Editor:

I feel it necessary to respond to the article in last week鈥檚 paper 鈥淐ommunity grieves mama bear and three cubs鈥�.

I was the one that called the conservation officer (CO) to have the bear removed from our property. This bear has been hanging around for three years and has been allowed to migrate through my family鈥檚 property uninhibited for two of those years.

The locals thought it was just a dumb male bear that was harmless as did we. This year 鈥渉e鈥� gave birth to three cubs. While the owners - my family, were at their summer home as well as more family and my wife we encountered this bear and her cubs in very close proximity at least five times over three days.

Twice we were chased back into the house as she was unafraid of us. We tried to scare her off with yelling and eventually an air horn. This just annoyed her and she then stood up and began snapping her teeth as a warning to us to leave her alone. This event occurred 30 feet from six of us who were sitting in the sundeck talking loudly and visiting. After this she placed her cubs in the willows 150 feet from us, walked between us and the lake, around the corner to the adjoining property and proceeded to kill a newborn fawn deer.

This occurred within 200 feet from our home. She then packed the fawn across our lawn and ate it in the willows. She then recovered her cubs and proceeded to casually have a drink and walk her cubs back past us there again chasing us into the safety of our home.

Not once in the three days she hung around us did she even attempt to chase her cubs up a tree so obviously she was not afraid of us and therefore teaching them to not be afraid.

This is when I felt it necessary to call the CO and ask for the bear to be removed. I think the bear had become accustomed to humans and treated like a pet instead of the wild animal it was. This, I believe, is the problem. I have the greatest respect for bears as long as they are not a danger to the public.

Mark Martin