Somebody really hates bears

Do you remember the big controversy last month when the DNR announced it was going to shoot one-eared female bear named Solo and her two cubs because they were hibernating underneath a cabin near the Vermilion Range town of Tower? Right, well, after the media flurry the governor “pardoned” the bear, asking the DNR to find non-lethal means of dealing with Solo.

So when the DNR goes to load up the bears for a trip to a sanctuary they find that someone went under the cabin and sprayed the bears with pepper spray. The conservation officers found the bears nearby, awake and with irritated eyes.

Freaking-A, Vermilion Rangers. First you get attention for a bunch of yahoos terrorizing campers in the BWCA and then one of you sprays these sleeping bears, probably because they was defended by environmentalists. You’ve got bigger problems than campers and bears, people. You’re lucky to have avoided the poetic irony of being eaten by the one-eared bear.
Note to all: The drunken, disorganized battle against hippies and lawyers does not involve attacking hibernating bears.

From today’s Duluth News-Tribune:

A formerly hibernating bear and its two cubs were moved today to a bear sanctuary in northern Michigan by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, apparently ending a life-and-death saga.

Solo the bear, which was hibernating under a home in Eagles Nest Township near Ely, had been marked for death by the DNR because it had threatened some people in the area. The DNR said the bear had lost its fear of humans and could become dangerous.

The word of Solo’s demise struck a chord with bear lovers, many of whom protested the death sentences. One Herman-town woman offered $1,000 to the cabin’s owner to let the bear family sleep out the winter. There was even talk of bear lovers buying the cabin so the bear could stay. The bear also had become famous as part of ongoing bear research by controversial Ely bear researcher Lynn Rogers.

In December Gov. Tim Pawlenty even weighed in, commuting the bear’s death sentence and ordering the DNR to move the bear somewhere else.

When DNR officials arrived at the property Monday, the bears were no longer hibernating under the cabin but were found awake nearby.

All three showed evidence of severe eye irritation from pepper spray, DonCarlos said. DNR conservation officers found an empty can of pepper spray on the property, and the area under the cabin where the bears were denned retained a heavy smell of the spray.

Conservation officers are investigating the attack on the bears.

Comments

  1. Idiots can be found where ever you go. It’s pretty sad that some humans live simply for cheap thrills by being brutes and bullies.

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