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eu_sou_ninguem t1_j4tsu9w wrote

That's really tragic. I'm not sure, since the article doesn't mention it, but the bear was probably looking for food. Here in Manitoba, we have Churchill which is known as the polar bear capital of the world. You can see polar bears digging through trash and it's absolutely heartbreaking.

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TimeTravelMishap t1_j4ttv0b wrote

Isn't that the town where you have to keep all cars unlocked incase someone needs to get away from a bear?

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eu_sou_ninguem t1_j4tu21a wrote

That's the one!

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AwesomeBrainPowers t1_j4tyrbn wrote

I have questions (which you may or may not be able to answer):

  • Is petty, car-related crime like radio theft a problem there?

  • At what level of "persistent threat of polar bear attack" do (or should) area residents recognize a problem that is probably best resolved by ceding the land back to the local (huge and predatory) wildlife?

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mtarascio t1_j4u3rtc wrote

Everyone knows everyone in these communities and it's not like people can just drive a town over to them.

You'd be more likely to have someone find a spare and install without asking you.

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gnarfler t1_j4u0cp0 wrote

I guess that it’s so remote the community is so small that living out there requires trust and cooperation.

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AwesomeBrainPowers t1_j4u0fa9 wrote

> trust and cooperation

Sorry, I'm American; can you translate that from Canadian for me?

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gnarfler t1_j4u18xq wrote

“Well what you got there son is a wild liberal on the loose. I don’t blame ya if you wanna try to shoot it, not at all. What we do round here is leave our cars unlocked in case that liberal gets too vicious. We can all hear your cries for help so don’t bother tryna steal anything cause we’ll know who done it. They call that trust and cooperation round here.”

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Khaldara t1_j4v8c4t wrote

“Now see here, sharing a resource for the safety and common good of the community’s inhabitants sounds like that there commusocialisms that Tucker told me was the devil in between cash for gold ads and bemoaning the loss of the Snickers dick vein! What if onna them gays or a brown person needs to escape from a polar bear? No siree, no thank you. We ain’t doin that. I’d rather be eviscerated, you know, to own the libs!”

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WalkerBRiley t1_j50nle1 wrote

Yea this is more believable over the prior one. Republicans in the states would be more likely to lock you out of the car to distract the bear from themselves than let you in to save both of you.

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NeverSober1900 t1_j4vrfnf wrote

This is pretty standard in rural Alaska as well it's not just a Canadian thing. When the weather can kill you and you know most of the people around you people in general are very willing to help.

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turdballer69 t1_j4wffds wrote

Is there a Trust and Cooperation, Alaska like there’s a Truth or Consequence, New Mexico?

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2459-8143-2844 t1_j4v1vzc wrote

Do people steal car radios anymore? Can you even remove the radios in New cars like the old ones?

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fighttodie t1_j4u07hn wrote

Oh silly humans don't cede shit. If anything the question is how long until they get culled

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LowBornArcher t1_j4wbh6z wrote

"ceding the land back", well the indigenous people who have lived there for 1000's of years might have something to say about that. We are part of nature, not somehow above it, and we don't have to apologize for merely existing.

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Elipticalwheel1 t1_j4um66w wrote

Yep, Polar Bears have to eat, if the human invade there territory and eat all there food, what else do they expect.

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Omegalazarus t1_j4u019y wrote

Or sitting the herd for the good of the rest. Like I seriously mean responsibly doing it not talking about just destroying the polar bears.

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marasydnyjade t1_j4xsfpp wrote

Fun fact: this village - Wales - doesn’t have any cars.

It’s only accessible by plane/helicopter, boat or snowmobile in the winter.

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LegalAction t1_j4ysqse wrote

What keeps the planes, helicopters, and boats away in the summer?

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marasydnyjade t1_j4yufur wrote

Okay, I admit I was missing some punctuation there.

However, oddly enough, Wales is a couple miles(?) from Big/Little Diomede and Little Diomede, which is the US island, is only accessible by helicopter/boat (year-round, weather permitting) or plane (only in winter). It can only be accessed by plane in the winter because the straight between the Diomede islands ices over and a plane can use that as a runway. Otherwise there isn’t a runway on Little Diomede.

I’ve been to the village of Wales (twice) and it was unbelievable how remote the village was. Wales also happens to be the westernmost part of the U.S.

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david4069 t1_j4z3x2m wrote

> or plane (only in winter). It can only be accessed by plane in the winter because the straight between the Diomede islands ices over and a plane can use that as a runway. Otherwise there isn’t a runway on Little Diomede.

It's been many years since they were able to do that. Now it's all helicopter.

> Wales also happens to be the westernmost part of the U.S.

Perhaps the westernmost part of the continental US, but there are many occupied places further west, such as Diomede, Saint Lawrence Island, and the western parts of the Aleutians.

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marasydnyjade t1_j4z3ztp wrote

Yes, continental U.S. I’m fucking shit up left and right today.

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Hakuryuu2K t1_j4vmvdx wrote

I think they do that in most villages in Alaska where Polar Bears wonder into town. They did this in Utqiagvik where I was based for a few months

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taybay462 t1_j4tzu2b wrote

Another side effect of climate change. Apex predators suffer, will become more desperate and seek out lesser preferred food sources. Apocalypse: predators turn on humans is a new, interesting fear

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immalittlepiggy t1_j4tts4o wrote

I’m not experienced with polar bears, but I do live in an area with a lot of black bears. Almost every time one comes into a town it’s found digging through a dumpster with food in it.

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Blenderx06 t1_j4tuu8g wrote

Sure but it's a different situation with polar bears, who rely on getting out on the sea ice to hunt their main sources of food. With global warming, they are literally starving.

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Doright36 t1_j4u6k3y wrote

Black Bears are not as aggressive as Polar Bears. If they attack you it's most likely either starving to death or protecting cubs. Not saying you should feel safe dancing in your knickers in front of one but you are much more likely to have a polar bear rip your face off if it sees you than a Black Bear which will most likely just waddle off into the woods giving you passive aggressive looks over it's shoulder.

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CryptidGrimnoir t1_j4umrrq wrote

Attacks in defense of their cubs are actually fairly rare--black bears are more apt to chase their cubs up a tree and then stand their ground.

Black bear attacks tend to be predation or defending a food source--which is why if attacked by a black bear, you must fight back with everything you've got.

Grizzly bears are more aggressive, so they do tend to attack for defensive reasons, but in that case, the best defensive action is to play dead.

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bird1979 t1_j4upb73 wrote

I've heard if the bear is Black, attack. if Brown, lay down. White, goodnight.

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Jbow89 t1_j4wh0z5 wrote

I think the saying is "if black fight back". You should never attack a black bear minding it's own business lol.

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bird1979 t1_j4y09ve wrote

I knew I would get something wrong in there but yes, unprovoked attacks on bears are certainly a bad for everyone involved.

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LowBornArcher t1_j4wc7yp wrote

Fellow Manitoban...one of the more interesting bear related stories I've seen over the last few years if the re-establishment of Grizzly bears in Northern MB. Was another great story about how the polar bears around Hudson bay are learning to hunt beluga whales!

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infinus5 t1_j4w4enc wrote

Bears in general are scavengers so it's not unusual to see them snooping through garbage. What sucks is when people leave their garbage out so bears get at it.

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