There is a saying "a fed bear is a dead bear". Maybe the rest of the saying should be "and a feeder is a bleeder".
Last month my two sons and I traveled to Ouray, CO, to see my sister and her husband who vacation in Ouray each summer. The day before our arrival, my sister called. She told me excitedly about a bear encounter that morning.
My brother-in-law got up early for a hike leaving my sister alone in the quaint little cabin a few miles north of Ouray. Just as my brother-in-law pulled away in their car, my sister caught a glimpse of movement through a big window of the cabin. She looked out to see a huge black bear, brownish in color, sauntering very near.
My sister instantly realized she was without a phone, a vehicle or protection. Should the giant beast be curious or decide to follow his nose to food in her cabin, she would be defenseless against intrusion. She froze in fear and watched as the bear ambled around, then disappeared into woods behind another cabin across the way.
Today I read in the Denver Post a 74-year-old woman who resided a few miles north of Ouray, in the immediate vicinity of my sister's rented cabin, was probably mauled and at least partially devoured by bears on Friday. Though authorities are not confirming bears did the killing, they do confirm they were eating the woman when they arrived. At least two bears behaved aggressively toward officers and were killed.
This woman and her late husband, the story goes, fancied themselves Doctors Doolittle and, in spite of repeated warnings and pleas by residents and authorities to cease interacting with wildlife, they persisted. This woman routinely fed bears and attempted, according to reports, to touch them through a special wire fence.
Perhaps some will defend the offender. People seem to be describing her as "eccentric" and "dear". I suppose some who drive drunk and take innocent people's lives are "eccentric" and "dear", though being sweet or odd does not alter the gravity of the offense. People who act out of a twisted perception of kindness toward potentially dangerous animals by feeding and befriending are equally irresponsible.
Wild animals have capacity to expect but lack capacity to differentiate. A bear or any wild animal will learn to expect food from humans rapidly. Wild animals will never differentiate between the value of human life and that of natural prey. Food is food. There is no moral judgment.
The woman in Ouray leaves a sad legacy of dangerous animals and at-risk people. How many bears will be killed because they will be drawn to humans or move on to the next cabin for food? How many people might suffer or die because bears around Ouray learned to be fearless, even demanding, in their presence?
I am thankful the bear boldly wandering near my sister's cabin in Ouray went about his business. Knowing what I know now, the odds are terrifying. He could have been one the wacky lady nearby was feeding. He could easily have realized my sister was inside and that humans and cabins mean food, indeed. Had he been hungry, he could have expected my sister to provide and, had she failed, he could very well have harmed her.
Feeding wild animals capable of killing humans should be an offense akin to reckless endangerment and punished accordingly.