Pennsylvania Game News - August 2013 - 9

the puppet master of a very weird,
marionette. Holding the waist of the
dancing legs, Mel did his best to avoid
getting doughnut jelly and icings on
his uniform. Satisfied that maximum
pantyhose capacity had been met,
Tim tied it off with a knot at the waist.
Reversing ends, the deformed legs were
knotted together at the ankles.
The bear trap’s rear guillotine-style
trap door was the full circumference of
the pipe and was raised above the pipe’s
end to lock open inside a metal frame.
At the front end of the trap, a small
hinged door provided access to the trap
door’s trigger mechanism. This is where
the sophisticated pantyhose bait offering was secured to the trap’s trigger.
The bear was then lured to the
waiting trap with a trail of the confectionery delights strewn seemingly
haphazardly. Munching its way slowly
to the trap’s open door, the bear’s
view inside was of the pearly gates of
doughnut heaven. At the other end
of this dimly lit, den-like space, lay
a tantalizingly aromatic mother lode
of doughnuts. The combination of
that sight with the sickening sweet
doughnut bouquet, further enhanced
by the calming, persuasive odor of the
previous trapped occupant’s urine and
dung, created an olfactory and visual
temptation beyond what even the most

resistant bear could bear.
Stepping through the door’s opening
and into the trap, the bear’s paws closed
the gap to the incredible pile of sugary
treats that hid the trigger mechanism.
These piled doughnuts were different
from those that the bear had eaten on
the trail. They were encased in some
sort of impenetrable, flexible container
that oozed jelly through its webbing,
and retained the meat of the doughnut.
Bears are not critters to be denied
a delectable morsel and are very well
equipped to peel back the quarter
panel of an old vehicle to dine on the
contents of a 50-pound bag of chicken
feed stored in its trunk. This should
have been easier for the bear. The hose
stretched, but held its contents.
A tug or two should have released
the desired sweets, but the panty hose
held. Refusing to lose the battle, the
bear employed another stronger tug
that triggered the release of the heavy
steel door that dropped immediately
with the aid of gravity and its own
weight, banging shut.
Another bear was trapped. Another
quota was met. Collected data confirms
many bears are trapped repeatedly and
that the work is indispensible to bear
management. But few people know the
role the pantyhose have played in the
management of our black bears.

Cover Painting by SCott CalPino
THE golden-winged warbler breeds in southeastern and south-central
Canada and the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern to northcentral U.S. Golden-winged warbler populations are generally declining
across their range, most likely as a result of habitat loss and competition/interbreeding with the closely related blue-winged warbler. For
more about golden-winged warblers, read the State Wildlife Action
Plan article on page 14.
AUGUST 2013

Pennsylvania Game News - August 2013

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