[THRIPS AHOY!]

The fucking police are trying to claim a lady had black bears guarding her crop.It is so ridiculous that they would actually try and relate the bears to the crop.I am used to the regular scare tactics they always talk about.(funding terrorism,Gangs,Corrupting the children blah blah blah) But this is getting out of hand.What's next sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their heads.Im sorry i dont know how to post the link or i would.Read it on msn though.

[Chimera]

If you were roaming through the woods and saw some bears, you'd likely turn around and head the opposite direction... the intent was sound, her follow through was, well... at least irresponsible.

Once bears learn a source of food exists, they will come back year after year and there isn't much you can do about it. Once there momma's show the cubs where to go, you are looking at a multi-generational problem. The neighbors did say she has been feeding the bears for years. If she was my neighbor I'd be pissed.... it's tough enough with the orchard and gardens keeping them out where I am. Mind you the dogs do a decent good job of keeping the bears away here.. good dogs! We still get maybe 1/3 of the fruit harvest.

Keep in mind as well, that the author of the article is RARELY the person who decides on the title of the article; newspapers pay an employee that just creates headlines- they review the story and write the headline. If you've been reading the paper for any amount of time, you've probably realized the headlines rarely have anything to do with the actual article- it's all about gaining enough attention to convince the reader to actually read the article- and the article seldom represents the actual story.

Fuck the media... it's all corporate interests trying to manipulate the uninformed for their own benefit.

-Chimera

[THRIPS AHOY!]

Yeah well it seems the media loves to perpetuate the b.s the cops handfeed to them.No pun intended.Every grow seems to be a million dollar crop and its a huge fire hazzard.If that were the case no one would need to grow cus we would all be rich and there would be fires every day in every town and city in this province.I think she is just another idiot feeding the bears.It just pisses me off the way they put a spin on it to sell papers and get more people ratting.

[enter sandman]

well.....you have to admit...I for one would certainly be scared sh*tless & run.

[Dr. Buddington]

Lol, here if you are on your farm and a bear comes in, there is one tactic - first shot for warning, second - for the bear

And for the record - most bears will be scared shitless of you, unless its a big alpha male or a sow with cubs. Out of 20+ bears I've seen over the years in the wilderness only 3 stuck around once they spotted me. One is on my wall now.

[HempHut]

Just wait -- next year the story will be that they're now using genetically modified bears that are 20 times stronger than the regular old bears people encountered in their youth.

[Mudita]

BBC news- Police raiding a marijuana farm in western Canada were astonished to find black bears apparently guarding it.

However initial alarm wore off when officers realised the 10 or so bears did not behave aggressively and were in fact docile and tame.

Police believe dog food was used to attract the animals onto the farm in British Columbia.

But they say the bears may have to be put down if they have become accustomed to living around humans.

Two people were arrested in the raid.

The five police who went to the farm near Christina Lake, close to the US border, to dismantle the marijuana plantation were amazed when the bears loped into view.

"They were tame, they just sat around watching. At one point one of the bears climbed onto the hood of a police car, sat there for a bit and then jumped off," said Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant Fred Mansveld.

In Canada, feeding bears is illegal as it leads to bears associating food with humans and increases the likelihood of bears coming into towns and cities to look for food.

Conservation officers are deciding the fate of the bears

[basementdweller]

Bear= bear scat= great fertilizer= scare tatic= Ext. the list gos on & on ...

[hopleaf]

i don't live in canada, but this thread caught my eye. we have bears in my neck of the woods and that is probly the best idea for crop protection i have ever heard. just drive you truck up, pop off a few shots, and then tend your ladies. this is one of those legendary stories you hear every once in a great while.

[flubnutz]

Kelowna, B.C. — From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010 7:32PM EDT

Last updated on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010 12:27AM EDT


Busting a marijuana grow-op is fairly routine for police in B.C.’s West Kootenay region. But when RCMP raided a grow-op near the tiny town of Christina Lake recently, they found what they say was an unusual security contingent – a troop of black bears.

Officers were “a little shocked” to discover 10 bears prowling the property like live “traps” waiting to greet intruders, said RCMP spokesman Corporal Dan Moskaluk.

Officers went about their work “cautiously,” said Corp. Moskaluk, but quickly realized the bears were quite mellow.

The docile bears “were essentially large dogs,” he said. “It was evident that the occupants were feeding the bears dog food.”

There was no evidence the bears were also being fed marijuana.

During their July 30 raid, police also discovered the bears were not the only wildlife being kept by the occupants

“Inside the residence there was a large pig roaming around and there was a large raccoon sleeping on the bed,” Corp. Moskaluk said. “Who knows what the raccoon was up to because he was just vegging in the house ... the pig was strolling around the household. He seemed to be a bit more nervous than the raccoon about the police officers’ presence.”

Police seized between 1,100 and 1,200 marijuana plants and arrested the owners of the property, a man and a woman who Corp. Moskaluk described as being in their late 40s. RCMP have recommended they be charged with cultivating and possessing marijuana.

Corp. Moskaluk said it’s not unusual for people running grow-ops to use animals for security, but they almost always use dogs.

“It can be very dangerous,” he said.

And while police suspect the bears were being used to guard the grow-op near Christina Lake, that hasn’t been confirmed.

“We haven't got comment from the owner in regard to the bears at this time ... is this a matter where they enjoyed the bears’ company and saw nothing wrong in feeding them or were they intentionally doing this in order to protect their grows,” Corp. Moskaluk said.

Grace McGregor, the director who represents Christina Lake on the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary board, said she has known the woman who lives on the property for 35 years and that she doubts the bears were being used as a security detail.

“She is a close-to-nature kind of person. She makes friends of all animals and has been feeding the bears for a number of years from what I understand ... so I don't think that the grow-op and the bears are really related,” she said. “This thing has gotten blown out of proportion. We all know every time you turn around there's another grow-op busted somewhere.

“The unfortunate part of this whole story is probably the bears are the ones who are going to end up paying here,” Ms. McGregor said.

Bears that get used to being fed by humans tend to become aggressive once the feeding stops and often have to be put down by conservation officers.

Christina Lake has a population of about 1,400 people and is a 540-kilometre drive east of Vancouver.