Hi All,
My mother and father, who spent about a week visiting with us in Fayetteville, spent a good portion of their visit lamenting the ridiculous situation in their home town of West Milford, NJ.
Several decades ago NJ began the process of reintroducing Black Bears, whose population had dwindled to almost nothing, to the northern "highhland" portion of the state. The program was so successful that now the bear population is booming and encounters between people and wild bears are increasingly common.
A couple of years back some of the more sensible citizens, along with the state authorities realized that there were now too many bears and called for a reintroduction of a limited bear season. The good middle class raised on bambi blue state New Jersians reacted with horror that anyone would suggest murdering their furry brothers and immediately began a counter campaign that was ultimately successful. Since then, every suggestion for limited cull even when done entirely by fish and game employees has been vigorously campaigned against and rejected. "Can't we catch and release them elsewhere?" They ask. Well take 'em 50 miles away and they come back in a couple of days, and neither South Jersey, NY, or PA are happy about the idea of taking in wild black bears (with good reason).
Meanwhile the bear problem is getting worse, garbage cans disappear or are shredded, livestock (including horses) is attacked, children are mauled, pets are eaten, and car accident after car accident is chocked up to bear crossings.
The solution? Draconian new laws aimed at... the people. You now must purchase "bear proof" trash cans (they aren't) which can only be put out the morning of the collection, no feeding the birds outside of the winter months, no keeping small pets in the yard unattended, and a bear patrol that makes sure the laws are being followed or big fines are levied. Oh, and there is no shooting the bears unless you or a person (but not a pet) are currently being eaten.
For my parents this means having had both their Koi ponds emptied by bears (several thousand dollars worth of fish dinners), not being able to put their Cocker Spaniels out in the fenced in back yard, having to take out the trash just before the 6:00 AM pickup and routinely being caged in their own house by bears roaming the deck and back yard, coming up to the sliding doors, trying to get into the kitchen, or garage, etc.
They feel like they have become second class citizens, and that the town now exists as a huge bear preserve in which they are the interlopers.
Oh, and the newest brilliant solution along with the new laws? reintroduce the mountain lion on the theory that they will eat bear cubs and not the easier to get at small pets, livestock, joggers, garbage, etc. My mother has already seen one where she works at Skylands, not surprisingly she went inside very quickly.
Gotta love where worshipping the creation gets you...
- SEAGOON
PS - Mother used to be a PETA type - not anymore, what's the old adage about a conservative being a liberal who has just been mugged?
