According to the Humane Society of the United States, Maine is the only state that still allows the trapping of bears. According to the bear facts information sheet posted on the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website, “Most states permit the use of bait, hound, or traps to harvest a black bear.”
A state-by-state search of the database at www.bancrueltraps.com, reveals that Maine is the only state to use traps for bears, with zero in 1986, increasing to 130 bears caught in traps in 2003. The Sacramento Bee reported on Jan. 4 that it became illegal to use dogs to chase bears and bobcats in California in 2013. According to the website www.care2.com, 17 states still permit the use of dogs to hunt bears, while 15 states have banned hunting hounds. In the remaining 18 states, it is illegal to hunt bears at all. The HSUS reports that bear baiting is legal in only 12 states.
The Maine IF&W advises hunters on its website to “try to get about 5-10 lbs of back pressure against the trigger [of a snare trap] as this allows most cubs, coons and other small animals to pass over the set, keeping the snare set for your target of a larger bear.”
One might ask, what about those animals that don’t pass over the trap? Opponents of trapping claim that trapping is barbaric; laws regulating trapping are often ignored; and there is little oversight. Non-targeted animals, such as dogs, cats, bear cubs, raccoons, bobcats or lynx (an endangered species), die a slow, agonizing death in an ever-tightening snare trap or fall prey to a passing animal before they die.
The hunting of black bears in Maine is big business. Type the words “black bear hunting” in a search engine and you will come up with numerous websites for bear hunting outfitters in Maine. Maine bear hunters and guides make money off the out-of-state hunters who come into this state because they can’t hunt a bear this way anywhere else. The opponents of the fair black bear hunt accuse the proponents of accepting “out of state” money from the HSUS, but what about the websites of the Sportsman’s Alliance and other lobbying groups who accept money from major advertisers on their websites?
Bear baiting season officially opens in this state on July 27, during which time hunters will dump tons of pizza crusts, doughnuts and stale pastries into the wilderness, habituating the bears to the scent of humans associated with junk food and increasing the number of nuisance bears attracted to human habitats.
There is no justification for killing bears with the use of bait, dogs and traps. Vote yes on the statewide ballot initiative this November to ban the inhumane practices of bear hounding, baiting and trapping, except to protect property, public safety or for research.
Valerie Philbrick, Old Orchard Beach
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