civilized ku # 2319 / diptych ~ illegal to feed bear/deer

Road sign / wall of snapshots ~ between Inlet & Eagle Bay / Keyes Pancake House in Old Forge, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenIt's been a dry(ish) summer which has had the effect of severely diminishing the natural food sources of many wild animals. The most noticeable animals affected by this problem are bear and deer.

Bear and deer are most noticeable because their solution to the problem is to forage for food in close proximity to human populations. And, they're big. While deer are a nuisance - eating shrubs and munching their way through gardens and the like, bear are a pain in the ass. They have no inhibitions about coming into your kitchen through a screen door ... and I do mean through the door.

In any event, because of the dry weather / low natural food supply, 12 bears have been put down this summer as the result of being "nuisance" bears. All things considered, this number of downed bears, while unfortunate, hardly puts a dent of any consequence on the bear population inasmuch as 70% of New York State's estimated 7,000 bear population reside in the Adirondacks.

FYI, there has never been a fatal bear attack in the Adirondacks. Virtually all encounters with bears in NYS / Adirondacks are entirely benign. A bear's first instinct upon encountering a human is to turn butt and run. While there are occasional displays (when they feel threatened) of what is mistakenly thought of as aggression by a bear - swatting the ground with their paws, charging but stopping short of contact, slow and deliberate approaches, clacking teeth, huffing, growling, snorting and other sounds, those displays are, in fact, acts of defensive behavior. However, if given an opportunity to withdraw, the bear willingly and eagerly does so.

In only 1 of my several encounters with bears have I witnessed a display of all of the defensive responses listed above. The bear was defending a very large purloined tin bin of crackers and not about to give it up. His (I know the bear to be a male because he was big, much bigger than a female ever gets) display was both impressive and intimidating, so, true be told, I was the one to willingly and eagerly withdraw, albeit it very slowly.