Whitesnake, Black Bear
Everyone is a critic, even in the Animal Uprising™. The lead singer for big hair metal band Whitesnake is under siege by black bears in his Lake Tahoe, Nevada home. David Coverdale has had bear peeping toms, bear burglars and even bear pool guests. And he says it is becoming unbearable.
The British singer, formerly of Deep Purple, said bear attacks had become a "daily worry" and that authorities had warned he may have to move out.
His first face-to-face encounter with a bear came in July, as he was "rinsing a cup or two at the kitchen sink".
"I don't mind telling you I almost succumbed to an involuntary bowel movement," Coverdale told fans online…….
……The most recent incident saw a different bear break into the house though a sliding glass door, which had been left ajar by a guest.
The animal also took the opportunity to swim in the singer's pool.
"We now have a big bear trap in the garden," said Coverdale.
"For some reason, I don't think these guys care for rock!"
The Lake Tahoe area, on the border of California and Nevada, is experiencing a rise in bear home invasions.
And yes, indeed, bears are going bonkers all over the area. In fact, in another incident a black bear burglar was killed by police after it tried to attack an officer.
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – A 600-pound bear that wandered into a Lake Tahoe home through an open window early Thursday was shot and killed after lunging at a Washoe County sheriff's deputy.
Authorities said the homeowner called for help after finding the bear in the main part of the Incline Village home around 5:30 a.m., then hid with other family members in a master bedroom.
When Sgt. Erik Frederickson and deputies Jason Wood and Randy Vawters arrived a few minutes later, they first opened the garage door to give the bear an escape route.
Then Frederickson looked through the open dining room window and saw the bear just as the bear spotted him.
The animal growled and charged through the window at the officer, who shot the bear with a shotgun at close range, the sheriff's office said.
The rise in bear problems is being attributed to bears becoming perfectly comfortable with humans. Why? Well, it is at least partly because some dunder-headed idiots insist on feeding the bears - because they "love" them. This in turn virtually ensures that the human-habituated bears will, at some point, need to be killed.
By T Kelso, Sunday, 5 August , 2007 @ 8:36 pm
As if the bears weren’t enough…California has also enjoyed an increase in mountain lion attacks on people (including numerous deaths) since the mid-90s. The lions were over-hunted and regularly killed on sight through the 1st part of the 20th century. The population was severely depleted and in danger. However, after several decades of very strong protection into the 90s, populations rebounded; there were actually too many of the big cats.
In 1994 the state voted on a ballot proposition to reinstate hunting for the big cats (with license, seasons, limitations, etc.); and the measure was soundly defeated by all my sensitive and caring California neighbors. I remember an Orange County Deputy District Attorney calling me “a tool of the NRA” for supporting the measure. I hope he hasn’t known any of those attacked or killed in Orange County over the last 10 years.