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A black bear was recently killed by wildlife officials after it became too used to humans illegally feeding it and taking selfies with it in Oregon.
According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), police found out about the bear issue after people posted “selfie” photos of themselves with the creature on social media outlets. On Wednesday, law enforcement tried to force the bear, which was located near Henry Hagg Lake in Washington County, Oregon, back into the woods, however, it returned the next day and was caught eating leftover human food, including cracked corn and trail mix, Fox News reported.
Well, what do you expect from people who are raised on Disney movies? That bizarre thread of a few months ago when certain posters were insisting that a female bear protected a lost human kid during the middle of winter (one of them actually used a video of a ducky and a kitty bonding as "proof" for her assertions) just shows how ignorant most people are about wildlife.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Four of five black bears spared euthanasia after tearing up garbage in Anchorage have come to an unhappy end at their relocated home.
State and federal gave officials on Sunday and Monday shot and killed a sow and three of her four yearling cubs after they continued their destructive ways across the Turnagain Arm waterway in the tiny community of Hope, Anchorage television station KTUU (http://bit.ly/1fuPUTZ) reported.
Once bears make the association between human habitat and easy meals, that association doesn't suddenly go away once they're relocated. I know some people will say that the answer is to get them deep into the wilderness, but that kind of deep wilderness doesn't exist anymore.
I hope that any armchair wildlife biologists will actually read this before commenting that Oregon should have relocated the bear.
So sad. People are too selfish to stop and consider what is best for the animal.
To be fair it could have also been a case of very uneducated people. They probably didn't realize the repercussions of their action. The public really should be taught one golden rule regarding wild animals: Unless a wild animal is in some sort of obvious distress LEAVE THEM ALONE.
A few years ago we saw this kitten hanging out near our front door. He wouldn't let us get close to him so we couldn't catch him to get him a home. So we started leaving out cat food near our front door everyday. About 2 weeks in, we noticed a mama racoon and babies eating the food! We stopped leaving food out immediately. Not because we were afraid of the racoon. In fact, we would have loved to have kept feeding the racoon. But I'm not stupid. Just like the bear, those raccoons would start associating humans with food. Then all it would take is one scared neighbor of mine calling animal services and next thing you know the poor friendly racoon and babies would be brutally put down.
To be fair it could have also been a case of very uneducated people. They probably didn't realize the repercussions of their action. The public really should be taught one golden rule regarding wild animals: Unless a wild animal is in some sort of obvious distress LEAVE THEM ALONE.
A few years ago we saw this kitten hanging out near our front door. He wouldn't let us get close to him so we couldn't catch him to get him a home. So we started leaving out cat food near our front door everyday. About 2 weeks in, we noticed a mama racoon and babies eating the food! We stopped leaving food out immediately. Not because we were afraid of the racoon. In fact, we would have loved to have kept feeding the racoon. But I'm not stupid. Just like the bear, those raccoons would start associating humans with food. Then all it would take is one scared neighbor of mine calling animal services and next thing you know the poor friendly racoon and babies would be brutally put down.
There are plenty of reasons to avoid encouraging raccoons to hang around. I'm not "scared" of them, but I will NOT willingly have them on my property. That kitten you were feeding could have, and perhaps did, die a horrible death because of the cute, friendly raccoons. A lot of people realize this, and that's the reason they'd call animal control. I'm with them.
An effective treatment for raccoon disease in cats currently does not exist. Various studies have been done in the past using anthelmintic drugs commonly used on other species of roundworm, but the effectiveness of these drugs on Baylisacaris procyonis larvae is undetermined. Your veterinarian may treat your cat’s disease with heartworm medication, milbemycin oxime, or other internal parasite treatment drugs such as flubendazole, fenbendazole, albendazole, moxidectin, ivermectin, pyrantel, or piperazine. The inflammatory damage to the cat’s tissues is permanent, but symptoms can be treated with corticosteroids and pain medication.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 06-16-2019 at 11:02 PM..
