New rug...

NOTTINGHAM – A bear that was part of a University of New Hampshire research project was shot and killed by police last month after attempting to enter a woman's home.

Now the researcher directing the project is questioning why state Fish and Game Department officials recommended killing the bear when he believes other methods were possible.

For the record, the bear knocked out a window and was attempting to enter the home when police arrived.

Pete Pekins, a professor of wildlife ecology at UNH's department of natural resources and the environment, is directing the bear research study.

The bear was collared in September in Lee and tracked as it moved through southern New Hampshire, going from as far west as Candia and as far east as Dover and Durham, Pekins said.

At the time of its capture in September the bear weighed 160 pounds though, like many humans this time of year, it has probably put on weight recently. It was captured using a favorite bear treat: jelly-filled doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts.

Originally Pekins wanted to catch several bears for the study, but was unable to and only had the single bear. He said the animal did not have to die.

"You could have just left the bear alone and it probably would have left," he said. "To believe that the bear would have broken into the house, I think that's highly debatable."

I do believe that a prerequisite to being a college professor is that you have to be unhinged without the least bit of a clue as to priorities or common sense. He believed that the bear that knocked out a window with its head would have just gone away...for the all knowing environmentalist professor believes it to be "highly debatable." For those keeping score at home...Professor Pekins would rather gamble on the life of a human than a bear. UNHINGED.

Also, Professor Pekins trapped and collared the bear the previous year by luring it with jelly doughnuts from "Dunkin Donuts." Anyone want to take a stab at the hypocrisy here...and why a bear might get the idea that there might be food in a man-made dwelling...perhaps more of those tasty doughnuts?

On a personal note...I spent a couple of years in the northern part of New Hampshire and saw bears on a regular basis. The first day I moved in (Near Judge Souter's spread) I was warned not to put up any bird feeders because they attracted the bears. The point is that if my goal was to collar bears, I would have more than one on the grid in over a year's study time. Professor Pekins is not only unhinged...he's incompetent to boot.

I know...let's ask Timothy Treadwell to weigh in.

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