Nice Playground…for Bears
Some people build swimming pools in their back yards. But outdoor pools in Alaska just won’t work as it’s too cold and dark for 1/2 the year. There is a particular family that lives on the outskirts of Anchorage. They decided to build a sturdy, colorful playground for their 3 and 4 year old sons, with smooth-stone gravel all around it to avoid knee scrapes and other injuries. They finished building it on Saturday evening, and the following morning, as the mom was about to wake up the boys and have them go out to play in their new play center, this is what she saw from the upstairs window:
2 more photos after the link:
i woudl shoot those if they went anywher enear my famiily. those animals are unpredictable and could attack at any moment. there cold hearted killers
I thought that the pictures were cute. I don’t agree with shooting the bears for it is there habitat. If an animal attacks a human we kill it for doing something that is in their nature. You sound like a very sad person. Theres lots of dangerous people walking amongst us but you still go out everyday. We all have to meet our maker at one point so I’m not going to sit here and preach to you. Don’t go near them and they’ll leave you alone, but if you take your chances then that’s your choice. Some people believe that animals and humans can coincide in a peaceful manner. But thank you for sharing your killing theroy with the rest of the world
yeah, i wouldn’t kill them either
I wouldn’t kill them – it’s their land! BUT…I’d
check with DNR folks and find out what to plant
or place all around the toy area, that might be a
deterrent to bears. What odor to they hate, or what plants aggravate their nose/taste/eyes? I would do SOMEthing, not only for the danger aspect, but if this attracts even more bears, can
you just imagine your children playing in what wculd eventually become a bear’s “cat litter box?” A local DNR person and I were talking about this, and you can really set a pattern for
animals if you provide a fun place like this, which they feel is theirs to use. This will not decrease, without some kind of intervention, OR simply getting rid of the play area entirely. S.S.
I excavated and buildt this play area last summer for the nice family. As noted they followed up with the playground set. There are numerous bears in area with little deterrence avalible. The community of Anchorage, particlarly the hillside has learned to coesist with the bears, moose, and other wildlife. This is Alaska, Truly “The Last Frontier”! D.C.
Why do we stil have people like ‘An all american(republican) hunter’ (top of page) who want to kill everything that doesn’t fit in with us? We are after all inhabiting this ‘wild creature’s’ homeland.
We have the same moronic mentality here in Australia – A shark kills a swimmer – people go out and kill the shark. A dingo mauls a camper – let’s shot ALL the dingoes.
DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB!
Amazing. We have toddler kids and a similar playground. There are no bears where we live, but sometimes there is something worse and not nearly as cute in our backyard…teenagers. (No, you can’t shoot them either.)
I think this is a really funny picture, but the bears are a danger to you children. However, we DO NOT need to shoot these amazing creatures, for we are invading their habitat. I am 12 by the way.
Good morning,
This was just brought to my attention. I would like to speak with the installer and owner of the playground. Can you send them my way?
Thank you,
Shannon Amy Stockwell
Editor, Playground Magazine
I am the Mom who took these photos. We live in an area where we EXPECT to see moose, bear, porcupine and other wildlife almost on a daily basis. We have trained our boys as best we can to be safe in bear country (moose country, etc.). We now have an air horn installed on the playset for emergencies. We also cleared more of the brush around the set in order to eliminate bear hiding places. As you can imagine, the children do not play there unsupervised. My husband and his friend, Mike, built this playground from a kit.
It’s great that the Mother of the children has a sensible attitude towards the bears and the area in which she lives. I assume by the lack of decent grammar in the hunter’s posting that he is uneducated. One of the worst threats to our natural world comes from such ignorant people (though of course there are well-educated individuals too whose consumption patterns also pose a threat.)