Not even an empty coffee cup.

[AngryAmish]

11. Why do bears need minivans when they can just ride their bikes?

[LiberalFighter]

12. Minivan owners should protect the vehicle by having GW Bush inside.

For premium protection Cheney would be provided. A Cheney would provide an additional 50 yard perimeter of protection.

[Feron]

21. You don't want Cheney.

Cheney would see the bear and shoot you.

[amborin]

14. Nothing new! more sloppy campers! forest service has guidelines & bear-proof food lockers

to keep parking lots and camping areas free of food and food odors

black bears are so smart!

and not a threat, unless a cub is being perceived to be harassed

used to be people would hang their food with ropes slung over a tree, while camping in the Sierras

but the bears found it easy to abrade the ropes, wear them thin, and get the food

now, super strong bear-proof food lockers are available

only wished more people were careful and followed the forest service guidelines, so bears don't suffer the consequences and have to be put down b/c of stupid and uncaring humans being sloppy campers

[Vinnie From Indy]

16. We used to do the rope on a tree stowage in the Sierras

The last few times up we took bear-proof containers. The are shaped like small barrels and fit into a pack. They are pretty rugged. You can rent them from most ranger stations.

[amborin]

18. those bear-proof containers sound great!

[Stevenmarc]

15. Hey Boo Boo. What Do You Think Is in That Dodge Caravan

[FarCenter]

17. It looks like a pick-i-nick basket!

[surrealAmerican]

22. In other news:

Minivans have been found to contain more food than other vehicles.


The bears know what they're doing.