[TheAvatar]

*NOTICE* Sorry for the lack of detail, but it was kinda late and I didn't catch em

Last night, I briefly caught something on TV about how a couple of bears had to be removed from I'm guessing a park or forest because they had become SO dependent on humans for food, that they were becoming a danger. Didn't catch where it was, but the thing that blew my mind was that someone was speaking out about how it was unfair to the bears, and they should NOT be moved.

I remember at that point I heard that I was walking in the kitchen to get something to drink and muttered "Well maybe if people would follow the RULES, and not FEED the bears, then they wouldn't HAVE to be removed!"

I know this has been said many times in this forum, but I don't think it can be stressed enough.

PLEASE, not just for your sake, but for the sake of the animals, DO NOT feed them. You are disturbing their habitat, and endangering their lives (yes, it's true, whether you believe it or not.)

Here is a good link I found that points out many of the reasons why you should not feed wildlife. I recommend we all take a look at it, and take it to heart.

I know it might be tempting, and seem like a charitable thing to give cute little Boo Boo a bite of food out of your "pic-i-nic basket", but you'll only be hurting him, and putting his life at risk.

Feeding the Wildlife

[scorch]

Totally agree, like with baboons. People feed them cause they look
cute however in baboon society the lowest rank gives to the higher
and when baboons think of humans as lower when you don't feed them they get angry.Stop feeding them, just observe and enjoy.

[Tangalor]

I think there may be an exception or two, but I totally agree... I went with my daughter today to the park, and the squirrels there are NOTORIOUS for running right up to you, because people feed them peanuts. I thought, "Too bad for you guys, because once it's open season, you'll be the first to go."

The only exception there should be is with fish. You bait those poor things with acorn crumbs, bread crumbs, dried dog food, etc.. all in the same spot for a few days or weeks, and You can almost walk in and grab them. That, I think, would be the only exception... I knew a lot of people who did this when I was younger, and it was mainly for catfish, and they used dog food mostly.

[TheAvatar]

Originally Posted by Tangalor

I think there may be an exception or two, but I totally agree... I went with my daughter today to the park, and the squirrels there are NOTORIOUS for running right up to you, because people feed them peanuts. I thought, "Too bad for you guys, because once it's open season, you'll be the first to go."

The only exception there should be is with fish. You bait those poor things with acorn crumbs, bread crumbs, dried dog food, etc.. all in the same spot for a few days or weeks, and You can almost walk in and grab them. That, I think, would be the only exception... I knew a lot of people who did this when I was younger, and it was mainly for catfish, and they used dog food mostly.

I agree, exception should be made for baiting an animal if you intend on capturing/killing it.

[stairman]

You can decide not to feed the brave, almost begging critters but unfortunately the damage is usually done. We had a bear in our garbage once while sleeping in a tent beside it. Talk about feeling helpless. I three a flipflop at it and hollared and it ran off and I was glad of it. It was trapped the next night and removed. IMO alot of the food they get is from the trash. No one puposely fed it but it got fed anyway and what we percieve as trash to them is food. Agreed some are puposely fed and shouldnt be.

[cowgirlup]

Years ago I was camping in a state park. I was sitting in a folding lounge chair with my feet up eating breakfast. The next thing you know a groundhog walked right up to me and had it's front paws in my lap expecting some of my breakfast! I saw really long claws and some big front teeth. So, I threw some toast away from the camp so it would leave. I was afraid not to feed it at that point. It would have been in my lap. That thing had been fed to the point it expected it! There were 3 other people around and it had no fear. We had to keep an eye on it after that. Then one of the group left some food in their tent while we were out for the day and when we got back it had ripped a hole in the tent mesh to get to it.
Crazy!

[TheAvatar]

Originally Posted by cowgirlup

Years ago I was camping in a state park. I was sitting in a folding lounge chair with my feet up eating breakfast. The next thing you know a groundhog walked right up to me and had it's front paws in my lap expecting some of my breakfast! I saw really long claws and some big front teeth. So, I threw some toast away from the camp so it would leave. I was afraid not to feed it at that point. It would have been in my lap. That thing had been fed to the point it expected it! There were 3 other people around and it had no fear. We had to keep an eye on it after that. Then one of the group left some food in their tent while we were out for the day and when we got back it had ripped a hole in the tent mesh to get to it.
Crazy!

Wow, that's crazy!

I realize a good bit of the "food" they get may be leftover trash, but people are still responsible for that. IF there are trash cans around and people use that, fine. But the park/forest service should be on top of emptying those cans.

Anytime I have gone camping, I pack out the trash I bring. If there's a few food scraps, I might burn them in the fire, but before I leave, I make sure that they are completely destroyed.

One way or another, people are responsible, and it is their responsibility to make sure they clean up their mess.

[vthompson]

I will have to admit that before I read these post's and gave it a lot of thought, I was one of the worst whenever it came to feeding wildlife. I always enjoyed sitting around the campfire at night and feed the deer and coons as they came close to check us out.
But after reading these previous post's, I realize that I have been contributing to their demise as I help make them dependant on the human touch for survival.
I can honestly say that from now on, I will never feed a wild animal whenever I am camping. I may watch and observe them, but I will never feed them again. Although all that I ever fed were deer and raccoons, I realize that I was doing more harm than good. From here on out, I promise to be a good boy.

[TapDuncan]

I was camping one time and the racoons were so bad we had to leave, they were relentless, no one could have gone to sleep, there were about twenty of them, crazy night that was...

[vthompson]

The last time that we went camping, there were 4 coons that stayed around our campsite one night and I fed them pretzels and donuts for about 3 or 4 hours. It was comical watching them as they checked out everything that we had around camp.