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Aspen, Colorado police have a major problem with the bears, and the Bear Huggers will not stop feeding the bears. What should the police do? See my first post.
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1. Bear calls 1,040
2. Assault 45
3. Sexual assaults 6
4. Harassment 114
5. Restraining-order violations 36
6. Domestic violence 103
7. Bicycle thefts 89
8. Fraud 175
9. DUI arrests 66
10. Juvenile alcohol possession 8
11. Total arrests 398
Source: Aspen Police Department -
Gary I lived in a town 10 miles from Aspen for 10yrs. The problem started when they outlawed spring bear hunting and hunting with hounds about 20yrs ago. Now the towns are overrun with bears. Not too many people feeding them since even the bear huggers know it gets them killed and all the trash containers are bear proof.
I have a couple friends who are police officers in Snowmass and they respond to as many or more calls than Aspen. The problem won't go away till they start additional hunting again. The DNR transports and tags problem bears but they come back from miles away. If they come back they are killed. Sucks for everyone involved.Comment
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Trap, tranquilize and transport the ones who keep feeding the bears. Better yet, get a list of the bear huggers and have them on call to deal with problem bears on pain of being trapped, tranqued and 'ported.Comment
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If not already an option, a fine for feeding the bears and an education for those who are fine about WHY they are part of a problem instead of a solution. Hopefully, it would generate revenue for the community, discourage those feeding the bears, and hopefully save a life or two.Comment
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In New Jersey the Fish and Game charged a bear hugger for feeding the bears in her yard. She won in court, because New Jersey hunters can bait bears during bear hunting season. So the honorable Judge let her walk stating what fair one is fair for all.
Chuckles is baiting for bears legal during bear season in Colorado? If so then the bear huggers will also win in the courts.
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Fine the people who are feeding before someone (or bear) gets hurt. It is going to take some time to change the habits of the bears.
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A fed bear is a dead bear. The general public needs to hear that message more.Comment
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After dinner at camp we used to go to the dump to watch the black bears come in for food. Sometimes there were 10 or 15 there at a time. They never bothered the spectators - some people got too close but i never heard of a problem. I had one picture of a guy holding a long neck for a bear sitting on its rear with both paws up around the bottle.
Anyway. When the EPA said it had to be turned into a land fill covered over hours after the garbage was delivered, the bears were every where around the camps.. So called progress created a big problem for all the camps. Too bad Aspen can't lure the bears away from town instead of having encounters that wind up killing them.Comment
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Gary, baiting was banned in '92 along with the other methods of hunting and the spring season. I remember the folks going around with petitions.
The problem in Aspen is really that there are so many unoccupied vacation homes with food in them. (and too many bears) All the dumpsters are bear proof but they get into houses all the time. The police typically use beanbag rounds but that just keeps them moving.
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Chuckles, maybe the police or the town newspapers should explain to the vacationers. That leaving food behind inside your house while you’re away will possibly cause a bear to break into your home for that food.
If Colorado hunters can’t bait for bears during hunting season, then the Honorable Judge should not allow an illegal baiter to get off from a large fine.Comment
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Unfortunately you are dealing with CEO's, billionaires, movie stars, foreign royalty and other vermin. Not a crowd that listens to much except their own empty yammerings.
Fines are not much of a deterrent to the richest 0.1% of the nation, they have lawyers on retainer to deal with nuisances like laws.Comment
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