Wednesday, June 15, 2005

The Bear Hunt

Roseann Francavilla from Fredon almost sacrificed a child this week on the Alter of Anti-Hunt Bear crowd and the Alter of James McGreevy's re-election. She was unloading groceries from her car while her 3 year old son was outside, but nearby. A 200-pound bear trapped the child inside their car. The car door was open. Roseann had to charge at the bear (with her infant in her arms) in order to rescue her son. The bear then followed her as she backed into the house.

Tom Moran from the Ledger has an excellent article on this as well as his interview with Bradley Campbell. Link

I've written about the bear situation twice under "Lions and tigers and bears... Oh my!" and "Lions and Tigers and Bears... Revisited "

If anyone cares to recall, there was a real dust up during the bear hunt of 2003. Anti-Hunt activists were walking the woods. Some even made up stories of little cub bears being shot right in front of their eyes. The following year, Fish and Game authorized another hunt, knowing that it was the prudent action to take based on the size of the bear population. Bradley Campbell overrode Fish and Game on what appears to me to have been purely political motives, pandering to the anti-hunt activists so McGreevy might pull up his sagging numbers. He even went as far as to fight Fish and Games' decision in court.

Now Campbell is saying "We need to reduce the population, and that's likely to include a hunt," Campbell says. "All indications are there will be a hunt this fall, and it probably will be an annual feature thereafter."

That's good for Roseann Francavilla, but it was almost too late.

5 Comments:

At 11:18 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There where probably smelly trash cans nearby attracting the bear in the first place. The bear was after the food in the car NOT her child. Trust me if it was a so called violent bear it would have killed all of them. Hunting is not the answer EDUCATION for people that want to live in rural areas is.

NJ Resident

 
At 11:48 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It never ceases to amaze me that the anti-hunt people always speak from emotion, not facts. Let's disect this argument.

- Nowhere in the article does it talk about trash cans nearby. That's your assumption.

- Of course it was after the food in the car. however, a bear will get agressive and violent to get to that food.

- "Trust me". Why, you posted anonymously.

- "Education for people that live in rural areas....". I assume that by rural areas you mean Union Township in rural Union County or rural Woodbridge in rural Somerset county.

I've had bears in my yard. I've had bears attack my rabbit hutch. I've had my children suprise them as they walked down the driveway to go to the school bus.

I wnat to be safe in my home. Period.

 
At 9:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

We have lived in the lower portion of Sussex county for over 20 years. We have encountered bears in our yard (which borders on State watershed) uncountable times. NEVER, have we seen one become aggressive or dangerous. They are simply trying to survive on THEIR territory. The accounts of aggressive bears are simply baloney...people entice these animals to do the things that make the news. We've seen as many a 6 bears in our yard at one time, without a moment of fear for our safety. Hunting them for the pure thrill of killing is not a sport. At this time of year most are in dens keeping warm. So, how do the hunters spot them. Right! They go right to the dens and kill. Wow! What sportsmen. If all these killers want to use their guns, there's a nice little shooting gallery our government has set up in the middle east...Iraq. Send them there, and leave the bears alone.

 
At 9:24 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

OK. How about this. The next time a bear is on my property attacking my childs rabbit, I get to shoot it.

 
At 1:37 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have lived in Bear country (West Milford and Vernon) all my life and Strongly oppose this cruel, senseless, slaughter. If you are frightened for your rabbits, children or bird feeder move the hell out. Clifton or Toms River are fine communities so are hundreds of other places in this state. You don't get to kill everything you are afraid of. If you are one of those psychologically marginal people who enjoys killing defenseless animals, you should seek immediate therapy. You sicken me and make me ashamed to be of the same race as you.

 

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