mete
July 8, 2003, 11:27 PM
They are reporting that NJ plans to have a bear hunt. I'll believe it only when it happens.
NJ bear
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4v50 Gary
July 9, 2003, 12:11 AM
Make sure you bring a militia captain along. ;)
Preacherman
July 11, 2003, 01:08 AM
From the Wall Street Journal (http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110003729):
No More Grin and Bear It
New Jersey fights back against the ursine menace.
Friday, July 11, 2003 12:01 a.m. EDT
The Northeast has always been a teensy bit smug about its ability to live harmoniously with nature, rolling a collective eye at Westerners who complain about the incursions of wildlife. And so it is with a teensy bit of smugness that we watch New Jersey finally admit that it has lost its battle with the wild things and decided to fight back.
This week the New Jersey Fish and Game Council voted to allow the state's first black-bear hunt in 33 years. Officials will hand out 10,000 bear permits, in hopes of making a dent in a bear population that has been ransacking garbage cans, breaking into houses, killing livestock and mauling residents.
And bears aren't the only problem. Deer are swarming the suburbs, as many as 100 per square mile, robbing the Garden State of its namesake and keeping the bumper-repair business in boom times. Some 100,000 Canada geese hiss after hapless golfers and blanket every park, backyard and picnic area with fragrant goose droppings. Coyotes howl in the night, wild turkeys terrorize locals and squirrels hang menacingly from trees. Natty Bumppo himself would think twice before going to work.
Until recently, New Jerseyites were proudly tolerant of this infestation. Animal-advocacy groups, of course, never tire of reminding guilty suburbanites that the animals were here first, that it isn't their fault and by the way how would you like to be shot in the head? Activists worked over state officials like former Gov. Christie Whitman, who intervened to stop the state's last planned bear hunt in 2000. She suggested that humans learn to coexist peacefully with animals and promoted bear-awareness programs.
Since then, New Jerseyites have learned something about bears: primarily that they have no interest in co-existing peacefully with humans. It seems that bears don't understand personal space: One New Jersey mother left her child briefly on the front stoop only to return and find a bear swatting it about the face. And bears don't respect property rights: They maul expensive Weber barbecue grills, root through garbage cans and eat up pet dogs named Spot. Ditto many other beasts in the state.
So somewhere between side-stepping a pile of goose excrement and giving wide berth to a foraging bear, New Jersey residents realized that these are, after all, just animals--and that there are way too many of them. State residents have thrown off the guilt and are putting the earth back in balance--with humans on top.
Following in the footsteps of the bear-hunt initiative, New Jersey park workers recently took care of their goose problem by rounding up hissers and gassing them to death in trucks. Local towns have been hiring "deer control" services to cull populations.
Activists have expressed the usual horror but have been drowned out by the cheers of a million gleeful picnickers, car drivers, ballplayers and gardeners. Nature's nice, after all. Just not when it's chasing you down the street.
No More Grin and Bear It
New Jersey fights back against the ursine menace.
Friday, July 11, 2003 12:01 a.m. EDT
The Northeast has always been a teensy bit smug about its ability to live harmoniously with nature, rolling a collective eye at Westerners who complain about the incursions of wildlife. And so it is with a teensy bit of smugness that we watch New Jersey finally admit that it has lost its battle with the wild things and decided to fight back.
This week the New Jersey Fish and Game Council voted to allow the state's first black-bear hunt in 33 years. Officials will hand out 10,000 bear permits, in hopes of making a dent in a bear population that has been ransacking garbage cans, breaking into houses, killing livestock and mauling residents.
And bears aren't the only problem. Deer are swarming the suburbs, as many as 100 per square mile, robbing the Garden State of its namesake and keeping the bumper-repair business in boom times. Some 100,000 Canada geese hiss after hapless golfers and blanket every park, backyard and picnic area with fragrant goose droppings. Coyotes howl in the night, wild turkeys terrorize locals and squirrels hang menacingly from trees. Natty Bumppo himself would think twice before going to work.
Until recently, New Jerseyites were proudly tolerant of this infestation. Animal-advocacy groups, of course, never tire of reminding guilty suburbanites that the animals were here first, that it isn't their fault and by the way how would you like to be shot in the head? Activists worked over state officials like former Gov. Christie Whitman, who intervened to stop the state's last planned bear hunt in 2000. She suggested that humans learn to coexist peacefully with animals and promoted bear-awareness programs.
Since then, New Jerseyites have learned something about bears: primarily that they have no interest in co-existing peacefully with humans. It seems that bears don't understand personal space: One New Jersey mother left her child briefly on the front stoop only to return and find a bear swatting it about the face. And bears don't respect property rights: They maul expensive Weber barbecue grills, root through garbage cans and eat up pet dogs named Spot. Ditto many other beasts in the state.
So somewhere between side-stepping a pile of goose excrement and giving wide berth to a foraging bear, New Jersey residents realized that these are, after all, just animals--and that there are way too many of them. State residents have thrown off the guilt and are putting the earth back in balance--with humans on top.
Following in the footsteps of the bear-hunt initiative, New Jersey park workers recently took care of their goose problem by rounding up hissers and gassing them to death in trucks. Local towns have been hiring "deer control" services to cull populations.
Activists have expressed the usual horror but have been drowned out by the cheers of a million gleeful picnickers, car drivers, ballplayers and gardeners. Nature's nice, after all. Just not when it's chasing you down the street.
HBK
July 11, 2003, 05:30 AM
Hilarious.
mete
July 13, 2003, 03:43 PM
On the news last night to illustrate the bear hunt story they showed a bear climbing on someones roof. I thought only Santa and his reindeer did that.
Keith
July 13, 2003, 04:50 PM
They still can't get it right!
The hunt is going to be a five day affair... Why must all those inexperienced hunters be out in the woods during one five day period? Why must they be pressured to "get their bear" inside this ridiculous time frame? Why not a sixty (or ninety) day hunt?
Just watch; this big, rushed, crowded hunt will result in somebody shooting a jogger, a black lab, a couple of sows with cubs... and the anti-hunters will howl with glee!
Keith
The hunt is going to be a five day affair... Why must all those inexperienced hunters be out in the woods during one five day period? Why must they be pressured to "get their bear" inside this ridiculous time frame? Why not a sixty (or ninety) day hunt?
Just watch; this big, rushed, crowded hunt will result in somebody shooting a jogger, a black lab, a couple of sows with cubs... and the anti-hunters will howl with glee!
Keith
4v50 Gary
July 15, 2003, 02:01 AM
Makes me want to be in New Jersey.
PATH
July 18, 2003, 02:06 AM
Funny article. I hope the hunt turns out okay. !0,000 permits seems a large number for a five day hunt. Then again what do I know!:D
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