On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 06:00:41 GMT, "J. Lane"
wrote:

We have had such a dry summer that my city has banned putting out garbage
until the morning of p/u day. All garbage that may stink can be stored in
the freezer until said day. Fines are levied for infractions of the law! The
reason being that the bears have so little to eat ( berries dried up on the
bushes or habitats burned out due to immense forest fires) that they are
coming into the city limits to pilfer garbage. When they become habituated
to eating garbage and lose fear of humans, they are extermely dangerous and
have to be killed.What a shame!

Yes, that is a shame. It's a shame we can't equalize the
rain/dryness too - you've had drought, we've almost drowned
all summer.

We've had an exceedingly wet spring and summer: but I live
in the Appalachian Mountains in a very rural area, and we
have bears around every year - they just normally live here
and they are generally not a problem because most people
here leave them strictly alone.

We have two large dogs who bark so I wouldn't expect ever to
see a bear in our yard - the dogs barking would scare it
off. Nevertheless, we have a shotgun, just in case...

Pat
--
"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry