View Full Version : poor black bear...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/30/stuck.bear.shot.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Lone Wolf
07-30-2008, 16:35
i guess the dilweeds never heard of a tranquilizer gun
Plodderman
07-30-2008, 16:38
Hope I never get stuck with a jug on my head.
minnesotasmith
07-30-2008, 16:40
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/poormoose.asp
Blissful
07-30-2008, 16:44
A shame.
dessertrat
07-30-2008, 16:48
Yeah, it's not like it was going to bite anyone with a jug over its head anyway. (I guess it could have clawed someone).
Hoop Time
07-30-2008, 16:57
i guess the dilweeds never heard of a tranquilizer gun
Story says they tried several times to tranquize it to no avail.
But you have to wonder how they could get close enough for that picture and not be able to hit it with a dart.
We had a bear wander into town where I live a few years ago and had a similar outcome.
It was a pathetic situation.
From the story in our paper about the shooting:
(The Game Commission dude) said he was motivated by safety concerns after his specially designed firearm for shooting tranquilizer darts malfunctioned. The first dart he shot went only about 10 feet and "kind of died," he said. The second and third darts didn't fire at all ... (a supervisor) blamed funding woes at the Game Commission, noting that(the) tranquilizer gun is probably more than 10 years old. "We don't have the money right now to buy replacement equipment because of our financial condition," he said.
Nearly Normal
07-30-2008, 17:40
The DNR don't have a working tranquilizer gun?
Bear country idiots?
the goat
07-30-2008, 20:04
is that a bear vault on his head?
taildragger
07-30-2008, 20:08
is that a bear vault on his head?
That would just be ironic.
Odd Thomas
07-30-2008, 20:16
That would just be ironic.
This is the USA, you're not supposed to use the term "ironic" correctly. In the US irony simply refers to misfortune, like rain on your wedding day, etc. :p
How hard can it be to capture a bear with a bucket on its head... and have 6 days to do it?
taildragger
07-30-2008, 20:18
How hard can it be to capture a bear with a bucket on its head... and have 6 days to do it?
Just tell the hillfolk that bear wrastlin is legal on that bear, he'll be tied in no time...
Odd Thomas
07-30-2008, 20:20
How hard can it be to capture a bear with a bucket on its head... and have 6 days to do it?
Yea really. In six days time you can't call another department with a working tranq gun to arrange for a borrow? This bear died so that the local department could use it as a political complaint for more funding.
Totally pathetic, what a bunch of incompetents. Are people really that stupid, not to be able to rescue an incapicitated animal?
ScoutingFamily74
07-30-2008, 22:20
Makes me sick....
I atleast hope someone ate the meat.
I think the dart gun was sabotaged in order to justify increased funding in next years appropriation bill for law enforcement. I stinks of collusion and conspiracy.
sheepdog
07-31-2008, 07:56
Countless deer, coyotes, foxes, moose and other critters are killed every day. It amazes me that people on the WB get so weepy over a bear death. Bears are a cool animal but there are lots of them. Sorry to point this out, you can go ahead and blast me now.
Lone Wolf
07-31-2008, 08:12
I atleast hope someone ate the meat.
bear meat is terrible. but the gall bladder and other parts fetch a high price in some circles
jersey joe
07-31-2008, 08:25
Countless deer, coyotes, foxes, moose and other critters are killed every day. It amazes me that people on the WB get so weepy over a bear death. Bears are a cool animal but there are lots of them. Sorry to point this out, you can go ahead and blast me now.
I have witnissed this quite a bit in the past few years in NJ where the state has allowed a couple of "bear hunts" where they allowed bear hunting during a short period of time, in part to help cull the booming bear population. There was some pretty strong public backlash.
sheepdog
07-31-2008, 08:26
bear meat is terrible. but the gall bladder and other parts fetch a high price in some circles
I've had bear meat lots of times. It ranges from terrible to very good. It just depends on how soon it was cooled down after the kill and how it was prepared.
