81yo woman arrested and held without bail for feeding bears

[Icymudpuppy]

Sorry, I thought you were on the east side. My mistake, what area are you in?

I advertise from Longview to Bainbridge, (avoiding Seattle) and from the mountains to the coast, but I have worked as far north as Friday Harbor, and gotten calls from Point Roberts, and worked as far south as Vancouver, and gotten calls as far away as Medford, OR. I have worked as far east as Moses Lake, and gotten calls from Spokane.

[LibertyEagle]

Crazy cat lady belongs in an asylum for the mentally unstable, and criminally insane. Animal Hoarding is a mental disease that causes real criminal damage to property.

Where are you getting hoarding from someone feeding birds??????????????????????

[Origanalist]

I advertise from Longview to Bainbridge, (avoiding Seattle) and from the mountains to the coast, but I have worked as far north as Friday Harbor, and gotten calls from Point Roberts, and as worked as far south as Vancouver, and gotten calls as far away as Medford, OR. I have worked as far east as Moses Lake, and gotten calls from Spokane.

Well, that narrows it down. I don't doubt you my friend, there are endless stories of nuisance animals wreaking havoc.

[Icymudpuppy]

Where are you getting hoarding from someone feeding birds??????????????????????

Trust me, the neighbors don't call the police on you for just feeding the birds.

[ClydeCoulter]

When looking for property here once, I went to see a place and the guys mom lived behind his house in a mobile home, she fed humming birds, and there must have been hundreds of them buzzing around her porch (it was full length of the front of the mobile home). It was hard to hear her talk over them

I usually hang a feeder or 2 on the front porch, but let them go dry in the late fall...

[Anti Federalist]

Trust me, the neighbors don't call the police on you for just feeding the birds.

In today's AmeriKa?

I bet I could find at least one a million instances of that.

And I'm not trying to been contrary either, I'm sure you see plenty of instances of animal damage caused by people keeping/feeding animals.

I still wouldn't call the cops.

[Anti Federalist]

"Arrested for feeding birds"

[kcchiefs6465]

A typical bear nuisance problem isn't $#@!. It's demolished storage sheds $3000 in damage... Broken windows $500 a piece... Wrecked trash cans $150 and $50 litter pickup... It's Destroyed landscaping such as ponds, retaining walls, and decorative plants which may have cost tens of thousands to install. These are big expenses. I deal with these things every day.

I have seen one raccoon mother do over $12,000 worth of damage to a house. I have seen river otters do over $20,000 of damage. Squirrels, over $15,000. Rats, over $30,000. It's not little $#@!.

Forgive me for perhaps asking a stupid question but why does one not simply shoot the bear? Big target, loud, perhaps clumsy; a .30-06 and you'd have meat to eat.

You cannot defend your property against pests, or at the least, shoot the pests without government sanction. So perhaps, instead of terrorizing the little old lady feeding the pests, incarcerating her--- costing money, time, resources,--- they could be so kind as to allow the culling of said pests. Not even by her, if she did not wish. Am I to believe none are hungry?

Not to happen, though. The law is the law.

I also did not read of any property damage. Not that there could not be some, the news is hardly worthy of a label such as "truth", but I have not seen the neighbor's reports. It could just be a vindictive $#@! of a neighbor, you know, they do exist. And forgive me for not trusting that the "law" would have any common sense about themselves or that mitigating factors, such as you have outlined, played into this imprisonment, without bond[!], of all things.

If her neighbors are that worried about the bear she allegedly enticed in, while quite frankly obviously trying to feed other species, they should have [safely and with respect] shot it. They then should have offered her a cut. But I can read through my own lines and see that someone would have gone to jail for even that! So I guess, in short, in this instance and many others, someone must go to jail.

[Origanalist]

"Arrested for feeding birds"

It was a airport.....................................

[Anti Federalist]

It was a airport.....................................

Terrorist...

[Carson]

Being in Nuisance wildlife, I wonder how much damage her neighbors were suffering from wildlife getting in their basements, attics, and tearing up their property.

