More Den Cam Prep
November 27, 2010 – 8:05 PM CST
More den cam preparation today. More discussion of details with Bill Powers of PixController in Pennsylvania and Jim Stroner of Digi International’s Minneapolis Branch. Other people helping to form decisions include Bill Rice of Ritron Corporation, Graham Wallington and Peter Braat of WildEarth.TV and Producer Doug Hajicek of White Wolf Entertainment. Jim Stroner and Jason Sawyer (pictured) were doing on the ground construction all day. Scott Edgett, the Service Manager for Tousley Ford in St Paul, took on the task of getting the snowmobile running after sitting idle for months. Local resident Charlie Meyer advised on trail conditions, donated material, and stood ready to help in any way.
Meanwhile, at the Bear Center, the door with the beautiful wood-burning by Debby Bidwell-Boggs arrived after a 700-mile relay by many drivers from Central Michigan to Ely, MN. Lily fans Linda & Hank Ziobro, and Jim & Jackie Runions came from afar to help our John Leonard put the door on the office where it will be seen by every visitor. Lynn stopped by the Bear Center on his way home to see the door and called to say "It's a masterpiece! I've never seen anything like it."
Thank you to all, and apologies to people not mentioned, which is why we usually don’t mention anyone. All are appreciated greatly!
Also, our apologies to the admins for our posting on a controversial subject last night without prior warning. But the discussions that resulted showed that feeding is a topic that needs more real information.
Each person will have a different opinion on feeding any kind of wildlife, especially bears. Some people say “Let the wild be wild” and are against any interaction that could reduce fear of humans. Others enjoy being close to their wild neighbors and learning all they can about them. Still others enjoy hunting wildlife and eating meat that is free of additives.
But many of the reasons given for not feeding bears are misconceptions that are widely held by wildlife officials and the public. It’s not a question about whether it is right or wrong to feed bears. It’s about why people believe what they do.
Press coverage of Bozo included “Bears could become more aggressive if their human-food supply is cut off, some say. Also, a bear that's accustomed to being fed by people might forget how to forage properly and could die if its human food source dries up.” Common statements about feeding bears are that the bear get addicted to human food, become diseased, become more aggressive, associate people with food, waylay people for food, walk up to hunters, could kill children, become dependent, eventually view people as food, and make predatory attacks. Of course, there is the saying, “A fed bear is a dead bear.” We don’t know how many times wildlife officials have said habituated and food-conditioned bears become nuisances and jeopardize public safety.
How many of the above statements are backed by science and how many are urban legends? How much of the science is flawed by confusing coincidence with cause and effect?
A fact is that the bear-human interface is one of the most important areas of bear management and one of the least studied areas of bear biology. A big reason it is not studied is that the misconceptions are so ingrained that most people don’t think it is worth funding research on something that everyone already “knows.”
As time permits we may discuss some of the above statements in the updates.
A word about Pennsylvania and bears. For years, Lynn’s friend Dr. Gary Alt was the bear biologist there. Under Gary’s guidance, bear numbers grew and Gary was a champion of education about bears. He developed methods for successfully introducing bears to more and more parts of Pennsylvania, educated the people to accept bears, and gave a huge jump start to what has become a healthy bear population. The love that many people had for Bozo is in part a testament to Gary’s educational efforts. In the years before Gary retired, he took on broad ecosystem issues and attempted to revise deer management. After Gary retired, this very charismatic man continued his passion to educate. He is still engaged in ecosystem issues and enjoys working as a guide on bear-watching tours.
But is there more to be learned and shared about bear behavior? Even in Pennsylvania? That’s what we’re all about.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center