By Palmer Short
St. Augustine Record
Dead bears, orphan cubs Editor: My heart sagged when I heard that three of the bears killed (in last week’s Florida bear hunting season) were lactating. That meant that somewhere some cubs will die from lack a of nourishment. How many more mothers were killed? How many more cubs will die a horrible death from starvation? Years ago, my older brother, an avid hunter and fisherman and a member of the National Rifle Association, confessed to me that he could no longer kill a living thing. All the mounted birds and antlers were gone from his walls. He said maybe I should get a camera and shoot them that way.
I’ll admit I went dove hunting with him once and it was exciting. I knocked down two the first time around and went to pick them up. They were still warm to the touch, their eyes wide open.
The next time they came over, I just shot in the opposite direction hoping no one saw me. We killed about 20 that day and gave them all to the farmer who let us use his land.
My conscience was somewhat salved, knowing that the farmer’s family would benefit from our shoot, but I never went hunting again.
If there are too many bears in Florida I’m sure some state would give them sanctuary. Can we give it a try?
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