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Bears guarded B.C. grow-op: RCMP
posted by joannemerriam (55 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite

Now I know why he was so keen on scoring those pic-a-nic baskets.
posted by sourwookie at 7:48 PM on August 17, 2010 [9 favorites]

It's like a freakin' country bear jamberoo up there.
posted by Gator at 7:50 PM on August 17, 2010

poor bears are gonna be victims of the drug war now.
posted by twjordan at 7:51 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

I really hope she gets charged with animal cruelty. Having to put down 10 black bears for her grow-op. Fuck her.
posted by Lemurrhea at 7:52 PM on August 17, 2010 [13 favorites]

Ugh. Fuck her indeed. Poor goddamn bears.
posted by griphus at 8:02 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Oh come on. This is hilarious. Vive le Canada.
posted by Flashman at 8:09 PM on August 17, 2010

I really hope the RCMP can do something with the bears aside from putting them down.
posted by birdherder at 8:10 PM on August 17, 2010

Nothing hilarious about ten dead bears that didn't do nothing to nobody.
posted by griphus at 8:11 PM on August 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

You can't miss the bear.

/rewatching Weeds this summer
posted by padraigin at 8:13 PM on August 17, 2010

Fuck the laws that make it a good idea for her to recruit bears to protect her investment.
posted by logicpunk at 8:13 PM on August 17, 2010 [11 favorites]

Of course, if Pot was legal, she wouldn't have needed the bears in the first place. (Not that I think using bears was a good idea to begin with. Only an irresponsible stoner would think that's a good idea. Christ, what an asshole).
posted by KingEdRa at 8:18 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Fuck the laws that make it a good idea for her to recruit bears to protect her investment.

Neighbours said that she just liked to live with and feed the bears - they weren't intended as some sort of "protection".

Not sure where you're from, but in Canada (even in the prissy little burg that I live in), it's common sense that "a fed bear is a dead bear".

She should not have been feeding them - because of her those bears, who now associate people with food, pose a risk to other people in the region.

Her pot plantation is beside the point in regards to the bears.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:24 PM on August 17, 2010 [5 favorites]

BitterOldPunk: "Well, my wife is from BC, and she told me that up there they use bears for everything, from turning the millstones in the maple syrup mills to snuffling the loamy mulch at the base of trees to locate delicious growths of poutine, so this isn't surprising."

True story: In many parts of BC, they don't call poutine poutine. They call it "gooey fries".
posted by battlebison at 8:24 PM on August 17, 2010

Fuck the laws that make it a good idea for her to recruit bears to protect her investment.

"The woman accused of running the grow-op has been feeding the bears for years, one neighbour said."

No, fuck her. A fed bear is a dead bear.

Regardless of the law, there's nothing wrong with growing marijuana. There's something definitely wrong with feeding wild bears.
posted by mrgrimm at 8:35 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

STEPHEN COLBERT REFERENCE.
posted by mightygodking at 8:35 PM on August 17, 2010 [5 favorites]

I really hope she gets charged with animal cruelty. Having to put down 10 black bears for her grow-op. Fuck her.

Feeding bears = cruelty?

The bears would need to be killed whether or not she'd been growing weed. This kind of "Stop hitting my fist with your face!" reasoning.

And beyond that. The bears just sort of hung around didn't try to do anything to the cops. So they weren't really 'protection'.
posted by delmoi at 8:36 PM on August 17, 2010

Feeding bears may be a bad idea, but it is obviously not cruel to the bears.
posted by delmoi at 8:37 PM on August 17, 2010

Well of course they got caught, they forgot to give the bears lasers.
posted by drinkyclown at 8:42 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

paging stavrosthewonderchcken, your attention mr stavros, please come to the blue courtesy smartphone in aisle 94866.
posted by mwhybark at 8:44 PM on August 17, 2010

Feeding bears may be a bad idea, but it is obviously not cruel to the bears.

