The Editor,
Re. "Bow hunter got bear" (The Tri-City News, June 15).
It seems there are hunting licences being issued to people in this area and they are apparently getting permission from the farmers to "hunt" the fields to rid their blueberry fields of bears that feed on their crops.
If the farmers were truly concerned about the bears raiding their crop, they would take proper precautions and erect full, functioning and effective electric fences. Some do not have anything and the rest are ineffective, poorly constructed or even turned off.
It is interesting to note bee hives placed in these fields for pollination have their own electric fences around them that deter bears. I have never seen a bee hive overturned by a bear in the seven years I have been walking the area. Bears are attracted to the hives for the larva in them. Maybe the farmers could take a lesson or two from Dr. Bee on how to protect their property.
The point of all this is that if the farmers did their best to keep the bears away, there would be far fewer issues with bears in the Minnekhada area.
We possibly would not have the issue of a bear being shot and injured, then having to be tracked down and killed because of poor skills of the hunters.
No animal deserves that kind of treatment.
Philip Warburton,Port Coquitlam
