Posted by Ian Mason on October 23, 2012 at 5:02 AM
I recently shared an image of a black bear in a tree, the sighting of which was truly memorable. However, that pleasure was slightly tainted by an experience we encountered while watching it. We were in Estes Park in Rocky Mountain National Park. The area is clearly an international tourist attraction with a well-established ranger service and guiding programme. We were driving through the main street of the town, when we noticed a group of about 20 people watching something, with the usual array of binoculars and lenses, with a ranger directing traffic and observers, ensuring that people maintained their proscribed distance of about 50m. Drawn to this magnet, we also stopped to find out what the attraction was. After about 20 minutes of watching, a car drew alongside and an American lady, presumably local, lowered her window and shouted at everyone to go away and allow the poor bear to come down from the tree of its own free will. She didn’t wait around to engage in conversation. Nobody reacted or even acknowledged that the incident had occurred, but I’m pretty sure that everyone will have questioned their own ethical standards in the same way as I have done. I left after a short time.
I wanted to engage with the lady, to remind her that this is a National Park and effectively a tourist resort. It is very carefully managed and monitored and brings in a huge income to the local area. They market it aggressively. With that setup, the situation she witnessed is inevitable. It was my opinion that she should raise her concerns with her local representatives and if there is a consensus that wildlife is being harmed by their policy, then they should cease to market it. I have to admit though that I have been left with a slight feeling of guilt for intruding on the animals’ privacy. Has anyone else encountered this? Should I now refrain from visiting that area again, or indeed all such setups? Are we acting in a responsible way by going to such locations?
Posted by Luke Ormand on October 23, 2012 at 10:27 AM
Ian,
This is a typical american experience in my opinion. I've been at plenty of rare bird sightings and have respectfully gotten in position to photograph the bird - only to have someone yell at me for "being too close" or for making the bird fly away (even though it had been flitting around for an hour and only moved a few yards) etc. I also lived in a very popular tourist spot where many locals do not tolerate the non-locals who of course flood the area with both money and snobbery.
I can't say for certain if you were acting in a responsible way or not... I wasn't there and it's a judgement call that becomes easier to make with the more experience you have, but I wouldn't put much thought into it.
Posted by Larry Fischer on October 23, 2012 at 2:13 PM
I will wax somewhat philosophical with the bear observation incident.
America is becoming somewhat of a talking-head controlled life, and perhaps the lady who imposed her view by yelling out the window was one...???
Certainly some regulations are needed by government and some are need by ourselves as self-government. It would appear you were between these two forms of control--the government ranger and the perceived values of the lady. I'm pleased to report that in this instance the 'government' was more righteous than the lady. Often it is not that way.
Certainly some animals can be harassed by people and that's often a lack of judgement on the part of people. Then there are the controllers, those who want to make sure everything goes like the want it to go, again, usually those in power trying to make generalities from specifics.
Discernment on both sides is needed, and that, in my opinion, is what is lacking in America--a good dose of common sense. The continued attempt to codify all our actions from everyone about everything won't work.
I don't think you were doing anything wrong; certainly nothing that caused the bear long-lasting harm. We all experience the unexpected and I'm sure wildlife are not different.
The American word for "liberty" is not "license" to do anything. We've bent that word badly.
Actually the original meaning was the assurance of unencumbered travel, or so said Sir William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England, which came to be known as the "Common Law". This was the "Law" upon which the American fundamental 3 rights were defined: Life, Liberty, Property. And yes, it was based on the Christian bible......
With that digression I would say you had the right to travel to see the bear for observation ---- unencumbered --- and I believe most of the time you will have that right to do so again, but with a careful measuring of each occasion using seasoned judgment of your own. We all need to practice civility and ethics but first we need to re-learn what that really entails--usually self-government.
I think it's easy to generalize, but I've run into similar situations all over the world. America has no monopoly on buttheads. I think that you just ran into one on that particular day. I wouldn't read much more into it. Estes Park is a great place to stop in for a meal when visiting RMNP, but I go to these parks to get away from the kinds of crowds that you'll see there. Put enough people together and a Bear up a tree in the middle of town and you have a recipe for stupid things to be said. I think that you'll have a better experience if you go for what you came for. Pack a lunch, take a hike....and get away from it all. Maybe you'll end up with a better story to tell about the Bear that chased YOU up a tree.
Posted by Larry Fischer on October 31, 2012 at 9:10 AM
Discussion
4 repliesI wanted to engage with the lady, to remind her that this is a National Park and effectively a tourist resort. It is very carefully managed and monitored and brings in a huge income to the local area. They market it aggressively. With that setup, the situation she witnessed is inevitable. It was my opinion that she should raise her concerns with her local representatives and if there is a consensus that wildlife is being harmed by their policy, then they should cease to market it. I have to admit though that I have been left with a slight feeling of guilt for intruding on the animals’ privacy. Has anyone else encountered this? Should I now refrain from visiting that area again, or indeed all such setups? Are we acting in a responsible way by going to such locations?
This is a typical american experience in my opinion. I've been at plenty of rare bird sightings and have respectfully gotten in position to photograph the bird - only to have someone yell at me for "being too close" or for making the bird fly away (even though it had been flitting around for an hour and only moved a few yards) etc. I also lived in a very popular tourist spot where many locals do not tolerate the non-locals who of course flood the area with both money and snobbery.
I can't say for certain if you were acting in a responsible way or not... I wasn't there and it's a judgement call that becomes easier to make with the more experience you have, but I wouldn't put much thought into it.
America is becoming somewhat of a talking-head controlled life, and perhaps the lady who imposed her view by yelling out the window was one...???
Certainly some regulations are needed by government and some are need by ourselves as self-government. It would appear you were between these two forms of control--the government ranger and the perceived values of the lady. I'm pleased to report that in this instance the 'government' was more righteous than the lady. Often it is not that way.
Certainly some animals can be harassed by people and that's often a lack of judgement on the part of people. Then there are the controllers, those who want to make sure everything goes like the want it to go, again, usually those in power trying to make generalities from specifics.
Discernment on both sides is needed, and that, in my opinion, is what is lacking in America--a good dose of common sense. The continued attempt to codify all our actions from everyone about everything won't work.
I don't think you were doing anything wrong; certainly nothing that caused the bear long-lasting harm. We all experience the unexpected and I'm sure wildlife are not different.
The American word for "liberty" is not "license" to do anything. We've bent that word badly.
Actually the original meaning was the assurance of unencumbered travel, or so said Sir William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England, which came to be known as the "Common Law". This was the "Law" upon which the American fundamental 3 rights were defined: Life, Liberty, Property. And yes, it was based on the Christian bible......
With that digression I would say you had the right to travel to see the bear for observation ---- unencumbered --- and I believe most of the time you will have that right to do so again, but with a careful measuring of each occasion using seasoned judgment of your own. We all need to practice civility and ethics but first we need to re-learn what that really entails--usually self-government.
Hope you got some neat photos.
Kindest regards, the fisch
The fisch