Monday, August 21, 2006

Strawberry bear alert

With the Fall Strawberry Music festival coming up in 10 days, management just issued this important alert:

BEARS HAVE BEEN IN CAMP MATHER THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER. IF YOU SEE A BEAR DO NOT APPROACH IT. TRY TO SCARE IT AWAY BY BANGING POTS & PANS, SHINING A FLASHLIGHT, OR MAKING YOUR SELF LOOK BIG. DO NOT FEED A
BEAR. IF THE BEAR GETS YOUR FOOD DO NOT TRY TO TAKE IT AWAY! PUT YOUR FOOD AWAY AT NIGHT. *KEEP /ALL/ FOOD AND SCENTED ITEMS (EVEN GUM!) AWAY FROM YOUR TENT SITE AND OFF OF YOUR PORCH*. *ALL FOOD AND SCENTED ITEMS
SHOULD BE KEPT IN AIRTIGHT CONTAINERS* (IF POSSIBLE) *AND OUT OF SIGHT.* TAKE YOUR GARBAGE OUT OF YOUR CAMP EVERY EVENING TO THE NEAREST GARBAGE DROP-OFF STATION. REPORT ANY BEAR SIGHTINGS TO FESTIVAL SECURITY.
You might think this is alarmist, but my friend and I had a bear experience at Strawberry at the Fall 2004 festival. It was unexpected since I have attended 15 or more Strawberries and never given a thought to protecting food from bears. Everything there always seems so safe. But on Friday morning after an overnight rain, I awoke to find our cooler and food carton ravaged. Scary considering that our tent was only 10 feet away.

Strawberry doesn't put out many all-caps alerts. I'd advise paying attention to it.

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