They probably asked multiple times for her to stop feeding the animals, or to at least pay for some of the damage, which she probably refused. Then, the neighbors reported her to police.

I have seen this exact situation happen at least twenty times in my line of work. When my clients' homes are repeatedly being assaulted by starlings, rats, raccoons, squirrels, opossums, skunks, feral cats, and even bears, causing thousands of dollars of damage to the houses, and the person in the neighborhood who is feeding the animals and artificially expanding their population beyond naturally sustainable levels refuses to take any responsibility for the damage those animals are causing, as much as I hate advising it, sometimes getting the law involved is necessary.

These are always elderly women, usually widowed, and can be often accurately depicted by the "crazy cat lady" figure in the Simpson's cartoon.

You make some very valid points Icymudpuppy, curse you.

It isn't always old cat ladies. I've been feeding things on and off at times my entire life. I've seen it get out of hand, first hand. Though it is in my nature it is also wise to refrain. Nip it in the bud.

I remember one place I worked the night shift. Sometimes the coyotes would come up when I had the roll up door open. You could see their eyes out there glowing in the dark watching.

What the coyotes and deer watching might have looked like.



I got a good picture of a Pack Rat eating some of my hamburger at lunch one night. That sucker was big. He made that hamburger look like a Ritz cracker (smidge of poetic license). He didn't look mousy. He was the Clydesdale or Cadillac of the rat family. Light on the bottom and dark on the top and clean.

Here is a link to what their burrows would look like in San Diego. They would be three or four feet high. I only heard tales about how big the pack rats were for years. Neither of these pictures convey the size or the coloration of the one I saw. Then I only saw him in a flash picture I took at night sticking my camera out my car widow and just shooting off hand. He had a dark body and big light colored rounded ears. It's a film picture. Some day I'll have to dig it out and scan it digital. He was that awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusky-footed_woodrat

Still...

Your arguments are important to remember. Somewhere we need a balance.

When I was a kid they tried feeding elk during some hard hard winters. Didn't really work out so well in some ways but I can't remember what it was at the moment.

[Suzanimal]

When looking for property here once, I went to see a place and the guys mom lived behind his house in a mobile home, she fed humming birds, and there must have been hundreds of them buzzing around her porch (it was full length of the front of the mobile home). It was hard to hear her talk over them

I usually hang a feeder or 2 on the front porch, but let them go dry in the late fall...

I hung about 4 hummingbird feeders around my back porch last spring and it was hilarious. The birds started fighting over them and would zoom at each other and get their beaks stuck in the screen. I'm going to move them next summer because it made getting into the house from the pool...interesting. I think we had about 40 or 50 of them - it got kind of expensive and tedious feeding them.

Right now I have a house wren problem, they've built a nest in my garage and come in the garage through my doggie door, seriously. I'm going have to get video, I've never seen birds use a doggie door before.

Were the the officers ok?

[phill4paul]

I hung about 4 hummingbird feeders around my back porch last spring and it was hilarious. The birds started fighting over them and would zoom at each other and get their beaks stuck in the screen. I'm going to move them next summer because it made getting into the house from the pool...interesting. I think we had about 40 or 50 of them - it got kind of expensive and tedious feeding them.

Right now I have a house wren problem, they've built a nest in my garage and come in the garage through my doggie door, seriously. I'm going have to get video, I've never seen birds use a doggie door before.

A friend of mines dad shot this vid of a praying mantis w/ hummingbirds. Listen to it squell. You should be ashamed for inviting them in for mantises to dine on.

[Suzanimal]

A friend of mines dad shot this vid of a praying mantis w/ hummingbirds. Listen to it squell. You should be ashamed for inviting them in for mantises to dine on.

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

...but why does one not simply shoot the bear? Big target, loud, perhaps clumsy; a .30-06 and you'd have meat to eat.

Sorry low life, that is only a function of government. You should be ashamed for even suggesting that anyone outside of government could even handle such a rifle. Bullets would be everywhere from misses. Imagine neighbors at a cookout falling over from stray shots.

And if you're thinking about eating any kind of animal like that, then you'd better clear it with the DNR, the health department, and other interested officials. Do you even know what bears eat?! The contamination from other mundanes feeding them has been documented in the peer reviewed journals.

