And I’m pissed about it… seriously pissed. What a waste of a beautiful example of wildlife.
Bullet ends bear scare on Wiggington Road
I’m not buyigng this line of horsecrap that the Lynchburg police department is trying to sell. You know, it’s a hell of a lot easier to just shoot the bear dead instead of contacting the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries, isn’t it? You know, it was Sunday night after all. Last year in Halifax County, the same situation was resolved by a DGIF operation which tranquilized the bear then released him to a far-away location deep in the woods. Result? One very much alive beautiful black bear, and nature was assisted by compassionate humans. However, that bear was sighted in the middle of a weekday when it was easy to get people to the scene. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Unlike deer, which cause significant injuries in deer/car crashes and where hunting is necessary to control the population, bears are quite content to live their lives posing an almost non-existent threat to humans. I support hunters and hunters’ rights but am totally against the hunting of bears for sporting purposes until it’s proven that an over-population of bears is causing damage to the ecosystem.
In my opinion, this was a simple solution to a problem that could have been handled quite easily in a non-lethal way. There was nothing legally wrong with the animal control officer (and his Lt.) to say the bear “presented a danger if someone happened upon him” as it’s well within their job duties to do just that. That being said, it was morally and ethically wrong to cast an immediate death sentence on such a beautiful creation of nature. It’s a shame for this to have happened, but perhaps this horrible example of a bad decision may make others have a second thought the next time.
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Agree 100%
That is truly horrible. The bear wasn’t hurting them. Leave the wildlife alone.
Yea, they should wait until this wild and large bear becomes rabid, or becomes aggressive before removing him from a very populated area with lots of children. I can just imagine the outrage if officials took that course.
I do wonder though – – the article indicated that “It was declared nuisance wildlife and we did have to dispatch the bear,” Faircloth said. “We were concerned for the safety of the residents in that area.
“It was a rather large bear.”
How was that declaration made and what exactly does it mean? Perhaps the DGIF is involved in that process? The article did say they were looking for this bear for a year.
Ever had bear meat, it sure is good!
I agree with you, Bruce, 100%. Seems to me that DGIF should have been called in and have the chance to do all they could to tranquilize and relocate the bear. THEN, if that failed and the situation deteriorated , endangering folks, then of course, they would perhaps have to do what they did. Sad, poor bear in the wrong place , wrong time for sure.
To Reality: (1) It is extremely rare that bears become rabid. That’s because (according to wildlife officials) they are rarely involved with other animals to gain the exposure to the virus. Don’t believe it? Check it out for yourself if you have skills. Course I am sure you’ll come up with your own feeble argument based on your old Grandpa’s wild tales from the old western days. So back to your “wait till the bear becomes rabid” — that’s horse crap and your statement doesn’t hold water. (2) Obviouly you’re not afraid of bears if you’re willing to eat the meat so there goes your rabid argument up in smoke yet again. And (3) — Overall, I think you’re a prick.