You guys should see all the wrecked cars in Jersey! Total mess. Nasty creatures. I found this on Newark Star Ledger:



Track down bears on the Internet
ALLAN HOFFMAN
FOR THE STAR-LEDGER
625 words
28 May 2006
The Star-Ledger
FINAL
2
English
(c) 2006 The Star-Ledger. All rights reserved.

Apparently no one told the bears about New Jersey's "bear exclusion zones."

With bear country extending into communities such as Irvington and Short Hills, more and more people from the state's cities and suburbs are asking themselves questions about bears showing up in back yards.

What should you do if you encounter a bear? How fast can they run? And what is the difference, anyway, between a grizzly and a black bear?

Answers to questions like these are online.


Wildlife authorities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania both offer no-nonsense advice for what to do.

New Jersey's Division of Fish and Wildlife offers a variety of publications about bears ( www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearinfo.htm ), including one, "Be Bear Aware," with some sensible advice for encounters. "Do not feed the bear!" the experts caution. "Make sure the bear has an escape route."

"Living with Black Bears," a pamphlet available from the Pennsylvania Game Commission ( www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc , then follow the links for wildlife and bears), includes a section labeled "What to do if you meet a bear." Once you have a laugh at the first tip ("Stay calm"), you will find the rest useful: get back, don't climb or run, pay attention and fight back.

The New Jersey and Pennsylvania pamphlets include these facts about black bears, among many others:

They run up to 35 mph.

They may also be cinnamon or blond in color.

Bear cubs weight just 8 ounces at birth.

The Bear Education and Resource Group, a New Jersey-based advocacy group ( www.savenj bears.com) includes a handy page of "useful links" to resources on topics such as bear-proof garbage containers, sterilization as a way to manage bear populations, and other animal rights organizations. An essay, "Afraid of Bears?" by Lynn Rogers, a well-known bear expert, delves into the ways bears have been demonized and misconceptions about them.

Rogers serves as principal biologist for the Wildlife Research Institute ( www.bearstudy.org ), a nonprofit in Ely, Minn., devoted to bear research. The organization's site includes a "mini-course" about black bears with scores of photographs. The course covers everything from hibernation habits to camping in bear country. It even includes sound files of bears growling and chomping.

A bit farther afield, you will find the International Bear Association ( www.bearbiology.com ), a nonprofit group dedicated to bear conservation. The organization serves bear researchers, but it does offer some helpful resources for people just learning about bears, like descriptions of species of bears, from the giant panda to the sloth bear to the black bears we've got right here in New Jersey.

TECHscan

Sometimes a Web site with a weirdly narrow focus turns out to be compelling in a strange sort of way. That's the case with www.mo jizu.com, a spot for artists (and art fans) to show off and share illustrated characters. Here you'll find Robot Goat, Kitten Parasite, Literary Dog and lots of others seeking your attention - and your ratings.

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