With most of the Western PA area covered by wooded areas, you would think spotting a bear now and then wouldn't be a big deal. Well..you've got that one wrong! Instead, local media has gone cukoo for bear stories, adding them to the newscasts whenever we can get video and/or pictures of the dastardly fellows. Why bears enthrall the newsroom and viewers alike is beyond me. Could you imagine the hype over, say, a deer? Oh wait..there was...more on that later.
So bears are coming into people's yeards looking for food. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the problem is not the bears...it's the humans.
They put out bird feeders in the summer, which game officials call "bear lollipops." They leave garbage or pet food outside, then panic when they see a furry intruder roaming through their yards, making their dogs bark.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06226/713320-85.stm#ixzz0t8i44Jbs
So if the people who live near wooded areas would only follow simple tips, and remove all bear accesible food from their yards...the problem would cease. I guess Western PA is full of the same silly people who go to Yellowstone every year and can't understand why bears come up to their campsites looking for food. Every year, Yellowstone park officials remind visitors to:
keep food, garbage, barbecue grills and other attractants stored in hard-sided vehicles or bear-proof food storage boxes when not in use. This helps keep bears from becoming conditioned to human foods and helps keep park visitors and their property safe.
Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_44bdd06a-8610-11df-9afb-001cc4c002e0.html
..and yet we ultimately hear the stories of how yet another bear had to be captured and relocated. So people...let this be your lesson. Stop putting food out for woodland creatures...and the woodland creatures will stop being news.
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