Hot peppers for bear defense

[adriaticum]

A thread on Facebook got me thinking about using super hot peppers for bear defense.
I grow super hot peppers like Trinidad Scorpion, Carolina Reaper, Scotch Bonnet and such for hot sauce and general consumption.
Wonder if bears would feel the same heat we do.
Spread them around camp and if a bear eats one and has the same effect that it has on people, he would be out of there in no time.
Has anyone tried anything like this or is this just silly?

[mpotzold]

Back in the 60's we were flown in with a chopper near Hudson Hope to survey a R/W for the transmission line. We left tools, supplies (non food) overnight & had bear/s scatter them. So we decided to leave behind a bar of ex-lax one day. Never had problems again :mrgreen:but the chocolate bar was gone:cry:!

The chocolate bar!
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/10/02/22/1B8C4FF800000578-3258174-image-m-2_1443821845335.jpg

[Busterpayton54]

Well I have tasted bear spray, even applied it on some pasta and ate it. It's spicy, similar to some of the hot/chilli sauces available at restraunts. Since bear spray is also a known attractant, with plenty of footage showing bears, dogs, Cougars and what have you licking bear spray up, I don't know if I'd feel the peppers would be much different.

[adriaticum]

Well I have tasted bear spray, even applied it on some pasta and ate it. It's spicy, similar to some of the hot/chilli sauces available at restraunts. Since bear spray is also a known attractant, with plenty of footage showing bears, dogs, Cougars and what have you licking bear spray up, I don't know if I'd feel the peppers would be much different.

Good point,
Just did some reading on the Scoville rating of bear spray and it's 3 million.
carolina reaper is about 2 million and Trinidad scorpion about 1.5
But the difference is also in the application.
I am going to have to try this.

[skibum]

Deer came into my yard and ate every one of my drying cayenne peppers that I had hanging....

I know that the heat taste element of peppers does not affect some animals, not sure about bears, but the effort to find out doesn't seem worth it.

[Xenomorph]

Let's call it science ...and document it :p

[adriaticum]

Deer came into my yard and ate every one of my drying cayenne peppers that I had hanging....

I know that the heat taste element of peppers does not affect some animals, not sure about bears, but the effort to find out doesn't seem worth it.


That's good to know. Cayennes are not that hot but still it's not willow.

[adriaticum]

Let's call it science ...and document it :p


You have a deal mister!

[allan]

I would suspect that oral vs inhalation application
would be a big factor in spicy peppers be effective.
But I would love to see camera footage of bears eating peppers anyways.

[David Heitsman]

Capsaicin, the active ingredient in pepper sprays provides pulmonary (lung) shut down issues, nothing to do with hurting their mouth. It's pretty similar when you are cooking with the ultra hot peppers and you start gasping for breath from the fumes that comes off of them.


I lost most of my Carolina Reaper crop last winter in Palm Springs to rabbits, so yea, I don't think most mammals are sensitive to pepper heat. The birds peck away at them too.

[albravo2]

I would suspect that oral vs inhalation application
would be a big factor in spicy peppers be effective.
But I would love to see camera footage of bears eating peppers anyways.

Yeah, I think it would have to do with where it hits the bear... in the nose or the mouth. My uneducated guess would be that the nasal receptors are much more sensitive to assault than the oral receptors.

A bear has very good sense of smell but from what I can tell, they don't have great taste buds;-)

[adriaticum]

Capsaicin, the active ingredient in pepper sprays provides pulmonary (lung) shut down issues, nothing to do with hurting their mouth. It's pretty similar when you are cooking with the ultra hot peppers and you start gasping for breath from the fumes that comes off of them.


I lost most of my Carolina Reaper crop last winter in Palm Springs to rabbits, so yea, I don't think most mammals are sensitive to pepper heat. The birds peck away at them too.


Ok, that's important info.

[tomahawk]

Wild animals use smell as a major form of location for food. Wild animals aren't like humans where we sort out good from bad smells. They only regard it as a smell. They eat fresh nice smelling objects or the most rotten horrible smelling dead objects equally. Its a smell to signify a food source, not good from bad. Putting out a smell around your camp is attracting them to your camp. An irritant needs to be inhaled or in their eyes to have a negative impact.

