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Diminution: I – BEARS, rev.
Author’s note: Spring is almost upon us and the bears will be coming out and eventually down to our villages and towns; will eventually have unhappy altercations with homeowners as food becomes scarce and they get hungrier. They will also get shot and killed — 16 last year alone by the DEC.
I fear the coming of Spring
when our bears come out of hibernation
bringing with them wildness and
hunger to survive and feed their newborns
sure to collide with human cohabitants
seeking what the bears bear —
an unavoidable collision of two
territorial species wanting
each what the other has both
dependent on the State to mediate
the conflicts sure to ensue, with
the State doing what it instinctually
does – kill bears for being bears,
sixteen last year, four in my home town
alone, as the wildness and the food it bears
shrivel.
I am filled with deep foreboding.
I fear that we lack the resolve
to tell the State “no more killing bears …
you are killing us and our wildness.”
I trust my fears are misplaced, are those
of a too-cynical old man.
Photo at top: Bear cubs, by Emily Carroll of Pennsylvania Game Commission
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We create the problem by leaving trash, bird feeders and pet food outside inviting these clashes. Bears go for the easiest food. We have only ourselves to blame.
Agreed, Kate. Thanks for your comment.
How true!
Hey has anybody seen, or heard from Jeep lately???
Research has proven bears and coyotes become aggressive towards humans when food is associated with humans. Here’s a suggestion: POST SIGNAGE; LOCK AND SECURE ALL TRASH AND FOOD on the front of publicly used BEAR PROOF garbage bins and in post offices, restaurants, stores, gas stations etc. New York State voters should make these two suggestions a law in all towns within the Park. We should not have to beg and plead with town’s and village’s elected officials or the DEC to do what is ethically right for wildlife forced to live and suffer by capitalist’s rules. Get the chamber of commerce for the Adirondacks involved. The slogan “A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear” is not working! I’m sure bear proof trash bins and educational signage will not scare away the tourists!
Good first steps. How about periodic educational programs aimed at local residents, town officials and tourists promoting the various steps that can be tsken to ensure peaceful human/ bear co-habitation and obviate the need to kill bears.
DEC should demand bear proof trash containers be out in the local towns. If a private person created this type of nuisance DEC would fine them.
I live in the town where four bears were killed last year. The town provides open ended garbage cans in public food areas. At night, the bears feed from the cans at the town public beach and also pavilion. Bears that get free and easy food develop a habit, so do the cubs. Bears that cause problems to humans are identified as ” nuisance bears” and may be trapped and transported away by the DEC. Several problems with this are that no one wants someone else’s nuisance bear delivered to their home area and there is significant cost and insufficient DEC personnel to do the job. Next easiest solution is to have DEC kill the bear. Issue over. I talked to a DEC ranger who said it was the toughest and saddest part of his job. I shudder when I think about what we required him to do. Also bad day for the bear.
Concern was voiced by several residents who did an informal survey where 132 of 136 people supported a request to the Town to put bear proof garbage cans in public food areas. This was presented at the fall budget meetng as well as information that significant donors were willing and available. No action was taken, issue dropped.
It is my understanding, from an article written from the town office back in 2013, that in New York State it is illegal to intentionally feed bears. Perhaps we could reconsider a better solution to our town bear problem that would also serve as an example to our residents and visitors.
Great use of the poem, Caleb. Amplified vey thoroughly LL residents’ concerns and how we might begin to address them. Biggest barrier up ’til now, our town board, whose members appear indifferent to town residents’ perspective. I could be wrong, so we’ll ask the Town Board again.
Thank you, Caleb.