Bear safety, Keep your beer off the porch :)

[The Straight Story]

Flashlight mostly ignores the tourism propaganda, but bear safety is something that gets our public interest instincts growling. (Okay, so maybe it was the salmon we ate Monday, after finding freezer pack labeled “August ’08”—something was growling.) So here goes: Don’t leave beer out on your porch to keep it cool (see photo).

This year’s coolest bear safety announcement is for moviemakers, amateurs included. Join the propaganda fray by producing a bear safety video and you could win a trip to Katmai National Park. The Anchorage Bear Committee is running the contest. They’re a committee of city and state officials formed to protect bears from people, and people from bears. They want the videos submitted on DVD by May 1, and they only accept videos less than five minutes long.

Leaving beer on the porch could also attract bears but Flashlight notes that the owner of the photo we’ve published says that’s an empty box of Budweiser Select the black bear is sniffing. Anchorage Police Department spokesman Lt. Dave Parker emailed the photo to local media last week, doing his part for bear safety propaganda. In a subsequent email Lt. Parker assured Flashlight the beer box was empty (yes, that’s his porch), and noted that bears “prefer Select 2-to-1 over light beer.”

http://www.anchoragepress.com/articles/2009/04/08/news/doc49dd4f75ac2b2835306384.txt

[depakid]

1. Reminds me of this story: Bear downs 36 beers, passes out at campground

BAKER LAKE -- Rain-eeeeer ... Bear?

When state Fish and Wildlife agents recently found a black bear passed out on the lawn of Baker Lake Resort, there were some clues scattered nearby -- dozens of empty cans of Rainier Beer.

The bear apparently got into campers' coolers and used his claws and teeth to puncture the cans. And not just any cans. "He drank the Rainier and wouldn't drink the Busch beer," said Lisa Broxson, bookkeeper at the campground and cabins resort east of Mount Baker.

Fish and Wildlife enforcement Sgt. Bill Heinck said the bear did try one can of Busch, but ignored the rest. "He didn't like that (Busch) and consumed, as near as we can tell, about 36 cans of Rainier."

A wildlife agent tried to chase the bear from the campground, but the animal just climbed a tree to sleep it off for four hours. Agents finally herded the bear away, but it returned the next morning. Agents then used a large, humane trap to capture it for relocation, baiting the trap with the usual: doughnuts, honey and, in this case, two open cans of Rainier. That did the trick.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/186757_beerbear18.html

[The Straight Story]

2. Now there is a bear I can party with

But if I wake up naked and all scratched up I ain't telling anyone :)

[depakid]

4. I though it was hilarious that he wouldn't drink the Busch beer

(especially when the only other choice was Ranier). Gak.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. This has nothing to do with your post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rmwEyIBBQM

but I was reminded of the first segment in this Firesign Theatre sketch.

[Initech]

5. Quick! Somebody forward this to Stephen Colbert!