Too many Bears Showing Up in Bethlehem, NH

[Drumhaggart]

Seems that the bears like the local cuisine...

Too Many Bears Showing Up In Town


Steve

 

[eddie]

I personally like the Rosa Flamingo's and the Cold Mountain Cafe and then ice cream across the street in that little shop I can't remember the name of. I guess maybe so do our ursine friends.

 

[peakbagger]

The town of Gorham NH passed a similiar ordinance last week. The bears were raiding the dumpsters at Mr. Pizza during the day (so there is no accounting for ursine taste.

 

[DougPaul]

The proposed ordinance states no one shall ... knowingly approach within 100 feet of any wild animal.

The wording seems a bit broad--last I knew, birds, squirrels, mosquitoes, and black flies were wild animals. Going to be a bit hard to move around town...


Seriously, if people are unable to self-regulate, an ordinance to prevent intentional and unintentional (eg dumpsters and garbage cans) feeding of wild animals can make sense.

Doug

 

[zman]

Yup, our bears are smarter than the average bears

- I’m convinced the bears in Bethlehem have a regular dumpster crawl they travel. (Don’t know if they hit Rosa’s and Cold Mtn) I often see a couple of familiar bears at our dumpster who then head off to the next stop down the road. Last weekend I watched one of regulars stomp around on top of the dumpster trying to lift the door. (It was further secured recently)

Poor guy seemed pretty frustrated but certainly not undernourished

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Do they speak Yiddish?

 

[dentonfabrics]

"...and the town is proposing an ordinance against feeding wild animals." I'm surprised that laws like that aren't already in place.

I was talking to a couple of US Forest Service employees in Jackson yesterday, and they said that the bears have been staying in the woods for the most part this year, due to all the rain. They said there's a lot of food for them in the forest. Depends on who you ask, I guess.


bob

 

[bandana4me]

Common Problem

Yes these bears are smart as my wife took a picture of one these (there are 3 causing problems in our neighborhood) bears digging under my neighbors front deck to get into his trash (which has been secure enough over the years). One of the bears wears a red color (as he has been relocated 1 time already) and he gets on the dumpsters with the rubber tops and jumps on it until it collapses into the dumpster.

Bear control was also 2 houses up the other other day "spanking the bear" with rubber buck shot. These bears do not fear humans and are out in the middle of day. Marley (my dog) has treed these bears in the yard many times. I caught that bear the other morning crapping on the lawn!

 

[roadtripper]

I saw my first bear in the Whites off I-93 near Bethlehem a few weeks ago. There was also reports of a bear coming in and out of the (somewhat) nearby Twin Mountain KOA several times this summer.

 

[Paradox]

NHPR had a radio news story on the Bethlehem bears this morning.

 

[DrewKnight]

I caught that bear the other morning crapping on the lawn!

And here I thought they did that in the woods. Is NOTHING sacred?

On a (much) more serious note, I watched -- half dozed through -- a pretty good Animal Planet piece on bear attacks in Anchorage, Alaska , where they have something like 20 adult brown bears living right in the city limits, driven there (maybe) by a poor salmon run and (almost certainly) by the "high quality" of food available in human garbage. There is evidence that the bears living in close proximity to humans are bigger, healthier, and have bigger litters of cubs -- all on the strength of tasty, nutritious garbage.

Unfortunately, the close proximity means more contact, and more contact has lead to several brutal maulings. We have a couple of overconfident bears in Waterville Valley, but luckily they're still somewhat respectful of humans. I really hope things settle down in Bethlehem without anyone -- ursine or human -- getting hurt.

 

[forestgnome]

I fear for my America when such an ordinance is even proposed. What has happened to our spirit? Fined for being within 100' of an animal? New Hampshire was once an island of safety in the northeast for freedom. The mommy government attitude is swamping us from below.

OMG!!! There's a few bears in our town in northern New Hampshire! We didn't bargain for this danger when we moved here to escape burdonsome taxes in our home states where we demanded mommy government to take care of our every need! What a backward, uncivilized, unsanitized place! We need more mommy government!