A Honey of a Tale

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updated Mar 24, 2011

By Author - LawCrossing

03/24/08

So one beekeeper tried an innovative approach to deterring bears: loud music and flashing lights. Zoran Kiseloski, a beekeeper in Macedonia, played a type of music apparently known as "turbo-folk" to scare the bears away.

This worked great, until the day his music died. The blow to the music was administered via the death of a generator, thus leaving the beehives unprotected by the turbo-folk music.

So, of course, a bear that had been waiting for just this moment reached deep into its Latin phraseology and "carpe diemed" the beehives. Yes, our bear broke in and stole lots of honey, smashed up some beehives, and in general made a rather large nuisance of itself. Good thing the beehives weren't in Jellystone Park; else the bear probably would have absconded with any nearby picnic baskets as well.

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So what did Kiseloski do? He prosecuted the bear! And he won, which is the more astonishing thing. I'm not quite sure why the case took a full year, but apparently it did. (Perhaps they were trying to find the appropriate bear to serve process on? They made a mistake and served Boo Boo instead? They got lost in Yellowstone while looking for Jellystone Park? The story doesn't say.)

Not many cases of suing a wild animal end with a victory, and even fewer end up with a valid recovery. But Kiseloski did. Why? Was the judge Ranger Smith's brother? No, not at all — apparently bears are protected in Macedonia. As such, they are under the protection of the state. Thus, the court reasoned, the state was responsible for the bear's conduct. The judge fined the state 140,000 Macedonian denars, or about $3,500 in today's currency.

The bear did get away with it, presumably to lie in wait for yet another innocent beekeeper (or picnicker, perhaps).
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