I don't know what happened to common sense in this country but this one just puzzles me no end.
So an Idaho man hears his wife scream because three, that's three, grizzly bears are approaching his home. He doesn't know where his kids are so he
takes what appears to be the only common sense thing to do. He grabs his hunting rifle and shoots one of the bears killing it.
Sound reasonable? Well not to the authorities.
The man was charged for killing an endangered species with a possible fine of $50,000 and a year in jail.
Now this brought a lot of anger among the townspeople and the criminal charges were tossed and the man was required to pay a $1000 fine as well as
approximately $20,000 in legal fees.
Now I'm the first to say I love animals. But if I were in this guys shoes it would have been "Hasta la vista Yogi!"
Yes we now have rules and regulations about how to defend you and your family against a highly dangerous animal.
Seriously! Listen to what the government spokeswoman had to say (transcribed from the above video):
"He paid the fine because he took a bear in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Even if a bear is being a nuisance there are procedures
outlined for doing that. He didn’t follow those procedures."
A nuisance? I guess he didn't get the memo on how to go step-by-step to save your family in a dangerous situation.
Crazy!
edit on 3-10-2011 by Hessling because: (no reason given)
this type of situations are straight forward (well to anyone with common sense) and the fact that those pushing the charges/fines are assuming he had
a choice and entered the situation willingly is what is ridiculous, when your life is in danger or anyone's life is in danger, there is no choice
common sense and some wildlife knowledge should eliminated all gray area for the justified killing, i.e. how close where the bears to the house, was
there cubs present, was the bear searching for food/hungry, etc.
if he was out looking for his kids in the woods and came across said bears and just shot them that would be different but it sounds like the bears
were close to the house
He's lucky he didnt go to prison...
The grizzly bear is listed as threatened in the lower 48 states...
Killing a Griz is akin to shooting a golden eagle... bad things happen to those who do...
at last count there are only 105 in Selkirk region of Idaho
Idaho is one of six recovery areas where the fish and game service are trying to bring back the big Bears...
I was always taught if you have to shoot one you better have tooth and claw marks on your person...
and no there is no nuance animal permits for a griz... if one is causing problems your told to call game and fish... they will come out and trap it
and relocate it...
Edit to add... Wiki says they were taken off the Endangered list back in 2009... but they are still listed as Threatened
edit on 3-10-2011 by
GrandpaDave because: (no reason given)
If you look a little deeper into the story, it turns out the idiot shot the bear from the safety of his front porch, even after being told by his
wife that the kids were safe.. I would like to have seen him fined 50k and thrown in jail for a year as an example to similar braindead morons that
they can't get away with this kind of crap anymore.
edit on 3-10-2011 by Atzil321 because: (no reason given)
edit on 3-10-2011
by Atzil321 because: (no reason given)
the reason many of these animals are endangered in the first place is because a very large part of this country US was built on the fur trade, this is
the results
while I absolutely agree that endangered species should be protected there is a certain kinda of irony that the government is so gun-ho on fining this
guy ....different age different time I guess
edit: I guess the key to this is if he fired a shot before he knew his kids were OK, a warning shot and telling the kids what a warning shot means
would have greatly helped this guys story
edit on 3-10-2011 by all answers exist because: (no reason given)
There was a similar event that happened in the state of louisiana last year. A hunter mistaked a black bear for a wild hog, which can be legally
hunted year around. It was eating near a feeder and the hunter dropped it. When he saw it was a bear he called la wildlife and fish to report. He was
fined thousands of dollars, lost hunting privlages for life, I think. Lost his gun, money that was on him, and truck. Was changed with a felony. Every
charge he could possibly recieve he got it. I don't know what he eventully got convicted of, but he went though hell for being honest. Black bears
are pretty close to same size as hogs and damn had to tell apart from a distance. So the moral of the story is if you accidently mistake one for a hog
ask for forgiveness from god and leave it laying there for the buzzards. You just can't do what's right anymore and expect to be forgiven. By the
way a la dept wlf agent was killed by a possible poacher this weekend. May god be with his family, co workers, and fellow friends.
Agreed, but they can go out and aerial kill millions of other less fortunate wildlife animals... They too become extinct like the bear has become with
these devious practices.
What does he think, "oh my gosh, three grizzlies are coming towards my home to kill us all! They are going to smash through my (really hard) walls
and they are going for my throat as soon as they break through! Better take my gun and kill them all."
He should get thrown in jail for stupidity.
edit on 3-10-2011 by fordrew because: (no reason given)
I'm pretty sure that if my family were in real danger of a grizzly bear attack, I wouldn't care if it was the last one on earth.
With that said, I would only shoot it if my family were indeed in danger of it attacking them and not just shoot it dead just because it was there
wandering around.
i don't think you know much about grizzlies...they aren't like black bears. they'll go after humans without provocation, and three would be
difficult to kill if they started charging.
it's a pity one had to be killed, but i'd rather hear about a bear being shot than a family of five being snacks.
Heck ya! Why did the authorities fond out about it in the first place? I suppose their all tagged and micro-chipped anyway tho. Probably would have
found out regardless, right?
Originally posted by fordrew
I think the man is an idiot.
What does he think, "oh my gosh, three grizzlies are coming towards my home to kill us all! They are going to smash through my (really hard) walls
and they are going for my throat as soon as they break through! Better take my gun and kill them all."
He should get thrown in jail for stupidity.
edit on 3-10-2011 by fordrew because: (no reason given)
Did you just suggest that a grizzly bear cannot break through a wall?