Posted on 07/06/2008 12:00:32 PM PDT by george76
Always there have been the bears in and around Anchorage.
Never before has there been a bear mauling in town.
Not that the horrific attack on 15-year-old mountain biker Petra Davis last weekend came as a shock to those familiar with local bears. A small group of wildlife biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game have been warning for years that something like this could happen ...
Some who have been hiking, running and mountain biking in the park and the adjacent Chugach State Park for decades say they see more bears and more bear sign than ever before.
a growing bear population.
Hillside resident Scott Gorder has seen so many bears in his yard in recent years that he's nervous about leaving his house come summer.
"It's getting absolutely ridiculous,"... "My daughter was walking to the shed one day, and a (black) bear stepped out behind her. I ended up sticking a pitchfork in its butt."
A lifelong resident of the city, Gorder knows that a black bear is no match for an armed man -- even if the man is only armed with a pitchfork. Black bears are fairly easily intimidated. Grizzly bears, on the other hand, are not.
Wildlife biologists would not recommend sticking a grizzly with a pitchfork...
He's found grizzly tracks and what little was left of moose calves they caught.
Since he bought his home in 1990 he's seen the number of bears increase...
"I grew up in town," Gorder said, "but as kids we camped everywhere (on the city's edge). I never saw a bear."
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
I am so NOT sentimental about bears.
"I agree."....Patrick J. Buchannon
They’re attracted by trash cans - but because they’re protected, they’re no longer scared off by people with guns. Start killing them again and they’ll back off.
But wait! The anti-everything econuts are telling me the bears are going extinct! They would never lie, would they??
But, but, uhh, global warming, right? They just put polars on the endangered species list, right? Wadda bout that photo of the drowning bear?
Wadda ya mean there are twice as many polar bears as there were in 1970?
I did not know black bear lived in alaska. I thought black and brown bear territories did not overlap. Black bear in the south, brown in the north.
I guess you learn something new everyday.
The only difference is that our state government is going to wait until they're scooping kids out of carriages before they implement a rational bear management policy.
Right now, hunting is forbidden and the government wants to focus on birth control, but according to the state biologists, they're having trouble teaching the bears to put the condoms on.
Same in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho...
The policy will change only when the child of someone politically connected is turned into an hors d'oeuvre by a bear.
Teach them to run an oil rig and send them to ANWR.
When the animals reach the point they’re maiming and killing the people where they live it’s time to start thinning the animals.
Alaska isn’t the only place! Friends of ours about 5 mi from her have found very large tracks in their yard that look like bear tracks. So far they haven’t seen anything but are now making sure they are armed when out in the field. This is SE Ohio and not something we normally see!
Have a small pitchfork. Perhaps an upgrade to a long-handle pitchfork would be prudent.
I heard Bear roast is very good sounds like there is an overabundance of good food running around.
Florida
Make a good bumper sticker...
New Jersey,Florida...
Makes one wonder about the ancient Native American prophecy about the 'end times' - of the status quo and return of the Indians former stature - the sign being "when the animals come back"
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