[604Stalker]

Im confused how does one load hot peppers into a rifle?

[Wild one]

Put a few peppers in a piece of meat and set up a trail cam

i think the potential reaction is worth it lol

[adriaticum]

Put a few peppers in a piece of meat and set up a trail cam

i think the potential reaction is worth it lol

That's exactly what I'm thinking

[Wild one]

That's exactly what I'm thinking

Be sure to post results

[mpotzold]

Red pepper spray may actually attract brown bears if used improperly, according to preliminary research by a wildlife ecologist at the USGS Alaska Science Center in Anchorage.
Spray residues did attract brown bears when used in nonaggressive situations from sniffing to whole body rolling.

http://www.explorenorth.com/library/misc/images/laying.jpg

http://www.explorenorth.com/library/misc/images/roll.jpg

[caddisguy]

Pepper spray attracts bears, 100%. Flyfishing a couple of years back I dropped a can of bear spray and some came out. I had a big black bear come in front down wind to check it out. Smells like orchard full of peppers from their standpoint.

[Wild one]

Now I am wondering how may guys are going to head out in the bush this spring and unload a can of bear spray in hopes of brining in a bear lol

[caddisguy]

Now I am wondering how may guys are going to head out in the bush this spring and unload a can of bear spray in hopes of brining in a bear lol

Probably the same guys that were using salmon and sardin cans with holes punched in them last year.

It actually says on most bear spray cans that it attracts bears and not to use it to "mark territory" or whatever. I have heard of people spraying it around their tents to repel bears lol

[adriaticum]

Pepper spray attracts bears, 100%. Flyfishing a couple of years back I dropped a can of bear spray and some came out. I had a big black bear come in front down wind to check it out. Smells like orchard full of peppers from their standpoint.



Sure thing, the smell of bear spray attracts me too.
I like hot peppers a lot.

[Wild one]

Probably the same guys that were using salmon and sardin cans with holes punched in them last year.

It actually says on most bear spray cans that it attracts bears and not to use it to "mark territory" or whatever. I have heard of people spraying it around their tents to repel bears lol


I am am assumeing you found them in Hope

A friend of mine found an area like that on a landing down a washed out road

[mpotzold]

Sure thing, the smell of bear spray attracts me too.
I like hot peppers a lot.


Same here!:redface:

You must also like TABASCO SAUCE.:redface::redface:
An old SFU friend from Hope used to drink the whole bottle for a bet. He is 1/2 Dutch & 1/2 Hungarian.

By far my fav dish my mom used to make was Hungarian Goulash. I don't think I'd have a problem using the entire bottle in the meal.:shock:
At worst I'll get a heartburn! That's it!

My point-don't think eating hot peppers will have any effect on bears!

[caddisguy]

I am am assumeing you found them in Hope

A friend of mine found an area like that on a landing down a washed out road

Yep Hope area. Most of them were on deactivated FSR's. I think the guy(s) would just punch some holes in the can, put it on the deactivated road and sit in the truck. Funny part is, I highly doubt even with the baiting that the culprit was ever successful.

Anyway, sorry for the derail, but just one more I promise... has anyone ever tried using bear spray for camp food cooking?

[adriaticum]

Same here!:redface:

You must also like TABASCO SAUCE.:redface::redface:
An old SFU friend from Hope used to drink the whole bottle for a bet. He is 1/2 Dutch & 1/2 Hungarian.

By far my fav dish my mom used to make was Hungarian Goulash. I don't think I'd have a problem using the entire bottle in the meal.:shock:
At worst I'll get a heartburn! That's it!

My point-don't think eating hot peppers will have any effect on bears!



I like Frank's a bit better, Tabasco is too vinegary for me and it's not hot at all.
But I make my own too.
This year had a great crop of habaneros and Scotch Bonnets.
Right now I have a hydropoinic Scorpion that's about foot tall, in a couple of months I should start seeing first flowers.

I like them, but the don't like me. I have to keep up with training or I lose it fast :mrgreen:

One other thing I recently started making is Chinese hot chili oil. Vegetable oil with chili flakes, peanuts and sesame seeds. I put that shit on everything.