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Re: [at-l] bears....in the city?



I don't know if this will get through the new HTML filters but, considering
the recent discussion about bears here and bears there I thought, what the
heck, I'll give it a try.  This is copied from a FOX NEWS article published
today.

Al (Draggin' Anchor)
"I love animals.  They are delicious." (Bumper Sticker seen 6/25 on I-95
between Baltimore and Wash., DC

 Out of the Woods and Into the Suburbs
Tuesday, June 27, 2000 By David Koeppel
NEW YORK - They come in the dead of night, to suburban backyards where once
only squirrels and rabbits came. And they're big. About 600 pounds big.

AP/Wide World

(Photo) A 200-pound black bear roams near a picnic bench in the wooded back
yard of a home in Mountainside, N.J., in this 1997 file photo

They're terrifying homeowners from New Jersey to Michigan who never expected
to see anything fiercer than a raccoon on their patios.

The new interlopers are bears, and the problem has become so bad in places
like New Jersey that some state officials want black bears hunted legally
for the first time in 30 years, a proposition that has animal rights
activists in a twist.

But bear-hunt opponents have some cause for optimism. On Monday the New
Jersey Senate voted overwhelmingly for a moratorium on hunting black bears,
urging wildlife officials for a non-lethal alternative to reduce the growing
population. Senate officials hope the bill will be passed by the assembly
and signed by Gov. Christine Whitman before the approved Sept. 18 start of
the new bear hunting season. To some of those troubled by the bear invasion,
hunting remains the preferred solution.

(Photo)  'There are so many of them. ... It's a tragedy waiting to
happen,' - Farmer Paul Klimek

For Laura Rainoff, the mother of two young children in Orange County, N.Y.,
the proximity is too close for comfort. She's petrified about letting her
kids roam freely in a backyard that borders on woodland.

"I'm scared every time I hear a rustling sound. I'm terrified," Rainoff
said. "I don't want to have to think about it every time we go outside."

Rainoff said after a severe drought last summer bears began mangling the
family's garbage cans. While no one has been attacked, Rainoff and her
friends continue to be fearful.

"These bears have gotten so brazen, they have no fear of humans and that's
the problem," said Paul Klimek, a farmer in Sussex County, N.J. "There are
so many of them. One day someone is going to get too close and the bear is
just going to nail them. It's a tragedy waiting to happen."

The new togetherness comes from the fact that more and more Americans are
buying homes in heavily forested areas; suburbanites staking out new
territory are being forced to share space with the areas' original
inhabitants.

Cases of black bears attacking humans are rare but not unheard of. Just last
month a woman's dead body was discovered near a hiking trail in Tennessee's
Smoky Mountains. Officials presumed she had been mauled by a black bear.

"These are large powerful and wild animals," said Patrick Carr, the
principal biologist for the New Jersey Fish and Game Commission. "We don't
want to get rid of black bears in New Jersey. We just want to reduce their
numbers."

Bears even have been turning up in big cities like Trenton, N.J. Several
have been shot to death after repeatedly breaking into homes. Carr said
about 1,000 bears live in New Jersey, and wildlife officials would like to
see that number reduced to 350 within three years.

The Humane Society of the United States has opposed the hunt, suggesting
alternative solutions, including contraception vaccines and a form of
aversion therapy that has the beasts blasted with pepper spray or pelted
with rubber bullets until they can't stand the sight of people.

Susan Hagood, a wildlife specialist for the Humane Society, said hunting the
black bear is not necessary and the New Jersey Senate obviously agreed with
its Monday ruling. The anti-hunt legislation calls for the state's Division
of Fish and Wildlife to join forces with the Humane Society to develop a
5-year plan for reproductive control methods.

"Eliminating three out of four bears as they want to do in New Jersey
threatens the species' genetic viability, if not the population itself," she
said.

In towns like Woodstock, N.Y., and Lenox, Mass., reports of bears strolling
through town in midday are no longer unusual. Last week, a black bear was
spotted in Woodstock crossing the street by the local grocery store.

Police, fire and wildlife officers remove a sedated, 300-pound black bear
that wandered near a Little Falls, N.J. home in 1998

"There was a story here in Woodstock about the bears that broke into a
house, opened the refrigerator and cracked open a bottle of champagne," said
Diane Meckler, a long-time resident. "Those bears must have had some party."

After a visit from a black bear that frightened both her 2-year old
granddaughter and her dog, Meckler has learned to take precautions. She no
longer keeps a bird feeder or barbecue grill in her backyard, two of a black
bear's favorite sources of food.

"It's standard sort of advice, but the most important thing to avoid
problems is do not feed the bears," said Sterling Miller, a senior biologist
for the National Wildlife Federation. "When a bear learns that people can be
sources of food, they become a nuisance and damage property. Those bears
often have to be put down We usually say a fed bear is a dead bear."


 BACKGROUND INFO
Interactive Map of Bears in U.S.

------------------------------
Confronting a Bear
Avoid surprising bears at close distance; look for signs of bears and make
plenty of noise.
Avoid crowding bears; respect their 'personal space.'
Avoid attracting bears through improper handling of food or garbage.
If the bear has contacted you or is about to, play dead. Protect your face
and the back of your head and neck. Remain still until bear stops the attack
and leaves the area.
If the bear stalks you and attacks, or attacks at night, do not play dead -
fight back. Try to climb a tree, if the bear follows you, use bear spray or
intimidate it with a branch or rocks. Black bears are able to climb trees.
Fight back to let the bear know you are not easy prey. Consider using pepper
spray to repel an attack.
 --------------------------------



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