"A recent New York Times story, "Florida wildlife park's lions lose some freedom to roam," reminded me of our northern states - Minnesota, Montana and North and South Dakota. Our states are an outback of sorts, or at least that's what they seem to be to city folk. We are a place where wildlife still roams free.

The Times story said after years of letting its own lions roam free, The Lion Country Safari of Loxahatchee, Fla., decided it needed to enclose the big felines because people couldn't follow the "keep your distance" rules. That made it dangerous for people - and if a lion attacked a person, a lawsuit could result.

We don't have the option of fencing our states, and we do run into roaming wildlife, especially when we're deep in their territory. It always makes me smile when I read one of our stories about a big moose moseying nonchalantly down some highway near the city. I'd guess the moose do this because this was their ancestral territory eons ago."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Make peace with wayward moose (The Grand Forks Herald 1/10)

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