Outlaw Country, Medieval Edition



It's a tune still used by British intelligence on their 'numbers stations' out North Korea way.



It's the right season for it. But don't come out poaching my way; not of the bears, at least. If I catch you with a deer, that's one thing and I might share it with you, but if you kill a bear on my land you'd best not let me find you. All bears are under my special protection.

3 comments:

Eric Blair said...

I've seen interviews with the inhabitants of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, bitterly criticizing the Park Service for enforcing the "Don't hunt the Bears" rules they have up there.

Curious.

Grim said...

I don't think anyone still lives in the park boundaries, although for a while they did. Black bears aren't especially difficult to live with, though, if you understand them. I like the things; I think they're intelligent and communicative, and I'm glad they exist.

If you don't like them, well, they're not that hard to avoid. Move to the city.

douglas said...

Mostly just keep your trash secured. If people could just remember that simple task, most of the problem would just go away.

Our local scout camp has a familiar family of bears (generically referred to as "Humphrey" for a bear that used to live there), and I've seen them a number of times. They're usually there to cool off in the pond, or maybe find some food someone left unattended, but usually not. Everyone knows how to deal with them, and they're never much more than a temporary inconvenience. As it should be.

Mammoth Lakes in the Sierra Nevada has more than 30 bears living within the city limits, and plenty more in the surrounding areas. They're occasionally troublesome, but again, if people remember to secure their food properly, and their trash, it's much less likely. I didn't like having to carry a bear canister when I was backpacking in the Sierra, but it's now required for good reason. Mostly it's the tourists who forget to latch the dumpster, and that sort of thing. Friend of mine took the trash out to the dumpster and as he was approaching, a bear popped it's head up out of there- someone had left it unsecured. Both of them were rather surprised- and the bear took off like Usain Bolt.