Bearing It

Two tales of ursinity. First, the sad one, pertaining to Bruno, the first wild bear in Germany since (I can hardly believe this) the days of Goethe:

Bruno, the first wild bear seen in Germany for 170 years, has been shot dead by hunters in the Bavarian Alps, prompting a public outcry and fury from conservationists who had fought in vain to capture the animal alive after it went on a month-long spree of farm livestock killing in the region...

Bruno wandered into Germany across the Austrian Alps from his birthplace in the Trentino district of Italy on 20 May. He was welcomed by the Bavarian state authorities as a sort of ursine prodigal son. Officials noted that the last wild bear was killed in the region in 1835.

But within days the animal started on a killing spree which led to the deaths of more than 35 sheep, dozens of chickens and domestic rabbits and the destruction of a beehive. Farmers in the region demanded the animal be shot on sight.

Because a few sheep are more important than the reintroduction of a lost predator. It's just like the lunacy here in the states about wolves that gobble up sheep and cats and the occasional cow. That's what predators do - eat things. Christ, get used to it.

Second, a somewhat happier story about a Minnesota DNR officer who literally wrestled a young black bear into submisssion so that he could yank a pickle jar (!!) off the bear's head and save its life. The picture is priceless - and an apt visual metaphor for that feeling I get every Monday.