Do dry (unused) tea bags attract bears/pests?

I'm not talking about any flavored/herb teas, just good old Lipton, black tea.  I keep some tea bags separate of my food and the wife was worried it would attract bears.

Thoughts?

A couple of tea bags in and of themselves probably won't draw a bear to your camp.

Your smell, cooking odors, campfire smoke will all dwarf a couple of tea bags.

I don't really think there's any way to 'smell proof' a camp - not as long as you and your gear are there.  Anything with human scent on it is a possible something for a bear to investigage.

As long as you're not worried about losing a couple of tea bags, or being a caffeine pusher to a squirrel or other varmint, you're probably ok.

Nah, tea bags are not nearly as aromatic as everything else in your pack, especially if they're sealed for freshness in a ziploc bag. And a cup of strong black tea in the morning is worth the minimal risk anyways. And talk about lightweight...
Try this: a gallon size ziploc bag of water with two teabags inside, laying on a hot rock for a couple hours in the afternoon. Makes excellent sun-tea. I've done it in a nalgene bottle too, but it seems to work better in that ziploc. In the evening, add a nip of your favorite spirit for a pleasant nightcap.
Regards,
Wind-in-Face

We have problem bears in a few area campsites in my neck of the woods. They will come to within a 100 feet during the night before everyone is tucked in. If you have a bear problem then definately keep the scents down to a minimum. Short hikes to party spots are often visited by careless teens looking to get wasted and have fun. I've hiked into sites with hotdogs on the ground and raw hamburger that is half eaten. Beer will also attract bears. Anything that is food related and known in your daily life will attract a bears attention. Once an area has a party atmosphere then beware. Because once a beer relates humans to food then it doesn't actually have to smell food to be dangerous. He just has to smell you. Bear over population will also drive bears to out hunt and out eat their rivals. If there is a large amount of bears in an area then expect a better then average chance of seeing one. DEC should have records of the animal kills and what counties they are from. You might want to check out the list and look for local area's that have had a low kill count. You still want to remember though that your chance of being killed by a black bear are very small. It might feel like a real possibility but just look at the numbers. Less then 100 people killed by black bears in the last 100 years. That's less then 1 person a year and look at the massive amount of people who go into the woods every year. If a bear does get close then remember to not make eye contact, that to them is a threat, don't run, that's what they want you to do. You are much easier to take down well you are running away. If you have a backpack a jacket or a canoe then make yourself look bigger. Hold whatever you have high above your head. Most bear encounters end right there. Take a 6 inch buck knife with you and make sure its sharp. If a bear does knock you to the ground then go for its guts. Its one of the softest area's of a bears body. tie all of your food well away from camp and at least 15 feet in the air. Don't even keep toothpaste in your tent if your in an area of problem bears. If you go with a dog then keep it on a leash. Dogs have been known to find bears and when the bear attacks the dog it takes off right directly back to its owner. Wear bear bells on your pack. If a bear charges you then stand your ground and try not to poop yourself, the smell might attract him even more. Ok so I just threw that last part in for fun. A bear will do a bluff charge. If he doesn't like you and wants you to go then by all means back away slowly and yell at him. Just don't scream like a little girl, he might think your wounded and try to shut you up. I've read that indians use to talk in a deep monotone voice and its soothing to big game animals when they are to close for comfort. And I think my typing finger just went numb. Well I hope this helps you out and remember to have fun out there. Swizzle

bearanoia strikes again.    Jan

Bearanoia, PFDs... How 'bout know the risks well enough to pick your battles?

No clue on tea bags but, if it helps:
I do know one bear that decided a moose calf might be a tasty breakfast.. That didn't go as planned.

After the fight, mama walked around my tent and continued right through my campsite w/ calf in tow and I was also standing right on her intended path! She never even paused and passed with a wild "you want a piece of me..." look in her eye. I backed off as far as I could. She knew where she was going and that I wasn't going to stop her. She was big and scary looking. My guess is the bear was the bigger threat to her.

Still hungry bear shows up a minute later. After a chase or two, it could (I think) smell scented bait from 5 feet away while being chased by a rock throwing solo camper who already had enough fun for one morning. Still hungry bear stopped to check it out and since I'm now closing fast, thought it might like a wooden paddle so that's what it ran off with only to drop it 30yds later and keep running.

A few chases later, I KNOW it didn't like white gas.
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Yet it stopped in the bushes not 20 feet away from me to find out.

Still hungry bear really does not like being hit in the head with rocks and chased and yelled at but it seemed nothing was going to stop it that day.

In the hour or so we got to know each other and for me to strike camp, my food pack was happily hanging, unnoticed, between two trees. It was the very last thing I put in the canoe when I left thinking good thing it's morning and not evening. While I did want to camp there one more night, the risk just wasn't worth it to me.

