Tips For Avoiding Encounters With Wild Animals While You Camp

Camping can provide you and your family with a variety of adventures, but you want to ensure that all of the adventures are positive. The last thing you want is a chance encounter with a wild animal, especially if it feels territorial and views your presence as a threat. While heavily populated campgrounds may be boisterous enough to keep animals away, you may find that there's a higher risk of encountering an animal if you're camping in a remote area — or even in a remote part of a populated campground. Here are some tips that you can use to decrease your odds of encountering a wild animal.

Keep Your Food In Your Vehicle

Many types of animals are attracted to campgrounds because of the strong scent of food, so dealing with your food properly is one of the best ways that you can reduce your risk of an animal visiting you. When you're not eating, all of your food should be kept in a cooler and placed in your vehicle. It's not enough to simply place the food in your tent — animals may still be able to smell it. Similarly, you should make sure that all of your cooking and serving vessels are clean and kept in the vehicle. Place any garbage either in your vehicle or in a garbage can well away from your tent.

Be Loud When Hiking

If part of your camping plans include hiking away from your tent, there's a chance that you'll encounter a wild animal. An effective way to reduce this risk is to be loud when you walk. In most cases, animals that are aware of your presence will quickly flee the area, given that they view you as a threat. When you're quiet, you may inadvertently sneak up on an animal and surprise it, and a surprised animal may act with aggression.

Look For Droppings

Whether you're hiking away from where your tent is set up or you're simply collecting twigs for a fire just a few dozen yards from your campsite, you should be aware of animal droppings. If you see plenty of animal droppings in a given area, it could be a sign that animals are either living in the immediate area or are frequently traveling through it; in fact, you might see worn-down vegetation, which serves as a sign of an animal path. If you see droppings, try to avoid being in the area.

For more info about having safe outdoor adventures, contact a company like Rocky Mountain Recreation Of Utah Inc.

Share