And the children. Can you imagine the children? You think The Three Bears is some kind of cute story?! How traumatic it would be for an innocent boy to stare into the hungry eyes of a tremendous papa bear!

I want everyone to perish all thoughts of this ridiculous rifle suggestion. I even recommend that the moderators delete or at least edit post number 38.

[pcosmar]

Being in Nuisance wildlife, I wonder how much damage her neighbors were suffering from wildlife getting in their basements, attics, and tearing up their property.

They probably asked multiple times for her to stop feeding the animals, or to at least pay for some of the damage, which she probably refused. Then, the neighbors reported her to police.

I have seen this exact situation happen at least twenty times in my line of work. When my clients' homes are repeatedly being assaulted by starlings, rats, raccoons, squirrels, opossums, skunks, feral cats, and even bears, causing thousands of dollars of damage to the houses, and the person in the neighborhood who is feeding the animals and artificially expanding their population beyond naturally sustainable levels refuses to take any responsibility for the damage those animals are causing, as much as I hate advising it, sometimes getting the law involved is necessary.

These are always elderly women, usually widowed, and can be often accurately depicted by the "crazy cat lady" figure in the Simpson's cartoon.

Yeah.. it wouldn't have anything to do with building a House in the animals territory..

[asurfaholic]

Sounds to me like the only proper course of action is for any victims file a civil suit against the lady.

Then, they present their case and evidence of her attracting wildlife to a judge. If the victim is truly a victim, then the defendant will be forced to pay damages. If she continues to feed the wildlife, then I don't see a problem with her being arrested.

But IMO the first step ( after nicely asking her to stop ) is to sue her.

Then the only cops involved is the civil department at the sheriffs office.

[pcosmar]

[Todd]

Being in Nuisance wildlife, I wonder how much damage her neighbors were suffering from wildlife getting in their basements, attics, and tearing up their property.

They probably asked multiple times for her to stop feeding the animals, or to at least pay for some of the damage, which she probably refused. Then, the neighbors reported her to police.

I have seen this exact situation happen at least twenty times in my line of work. When my clients' homes are repeatedly being assaulted by starlings, rats, raccoons, squirrels, opossums, skunks, feral cats, and even bears, causing thousands of dollars of damage to the houses, and the person in the neighborhood who is feeding the animals and artificially expanding their population beyond naturally sustainable levels refuses to take any responsibility for the damage those animals are causing, as much as I hate advising it, sometimes getting the law involved is necessary.

These are always elderly women, usually widowed, and can be often accurately depicted by the "crazy cat lady" figure in the Simpson's cartoon.

^
Getting ready to say the same thing. If these Bears were in her yard and her neighbors are in close proximity, and I happened to be here neighbor, then chances are they are crossing my property at some point to get to hers. If I'm her neighbor, then my kids play in my yard. Is she not putting them at direct risk? A Bear is a Predator, not a deer or a play toy.

[tod evans]

^
Getting ready to say the same thing. If these Bears were in her yard and her neighbors are in close proximity, then chances are they are crossing my property at some point to get to hers. If I'm her neighbor, then my kids play in my yard. Is she not putting them at direct risk? A Bear is a Predator, not a deer or a play toy.

Deer can be quite hazardous in close quarters...

[pcosmar]

A Bear is a Predator, not a deer or a play toy.

And Bears are Scavengers,, not Predators.

[pcosmar]

More Florida Bears.





The bears are not moving into the suburbs,, The suburbs are moving into the bears home.

[kcchiefs6465]

Lmao.

[Todd]

For those of you who can't distinguish between the danger of a Bear and a Deer, I'm sorry. I don't know too many people that $#@! bricks when they see a Deer walk through their yards but then I'm open to the possibility that you all just have more dangerous encounters with your local deer population than I have.

[MelissaWV]

For those of you who can't distinguish between the danger of a Bear and a Deer, I'm sorry. I don't know too many people that $#@! bricks when they see a Deer walk through their yards but then I'm open to the possibility that you all just have more dangerous encounters with your local deer population than I have.