Odd Thomas
07-31-2008, 08:31
I think the dart gun was sabotaged in order to justify increased funding in next years appropriation bill for law enforcement. I stinks of collusion and conspiracy.
lol! :p
I don't know about that, but when the choices were find a working gun or complain about funding, the latter was chosen when the former was gobsmackingly obvious to the average 4th grader.
Odd Thomas
07-31-2008, 08:50
lol! :p
I don't know about that, but when the choices were find a working gun or complain about funding, the latter was chosen when the former was gobsmackingly obvious to the average 4th grader.
(I need to donate so I can edit when I get reply button happy! :p)
Funding wasn't an honest excuse, they didn't know the gun didn't work until they tried to use it. If you don't know your equipment doesn't work, it's not a funding problem. Money in your departmental fund doesn't have any influence on the unmeasured and unknown quantum working state of your equipment.
dessertrat
07-31-2008, 09:29
When you look at the photo and see that the bear is standing on top of a dumpster, the real problem here becomes evident.
And while it's true that lots of bears die, and there are a lot of them, this is a particularly needless death.
sheepdog
07-31-2008, 09:58
Unless bears are raiding an area repeatedly there is no need for "bear proof dumpsters". It would be very expensive to make all dumpsters in bear county, bear proof. In Michigan that would mean every dumpster in the northern lower peninsula and every dumpster in the UP.
As far as the dart gun failing; have you ever tested a piece of equipment before you head out and it works fine, then when you need it, it fails? It happens. They probably had to buy their gun from the lowest bidder.
Maybe not needless, maybe just "stuff happens".
taildragger
07-31-2008, 12:00
I atleast hope someone ate the meat.
mmm bear sausage
Odd Thomas
07-31-2008, 12:25
As far as the dart gun failing; have you ever tested a piece of equipment before you head out and it works fine, then when you need it, it fails? It happens.
Nobody cares the gun failed. The problem is this whole department consisting of at least two people including the supervisor, couldn't imagine sourcing another one in six days, when a call to another department should have been all that was required. Then they blame funding after earning a weeks pay each, for scratching their heads for 6 days over such an impossible problem. :rolleyes:
sheepdog
07-31-2008, 12:45
In the six days that followed the initial sighting of the bear, officials tried to trap it and tranquilize it in numerous locations, but to no avail.
The above is a quote from the article, It looks to me they tried hard to get the bear by non-lethal means. They tried to work within their budget. They shot the bear. There are lots of them.
My point is must we go through this everytime something happens to a bear? They are a renewable resource. There are hundreds of thousands of them. Try to save them (they did). Sometimes it doesn't work and you have to kill one.
Plodderman
07-31-2008, 14:00
Not really a problem with shooting a bear. Nobodies fault, it is just a shame it had to come down to that over a jug.
taildragger
07-31-2008, 14:04
Now, if only these yuppies had been willing to recycle and pay more taxes, then this whole thing would have been avoided ;)
minnesotasmith
07-31-2008, 14:17
In the six days that followed the initial sighting of the bear, officials tried to trap it and tranquilize it in numerous locations, but to no avail.
The above is a quote from the article, It looks to me they tried hard to get the bear by non-lethal means. They tried to work within their budget. They shot the bear. There are lots of them.
My point is must we go through this everytime something happens to a bear? They are a renewable resource. There are hundreds of thousands of them. Try to save them (they did). Sometimes it doesn't work and you have to kill one.
When wildlife dies from some event, the more soft-hearted AND soft-headed types tend to forget that wild animals aren't really individuals, but populations. A forest fire, oil spill, or something similiar kills a bunch of them. A dozen years later, the location has usually recovered most of the way, along with the #s of what got killed, all by itself without any help from humans. Except for the mess and waste in the interim, plus all the heart palpitations from the softhearts who upon seeing pics of the mess think as if Muffin or Sparky got offed, there's not that much change from how it was before, and that'll be okay, too, in time.
rootball
07-31-2008, 14:31
they couldnt catch a bear with a jug on its head - what a bunch of dolts.
