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Feeding a wild animal is never helpful to the animal.
I've been told of a co-worker who feeds wild hawks with dead mice he gets from the pet store. As far as I know, it's a felony.
If you want to see how feeding wildlife is really misinformed, watch or read The Hawk Is Dying. The lead character tried to overcome his mediocre life by capturing a wild hawk. Very misinformed.
That being said, I don't think they should jail this woman. But I am biased because I have my own story to tell...the law is supposed to be about intention.
Don't tell me never feeding a wild animal is helpful. When we go into a deep freeze here many ducks will die without help. I feed them. (and no, not bread) Tell my 3 footed deer, that struggles every day and can't forage in the winter snow that I am not helping her survive. Feeding the bear is not a good thing but there are exceptions to every rule.
Don't tell me never feeding a wild animal is helpful. When we go into a deep freeze here many ducks will die without help. I feed them. (and no, not bread) Tell my 3 footed deer, that struggles every day and can't forage in the winter snow that I am not helping her survive. Feeding the bear is not a good thing but there are exceptions to every rule.
That's debatable. If you're talking about hybridized, inbred park ducks with muscovy phenos or something similar, then I have no problem with feeding them since they aren't really wild or creatures of nature - in fact, if you have habituated park ducks to food then it may actually be your responsibility to keep them alive depending on how you look at it. If they ARE wild ducks and they stick around in New York during a deep freeze because they are being fed, I think that's a problem; you've altered behaviors that have evolved over millions of years, that have served these birds well since long before the appearance of any bipedal apes and are central to the very definition of what it is to be a member of the waterfowl clade. A wild mallard, for example, can fly 800 miles in about 8 hours with a tail wind... They don't need protection from the cold or from a lack of food following a freeze because it's a very simple thing for them to go to someplace warmer where food is more abundant and, really, as long as there is open water, below freezing temperatures are perfectly comfortable for a cold-hardy bird like a duck.
A three legged deer that depends on humans for food... Sure, feed her. She's not wild anymore. Why not?
Don't tell me never feeding a wild animal is helpful. When we go into a deep freeze here many ducks will die without help. I feed them. (and no, not bread) Tell my 3 footed deer, that struggles every day and can't forage in the winter snow that I am not helping her survive. Feeding the bear is not a good thing but there are exceptions to every rule.
Not to sound harsh but...animals die in the cold all the time. It's called nature. It happens and it's the natural order of things. Your three footed deer...left alone, nature would take care of that situation.
As far as the ducks go, I will be honest and tell you I have no idea what a hybridized, inbred park duck with Muscovy phenos is but I can tell you that these are mostly mallards and a few wood ducks. ( Swans, too! Ha ha!) I live near LI Sound and there are numerous inlets and salt marshes and ponds around. When these all freeze up, along with much of the sound, the ducks suffer. Even the wildlife and hunting groups here help them, although the hunters don't have the same motive as I do.
"My" 3 footed deer is amazing. She survived before I moved here for who knows how long but of course, as soon as I moved in 5 years ago, she showed up in my back yard looking quite needy. I decided to help her. She brought a fawn over with her the next year. She doesn't really depend on me because I don't feed all she needs. I just help out.
I know a lot of animals die in the cold and there is much suffering in this world. I am not in a bubble. I am not delusional. However, any time I can, I will try to alleviate that suffering and death. I don't stop at animals. I also help people, particularly the elderly.
If a need is made known to me, I try to do my best. I'm not always successful but at least I try. Let's me sleep soundly at night.
Don't tell me never feeding a wild animal is helpful. When we go into a deep freeze here many ducks will die without help. I feed them. (and no, not bread) Tell my 3 footed deer, that struggles every day and can't forage in the winter snow that I am not helping her survive. Feeding the bear is not a good thing but there are exceptions to every rule.
I happen to agree I have fed many animals including wildlife over the years and yeah if I can do something for them to keep them alive then heck yeah I will feed them . I cannot believe that some of you are in the human race the way you talk ...Since it is no ones money but mine feeding this wildlife I dont think anyone should have a say about how and what we feed . I think some of you are missing a gene that the rest of us have and also dont include yourself as nature lovers because you dont have blood running in your veins and God forbid any of you should be lying on the side of the road needing help because someone thought they would get a ticket for helping you or get sued .Get a heart and get some blood running in your veins cause some of you are not all there in the places that it counts .Kudos to you for feeding the three legged deer yes he or she would not survive the ice and snow winters without help . So scr*w the world and Im doing what God gave me a heart for helping the animals .
How would people think about it if she were simply shooting the bears? The end result is pretty much the same. The wildlife officials are only trying to protect the bears.
Sadly, however, if the student remarks were correct it sounds like she may have mental issues. If she's developing dementia, she could be losing all sense of reasoning...in which case jail is highly inappropriate. If she's lucid, however, age is no excuse.
Feeding a wild animal is never helpful to the animal.
I've been told of a co-worker who feeds wild hawks with dead mice he gets from the pet store. As far as I know, it's a felony.
If you want to see how feeding wildlife is really misinformed, watch or read The Hawk Is Dying. The lead character tried to overcome his mediocre life by capturing a wild hawk. Very misinformed.
That being said, I don't think they should jail this woman. But I am biased because I have my own story to tell...the law is supposed to be about intention.
I agree with everything you said. Regarding your last post, I think that application of common sense should precede application of the law. In this case, it's a tough call. No one wants to see an 81 year old woman behind bars, it reeks of cruelty and an intolerant society unless the circumstances are truly black and white. That being said, black bears are potentially predatory, and the only thing that serves as a barrier to this is their fear of humans. Black bears with a) little to no exposure at all to humans, or b) that have become preconditioned to associate humans with food are potentially very dangerous. To echo what another poster said, I think that when people feed animals, it is more about the person than the animal. It merits very careful consideration that a bear that becomes human habituated could catch up with a hiker having a snack or someone walking their garbage down the driveway and the results could be an attack potentially resulting in serious injury or the loss of a life.
I spend a lot of time outdoors in NJ, where there is a very large population of black bears. I've seen them, and they've run away. However, I have heard of several instances where black bears were unafraid of humans, eerily so. I would not want myself or someone in my family to be mauled or consumed by a black bear because someone wanted to 'get in touch with nature' by feeding the bears. It's that simple. People should not have to worry about potential bear attacks while spending time outdoors (or simply stepping foot out of the house) because someone in the area is blissfully uninformed or intentionally inconsiderate. If a person feeding the bears doesn't understand or respect the potential consequence to an innocent person, they should be educated and warned. If they continue, then there should be intervention up to and including jail time, if necessary.
Last edited by NJmmadude; 02-07-2014 at 12:31 PM..
Getting ate by a Bear doesn't sound like a lot of fun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rainroosty
I think I can agree with you there!
So would Tim Treadwell and his girlfriend. While they were killed by a coastal grizzly, not black bears, blackies are not the cute, fuzzy harmless things that the Disney crowd often views them as. They are predators, not pets. There is a dangerous line of thought that regards black bears as being timid animals that are easily intimidated. This attitude can get you killed or at least severly mauled. A 150 pound female black bear can kill an extremely strong NFL lineman double her weight, and a big male can be double, or in rare cases, triple, her weight.
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