To the editor:
I have been debating for some time now whether or not to write this letter to the editor and I have made up my mind that I need to do this. I want the voters of Maine to know what effect they will have on my life and the rest of northern Maine if the ban on bear baiting referendum passes.
I am a 63-year-old mother and grandmother who has lived In “bear country” all my life. I am retired and my income will not be affected either way by the outcome of this referendum but I know what a devastating effect the stopping of bear baiting will have in our small community. Our small town bustles with activity at the general store along with the restaurant and motel and camp rentals during bear season. Without this hunt, friends and family who work there, will be left without a job.
But more important to me is the danger an increase in the bear population will have in our area. For those of you who don’t live in “bear country,” let me tell you some things that those of us who do, have experienced. How would you like to be afraid to let your children go outside to play because you know a bear is in the area? I have been through this. How would you feel when you get up one morning and there are two huge muddy bear paw prints on the outside of your son’s bedroom window, which is approximately 8 feet high? Or a granddaughter comes to visit and is afraid to get out of her car because she saw a bear close by? How about having a bear go into your garage in broad daylight to get to the garbage that you put in there so as not to attract bears, and then to realize to your horror that your children had camped out in the back yard the night before? Some friends of ours have had that happen to them.
Yes, man is partly to blame for this because they have taken away the bears habitats but this is not my fault or my families or friends who live in this part of Maine. The large increases in the population of southern Maine and expanding businesses are the ones who are mostly responsible for this and yet they have the power with their votes to dictate what we can or cannot do to protect ourselves from an increase of hungry bears. It would be like the people north of Bangor having the power to restrict the use of southern Maine’s people’s vehicles because they pollute the air.
The bear population must be regulated and the only way to do that is by baiting them. Bears usually do their foraging by night and hunting is not permitted at night. We see the damage they have done in the morning but we don’t normally see the bears themselves. They are normally a shy animal and would be hard to hunt like we do deer. We would not be able to control the population this way. That is exactly why the recent encounters during the day with bears is reason for concern. They are hungry because there is not enough food for all of them and they will do whatever it takes to get food even if it means going to where there are humans.
It is scary to think our life style here in northern Maine is at the mercy of people who do not know much about bears and what it is like to live here. I do not think baiting is a bad thing, even a condemned man gets a last meal of his choice.
Please before you vote, think carefully about how many people’s lives will be affected by your votes. If you do not want this ban, go vote. Every vote counts. If you choose to do nothing, it will be the same as if you are in favor of this ban.
Anita Theriault
Portage Lake
