Posted on 05/16/2008 6:56:38 AM PDT by Darren McCarty
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — Battle Creek police have killed a black bear that state officials believe wandered out of the wilds and well beyond its usual comfort zone.
The Battle Creek Enquirer reports Officer Troy Gilleylen was looking for the victim of a domestic assault early Friday when he shined his patrol car spotlight down a street and saw the bear. He tried to get a closer look, but the bear ran away.
Police say they shot the animal four times but it kept disappearing. They followed drops of blood on the pavement to the wounded bear and killed it
(Excerpt) Read more at mlive.com ...
Bears? In Howell?? No way, lived there for years, not a bear anywhere in Livingston county, or any county that borders it.
You have to go up pretty far north in the lower state to get to bear territory, and there are plenty of them in the UP of course.
I remember Ted Neugent getting bent out of shape about limiting the use of dogs in a bear hunt, but it was so long ago I forgot the specifics of his rants.
Yeah, that sounds about right. Dogs (plural) are used in bear hunting, because, y’know, bears can outrun humans, and turn a hunter into little bitty croutons in no time. The idea is for the dogs to get the bear to rear up, so the hunter can get a body shot. Killing a bear with a head shot isn’t a safe bet, or so I’ve always been told; hard, angular skull, good for ricocheting a bullet.
In my Youth, we used dogs to tree the bear, Vermont, NH. Bears are very quick and refuse to stand still and get shot, I did get a couple in a meeting engagement, accidental on both our parts.
Interesting, thanks LB. Once treed, body shot?
It was a who wanted to eat it shot, generally a body shot. Bear meat is a treat to those who like strange tastes. Take three pounds of Bear Meat, five pounds of onions, and two pounds of garlic, a pound of butter and some flour to make a gravy.
Wow, I like the onion/garlic to meat ratio! :’D
That does make sense. :’)
Howell? Howell, New Jersey maybe. I’m out by Ann Arbor and have family in Howell. I’ve never seen a bear around there at all. Deer are another story. I have heard of Cougars near Cohoctah, but not bears. The closest I’ve heard of a “nearby” bear is that town center in Lansing a few years back.
I remember that well. There were at least a half dozen sightings within five miles of each other throughout Delta Township (west/northwest Lansing). Probably all the same bear.
Can someone explain why they shot an immature black bear? The bear looked like a young adult that wandered into a city while trying to establish a range.
It isn’t a grizzly tearing up people’s livestock.
If they know it is in the area, call the DNR, trap and relocate the animal.
The first thing I want to know is how much of a threat it is. It is in an urban area of a mid-size city. That bear could charge at any time as it was scared. It could break into a house for food, which is increasingly common out in New Jersey. Black Bears are dangerous. So are bucks in rutting season.
However, there was no reports of those things happening. Unless the bear is an imminate threat, I think they should have have called the DNR, and release the bear up near Baldwin where there are less people and more land to roam.
There are occasional black bear sightings in the urban area where I live.
Generally, the cops cordon off the area, get out their rifles in case of trouble and call the DNR. The DNR comes, tranquilizes the animal, tags it and moves it. If it returns to the city, they will put it down.
They are almost always dealing with young bears looking for new territory.
If the bear was a threat to people or was injured, I have no problem putting it down.
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