Dear Editor:
I find it very disturbing to read some of the pro-hunting web sites and see statements encouraging the staging of false bear attacks or provoking them to act defensively by cornering them. All of this is being suggested for the purpose of having the state’s black bears hunted and killed for sport.
These essays have listed ways to increase the chances of having a bear bluff charge or slightly injure someone engaging in such activities to gain support for bear hunting. Hunters are being told to leave food in vehicles, campsites, garages, sheds, and on porches to draw the bears. Another suggestion was made to purposely get between a mother and her cubs in hopes of receiving a minor injury.
It is my belief these kind of actions caused the recent incident at the National Delaware Recreation Area. One of the hunters blocked the mother’s path to her cubs in order to make her bluff charge so there would be a reason to kill her. By the way, a bluff charge is when a bear runs towards something but stops short of contact. It is the bear’s way of saying someone is moving too close. When given the chance, black bears normally send their cubs up a tree for safety.
Sincerely,
Jean Mollack