by Katie W.

Created on: October 28, 2008

It's not difficult to figure out why mankind and wild animals are clashing in this day and age. It's simple really; humans are the reason that animals are running out of their natural habitats. Woodlands and mountaineous areas are being sold and cleared away to build homes, farmland is being auctioned off because the children and grandchildren would rather make money than preserve or work the land. Subdivisions, trailer parks, and even industrial parks are coming up fast in our country-side. And you wonder, Why is there a bear on my back porch, or a raccoon digging in my trash? Because you took their homes and made it into your home. Your trash is food to them, and they have to survive as well as we humans do. I have witnessed on T.V. many times a bear in a tree that is located in a suburban area. The poor animal is darted with sleeping solution, falls from the tree, and is transported to another area. Guess what? If you go away and leave it alone, it will eventually climb down on it's own and go away on it's own. They are as much afraid of us as we are of them.

I do believe that when there is a drought, it also drives the wild animals closer to humans. The mountains have natural springs, and in times of drought these spings may possibly dry up. Plants and trees that produce food for wild animals dry up, and the animals are forced to go to rivers and maybe even the pond in your back-yard for water. Your apple and cherry trees that you covet so much makes a fine meal for all kinds of wild animals. Your beautiful garden, with corn ready to pick and beans full of blooms, can be desroyed in one night by bears, raccoons, and deer. They can strip a patch of corn in no time and leave you with nothing, all that hard work of tending to your garden goes down the drain. But, they are just like us. They have to eat and drink to survive. Some humans go to the extremes of poisoning or shooting them just because they are doing what comes naturally to them, SURVIVING.

Hundreds of years ago wild animals were used by the Indians and the pioneers as their only source of food and clothing. The Indians used every part of a buffalo, right down to the bladder, which was used for carrying water. When a price was put on their pelts, they were killed for greed by the white man, almost to the brink of extinction. It is no different today. More people, more money, more land equals nowhere for the animals to go except your back-yard and your trash cans.

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