I am a resident of…

I am a resident of Searchmont, Ontario. I am an avid outdoors person, and environmentalist. We hike, back country camp, mountain bike and paddle. We have never encountered a nuisance bear in our outdoor activities. In our 18 years here, there has been one nuisance bear in the neighbourhood -- one who visited bbq's, gardens, bird feeders, and fruit trees. This bear was shot by a neighbour and this incident reported to the MNR. One could argue this problem bear was more accurately a people problem -- it was the availability of easy food that attracted this bear to our yards and our collective carelessness that led to its unfortunate but necessary demise.

Baiting bears is not sporting. This is a ridiculous practice, and outfitters regularly set out bait to attract and then shoot bears.

It is common knowledge that mother bears often stow their cubs when they go searching for food. It is inevitable that cubs will be orphaned. The lucky ones may be sent to wildlife refuge centres -- which are scarce in this province and underfunded. The unlucky ones will be left to starve or be killed. Wounded adult bears who are not cleanly killed will also be inevitable.

This is a barbaric practice. Be sensible, and do not reintroduce this unnecessary hunt.