There are plenty of reasons to avoid encouraging raccoons to hang around. I'm not "scared" of them, but I will NOT have them on my property. That kitten you were feeding could have, and perhaps did, die a horrible death because of the cute raccoons. A lot of people realize this, and that's the reason they'd call animal control.
I agree that its a serious disease. I would NEVER allow my pet cats to be around a racoon for this reason (among others). However, I'm familiar with this disease and its relatively difficult for a cat to catch it. So if I was to make a bet I would bet that the kitten did not catch racoon disease. We feed a colony of feral cats that live with racoons. Its in a little forested area near the city so the racoons and cats get left alone.
And when I say they "live with" I mean it to the fullest. The racoons are so used to people that they come out to every volunteer that feeds the colony and eats with the cats. On a side note, all of them are very used to people so they have zero aggression towards humans. Anyway, at one point there were over 55 cats there. My friend who initially started to feed those cats years ago made a 10 acre farm sanctuary and moved 40 of the cats up there. Now there are 15 cats. In all these years not one cat has passed away from racoon disease. The ones that died over the years got hit by cars when they wandered into the street, one kitten had Felv and a few passed away from old age.
Agreed and I would NEVER allow my pet cats to be around a racoon for this reason (among others). However, I'm familiar with this disease and its relatively difficult for a cat to catch it. So if I was to make a bet I would bet that the kitten did not catch racoon disease. We feed a colony of feral cats that live with racoons. Its in a little forested area near the city so the racoons and cats get left alone.
And when I say they "live with" I mean it to the fullest. The racoons are so used to people that they come out to every volunteer that feeds the colony and eats with the cats. On a side note, all of them are very used to people so they have zero aggression towards humans. Anyway, at one point there were over 55 cats there. My friend who initially started to feed those cats years ago made a 10 acre farm sanctuary and moved 40 of the cats up there. Now there are 15 cats. In all these years not one cat has passed away from racoon disease. The ones that died over the years got hit by cars when they wandered into the street, one kitten had Felv and a few passed away from old age.
Raccoon disease is roundworm. It's very easy for cats to get and is often fatal in kittens. It can also be passed on to humans. You can read more about that here:
The most common method of acquiring the infection originates from sharing an area with infected raccoons.
There's also leptospirosis, which is perhaps what you're thinking of when you say that cats don't get it easily. Leptospirosis is relatively rare in cats, but dogs get it fairly easily. Just one more reason not to feed raccoons in a residential neighborhood.
ETA if you wouldn't want your own cats around raccoons, then surely you can understand the concerns neighbors may have if someone's encouraging them to hang around by feeding them. My point was that there are more reasons to not want raccoons around than simply being "scared" of them. If you were my neighbor and feeding raccoons on a regular basis, I wouldn't hesitate to call animal control about the situation. (There's actually a situation in my neighborhood with a neighbor who thinks the raccoons are cute and has been feeding them. Probably the same neighbor who was feeding bear cubs last year until they were all captured and euthanized.)
You realize, I hope, that raccoons have abundant natural food sources and won't be missing any meals if humans don't feed them.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 06-17-2019 at 12:29 AM..
Raccoon disease is roundworm. It's very easy for cats to get and is often fatal in kittens. It can also be passed on to humans. There's also leptospirosis, which is perhaps what you're thinking of when you say that cats don't get it easily.
I wasn't confusing the two, I know the difference. I should have delved a bit more into the details regarding why I said its "relatively rare" for cats to catch this disease. Your correct that it is very easy for a cat to get this disease IF it comes IN PHYSICAL CONTACT with it. However, that's the key. A cat must come in physical contact with it and they seldom do. Cats are species prayed upon by many others and the cat has evolved over thousands of years to minimize the change of becoming prey.
One of their behaviors that helps minimize their chances of becoming prey is burying their feces so its harder for predators to find them by scent. This is why they also groom themselves after a meal. So predators can't find them by the scent of the animal they just ate. How does this relate to the propensity of outdoor cats contracting R. Disease? Cats also tend to avoid feces of other animals. One reason is to avoid potential predators. The other reason is to make sure they do not come in physical contact with the feces. If they did come in physical contact with the feces they understand (instinctively) that the smell can draw predators. This is also why cats lick their butts.
