Police raiding a marijuana farm in western Canada stumbled across a group of more than 10 black bears that appeared to have been lured there to guard it.
Over the years, marijuana farmers have developed some novel ways of protecting their crops. From “invisible” fishhooks hanging at eyelid level to dogs and small, homemade explosives, the organizers of big-money operations utilize painful but typically non-lethal booby traps to keep out unwelcome visitors. But bears? You can almost hear the bong bubbling.
According to BBC, five police officers had just arrived to the farm near Christina Lake, close to the US border, to wreak some good old-fashioned, authoritarian-style havoc on the plantation when the bears first emerged. The tables, it seemed, had turned. Frozen by the initial terror that anyone, cop or otherwise, might expect to experience in the presence of a dozen or so seemingly ferocious 500-pound animals trained to guard an illegal drug operation, the officers hesitated. In the moments that passed, one can imagine the two groups sizing one another up. Although reports don’t indicate this, I choose to imagine that the owners of the plantation had moved to the rooftop, where they munched Cheeze-Its while peering through binoculars in anticipation of the final, epic showdown: Cops versus bears. The battle would unfold in the leafy shade of their own $1-million marijuana plantation. The biggest YouTube sensation of all time…
But the battle was not to be. Far from being rabid man eaters with a taste for badges, the bears, which authorities believe had been lured to the farm with dog food, were actually docile to the point of lethargy. It wasn’t long before the officers emerged to, among other things, pose for photographs around the animals.
“They were tame, they just sat around watching. At one point one of the bears climbed onto the hood of a police car, sat there for a bit and then jumped off,” said Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant Fred Mansveld.
In Canada like pretty much everywhere else, it’s illegal to share food with bears, regardless of how much pot you’ve smoked. While authorities have no way of telling if the bears’ lethargy had anything to do with the crop they were purportedly guarding, from their actions it’s probably safe to assume that bears simply can’t be trusted around your stash.
Two people were arrested in the raid and now Conservation officers are deciding the fate of the bears. According to the National Post a global campaign has emerged to raise donations to pay for feeding stations or other solutions for the animals. The campaign has apparently already scored $1,300 from Canadian actor Jason Priestley.
[Via: BBC]
