[at-l] black bear attack in NY

[nealb@midlandstech.com (William Neal)]

In the 90s I was in the SMP area and came across a lady instructing her
little girl (somewhere between 9 and 12) to go feed the bear.  The girl had
a sandwich in her hand.  They wanted a good vacation picture.  I told the
girl to stop and explained to the lady why she should get out of there and
what could happen if the bear caught scent of the sandwich.  I remember
saying something to the effect that "Once bears get use to accepting food,
they expect to get fed (sp?).  And they don't know where the sandwich ends
and your little girl's arm starts.  It's all food to them."  They left
hurriedly.

I like feeding "wild life" but usually I restrict it to the birds and
squirrels that gather around the state capitol or, when I had a house, in my
backyard.  Animals not only become dependent on your handouts.  They don't
know what you want them to have and what you do not want them to have.
Animals are not as intelligent as humans, and they don't think like humans.
So don't expect them to act like humans.  Usually animals act better.

William the Library Turtle
-- Just because I am a librarian doesn't mean I can spell.  Is it "fed" or
"feed."


-----Original Message-----
From: saunterer@jimbullard.org [mailto:saunterer@jimbullard.org]
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 1:42 PM
To: at-l@backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [at-l] black bear attack in NY


At 09:02 AM 08/20/2002 -0500, Phil Heffington wrote:
>My wife just heard something on the news about a black bear killing a baby
>in NY.  Anyone know the details?

A couple of people have posted links to the news story.  According to the
local radio reports in my area (North of the Adirondacks) it happened in
the Catskills.  Apparently a young bear came into a camp and tipped over
the stroller the baby was in.  The baby fell out, the bear took the baby in
it's mouth and headed back into the woods.  Several people from the camp
chased the bear throwing stones and shouting.  The bear dropped the baby
but it died from the injuries.  Authorities shot the bear and tested it for
rabies.  The test was negative.  Speculation is that bears in the area are
accustomed to scrounging garbage pails etc. for food and may have mistaken
the stroller as such a source of food.  It was an extremely unusual
incident.

sAunTerer