Also, raccoons in an area routinely use the same spot to defecate. This is similar to a human latrine. This makes it even easier for a cat to avoid coming in contact with the feces. The easiest way for a cat to catch racoon disease is through animals they prey on. Some birds forage for undigested food in raccoon feces. Also, small rodents do as well. So cats in certain areas have a higher chance of getting the disease. For example, cats that primarily prey on rats/mouse that also happen to congregate near a raccoon latrine. So needless to say, a very specific set of circumstances have to happen for contraction of this disease to be likely. All of those circumstances don't occur simultaneously often enough for most cats to easily catch this disease.
Most of the websites you linked contain very basic information on the disease. Their objective is not to have the most accurate information. Its to encourage the typical person (as in stupid people) to not risk their pets health. So I'm glad that their information regarding risk of infection is incorrect. As you know, the typical person does not possess a good degree of common sense or logic. The easiest way to get them to do the right thing is through emotion. Those websites overstate the risk of exposure to scare people into doing the right thing. Because its a catch 22. If you told the truth which is that the risk is "minimal" then they would be more careless with their pets outdoor. Which would lead to more pets catching this disease, suffering and dying. By telling them "its easy to catch" the rate of contraction is reduced even further. If you click on the website below you will understand just how uncommon contraction of this disease is.
I considering caring for any living being a very serious responsibility. Since I have 3 cats (all 100% indoor) I have very in depth knowledge of anything cat related. I'm so into "cat knowledge" that I premeasure and put a certain amount of water in the cat food (down to the decimal point) to ensure they are getting their optimal water intake. This is why I know so much about this disease. If you would like to learn about it in-depth I suggest this very long, boring, technical but informative link:
ETA if you wouldn't want your own cats around raccoons, then surely you can understand the concerns neighbors may have if someone's encouraging them to hang around by feeding them. My point was that there are more reasons to not want raccoons around than simply being "scared" of them. If you were my neighbor and feeding raccoons on a regular basis, I wouldn't hesitate to call animal control about the situation.
Its clear from your post that you are not typical and that you are a well informed person when it comes to this disease. I was referring to typical people in my post. Most "typical people" have no clue even on important subjects that greatly affect their lives (how mortgages/CC works, human disease, proper diets, proper fitness). My point is that most people have NO IDEA about this disease. A typical person would most likely call animal control solely out of fear. That is why I mentioned fear in my other post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Metlakatla
You realize, I hope, that raccoons have abundant natural food sources and won't be missing any meals if humans don't feed them.
There is no need to be condescending. I gave no indication that I thought the raccoons that were eating our cat food were going to starve if we didn't leave food out. Of course I know they don't need me to feed them. On a side note, there was a clear reason I stated that the kitten we fed did not die from raccoon disease. I just didn't want my other post to get too long. In our region (Florida) the prevalence of the roundworm in raccoon's is practically non-existent:
In the United States, the highest prevalence rates in raccoons are in the Northeast and Midwest and along the West Coast, where 70% to 100% of raccoons carry the parasite, especially in the fall months.2 Lower prevalence rates are seen in the deep South (0% to 23%), along the southern Atlantic Coast (the Carolinas and south) and Florida (0%), and in the arid regions of the West.
We have many black bears in our area. We just had one in our backyard yesterday. We watched it and it wandered away.
One wandered downtown last week and ended up near a popular shopping area, sleeping in a corner. If people would have left it alone to continue on his way, all would have been fine.
Instead, like a bunch of dumbasses, they crowded around it, taking photos, so of course it got scared and agitated. Someone called the police.
By that point, the police felt it was a danger and shot it. Some say good, it is a danger. Some say, leave it alone and it will be fine to wander away into the bush. I am one who says to LEAVE IT ALONE!
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