Odds are, we'll never know for sure if bears are tea drinkers or not. Don't sweat the small stuff. My Rum has never been touched. Guess they don't like rum. Could be wrong about that though.

Its only Bearanoia when its happening to the other guy :-?
 DB, that is quite the tale and I'm glad that the bear was more interested in your items rather than YOU ;D
Everyone knows that bear attacks are rare and you shouldn't let the fear of one ruin your enjoyment of the outdoors ;D
At the same time there are way's to lessen the odds of a encounter just like you would during lightning storms or high winds.
IF that bear wasn't discouraged by 800# of mad momma moose and your constant barrage of rocks and epitaphs then you can imagine what would of happened if it had turned on YOU as the object of its hunger :'(
 I carry my Bear Spray and make no apologies for it. IF I was camping or paddling in the US, I would have my .357 with Buffalo Bore heavy ammo.
Paranoid? one person's paranoia is another's hoping for the best, being prepared for the worst ;D
 I don't see any difference between carrying a comprehensive first aid kit in event of a life threatening injury, or a means to protect yourself in the event all your precautions fail?
 I always wonder when I hear of a fatal animal attack, bears/cougars/viscous dogs, whether the victims families who often are helpless witness's would say about not having a means to protect themselves because they didn't want to be  called Paranoid?
I'll bet if it was your (_*_) on the line and someone came to your aid with Pepper spray or a firearm, you wouldn't be calling them Bearanoid, you would be thanking your lucky stars they had the means and skill to save your "Bacon" ;)

wow...i guess i was told......

regarding the toothpaste comment.   hanging it or hiding it to avoid scent dispersal.....

when you brush, do you all spit into a nalgene or something?  and then hang/hide that too?  :)   i doubt it.

Jan

Jan we all spit into a burning fire of course.

Another thing that I remember reading is that indians (maybe not all tribes) would eat their last meal at noon time. By the time it was time to go to sleep there wasn't any food odor to worry about. Another thing you might want to keep in mind is that bears love the rocks and animals use waterways as highways from one place to the next. I've only had one bad night with bears being to close for comfort and it still doesn't stop me from solo hiking 8 to 10 miles round trip. Just use common sence and wear a bear bell and carry bear spray (which only works well in extremely close quarters), a bear bomb ( a flare type device that shots a bright flash at the bear and produces a loud boom) or a large caliber gun and a knife. More often then not I only have a jack knife folded in my pocket. I actually worry more about coyotes and rabies then bears. Most of my hikes in the past couple of years have been bushwacks because I like to see the forest, not the trail cutting through it. I don't see much wildlife as it is and I would feel honored to see a bear in the wild as long as we both respect each others bounderies. Don't survive the woods, live with it. Swizzle

or the stove?    if theres a fire ban?   Jan

I have a multi-fuel stove but I don't think it can burn *that*.  ::)

we need a "Mr. Fusion"   (c) back to the future, 1985

Jan

I'm in the been-to-Q-over-the-past-30-years-and-never-encountered-a-bear camp. Maybe we've just been lucky! (Now that I've actually verbalized this, I've probably jinxed it)

For the past 15 years or so, we simply tie our food barrel to the base of a tree far away from our tent. The barrel has bells on it, so if someone (!) is trying to get into it, at least I'll know it's time for plan B.

But most importantly, we keep a very clean site. At night, nothing odoriferous goes in the tent except a water bottle (not toiletries, not sun block, not insect repellant, not soap, not first aid kit,  and, of course, nothing remotely food related). Everything in the barrel is at least double zip-locked; the only food-related item not in the barrel is our one-burner stove which is stored elsewhere in a double-layered container. 

Two active bear threads in QJ at once! What fun!

All areas of the boreal forest that call themselves "wilderness" have bears in them. Most bears will take off into the bush as soon as they are aware of you, that's why we hardly ever see them.

But bears need to eat, and will follow their noses to anything that smells like an easy meal: grubs, moose calves, double ziplock bags full of shrink-wrapped Nanaimo bars, foamies previously used to insulate frozen steak, Tupperware containers impregnated with the smell of last month's baloney-and-cheese sandwiches, anything. Some people even bring fajitas and ghee into the backcountry. Wtf!

Whether any given bear's food instinct will override his (her) human aversion instinct is a crap shoot. If you think you have enough to gain from rolling the dice, go ahead. Me, I pack everything that even remotely smells like food into barrels and stash (or into a dedicated pack and hang if backpacking) well away from camp. Of course that includes toiletries, first aid kit, etc.

Even the tea bags go into the food barrels. It's probably safe to assume a bear will know tea bags have no caloric content, but they are so small, why even bother thinking about it?