Priscilla (the witch) FERAL has an editorial posted in The Norwich Bulletin protesting the bear hunting legislation . As usual full of B.S. and misinformation. I saw it online. D.B.
The bears in my neighbor Hood in Windsor locks are not shy by any means. I think he's even part honey badger, cause he doesn't give a s#*+. Honk your horn and yell at him from 10 feet away and he sits down and looks at you. Maybe they can relocate him to her yard.
This was my response to the Norwich Bulletin. Not sure if they will publish it in part or entirety.....
In her opinion piece, Priscilla Feral states that supporters of the bear hunting bill are “Manipulating the public by marketing fear,” yet fearmongering is the very tactic that she uses by misrepresenting the facts in order to support her opinion. She begins by misleading readers into thinking that the public is somehow more threatened by hunters than by bears. According to the CT Office of Legislative Research, there were 4 hunting related fatalities between 2000 and 2014, and all of the victims were hunters, NOT members of the general public. (2 CT hunters died as a result of falling out of tree stands, one person was shot while pheasant hunting and one hunter had a heart attack while deer hunting.) During this same period, there were NO fatalities of the general public in Connecticut.
Ms. Feral then goes on to state that even though there were 2,200 more bear sightings in CT, we can’t necessarily conclude that the bear population has increased. She neglects to admit that the 50% increase in bear sightings in 2016 does not take into account all of the bear sightings and interactions that go unreported, and she fails to admit that dangerous bear interactions were all too common in the news this past year. According to Eyewitness News 3, in 2017, 2 schools were forced to go into emergency lockdown due to a bear interaction. In Kent, a family donkey was killed and eaten by a bear. NBC news reported that in Simsbury, a woman was scratched by a bear and the bear had to be euthanized. In Southbury, WTNH reported that a bear attacked 2 mini-horses. In the past couple of years, a hiker in Burlington barely avoided being bitten by a bear, a West Hartford woman was reportedly injured and, according to ABC News, 2 runners in Granby were chased and cornered by a bear. There are also numerous YouTube videos of CT residents having dangerous encounters with bears. It is only a matter of time before the bear-human conflicts in CT escalate and nobody wants to see people get injured or more bears euthanized.
According to Charity Navigator, 44% of the money donated to the animal rights group Ms. Feral is the president and CEO of actually goes towards direct animal care activities such as spaying and neutering, 10.8% goes to sanctuaries, and the remainder goes towards “public information and animal protection” and operating costs, such as Ms. Feral’s $118,000 salary.
By contrast, hunters and anglers have been the true heroes of conservation since the passage of the Pittman-Robertson act in 1937, a self-imposed federal excise tax on all firearms, ammunition and archery purchases that resulted in the distribution of 1.1 BILLION dollars towards wildlife conservation in 2017. These funds benefit all people who enjoy the outdoors, not just hunters. According the US Department of the Interior, in 2017 CT received $5,700,000 in federal wildlife restoration funds paid for by hunters and anglers.
Rather than listening to the emotional fear mongering by Ms. Feral, the state needs to listen to the recommendations of the wildlife biologists that we employ. Bears are a renewable resource that can be used as food via ethical hunting and a hunting season should exist in order to keep population numbers in line with the carrying capacity of their habitat.
Is her last name really Feral.... got a buddy who lives on the edge of Tolland state forest. He tells me about the “2 taggers” all the time. Bears that have been relocated to the forest twice. They routinely walk his property. Today, he told me a bear tore through his bee hives yesterday (and he has them strapped down tight). Some bears just like the easy pickings of civilization....btw I have trail cam pics of a black bear on private boarding state in Harwinton from last summer.
She's clearly misinformed, and likes to twist reality quite a lot. She's good at what she does thought it appears (spread misinformation and try to appeal to emotions).
Thanks Will. Not sure if they will publish it, so I forwarded a copy to my state rep, Derek Slap. We went back and forth about the bear bill last year in a respectful manner and he seemed like he was on the fence, but ended up voting against it. I figured it wouldn't hurt to provide him with facts to overcome any propaganda he may be hearing from the other side. Maybe the tide will change over time.
I agree Pat - more of us need to get involved.. unfortunately the fringe lunatics seem to be able to take time off from their jobs (or don't have jobs to go to), while most hunters I know are busy working their arses off.
Voted out again this year. "General Assembly's environmental committee easily voted down the proposal to allow the killing of up to 5% of Connecticut's estimated bear population of 700- 800 animals." Hartford Courant today's paper Connecticut section B :>(
Looks like Sunday bowhunting for all on private land. I still say that Priscilla is more than welcomed to have the bear that lives in my backyard. He's big, furry and doesn't care about anything or anyone.
Nope. It means that the Bill was successfully passed out of the Environment Committee. It now has to pass both the House and the Senate then be signed by the Governor to become a law.
Now is the time to get in touch with your State Rep and State Senator and ask that they push to get this bill to a vote, and ask that they support it. It goes nowhere without us really pushing for it.
I thought they were "Friends of Animals" ?.... "No fatal bear attacks in CT"?!? I guess donkeys and miniature horses don't count, and why is this organization not concerned about donkey rights? Must only be friends of SOME animals....
