Ore. Woman Convicted of Feeding Bears Must Leave Home for 3 Years
A 61-year-old Oregon woman who was convicted of feeding wild bears at her home, even after neighbors reportedly warned her not to do so, has been sentenced to stay away from her own home for three years.
As a special condition of her three-year probation for chasing and harassing wildlife, Karen Noyes must stay away from a 7-mile stretch of road that includes her own home, reports the Oregonian in an article that includes a photo of Noyes handing a bunch of grapes into the gaping jaws of a hungry bear.
Noyes says she plans to appeal the conviction and insists that she was never warned that she shouldn’t feed the bears. Neighbors say the animals, which lose their natural fear of humans when fed, became a dangerous nuisance. Noyes allegedly was feeding the animals as far back as 2003.
She was cited for feeding the bears last year by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, after she called to seek the agency’s help in getting rid of the bears.
