Meriden
“Some days you work on a $12 billion budget, the next day you save bears,” Sununu said during his remarks to a smattering of applause. “Go ahead, cheer for the bears,” he said. “If anyone see any bears, let us know.”
Sununu was referring to his intervention on Thursday in a brewing controversy in Hanover over a decision earlier in the week by the state Fish and Game Department’s bear biologist to capture a sow and her three yearlings and destroy them because they had become too accustomed to humans — in one instance a week ago even entering a house on Thompson Terrace.
The governor’s involvement means the bears instead will be captured and relocated up north.
Had the governor been behind Wheelock Terrace at the end of Buck Road on Saturday, he would have seen them.
Hanover Deputy Fire Chief Michael Hinsley found two of the yearlings gorging themselves on garbage inside an open dumpster. As he approaches, the bears are eating from torn open plastic trash bags.
Hinsley whistles softly. “Hey buddy, what are you guys doing?” he says in the video. Both bears turn, look up, put their paws on the edge of the dumpster and stare into the camera. They then climb out before the 50-second video ends.
“They are almost tame,” Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin said in an email. “I hope we can catch these youngsters and find them a safe home.”
In a brief interview before KUA’s 201st commencement, Sununu explained why he asked for a different approach for the bears.
“I think it was just common sense,” he said. “Given what we can do in this state and our ability to relocate the bears, I think that should be our first option in this scenario.
“Hopefully it will work and if it doesn’t we’ll look at alternatives. But let’s try relocating first and see what happens.”
The bears have been around the area for more than a year, roaming neighborhoods and searching for food often at bird feeders and in trash that has been left out unsecured. The decision to capture and destroy them came after two of the yearlings got inside the Thompson Terrace house, where a family with children lives.
Sununu said he heard from “a lot of people” and there was “a lot of passion.”
“Really it was one-sided passion to be honest about it.”
He also emphasized that he spoke with Fish and Game officials and bear experts many times about the situation. “My belief is these situations have to be taken individually and you assess what is going on, what the impact of the bears is, the safety concerns and what options you have,” the governor said. “We really did our homework on this one and I came to the conclusion relocation is our best first option.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.