Plodderman
07-31-2008, 14:33
I am a hunter besides being a hiker so I have much respect for wildlife and the outdoors. Bears aren't cute they are dangerous and the shooting was probably necessary it is just a shame that it had to happen this way.
sheepdog
07-31-2008, 14:51
One thing I've learned having a job where many "situations" arise that require immediate action; there is never a man with all the answers around when you need one. They show up later to tell you what you did wrong.
dessertrat
07-31-2008, 15:07
When wildlife dies from some event, the more soft-hearted AND soft-headed types tend to forget that wild animals aren't really individuals, but populations.
Same could be said of people, and often is. I am not all broken up about the bear, but think that when dealing with wildlife in such situations, the least destructive method is generally better.
Pedaling Fool
07-31-2008, 15:11
Same could be said of people, and often is. I am not all broken up about the bear, but think that when dealing with wildlife in such situations, the least destructive method is generally better.
This is true. We think we're individuals with special rights because of our superiority on this planet, thanks to our gifted mind. But when the supervolcano blows, we'll be in the same boat as all the other populations.
taildragger
07-31-2008, 15:28
This is true. We think we're individuals with special rights because of our superiority on this planet, thanks to our gifted mind. But when the supervolcano blows, we'll be in the same boat as all the other populations.
I think these guys might have us beat
http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2005/2005-Mar-10/Article.cover_story/1/@@index
sheepdog
07-31-2008, 15:38
I am not all broken up about the bear, but think that when dealing with wildlife in such situations, the least destructive method is generally better.
I'll best most people would agree with that.
leeki pole
07-31-2008, 15:54
One thing I've learned having a job where many "situations" arise that require immediate action; there is never a man with all the answers around when you need one. They show up later to tell you what you did wrong.
And that's the absolute truth. Woulda, coulda, shoulda, hindsight are all 20/20.
NICKTHEGREEK
07-31-2008, 16:29
Countless deer, coyotes, foxes, moose and other critters are killed every day. It amazes me that people on the WB get so weepy over a bear death. Bears are a cool animal but there are lots of them. Sorry to point this out, you can go ahead and blast me now.
Maybe it has to do with having a teddy bear not a teddy opossum as a kid.
Jack Tarlin
07-31-2008, 16:33
The wisest comment on this thread was by desertrat, who quite correctly pointed out the main reason this happened:
The bar is clearly photographed on a dumpster, and obviously had been feeding there, and in all likelihood, not for the first time.
When wild animals become accustomed to eating human food, it generally ends badly for the animal, and I'd sooner blame people for being sloppy with their garbage than I'd blame the cops.
Could the bear have been drugged and relocated somewhere else? Maybe, but maybe not. This works sometimes, but not always. Park rangers have a saying......a fed bear is usually a dead bear, and while it's easy for some folks to blame the guys with the guns, this is not always fair. If the bear ended up with his head in a bucket, this isn't the cops' fault. It's the fault of whoever was careless with his garbage, and it's ironic that some of the local folks who are angry over the behavior of the police are the exact same folks whose carelessness probably created this unfortunate situation in the first place.
sheepdog
07-31-2008, 17:20
Maybe it has to do with having a teddy bear not a teddy opossum as a kid.
Good one ...:D:D... and it could be true.
oldfivetango
07-31-2008, 18:48
Gee,just hope I don't lose my heartless and obnoxious and mean spirited
reputation over this.........but I am feeling sorry for the garbage eatin'
bear for once.
It's only because one of my fellow Southerners,the great Jerry Clower(ifn
ya'll ain't never heard of him it's cause youse a Yankee) would have said
"give'm a fightin' chance."Ya'll might remember his story 'bout the coon and
the 28 hounds but that's a whole nuther story.
Something just riles me about shootin' some ole bear with a jug(instant muzzle)
over his heard.Hellfire,it's just UnAmerican;aren't we better than that?
One more thing,I have never been associated with any DNR agency or wildlife
organization but I will lay money down that I could have a functioning tranquilizer
gun at my disposal by this time tomorrow if I needed one.
Just sayin'-your tax dollars at work!
Oldfivetango