Look up how many people die or are seriously injured during encounters with deer versus bears. Many of those encounters involve vehicles, but some do not, and deer can and will leap through glass, get really angry at your car, fight your pets, and come at you with their antlers... which are no joke.

* * *

Bears can be a hell of a nuisance, yeah, but so can a lot of other animals. It's what happens when people build near "wildlife preserves" and other green areas, mostly. I live in one of those areas but the wildlife doesn't bother me. We have wood piggies digging up our yard on a regular basis (they are probably rooting for acorns, which fall from nearby trees), and they are not gentle about it. We have snakes, which is good because they keep down the plague-level frog population around the house. We have raccoons, armadillos, possums (gross), gators in the nearby creeks and lakes, hawks, vultures, bats, fire ants, skeeters, deer, foxes, squirrels, rats, big ole honkin' spiders, bunnies, turkeys, and other things I can't recall off the top of my head. Idiots are going to feed some of those at any given time, particularly the gators. They become less afraid of people and associate them with food. Not a good combination if you have kids.

I don't think jail's a good answer to this, do you? The animals are still going to come around for a time, not to mention they're now more likely to get hungry and desperate since she is no longer feeding them.

[oyarde]

God Bless her.

I can only hope to be resisting arrest at 81.

Hell yes .

[oyarde]

I hung about 4 hummingbird feeders around my back porch last spring and it was hilarious. The birds started fighting over them and would zoom at each other and get their beaks stuck in the screen. I'm going to move them next summer because it made getting into the house from the pool...interesting. I think we had about 40 or 50 of them - it got kind of expensive and tedious feeding them.

Right now I have a house wren problem, they've built a nest in my garage and come in the garage through my doggie door, seriously. I'm going have to get video, I've never seen birds use a doggie door before.

Were the the officers ok?

My wrens in the garage fly in and out of a couple windows I leave open.Then I have more that nest on the back porch .

[MelissaWV]

My wrens in the garage fly in and out of a couple windows I leave open.Then I have more that nest on the back porch .

The wrens here can't get in and out of (or around... long story) our garage easily, so we sacrifice decorative items for them. A pair made a nest in some of our front porch lamps, and were pretty cozy except the male never came back one day and the female had to abandon the nest permanently. It happens. A previous year we had some adorable little mockingbirds that nested in our front door wreath. The best part is that it's one of those doors with a big glass panel in the middle of each side, so we could very gently pull aside the curtain and be within an inch of the pinfeathered nest occupants. Honestly, front door wreaths are great for harboring birdies They grew up fine and all three left the nest on schedule.

[Lindsey]

A typical bear nuisance problem isn't $#@!. It's demolished storage sheds $3000 in damage... Broken windows $500 a piece... Wrecked trash cans $150 and $50 litter pickup... It's Destroyed landscaping such as ponds, retaining walls, and decorative plants which may have cost tens of thousands to install. These are big expenses. I deal with these things every day.

I have seen one raccoon mother do over $12,000 worth of damage to a house. I have seen river otters do over $20,000 of damage. Squirrels, over $15,000. Rats, over $30,000. It's not little $#@!.

Is this covered by home insurance? WHy would it not be a civil as opposed to criminal matter?

[Icymudpuppy]

Most insurance will not cover pests of any kind. Allstate, Pemco, Safeco, and Heritage usually will. Farmers does on their deluxe policies. The rest do not. When damages exceed $2000 plaintiffs can seek both civil and criminal charges.

Also, most insurance adjusters will look for reasons to escape the penalties. Their policies usually have exclusions for "neighbor's pets" which puts the onus for damages on the neighbor's policy. Since wildlife that are being fed and semi tamed can be considered pets, the insurance company will require the homeowner to seek damage from their neighbor's policy. If their crazy cat lady neighbor's insurance (if they have any) refuses to pay, and crazy cat lady has no assets, then you're back to square one, hoping that you can force criminal charges to get her to stop creating the problem in the first place. Which obviously happened already in this case since the crazy animal feeder was given a cease and desist order a year prior.