Sabattis Log - The Contract

One of the issues that I addressed with the boys prior to leaving was the seriousness of the bear situation at Sabattis. Having been to Sabattis as a Boy Scout in the seventies and talking to my brother (a 46er), I knew that it was a serious situation. No one could have food or anything with scent in their tent, ever. Food spills needed to be cleaned up immediately. Camp rules indicated that all food was "bear boxed" by 1900 each night. We cheated a bit by keeping our vehicles in the camp site during the week to avoid any mixups with bear boxes.

Although I was even a bit tense regarding the bears, I soon realized that there is an implicit contract between the bears and the humans. "Give me the peanut butter and no one gets hurt" is the general rule of thumb with the bears. My fears were dismissed when I saw a bear just outside my tent. He wasn't phased by me or any of the others at the campsite. The deer were equally unphased by the presence of humans; one or two were just outside Kevin's tent one morning. One even came onto the archery range and was unnerved by Ken running out to "shoo" her away. For a moment, the deer appeared so calm that I thought Ken was going to give her a hug!

Don't get me wrong, the animals are to be taken seriously, especially the bears. I think the other rule of thumb is: the bear always wins!