Bear Killed in Buffalo, NY for Stealing Picnic Baskets and Pies off of Windowsills. And for being Black.

I have never had a teddy bear; (I think everyone knows why. Cabbage Patch Dolls are awesome)but I think I need to get one soon in solidarity for all of my furry friends who don't get no respect. The teddy bear came into being after Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot a little Black Bear cub whilst out hunting with his friends.

I was on Facebook this afternoon and saw that my cousin Amy had posted a news story about a black bear getting shot in Buffalo, NY.

http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/50586832.html

Amy was upset that the bear got shot, and frankly so was I. I definitely think that there was a better solution to the problem aside from shooting the poor creature. It just looks so cute in the picture!

Then I stopped being a whiny babypants and realized that about a month ago I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I saw a video of a bear getting shot with a tranquilizer gun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Or3_SOn70

Watching that again just made me cringe, but I cannot stop myself from laughing. At least the people from Missoula had the bear's best interest in mind when they attempted to remove it from the tree and take it back into the wildlife. I grew up in the woods and have seen many, many black bears in my time. I also know how to shoot a gun. I have never shot a black bear. Nor do I have any desire to. Black bears are pretty gentle as far as the bear community is concerned.

The American Black Bear (Ursus Americanus) are omnivores, but they mostly eat larvae and other gross stuff in nature. Humans are rarely, if ever, on the menu. Black Bears are not aggressive and usually run away if they sense a human presence. The poor Black bear can't even get a break from it's own species! Brown Bears are bigger, stronger and faster, and usually dominate the scene when they interact with the Black Bear. According to David Mech, wolves will also gang up on the Black Bear and attack it; though they are rarely successful in killing the creature. (L. David Mech & Luigi Boitani (2001). Wolves: Behaviour, Ecology and Conservation. p. 448).

Since the Black Bear is getting attacked by everyone, it's no wonder that sometimes they need to relax and unwind a little. This bear in Washington, decided to drink a case and a half of beer before it passed out at a campground!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3580626.stm

You know what? Now that I think about it, I would definitely shoot a bear if it drank all of my beer.