Feeding bears trains them to think that it is okay to get food from people. From that, it is simply a matter of time until they wander somewhere they shouldn't in search of food and get put down by animal control because people get scared and then the bears get scared and a giant scared bear is a life-threatening hazard. I can't it right now, but there's a video of a man in the Russian woods raising orphaned bear cubs. He repeatedly makes it clear that he has to be very tough and stern with them so that they do not make the association that it is okay to approach people for food.
posted by griphus at 8:48 PM on August 17, 2010 [4 favorites]

Bear cavalry!
posted by feckless at 8:48 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Found the video (had to search for "cute bear," imagine that.) It explains why bears shouldn't grow comfortable with people. Also: CUTE BEAR CUBS BEING BOTTLE-FED.
posted by griphus at 8:51 PM on August 17, 2010

Well, it's certainly more organic than razor wire.
posted by Jilder at 8:52 PM on August 17, 2010

Betcha Smokey ratted 'em out.
posted by telstar at 8:54 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

The bears would need to be killed whether or not she'd been growing weed. This kind of "Stop hitting my fist with your face!" reasoning.

delmoi, bears learn to associate people with food, and actively seek out food, either at a campsite or at someone's house. Getting your face ripped off by a scared or angry bear is no laughing matter.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:00 PM on August 17, 2010

Bears guarded B.C. grow-op: RCMP

Bears too stoned to stop mounties.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:03 PM on August 17, 2010

America's number one cash crop guarded by America's number one enemy, living in America's hat?
posted by mullingitover at 9:10 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Found another photo.
posted by DaddyNewt at 9:19 PM on August 17, 2010

From the comments: "I had a relative who was storied in the 1880s as the track switcher in Yoho who adopted a bear whose mother was killed by a train. They lived as buddies in the same small cabin by the tracks for many years... and entertained the train passengers as they went by standing with arms around each others' shoulders."
posted by hortense at 9:27 PM on August 17, 2010

paging stavrosthewonderchcken, your attention mr stavros, please come to the blue courtesy smartphone in aisle 94866.

I am here. How may I assist you?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:36 PM on August 17, 2010

Help. I am one of the ten bears allen.spaulding keeps to write his comments on Metafilter. I am chained to the keyboard. The other nine are screwing in a lightbulb. If it's some kind of joke I do not get it. Because I am a bear.

Do not destroy me for I am already fed.
posted by allen.spaulding at 9:44 PM on August 17, 2010 [7 favorites]

Ehhhhh. This article gave me emotional whiplash.

"Look at the hilarious headline!"

"Look at the hilarious picture where the cop is photobombing the bear candid! Those bears are gonna be so mad when they look at their pictures later today."

"Hahaha, now I am thinking of a really stoned person hanging out with bears and them all getting along and being awesome!

"WHAT THE FUCK BEARS PUT DOWN NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
posted by thehmsbeagle at 9:48 PM on August 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

Hurf durf stephen colbert joke her...

WAIT WHAT THEY GET PUT DOWN?!
posted by mccarty.tim at 9:58 PM on August 17, 2010

Bear-human interactions are a major problem in BC. We "put down" an average of more than 1000 bears per year. Idiots like this certainly don't help, but the problem is much bigger than just people who intentionally feed bears.

But the bears probably had nothing to do with the grow op. Whenever the RCMP find a grow op, they insist that anything they find on the property or in the person's home is somehow connected to the grow op.
posted by ssg at 10:08 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

"I really hope the RCMP can do something with the bears aside from putting them down."

The Kamloops wildlife park's bears are dieing (from old age), maybe a couple could find homes there.

"Whenever the RCMP find a grow op, they insist that anything they find on the property or in the person's home is somehow connected to the grow op."

True that; I can't wait until a grow oper has a side business in passion parties.
posted by Mitheral at 11:00 PM on August 17, 2010

Oh man. Christina Lake? That's where my brother, my former sister-in-law, and my nieces used to live. Middle niece moved back there this summer. It's a small, small town, and no doubt they knew the woman involved.

