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Dear Editor: The Wild Animals
Opinion Feb 14, 2015
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During several Sierra Madre City Council meetings, a number of people spoke on the subject of the wild animals that have been visiting the homes and streets in the City.
In the first place, the City passed an ordinance on not allowing any hunting in the City. This was the result of a story in which a hunter killed a deer in the mountain area outside of the City, but he brought the deer into the City in order to place the animal in his car that was parked in the City.
The Pasadena S.P.C.A. receives all the money from dog and cat licenses and in addition they also receive thousands of dollars from the City. What do the people receive in return? The answer is “Well, they will impound your dog or cat if it gets loose from your yard.” Will they respond to phone calls for a raccoon, opossum or skunk or coyote? The answer is no! If one of those wild animals enters your property a homeowner must call an exterminator and the cost is not cheap. If they trap any of these animals, using dog food for bait, then they simply take the wild animal up to Wilderness Park and turn it loose. How long does it take for that animal to get back into our yards? Is this a cure for that problem?
Nothing was said about the squirrels that have invaded the City in recent years! They eat the fruit off of our trees, and also eat the insulation on the electrical wires after climbing up the poles. Anyone care to provide information on how to rid the City of this problem?
Most of the time was taken up on the subject of what to do with the bears that have invaded the City. One of these bears even walked on Sierra Madre Blvd., right in front of City Hall! The police that spoke on the subject made two basic points – if a person encounters a bear, do not run, but make a lot of noise and you will scare the bear into going away. If you call the police department, then their response is based upon how busy the pedestrian traffic is at the time of day that they receive the call. At any rate, their only solution is to try to get the bear back into the mountain wilds.
No one mentioned the experience with bears at Yellowstone Park. At the park they used to dump all the leftovers from meals onto the grounds for the bears to eat, until one bear ate a young boy in a tent where the smell of fried chicken was in the air. They discovered one simple fact – once a bear has eaten human foods, then it will no longer hunt for food in the wild. At Yellowstone Park, their cure for the problem was to kill all the bears that had been fed human foods. The other bears were transported far away from any place where people were. People only occupy or travel in only 10 percent of the acreage of the Park. This process was helped due to the fact that the Elk population had greatly increased, which is the bear’s natural prey. Will the police’s suggestions cure the problem?
It’s anyone’s guess, but we think not!
