Wildlife

Bears - Let's jump to the one most people think about first.  If you are backpacking anywhere I typically do, you will be in bear country and that is OK.  In Colorado, it is hard to go anywhere in the mountains that isn't black bear habitat.  That said, statistically, the most dangerous thing you will do on your trip trip is drive to the trailhead and drive back.  So, if you drive safely to the trailhead, you can feel better knowing one of the most dangerous parts of the hike is already over.  I go backpacking a lot and I have only seen bears on a few trips.  On both occasions, as soon as the bear figured out that I was person, he headed off in the other direction.  Some bear attacks happen because a quiet hiker stumbles upon a bear.  If you hike in a group, that is less likely to be a problem.  If I'm particularly concerned about bears, I pack pepper spray, which is a proven deterrent.

Mountain Lions - I have only seen one once in my life and it took off about 3 seconds after I saw it.  These are rarely seen.  

Rodents - These are the animals I personally worry about the most.  They are much braver than bears, and much sneakier.  Watch out for the ones by trailheads, they generally have associated people with a source of food (not us - the food we carry).  My friend set his backpack down at a trailhead and within 3 minutes a chipmunk chewed a hole through part of his pack and into his snack bag. 

Don't Feed the Animals - Don't ever give food to animals.  It can make you feel generous.  It can be cute to watch them approach you.  You are doing the animal a great disservice, though.  When animals associate humans with food, they lose fear.  That results in chewed up backpacks, holes in tents, and creates a dependency in the animal that can make it suffer when humans aren't around.   

How to Protect our Food from Animals 101 - Every night, you should gather up your food and anything else that may smell appealing to an animal (toothpaste, lotions, lip balm, snacks, garbage, feminine hygiene products, etc).  Please bring a lightweight bag that all of these products can fit in.  Find a suitable tree and hang all of this high enough and far enough away from branches that animals can't get to it.  Don't decide to be sneaky and bring a late night snack into your tent.  You are likely to have a mouse chewing through your tent and stuff at night to get to it.  When it rains 2 hours later, you will be doubly sad about the hole in your tent.  When you see mouse droppings in your snack bag the next day, you will be extra sad.   

How to Protect Animals from our Food 101 - It can be tempting to take the last 3 mouthfuls of dinner that you don't want and dump it in a stream or bury it under a couple inches of dirt thinking it will biodegrade.  Please don't do that.  We can't pollute the streams that animals and other people depend on with scraps of food.    This all usually gets buried within a few paces of camp (where the next group will also camp).  It is only creating a delayed opportunity for animals to associate humans with food.  If you pack it in, you pack it out.  Period.  Remembering this can be very helpful when planning our meal choices. 

Example - This microadventure is from a solo hike I did in the Indian Peaks Wilderness (please note that I generally don't advocate solo trips).  Besides moose, deer, and elk, I came across a bear.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures since I made the choice to grab my pepper spray (just in case) instead of my camera.