(VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)
Two bears decided to visit the Farsite Bungalow Colony on Route 17B in Monticello on Sunday night.
For reasons unknown, a large crowd of people stood around videoing the bears and shining lights at them – possibly to scare them away.
Bears can run more than 35 MPH and they can do it up hills, down hills or along a slope. To put that in perspective, that’s 50 ft/sec – more than twice as fast as humans can run. In fact, a bear can outrun a racehorse over short distances but has little endurance.
As YWN has been reporting over Summer 2018, there have been an uptick in the number of bear sightings. Many of the bear sightings are taking place in broad daylight, as the bears search for food.
The following safety tip are from the NYS DEC, and were previously published by YWN in 2014.
SOME BEAR TIPS:
1. DO NOT FEED BEARS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
2. GARBAGE: Clean up areas around garbage cans and do not put garbage outside over night. Put garbage out only on pickup days.
3. BIRD FEEDERS: Nuisance bear problems are usually a temporary situation in early spring. Bird feeders do attract bears and are often torn down. Take down or clean up all bird feeders (including humming bird feeders) for several weeks after a bear visit.
4. PET FOOD: Feed pets in the house if possible and clean up all left over food.
5. GRILLS: Outdoor grills will attract bears. If you have had a bear problem you should stop cooking outside on your grill, clean it up, and store it in a bear proof area for a couple of weeks.
6. COMPOST PILES: Bears are attracted to all types of garbage. Stop adding refuse to your compost pile and if it is located close to your house you should move it as far away as possible.
7. OTHER: Bears have an extraordinary sense of smell. If you store pet food, fish food, or any other items that might appeal to a bear’s sense of smell under an open shed or in a wooden shed you should remove it to a secure location.
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8 Responses
My son’s teacher explained that bears are attracted to the scent of soiled diapers and when they’re discarded in the garbage dumpsters the bears are attracted and have a picnic on all our discarded foods. That is wht they’re always found near our colonies – or near our countries, like so many say!! They even open garbage can covers.
Unknown reasons?
I will offer one:
The adult onlookers seem to have the mental capacity of toddlers.
Children’s books portray bears as sweet and friendly. It ain’t so. They’re omnivores, meaning that they’ll eat anything that lets them, which makes them also carnivores. And as the article points out, they can run very, very fast. There is also at least one verified instance of a bear in upstate New York grabbing a toddler out of a stroller and killing it. Evidently they don’t think of something that small as being human. And they are absolutely deadly in defense of their cubs.
Bears are wild animals. Be careful with them and be careful with your children.
And think about how lucky these people were that the bears were feeling good-natured that night.
I’ve just watched the video, and I think that this may fall under tza’ar ba’alei chayim. It really looks like cruelty. The bears look scared, not ferocious, and they have literally been treed by a mob of people. It’s almost like a Williamsburg style “Chaptzem!” but aimed at a couple of hapless bears who were just checking out if there were any interesting garbage cans. Maybe the ASPCA or PETA should get involved. 🙂
And the people should bentsch gomel that the bears didn’t decide to take the chance of coming down from their trees. Even small bears are bigger than humans.
I was at a zoo yesterday and there was 2 20 ft fences between the bears and the crowd. These ppl are very irresponsible. If the bear decided to run and attack someone in the crowd nobody could do anything to help. (I doubt someone had a rifle with finger on the trigger) to just hope that “Bears don’t attack humans” is stupid and dangerous.
It would be a good idea if people vacationing in bear zones learn a bit about the creatures before harassing them. In other parts of the country resorts/parks/cabins provide bear proof trash containers.
8. DO NOT TRY TO DANCE WITH A BEAR.
5-YEAR-OLD COLORADO GIRL ATTACKED BY LARGE BEAR IN YARD
Monday, May 14, 2018 11:32AM
The young girl went into the yard early Sunday morning thinking she’d heard sounds from her dog, her mom said.
GRAND JUNCTION, Co. – A young girl is recovering after she was attacked by a bear outside her home early Sunday morning, according to authorities.
The 5-year-old girl, identified by her father as Kimberly Cyr, went out into her yard in a rural part of Grand Junction, Colorado, around 2:30 a.m. to investigate barking dogs. Her mother went out into the yard after she heard screaming, and she saw the bear dragging her daughter. After the mother began screaming, the bear dropped Cyr and retreated.
Cyr was taken to a local hospital and is in fair condition as of Sunday afternoon. She is expected to fully recover.
The family keeps pigs, cows and goats in the yard, and neighbors told ABC News that there have been reports of bears in the neighborhood in the past. The home is not far from the Colorado River.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers killed a bear overnight that is believed to be the one responsible for the attack, they announced in a release. The bear killed was walking up to a home about half a mile away when officers killed it.
The carcass will be sent to a laboratory operated by the agency for further examination.
ABC News contributed to this report.
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