From Facebook, I know that the main forms of entertainment at the Lake are guzzling beer, playing hockey, and floating around on inner tubes. I'll have to add bear ranching to the list, I suppose.
posted by jokeefe at 11:11 PM on August 17, 2010

Bear-human interactions are a major problem in BC. We "put down" an average of more than 1000 bears per year. Idiots like this certainly don't help, but the problem is much bigger than just people who intentionally feed bears.

But the bears probably had nothing to do with the grow op. Whenever the RCMP find a grow op, they insist that anything they find on the property or in the person's home is somehow connected to the grow op.

All true. Busting rural growops generally leads to an uptick on the winter welfare rolls, too, so it's a bit of a lose/lose situation.
posted by jokeefe at 11:13 PM on August 17, 2010

Found this while wondering around the links:

Wojtek[1] (1942–1963; Polish pronunciation: [ˈvɔjtɛk]) usually spelled Voytek in England, was a Syrian brown bear cub adopted by soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps. During the Battle of Monte Cassino, Wojtek helped move ammunition. The name "Wojtek" or "Wojciech" is an old Slavic name and derived from two words: "woj" (the stem of "wojownik", warrior, and "wojna", war); and "ciech", enjoyment. Thus the name has two meanings: "he who enjoys war" or "smiling warrior".[2]

The fact that they employ Smiling Warrior Bear just to carry their ammunition should tell you the Polish Artillery is pretty badass.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:15 PM on August 17, 2010

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.
posted by homunculus at 12:35 AM on August 18, 2010

Jesus, I don't know what I was thinking but until I saw the picture I was thinking of a whole 'nother kind of 'bear.'
posted by From Bklyn at 1:22 AM on August 18, 2010

Hamm's bears repeating
posted by hortense at 1:33 AM on August 18, 2010

Feeding bears = cruelty?

Yes, because of what will end up happening to them. The bear will end up needing to be shot, sometimes after a person gets hurt. Put out a bird feeder if you want to feed the wildlife -- don't habituate bears to expect goodies from people.
posted by Forktine at 3:51 AM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

So there are no zoos these bears could be donated to?
posted by djduckie at 7:21 AM on August 18, 2010

I was first attracted by your scent
Your heart must be a caramelized onion
By the time I saw your flame
it was all over for you and whashisname.

I think it was Algonquin Park
It was so cold and winter-dark
A promised hibernation high
took me across the great black plate of ice.

Now I'm the Islander.

I found a place to call my den
and dreamt of the Ferry and
the Enormous Man
Huge as were his children
following around after him

I'm the Islander
woke up in the furtive Spring
more capable of anything

I waited for more men to come
they docked their boats and cocked their guns
The time for truth and reconciliation's gone
But with my belly full I intended to get
something done

I'm the Islander
woke up in the dead of spring
more hungry than anything
Islander

The Bear

~The Tragically Hip
posted by bwg at 7:30 AM on August 18, 2010

A fed bear is a dead bear.

In my sleep-deprived state I read that as a threat against bears working for the feds.
"This bear is wearing a wire!"
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 8:08 AM on August 18, 2010 [3 favorites]

.
posted by jtron at 9:37 AM on August 18, 2010

Well, my wife is from BC, and she told me that up there they use bears for everything, from turning the millstones in the maple syrup mills to snuffling the loamy mulch at the base of trees to locate delicious growths of poutine, so this isn't surprising.

Even with a Canadian wife you don't know that both maple syrup and poutine are Quebec phenomena? Sheesh.

