On June 2, a black bear was spotted in a backyard near Sierra Vista, also meaning that it was spotted near the Huachuca Mts. The bear became frightened as people and game officials gathered, and it climbed a tree. Seeking sanctuary in a tree in someone’s backyard, unlike in the forest, is to seek sanctuary in a dead end, sometimes literally. Consequently, it was deemed necessary to ‘tranquilize’ the bear rather than tranquilize the onlookers, and it was reported that the bear only suffered a bloody nose from tumbling out of the tree. Do bears suffer? Have you ever seen a bear stretched out and skinned? They have an eerie resemblance to humans. I have also watched them at play.
Cookie-cutter backyards make for poor bear habitat. This particular bear was transported to the Peloncillo Mts. along the N.M. border. This is the probable origin of the concept of lateral deportation that the Border Patrol is fond of. Do you know that there are months when twenty or more bodies of migrants will be found in the desert who die of exposure? These people are as related to cartel members or terrorists as a black bear is to a killer whale. In case you were wondering about this...
Did you hear about the migrant teenager killed near El Paso after he threw rocks at an agent who probably could have responded by flipping him the finger and walking or driving away? This story had gotten a lot of attention for a few days and it is unclear exactly what happened, at least to me, but a very similar incident happened here in Cochise County about six months ago. It was witnessed by other agents so we can be assured of two things; the rock was thrown and the agent had help if he chose not to kill the migrant. But he did choose to kill him. And he did kill him. And the investigation was dropped the week before a rancher was shot and killed near to the same location. There is probably not a direct connection in the way we commonly think of direct connections but many a wise man and woman, black, white, or otherwise, has realized that violence breeds more violence. Sad, isn’t it? You know the saying, ”Stop this train, I want to get off.” Lets change ‘I’ to ‘We’, shall we? Communal nightmares only end with communal awakenings.
Two weeks before the bear we were talking about was deported, another one that was rummaging around in free boxes, otherwise know as trash cans, in the Ramsey Canyon area, also in the foothills of the Huachuca’s, was euthanized. Killed. Studies show that bears that are laterally deported are more likely to die than survive for the simple reason that if the habitat could support another bear, there would most likely already be another bear there. I guess that is why they called it euthanizing, being that it seems to be less painful than dooming them to starve to death.
I hike often in the Huachuca Mts. and have encountered both migrants and bears. When I meet up with immigrants in those high mountains, I am reminded that I belong to the family of man. When I meet up with bears, I am reminded that I belong to an even larger family of worthy beings. I am grateful for being born into this world, although I lament for the exploited and those cast aside.
So, I have searched for an enemy and found that it is I, and it is you. It is nature-lovers who want to live in the mountains or deserts with privacy. It is the animal-lover who projects their emotionally driven ideals into game management decisions. It is the righteous who find justification for dominion over all livings beings. It is the lover of cheap clothing and beach resorts. It is all of us who can be more mindful, less fearful, and more respectful. Those bearing the brunt of punishment are at the end of a long chain of causes. Is the bear to blame for seeking food, or an immigrant for seeking employment?
I really don’t know what else to say. I wish I knew something that no one has thought of before. I am sad for these things. I am compelled to ask hard questions, endlessly if necessary. I know that what little empowerment I have hinges on taking responsibility for it all, regardless of how easy it would be to lay it on someone else’s doorstep. I believe wholeheartedly that the vitality of life on Earth depends on diversity and that people do not deserve or need to be killed for throwing rocks.
