By reading our local police blotter, it would seem Haines is being overrun with bears. They are tearing into storage sheds, ripping off doors and destroying dumpsters. The problem is not the hungry bears looking for food, but with careless people!
There are lots of things we could do to alleviate some of the problem. People could use garbage disposals to get rid of kitchen scraps and rinse out food containers before dumping. Household garbage should be disposed of as soon as possible and not be allowed to sit for any length of time. Bears have a keen sense of smell and stored garbage is an open invitation for food. They will find a way to get to it!
It saddens me to hear of a bear kill due to an aggressive animal, especially a sow with cubs. Since some people can’t act responsibly toward our bear population, then maybe more citations and stiffer fines might help. We shouldn’t let the situation become so serious that shooting is the only option.
After all, we do live in bear country. They were here before we moved in on them.
Dixie Hayes