Fed bears, or "garbage" bears, are seriously dangerous. Because they're unafraid of human settlements, the chances of surprising one or inadvertently coming between one and its meal is quite high. I once worked at a treeplanting camp in the Mackenzie area of northern BC and when we set up there it became apparent that the area's bears had already become accustomed to raiding food supplies. Obviously, this was very dangerous for the cooks. Over the course of the month that we were at the site, we killed 7 bears. One of the planting foremen (who was a good old boy and quite unafraid of blasting away at bears, I guess) had to stay on full-time bear watch at the camp. We were about a five hour drive from a paved road so there was no recourse to dealing with them other than shooting them. Believe me, many methods of trying to scare them away were attempted to no success. My point is that knowingly feeding bears is cruel. Anyone with any bush experience knows that it generally doesn't end well for a bear who repeatedly seeks out human food.
posted by Roachbeard at 11:50 AM on August 18, 2010

I think it would have been cool had humans domesticated bears as they did wolves. Think about it:

1) Mean guard bears.
2) Cute little lap bears.
3) Fluffy loving companion bears.
4) Water bears who will herd salmon.
5) Digging bears who will dig a foundation for your house.

Today the best human bear interactions seem to be that some bears can become fairly mellow when free food is involved but it is hard to get them to do anything useful.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 10:17 PM on August 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

As someone who doesn't see bears often, I'm guessing because they don't tend to wander freely round central London too often, it would be good to challenge the fed bear = dead bear wisdom, if not now, then in the future.

Fed bears could make for both a sanctuary and a tourist attraction somewhere where they weren't considered commonplace and a pest.

See also: The Donkey Sanctuary, Monkeyworld etc
posted by MuffinMan at 3:20 AM on August 19, 2010

Bears are not donkeys or monkeys.

Fed bears could make for both a sanctuary and a tourist attraction somewhere where they weren't considered commonplace and a pest.

Yes, you could put them in a zoo. Enjoy the bears at the zoo. The bears don't seem to enjoy it.

it would be good to challenge the fed bear = dead bear wisdom, if not now, then in the future.

You know who else challenged conventional wisdom about bears?
posted by mrgrimm at 7:06 AM on August 19, 2010

And haven't you seen THREATDOWN?

Bears and Other Predators Invade U.S. Neighborhoods

Everything's Worse With Bears
posted by mrgrimm at 7:25 AM on August 19, 2010

Bears are not donkeys or monkeys

Thank you for that pearl.

Yes, you could put them in a zoo. Enjoy the bears at the zoo. The bears don't seem to enjoy it.

I'm pretty sure they'd enjoy a well managed sanctuary over being dead.
posted by MuffinMan at 7:34 AM on August 19, 2010

Here a woman reaches into a bear's throat to save it from choking on her dog's bone.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:54 AM on August 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

Update: According to the CBC, it looks like the pot bears will not be put down for the time being:

Rick Hildebrand, the superintendent of B.C.'s conservation service, confirmed [Allen] Piche and his partner will be allowed to continue to feed the bears, because if the animals go hungry, they might become a danger to the public.

"If we cut them off cold turkey, then we are concerned about sudden rash change of behavior," Hildebrand said. "It's kind of allowing them to simulate natural behaviour as much as possible so they can go to den and not cause any public safety issues."

After the bears come out of hibernation in the spring, they will have to fend for themselves, said Hildebrand.

[Link to video referenced in the article of Piche feeding the bears.]

So it sounds like the authorities have decided they aren't going to kill the bears, but it will probably not be a nice scene when the bears wake up in the spring and there isn't a guy with a feed bucket there like they're used to.

It was really irresponsible for Piche and his partner to feed these bears. A fed bear IS a dead bear. Where I live (northern BC), tons of bears get shot by the conservation officer because they go wandering into residential areas in search of food. In some areas it's so bad people are even advised against having birdfeeders--the bears are apparently attracted by the birdseed.

Of course, part of the problem is that developers build subdivisions on former bear territory--you can't go building into the woods without some consequences.

hmsbeagle: I have to admit, even though this is a serious issue, every time I see that picture of the RCMP officer gleefully photobombing the bear, I do laugh.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:50 PM on September 4, 2010

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