Animal Writings

A friend was talking about his annual fishing trip in Alaska. He said he went to a popular stream; there were anglers everywhere catching salmon. He told me that he carried a gun to guard against grizzlies. Not that he's gun-happy; I want to be fair. Now he carries some sort of pepper spray as his preferred weapon against bears. He mentioned a couple of incidents in which he tried to thwart a bear who wanted to fish in his favorite spot without resorting to shooting him, but the bear in the end was more determined to fish. My friend was clearly miffed that bears got in the way of his fishing. Also, his general attitude was that grizzlies are mean, dangerous nuisances.

Notwithstanding my opposition to fishing in general, here's how I saw it... I considered the situation from the bear's point of view. The bear has to fish. He's not doing it for "fun." Salmon are an important part of the bear's diet. Here's this great stream, where he can get a good meal. It's lined with people blocking his way and taking his food. Of course he's going to get perturbed. Of course he's going to be determined to get to the stream. Of course it's only a matter of time before he'll use force so he can get to his food.

The conversation was cut short, so I wasn't able to ask my friend, "Why not leave the stream to the grzzlies? Why not watch these magnificent animals catch their food? Why not get pleasure from knowing that you're not interfering with or frustrating the beings who most need the salmon?"

Labels: empathy, fishing, grizzly bears, nearsightedness