Hungry bears plague US west after record drought

[brentspeak]

Source: AFP

by Judith Crosson Sat Sep 15, 11:03 AM ET

DENVER, United States (AFP) - They hosed the black bear with water, threw things at it and yelled, but the stubborn animal refused to move from its perch in a tree above a quiet neighborhood in Boulder, Colorado.

Pushed from their homelands by a drought and pulled by the scent of human food, black bears across western US states are breaking into homes and tearing up garbage cans in a desperate search for nourishment ahead of hibernation.

Fires across the west also destroyed bear habitat, and the animals face the continuing peril of losing their living space to urban development.

(snip)

Black bears in California have not faced competition from their natural rival, the larger grizzly bear, for nearly a century. The last known grizzly in California was shot dead in 1922. California however still has a grizzly bear on its state flag.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070915/ts_alt_afp/environmentuswildlifebears_070915081532

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It seems things are getting tougher for animals all over the world these days.

[frogcycle]

1. same thing in the Smokies w/black bears

I saw one a few weeks ago that looked almost skeletal

[xchrom]

2. plague? -- hardly -- they are trying their best to stay alive.

[CountAllVotes]

3. I find this part of the story particularly interesting ...

>> Eating human food such as donuts, hamburgers, or ice cream fattens the bears up and allows them to have more cubs. "We're developing an alarming trend -- ten percent are not hibernating," Holley said.

Are the bears turning into junk food junkies as well? Not going into hibernation because they are getting all of this GMO'd junk to eat instead is an alternate lifestyle for some now it seems. How very odd.

[Warpy]

4. Spring and fall are bear season here in central NM

and bears can come pretty far into the city before somebody spots them and calls Animal Control. The bears are tranquilized and carted off into the mountains. Drought or no drought, they're attracted to the easy pickings in dumpsters and hungriest in spring and fall.

It's only reported if a homeowner has a video camera and shops it around to the news.

[smirkymonkey]

5. Why can't we take all that Farm Food the government destroys

and feed it to the starving bears in their natural habitiat? We can't allow them to go extinct and we can allow them to survive on a diet of suburban doritos, oreos and fruit roll-ups? :shrug:

Just a suggestion.

Or better yet, let them take over Washington, DC. It couldn't possibly get any worse.

[ClintonTyree]

9. I think we should feed them....

Republican Senators.

Black Bear "Lieberman" Chow. :9 Mmmmmm......tasty!

[Warpy]

11. Aw, what do you have against the poor bears?

Seriously, bears will survive only as long as they're able to find food in their habitat. Otherwise, they'll be exhibits in zoos.

Fortunately, bears have a huge range of foodstuffs to choose from. They're usually quite fat around here, drought and all.

They only risk the city when they're looking for an easy meal in the spring or some easy extra fat for the winter.

[Prophet 451]

6. Waiting for the Colbert line..... n/t

[trusty elf]

7. I couldn't resist this. Sorry, I'll stop now.

[tabasco]

8. Where I live in WV, bears still act like wild bears should.

They snort at you and run away when they see a human.

That's how a wild black bear should react. Very shy.

[HuffleClaw]

10. “We’re here! We’re Queer! We Don’t Want Any More Bears!” n/t