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DON'T SEE THE RELATION, BUT
GOOD STORY
posted by
homegirl
on October 14, 2003 at 2:21 PM
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Which just goes to show ...
that you can't trust anything to behave itself. Otters! Honestly. Next it will be butterflies.
posted by
editormum
on October 14, 2003 at 12:19 PM
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We had a pack of otters attack some swimmers on Lake Shasta a few years ago....seriously!
posted by
majroj
on October 14, 2003 at 11:45 AM
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Tremendous points, D
We have a situation with alligators here. Humans encroaching on their habitat. The most recent case was a 12 year old boy who was killed - several months ago. 8 alligators were killed in the attempt to find the one that killed the boy. (I started writing this when the incident took place - never finished or posted it)
“I don’t want to go,” were the last words his two friends heard as the gator took him under.
The Dead River is a body of water known to be alligator habitat. It’s a narrow river and gators were present and visible during the time three boys were swimming off the dock of a marina.
“We saw gators all day,” said one 14-year-old. “Every time we saw them, we would get out of the water.”
Even after a gator was spotted very close to the dock, the 12-year-old jumped back into the river and was pulled back onto the dock by his frightened friends. But he went back into the water, and ignored their pleas to get out when they spotted one of the reptiles swimming towards him.
They watched in horror as the alligator opened his powerful jaws and bit into their friend. They saw blood in the water and heard him cry, “I don’t want to go”. Help was called and deputies and witnesses saw the alligator surface at least once with the boy in his jaws, but the animal quickly disappeared across the river.
The boy was under for a least 25 minutes before a sheriff’s helicopter spotted him and dropped a buoy to guide deputies, who pulled him up. The boy was later pronounced dead.
posted by
missyjblog
on October 14, 2003 at 6:01 AM
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I'm With You, missy...
...in that the idiots do the stupid stuff, and the innocents suffer (girlfriend and bears). I don't even understand how rangers can justify killing two bears for doing what bears do!
Sadly, I see the role of Hollywood in here. People go to wilderness parks and just see it as a Disney-esque playground. Why can't they see that we are GUESTS in that territory. We do not rule those roosts. We are as likely to be prey there as hunters, and we have to be very respectful of those inhabitants who do run the show.
I dive, and I'm always acutely aware underwater of my guest status. I'm there due to technology, and I'm grateful, but I always feel like I'm in the home of others, and I act accordingly.
Is that so hard to grasp?
D
posted by
DamonLeigh
on October 14, 2003 at 5:43 AM
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Hey. See this
http://www.yellowstone.net/wildlife/
posted by
majroj
on October 13, 2003 at 7:12 PM
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B! I thought you were mad after I stole your comment!
Yep. There was this home video that made it on TV; the guy's last words, arranged in the form of a question (like Jeopardy, no?), were "Honey, where's that other loaf of bread?" when he was feeding bears by hand.
posted by
majroj
on October 13, 2003 at 4:37 PM
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Wow -
I clicked on that link, Maj, and read an excerpt from the book. I think I'll buy it. While I was there I read another excerpt from a book on the "also recommended" list, "Mark of the Grizlies: True Stories of Recent Bear Attacks and the Hard Lessons Learned. Spine-tingling reading!
posted by
missyjblog
on October 13, 2003 at 3:24 PM
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editormum, they'd look at my lip and say, smallest thinnest lip on Earth and wrinkled, yup, it's Grandma.
posted by
benzinha
on October 13, 2003 at 3:19 PM
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If you liked that, buy and read this!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1570980217/104-8301067-1995967?v=glance
I had the pleasure of corresponding with Mr. Whittlesly (park historian, lawyer and, I think, ranger) a few years ago. His book documents the mistakes, acts of malice, and boneheaded stubborness leading to the accidental deaths in the park, along with "acts of God" and air crashes. And THEN they try to make the park into Disneyland to make it perfectly safe....oops.
One grizzly's victim was identified by a lip, before the rest was found.
posted by
majroj
on October 13, 2003 at 3:02 PM
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And editormum, one doesn't flash the middle finger constantly inside the cities and on highways because
so idiots attack at that small signal and revert to their ancient uncivilized ways....or present uncivilized ways, as it were.
Idiots die first, thank goodness. It's just terrible that they take the innocent with them oftentimes, whether it's a girlfriend, a pet, a child or spouse or a grizzly bear or two.
posted by
benzinha
on October 13, 2003 at 2:17 PM
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This incident and similar ones that involve human interaction with wildlife
make me crazy mad. Two bears were killed as a result of Timothy Treadwell's stupid actions. I hope he had plenty of time before he died to realize what an injustice he had brought about to these magnificent creatures he claimed to have so much affection for.
posted by
missyjblog
on October 13, 2003 at 2:10 PM
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