The increasing legality of cannabis and its growing presence in outdoor recreational settings have prompted a curious question: Does cannabis attract bears? This concern stems from its strong, distinctive aroma and the need for safety in bear habitats. Understanding bear biology and behavior provides insight into how these animals interact with various scents.
Understanding Bear Senses and Attractants
Bears possess an extraordinary sense of smell, which is their primary tool for navigating their environment and locating food. Their olfactory capabilities are vastly superior to humans, estimated to be approximately 2,100 to 3,000 times better than a human’s and about seven times more acute than a bloodhound’s. This remarkable ability is attributed to a large olfactory bulb in their brain and an extensive nasal surface area, allowing them to detect faint odors from considerable distances, potentially up to 20 miles away.
This acute sense of smell guides bears primarily towards calorie-dense food sources, which are essential for their survival. Well-documented attractants include human food and waste, such as garbage, pet food, and birdseed. Bears are also strongly drawn to natural food sources like berries, fruits, meat, fish, and beehives. Scented toiletries, including soap and toothpaste, can also lure bears due to their sweet or food-like fragrances. Bears are attracted to any scent indicating a potential food source.
Cannabis Scent and Bear Encounters
Despite their keen sense of smell, there is no scientific evidence indicating that cannabis itself is a primary attractant for bears in the same manner as food or garbage. While cannabis possesses a strong aroma due to compounds called terpenes, which are also found in various plants like pine and lavender, these do not typically signal a high-calorie food source to a bear. Bears are driven by the need for sustenance, and cannabis offers no nutritional value for them.
Anecdotal reports, such as a bear attempting to access a dumpster at a cannabis dispensary, often point to the bear’s interest in discarded food waste or other scented refuse rather than the cannabis itself. The intense curiosity bears exhibit towards novel or strong scents means they might investigate cannabis, similar to how they might investigate fruit-flavored vape products or scented hygiene items. Therefore, while a bear can certainly detect the smell of cannabis, it is not considered a direct or preferred attractant.
To minimize any potential curiosity from bears, it is prudent to treat cannabis like all other scented items when in bear country. This involves storing cannabis, along with all food, toiletries, and scented waste, in bear-resistant containers or bags. These items should be kept securely away from tents and sleeping areas. Adhering to these established bear safety guidelines helps prevent bears from associating human presence with accessible food, reducing the likelihood of unwanted encounters.