Yogi might have loved to steal some picnic baskets, but in the end, Ranger Smith was right. "Don't feed the wildlife."
According to
Jeff Mayor over at the Tacoma News Tribune visitors to Paradise on Mount Rainier are doing just that.
Mayor says that Mount Rainier National Park officials are becoming increasingly concerned that Cascade foxes that live around Paradise are becoming "too habituated to human food." That means that like Yogi they are beginning to want it more than their normal food.
Now Yogi might have always gotten away, while making the viewers laugh, but wild animals eating human food is not a laughing matter. Just last year a wild black bear became a nuisance around Paradise because he was being fed by park visitors. Rangers were forced to scare the bear away from the area and deeper into the park.
And now the foxes are becoming the problem. One fox had to be killed last year after it was hit by a car trying to get human food.
So please people. For the sake of the animals, please don't feed them. No matter how hard they beg.
Also, when you're in a wild area with bear, foxes or even raccoons, you should always store your food in a hard shell container while camping. Do everyone a favor and don't feed the wildlife.
