A letter regarding bear baiting urges Mainers to be honest, but the author fashions falsehoods to bolster weak arguments (“Bears taken over bait face humane way to die,” Aug. 1). Anyone who believes there’s no cruelty in baiting should watch one YouTube video of this cowardly practice.
As if shooting a bear while she’s gorging on doughnuts isn’t bad enough, these piles of human food concentrate wildlife – increasing opportunities for disease transmission.
Raccoons frequent these sites, which can become a source of rabies transfer. Furthermore, female bears with cubs are more likely to feed on bait, which can lead to conflicts with males that sometimes prey on cubs.
It’s time we end this practice, which doesn’t resemble what Maine hunting should be. To be clear, voting “yes” on Question 1 does not prohibit bear hunting in Maine. Vote “yes” on Question 1 to ban baiting, hounding and trapping of bears.
Amy Ashe
Scarborough
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.