Re: Colorado woman who fed bears is killed by one

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eeek

Colorado woman who fed bears is killed by one
August 11, 2009 07:08PM

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Registered: 15 years ago
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Reporting from Denver -- Donna Munson, 74, considered the black bears that swarmed across her land in southwestern Colorado to be her pets. She fed them dog food and scraps -- poking the food through a metal fence she'd built around her porch -- attracting so many bruins that neighbors sometimes counted as many as 14 on her property at a time.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-bear-attack12-2009aug12,0,649475.story?track=rss

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blooty

Re: Colorado woman who fed bears is killed by one
August 11, 2009 09:03PM

Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 23

Guess the bears are getting "fed up" with the saying "a fed bear is a dead bear".

RIP

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2009 09:47PM by blooty.

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eeek

Re: Colorado woman who fed bears is killed by one
August 11, 2009 09:26PM

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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 17,111

I'm surprised nobody objected loudly to having a neighbor feeding bears. Sure seems like a Bad Idea^tm to me.

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y_p_w

Re: Colorado woman who fed bears is killed by one
August 11, 2009 09:32PM

Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,374

Quote
blooty
Guess the bears are getting fed up with the saying "a fed bear is a dead bear".

I'm pretty sure that it's been pounded into most Yosemite visitors that the NPS goal is to stop bears from associating humans with easy food sources.

The NPS used to have regular bear feedings and open pit garbage dumps years ago at pretty much all the parks with bears. It wasn't illegal to feed bears and many people did so without any immediate repurcussions. Of course there were those who weren't planning on feeding any bears, but the bears came up to them and sometimes got aggressive when they weren't given a handout.

The problem with feeding any wild and potentially aggressive animal is that they eventually get testy. I remember seeing some footage of a pair of divers who regularly fed a moray eel. One of the feeders was having problems getting food out of a bag. The eel got impatient and just bit his finger clean off.

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eeek

Re: Colorado woman who fed bears is killed by one
August 11, 2009 09:39PM

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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 17,111

This sign:

Could be changed to:

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Bee

Re: Colorado woman who fed bears is killed by one
August 12, 2009 09:31PM

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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,347

And I thought that the local Cat Lady was a nuisance!

B

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y_p_w

Re: Colorado woman who fed bears is killed by one
August 12, 2009 11:26PM

Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,374

Quote
Bee
And I thought that the local Cat Lady was a nuisance!

B

Fortunately our main problem in our neighborhood is deer. I don't believe there's been a bear in the wild in my area for over 100 years. Still - we've got bear-themed roads like Grizzly Peak Blvd and Bear Creek Road.

Nobody I know feeds the deer, although they've got an abundance of things to eat. Just ask my wife what happened when we placed some petunias out to see what they looked like before we planted them. The biggest thing I worry about is that I might startle a buck and get gored by the antlers. One of the problems is that they don't have any natural predators here, and I don't think anyone (esp with small children) wants mountain lions in the area to take care of the deer.