Vermont governor chased by 4 bears in backyard

[cali]

Associated Press
Posted: 04/13/2012 09:37:07 AM PDT
Updated: 04/13/2012 09:37:09 AM PDT

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin says he was chased and nearly caught by four bears that were raiding his birdfeeders.

Shumlin says he was in bed in his rented Montpelier home late Wednesday night when he heard what turned out to be four bears in the backyard.

He says he looked out and saw the bears, including two cubs. He tried to chase the bears away, but they kept coming back.

Shumlin says he ran out barefoot in an attempt to rescue his birdfeeders. He says one of the bears charged him on the porch.

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http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_20389721/vermont-governor-chased-by-4-bears-backyard

[Wait Wut]

1. WTF?

"...in an attempt to rescue his birdfeeders." Is he fucking loony? Good God, man, you can pick up a decent birdfeeder for $20. The birds will get over the lapse in feeding.

[cali]

3. he's a bit loony- and what's more, this guy actually grew up in Vermont

[Wait Wut]

9. Did his parents not like him?

I grew up in Chicago. I was told never to play on the train tracks. Did this guys parents raise him to believe that he had to protect the birdfeeders at ALL costs?

Hell, my parents didn't even like me all that much and they still had enough compassion to teach me how not to get killed by shit.

[cali]

14. lol.

well, he is from Southern Vermont. Maybe that's the explanation. Or maybe his parents didn't like him and told him to go out and play with the bears when he was a little kid.

[intaglio]

12. Don't you have cause and effect in the wrong order?

Sorry, Green Mountain.

But it was too good a shot to miss ...

[joeybee12]

4. I know...and it's a Mama Bear and her cubs...

Talk about nature's most dangerous and protective animal!

[grasswire]

2. hmm....chase a mama bear with her cubs nearby

what could be the outcome of that?

[Aerows]

5. I wouldn't fight a bear over a bird feeder

Frankly, I can't think of what I'd fight a bear over unless it was a choice between a bear and a tiger.

[Wait Wut]

6. "I wouldn't fight a bear over a bird feeder"

Y'know, I would hope that the majority of society would say that. It's a bit unnerving when a Governor of an entire friggin' state doesn't get it.

[cali]

8. well, we're a little state- and he is the most progressive Guv in the country

so cut him some slack.

[MoonRiver]

10. Plus he is deeply committed to birds.

Gotta applaud that.

[Wait Wut]

13. I'm sure he's a great guy.

I, in fact, know a few Liberals that think just by talking sweet to wild animals that they can bond with them. None have been eaten, yet, but one was chased by an elk. It was friggin' hilarious.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

18. My grandma was not a liberal...

...but she could freaking coax a robin to her hand to eat out of it.

[Swamp Lover]

7. I could have warned him about that charging bear thing....

bears are notorious for hating Democrats with bare feet. I think it's even in the national Geographic.

[sarge43]

11. Dumbass. Sows with cubs have the no quarter asked nor given 'tude.

He got lucky.

[matt819]

15. What an idiot!

We have periodic visits from "our bears." The dogs alert us to their visits, usually at around 2 in the morning. I go downstairs, call upstairs to my wife to say, "it's only the bear," and then go back to bed. Anyone who lives in New England knows you don't go chasing the bears. The odds are reasonably decent that nothing much will happen, but still, chasing a bear in the middle of the night?

[HappyMe]

16. Good grief!

There are plenty of bird feeders for sale.

Some friends further up in the Catskills don't put out bird feeders anymore, just for this reason.

[applegrove]

17. What an idiot.

[DevonRex]

19. And he TOLD people?????

That's the kind of thing you keep to yourself if you're dumb enough to do it in the first place.