Philmont Diaries: Mini bears WOULD steal a car
Philmont is smack in the middle of black bear country. As such, one of the first and most important things rangers teach is how to tie bear bags. Bear bags protect bears as much as they protect scouts. They keep food out of reach and prevent bears from getting too comfortable around people. If a bear learns to expect food from people, it's usually bye bye bear unfortunately. In my experience however, black bears are big ole scaredy-cats. Make some noise while hiking on the trail and they're out of sight in the blink of an eye. Mini bears, on the other hand, fear no god and fear no man. I once had a mini bear dart right across my legs as I rummaged for snacks. Mini bears are what we call Alvin, Simon, and Theodore at Philmont. Chipmunks and ground squirrels. They are the bane of every scout and staff's existence.
When I was staffing at Ponil, the mile long cowboy camp, mornings were nonstop busy. Scouts arrived one after another eager to participate in every single thing we had to offer. Cowboy action shooting, horseback riding, branding, lassoing, and their favorite: drinking root beer. Scouts arrived as early as they could and were usually all checked in by lunchtime. This left time for us to relax and chat, and for mini bears to find openings. One afternoon, a particularly bold and annoying mini bear was harassing us. We'd scare it off just for it to come scampering back to pilfer through someone's bag. After we chased it off for the millionth time, one of my coworkers stumbled upon his nest. In it were countless Larabar wrappers, chip bags, and peanuts. And at the very bottom of his little stash was some poor kid’s ADHD medication. We couldn't believe our eyes. I knew they were greedy little critters, but to go so far as to steal some pills, well none of us had ever seen that before. It was too ridiculous a situation. We called in the stolen medication via radio and reunited it to the rightful owner. I'm sure the people of Cimarron tuning into the radio channel got a kick out of that call.
I don't have many, if any, reports of black bears wreaking havoc at Philmont. Mostly they're just nosy bumbling creatures. Mini bears are the real ones you have to watch out for. They'll steal a car, a handbag, a television, and so many movies. Piracy laws mean nothing to them. They could even steal your soul or your ADHD medication. So lock up your Honey Stinger gummies, your stroopwafels, and your M&M trail mix. Or at least bury them deep in your pack. And please don't feed the bears. Mini or otherwise. They don't need encouragement.