Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Three bears make themselves at home near daycare

Children at a daycare in Volusia County, Florida, have to play inside until three black bears that have made themselves at home in the neighborhood are trapped and relocated. (And I thought we had it bad with cougars straying inside residential areas from time to time. No, wait. We do have it bad with cougars that aren't shy about coming to town. Thank goodness our local bears tend to stay in the woods, though. One type of wild beast that can kill people roaming loose is more than enough, thanks.)

For a sensationalized lead-in to the Florida story, see WKMG TV's 3 Bears Terrorize Central Day Care. Excuse me? Terrorize? The bears were eating in the trash cans on the property, the kids thought they were cute and wanted to go pet them. The grown-ups had enough sense to keep the kids inside. The folks who trap bears in live traps have set up a trap and baited it with spoiled meat and Doritos, the story says, and now everyone is waiting until the too-tame bears manage to trap themselves. This is not terrorizing, at least in my book. It's bad, it's worrisome, it must be dealt with, but... (The video isn't quite so over the top, thank goodness.)

Sigh. It's enough of a story by itself, straight up, no embellishments. Why in the world do people feel a need to "punch up" a story like this?

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