On Saturday, I stopped by Les Schwab because I had low tire pressure. Ed always has the TV on, but instead of Judge Judy or an infomercial, I saw a presidential candidate surrounded by a bunch of people in dark suits. The sound and captions were off. Then I saw blood on the side of his face and I still didn’t make the connection. Why is there blood on the side of his face? I asked a woman sitting in the lobby, but she didn’t respond and went back to reading her magazine.
It reminds me of my grandmother who, in 2001, thought the replay of the World Trade Center towers collapsing was a movie clip. One day you think you live in a normal society and the next day you don’t.
This is the Methow Valley Examiner, not the World Examiner, but the wind, sooner or later, blows things this way. I’ll let the myriad media options be the source for this information and I’ll bring it back locally.
This year, Methow Valley experienced its first murder in 15 years. That article has received the most views, by far, of any story in the Examiner thus far. I wonder if it’s because the victim was so well-loved, because people are interested in crime, or both.
The way we treat the least among us is a reflection of our society. I’m sure someone said that. I had planned to write about another killing that disturbed me.
In the June 27 issue of MVN, Ann McCreary reported that a young adult male black bear was killed because it was acting strangely. Quoting a WDFW officer, the bear was panting heavily and walked in circles at a DOT gravel pit on Mundy Road. Officers determined it was suffering “from some undetermined illness,” so they killed it.
You could have easily skipped past the article. It had the banal headline, “Local bear sitings ‘not out of the ordinary’ for this time of year.”
Is that really the story?
McCreary’s article reminded me of a golden eagle earlier this year that was also acting strangely.
A civilian couple took the eagle to the Forest Service, who was advised to put it outside, in December, “to see if it might recover.” With difficulty and probably a lot of pain, the bird tried to walk up the hill back to the district office. At least 24 hours later, a recreation program manager called a wildlife biologist, who said the bird didn’t have any injuries but might need rehabilitation. Five relay teams delivered the bird from Winthrop to PAWS in Lynnwood. It was there that a wildlife veterinarian suspected lead poisoning and a blood test confirmed it. Despite treatment with chelation, the bird’s condition did not improve and it was euthanized.
Millions of animals die this way each year, according to McCreary. If that’s the case, why don’t our local professionals know the symptoms of lead poisoning? We are, after all, a hunting area.
And now, the bear. It was panting. It was walking around in circles. Let’s shoot it.
When asked what the bear was suffering from, a wildlife officer said, “The list of possibilities is endless — disease, starvation, heat exhaustion, head trauma, internal injuries, poisoned, etc.,”
Etc.? I guess we really can’t be bothered these days. They called it euthanasia, as if this is compassionate.
I don’t claim to be a wildlife expert. I am sure there are policies and procedures in place for situations like this. Something just doesn’t sit right. You know when an expert is talking and you just want to ask, what is the matter with you?
This past weekend, I had considerable discussion, by email and text, with a friend who believes humans need to dominate the entire planet and live in cooperation with the animal kingdom. This is the same person that opposes reintroduction of wolves or grizzlies. I guess “domination” and “cooperation” don’t go together. Let’s be honest- what is our modus operandi? We take and we shoot. Who are we kidding?
WDFW says as much. McCreary reports in her article that the WDFW will only shoot a bear that’s a nuisance.
For the record, I am not comparing attempted assassinations on presidential candidates to shooting wildlife. These are very different categories. I’m just saying- we don’t need to shoot people or things we don’t like or that are a nuisance. Who are the real animals here?