"Grizzly bear dung has little bells in it and smells like pepper."

Now this is an area that's close to home! Though it is with regret that I
can't make it to the pignic, perhaps I can contribute to the safety of
reveling BP'ers by informing them that indeed, bells have been found to act
as an attractant to bears, regardless of species. The human voice seems to
work better as a deterrent, provided that it isn't too quavery.

It's been a pretty bad year for bears round these parts with a few attacks
(no fatalities). Bear spray actually worked in one of the attacks. In this
case, it was a hot night, there were two men in separate tents that had no
flies (maybe a few mosquitoes) on them. One man woke up to see a grizzly
nosing the other tent, and very cleverly yelled at the top of his lungs "A
BEAR!" At this, the startled bear started chomping the nearest tent, doing a
bit of a number on the back of the occupant. The one who yelled whipped out
the spray, which sent the bruin scampering. A few hundred stitches later,
all was well.

Signed Grin'n Barrett