California woman put out 6000 pounds of food a month for bears, bears now starving w/o her food

[Liberal_in_LA]

Laytonville woman charged with feeding bears





(09-27) 04:00 PDT Laytonville, Mendocino County -- The 400-pound black bear waddled off the front deck of Lynne Gravier's hillside home in Mendocino County and ambled toward the kind-hearted woman who, until recently, fed him every day of his life.

"That's Wombat!" cried Gravier, 76, as she stepped out of a car and limped with a cane toward her favorite bruin, tears forming in her eyes.

The bear's ribs were showing through his thick fur, a clear indication that he had not been eating. It was a predictable outcome for Wombat and as many as 14 other bears after the grub they were depending on was hauled away last month during a raid by state wildlife officials.

It turns out that the ursine food dispensary that Gravier had set up on the 40 acres of woodland that she owns east of Laytonville was not only ill-advised, but also illegal. The house, piled high with filth, reportedly including bear feces, was condemned by county authorities on the day of the raid, forcing Gravier to move to another family-owned dwelling several miles away.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/27/MNJO1FGPSJ.DTL#ixzz10wmM70kW

[Brickbat]

1. Way to go, lady.

Don't feed the bears. Gah.

If she needs help (feces in the home?) I hope she gets it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. bear feces in home. She was a bear hoarder

[YOY]

9. Wait a minute...you mean it WASN'T in the WOODS?

Inconceivable!!!

[jberryhill]

33. The Pope, on behalf of the Lutheran Church, is reportedly shocked /nt

[AtomicKitten]

2. The woman had good intentions in this otherwise sad story. nt

[Ian David]

3. She's lucky they didn't eat her.

[Radical Activist]

16. I hope Colbert sees this story.

lol

[tammywammy]

4. Poor bears.

:(

[YOY]

5. You're not supposed to feed the bears for a reason.

Sad...

[mikelgb]

7. damn how sad

any plans by authorities to feed these bears? or maybe bring them too a zoo if they are now incapable of hunting because of their domestication?

[SoCalDem]

18. They will probably be euthanized as they are caught

:(

[shanti]

8. a hoarder as well

:(

[louis-t]

10. 6,000 pounds of food could have fed a lot

of kids. Sorry, sad story but no sympathy. It's nature, baby. And she contributed to the bears not being able to feed themselves.

[superduperfarleft]

17. It doesn't sound like her neighborhood had a lot of stray kids scrounging for food.

Hence the reason she fed bears instead.

Likewise, it's kind of screwed up that you have no sympathy for someone who is clearly mentally ill.

[louis-t]

25. Why do needy kids have to be "in her neighborhood"

to be helped? On the one hand, you're making excuses for her, then saying she's "mentally ill". If she's "mentally ill", how is she able to afford 6,000 pounds of food? Is everyone who has such devotion to animals that they collect scores of "pets" mentally ill? If she is sick, then I have sympathy. I'm not a psychologist, and I doubt you are.

By the way, people buy tons of bird seed to feed wild birds, even though it is not recommended. Are they mentally ill?

[superduperfarleft]

27. I guess this will be our logical fallacy of the day.

Why are you spending money on an internet connection when you could be giving it to needy kids?

If someone is collecting items or animals to the point where it's physically unsafe for all involved, clearly there's an illness there. I have no idea what being able to afford food has to do with it. But, sure, I guess a woman who lived in a house full of bear shit until the city condemned it and forced her to move could possibly be perfectly healthy.

[louis-t]

31. Jeez, I made a simple comment.

We're not talking about a bag of peanuts, it's 6,000 pounds of food. I have known people that live in houses full of dog shit, I have been in many houses that stunk so bad from animals that I can't breathe. My first question about this lady is: how did the bear shit get in her house? Did she let the bears in there? My second question is: why would she approach a starving bear? Yeah, maybe she is disturbed.

[Bombero1956]

34. hey there are lots of nutty people with money

just look at the republican party. Being mentally ill doesn't mean poor. I do agree that she did the bear more harm than good. The bears lost their fear of humans and the instinct to search for food on their own.

[Radical Activist]

11. Old cat lady on steroids.

Kind-hearted but stupid. These are wild animals and should stay that way.

[Evasporque]

12. N. Wisconsin bears live off resturant dumpsters....

For pretty much most of the summer.

[joeybee12]

13. Ok, she's really screwed over these bears...they've been fed so long, they

don't know how to feed themselves anymore.

[izquierdista]

22. Bears are not that stupid

Bears are omnivores, and she was providing an easy meal to them. If the authorities wanted to, they could gradually get them back to foraging on their own. Here in the South, people plant "deer plots" as a way to manage the wildlife, improving wild areas with foods that are especially nutritious, like turnips or radishes. This time of year, if her 40 acres were planted (for examples, see http://www.habitatnow.com/) with brassicas, in two months there would be a thick stand for grazing that would make it easy for the bears to thrive through the winter. Besides being forage themselves, the brassicas would attract deer, rabbits, mice, etc., which could also become tasty bear snacks.

[littlewolf]

24. true that ....

bears are smart and survival instinct will kick in ..... and easy meal ... they will take it every time ...
if they gotta go into the woods and fill their tummies with regular bear food ... they will do that too....

[itsrobert]

14. Sad, they won't survive the winter.

sad.

[independent_voter]

15. mmmmmm, that cat looks tasty nt

[hugo_from_TN]

26. LOL - that's what I was thinking.

With the bears going hungry that cat has got to be nervous.

[MrScorpio]

19. How many times do they have to tell you?

DON'T FEED THE FUCKING BEARS!

Sheesh!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

20. She killed Yogi.

Where's Ranger Smith when you need him? :cry:

[Abq_Sarah]

21. Seriously misguided

She's put the bears and her neighbors in danger.

[pipi_k]

23. She's an idiot.

Not only has she probably ensured the probable deaths of these bears by getting them used to being around humans, she might also be responsible for one of these bears hurting or killing a human being.

[hlthe2b]

28. Oh, this is horrible--all the way around...

The woman was so wrong to feed them all these years, but I have no doubt she thought she was helping despite obvious mental issues. The bears are now dependent... I hope something can be done to avoid their starving--and attacking humans out of hunger. What a tragic, tragic (and stupid) thing...

[LeftinOH]

29. Just wait for it: Hungry bears + little old lady with cats = buffet for bears. n/t

[AngryAmish]

32. kind of like the giving tree

[Javaman]

30. Moron. nt

[Odin2005]

35. Stupid, stupid woman.

[proteus_lives]

36. Weird and ill-advised.

Don't feed wild animals.