From: Signe Rogers (HikinMama@iglide.net)
Date: Tue Dec 04 2001 - 08:33:16 CST
----- Original Message -----
From: <TWBUESING@aol.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 7:36 AM
Subject: [Philmont]: Where is the end of the smell trail?
> I don't want to sidetrack this discussion or the list, but it may be more
> than just the bears.
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I couldn't agree more with this statement. "Most" problem bears are the
result of human carelessness at some point in the life of that bear. It is
an often heard phrase "a fed bear is a dead bear", meaning if the bear just
once gets a taste of human food or human tasties (such as camera film), then
that bear will be easy prey to other human smells down the line.
Unfortunately, once a bear becomes a nuisance bear, it may be an innocent
victim when that bear actually turns the corner to making human contact.
What I mean by that is that the person or crew who gets the unfortunate
attack may in fact be doing everything by the book, buy some careless person
ahead of them left a smellable on the ground, or the bear itself has become
more brazen & those people ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We need to be careful not assume that because someone gets visited by a bear
that they or their crew were the ones in error.
The *best* we can do & what we *all_have* to do is be diligent in our own
outdoor habits & not be the ones initiating the bear to it's own path to
destruction to begin with & then hope for the best with our safe habits that
we don't encounter somebody else's mistakes.
There is no doubt in my mind that we have a responsibility to the bears and
it grieves me deeply when one has to be put down, although I also recognize
when the bear gets to that point, there is no other choice in terms of human
safety.
Signe Rogers
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