YIKES!

[dustawaits]

Surrounded the bull??
I still remember total road block when a moose cow gave birth
beside the highway. People jumped out of their cars with cameras
to take pictures of the event.. I could not believe what I was seeing
, but then I had lived on a working farm from 9 yrs old. Even a gentle
animal can get irate at birthing. A wild animal would be totally unpredictable.

A bull of any breed should never be near children. This younger generation
frightens me.

[mollymckee]

I think the question should be why did it take the bull so long to charge. Buffalo are not known for their good disposition. It is too bad the little girl had to pay for the stupidity of her parents. I can't believe they ran for it and left her to fend for herself. Maybe CPS should have a long talk with them.. There are signs everywhere about wild animals, how fast they can move and the damage they can do. Why someone from another part of the country has the arrogance to think they know more than the people that not only work with the animals regularly and live in the area is beyond me.

[susannah]

I agree with everything you said, mollymckee . It's been almost 40 years since my seasonal ranger days, and the stupidity was bad back then but I'm thinking it would be far worse today. People wanting to get up close and personal with a rattlesnake for a picture of the snake back in the 80's was bad enough but now I'm imagining throwing selfies into the mix and the creative new mix of problems that can bring.

Once again, I have to say I simply have no words. But I'll come up with a few anyway. That kind of behavior puts so many at risk - adults who should know better (but apparently don't), innocent children - and also park employees that may have to put themselves in danger to intervene in the stupidity. I've been around bison enough and I freak out if one gets too close to my CAR and is heading my way (let's just say that was the fastest I ever drove in reverse). But according to the article, 50 or so people "stood within five to 10 feet of the bison for at least 20 minutes". Basically stood spitting distance from the animal, no protection, just hangin' out with the bison - what could possibly go wrong there? Sheesh. Life is NOT a movie. Nature can be cruel, and one thing is for sure - as the article states, wildlife is most definitely wild.

[LauraD]

I'm surprised the parents weren't charged with child endangerment. Perhaps they should be...

[Tim Horton]

Once again, I have to say I simply have no words. But I'll come up with a few anyway. That kind of behavior puts so many at risk - adults who should know better (but apparently don't), innocent children - and also park employees that may have to put themselves in danger to intervene in the stupidity.
>>>>>>>>>>
This is also my pet peeve.. Like said, Wild Life Biology classes many, many years ago and life long livestock ranching, but the "cityiots" outnumber the rest of us many to 1. Along with that comes there stupidity in believing the wild life is part of the attraction of the parks etc for them to interact with on there terms..

I'm surprised the parents weren't charged with child endangerment. Perhaps they should be...
<<<<<
No.. They likely would not be any consequences. The parks want a good reputation, good attendance figures, and people to spend money.
For instance... Last summer, summer before, a pair of "cityiots" driving through a big provincial park and they slow or stop to watch a black bear along the road. Cityiots little dog Fluffy pounces out of the car runs up to the bear to bark. Bear steps on Fluffy, and carries it off to the bush to lunch on. Cityiots raise a fuss, not cited for dog off leash, or any other consequences. Again, because parks want people to come, be counted, and to spend money.

In a setting like that, where bears especially and other predators loose fear of humans, it is a very short step before they are dangerous to humans and euthanized for unnatural behavior thrust upon them, if that is good way to express it.
Again, my pet peeve.

[Deleted]

The videos have been removed. SMH

Too many people experience their lives through the camera lens on their phones. Life has become so flat-screen for them, they don't know reality until it comes up and bites them in the rear end - even when it is coming up to hurt their child.

Not a fan of CPS, but in this case, I'd make an exception.

[dustawaits]

People either have common sense or they don’t.
I was 3 or 4 years old the first time we went to Yellowstone.
Mother , her sister and husband, and we four children 2-5 years old in the car,
saw bears beside the road. Aunt said she wanted a picture of her feeding the bears....
She got out with bread in her hand, crossed the road to the bears, one came after her.
She made it back to the car the window was down. Her husband started the car and the bear
grabbed the door with my aunt frantically rolling up the window. I can still see those claws inside
the car hanging on.

[mogal]

The last time we went to Yellowstone, I was menstruating. At nearly every campground we passed, signs warning of bear activity were posted. Before we left home, we realized I would be in my "moon time" so we budgeted extra money for hotels/motels. I just didn't see the wisdom of trying to sleep in a tent under those circumstances.

The rest of the story of that trip is that we managed to book a motel in Gardner MT, just outside the old entrance, on the night of Sept. 10, 2001. Otherwise, we might not have heard the news of events in NYC, Washington and PA as early as we did the next morning. Being 1500 miles from home during that event wasn't my idea of a good way to end a vacation. We stopped in Pinedale WY for gas at the neatest store. It was a big continuous building with 3 entrances--one to the grocery section, one to the hardware/general merchandise section and the last for sporting goods. We stocked up from two of the three since we had no idea what else would be happening before we got home. At least since we were prepared for camping and cooking our own meals, we were in better shape than most on I-80 as we came home.

[Tim Horton]

The last time we went to Yellowstone, I was menstruating. At nearly every campground we passed, signs warning of bear activity were posted. Before we left home, we realized I would be in my "moon time" so we budgeted extra money for hotels/motels. I just didn't see the wisdom of trying to sleep in a tent under those circumstances.

>>>>>>>>>>
I have seen a cartoon of a bear sitting on its butt saying... Campers in sleeping bags, lunch in a warm wrapper.

[ketoriverfarm]

Fifteen years ago we were in Yellowstone the first animal we saw was a bull elk completely encircled by people. I told my husband, keep going I do not want to see what is going to happen. I too cannot fathom how uneducated the majority of people are about any animal wild or domesticated. When I was a kid I showed cattle in 4-H, the people who would come up behind a steer and pat them on the rump. Great way to get kicked.

[susannah]

Jul 25, 2019 22:46:24 GMT Tim Horton said:

In a setting like that, where bears especially and other predators loose fear of humans, it is a very short step before they are dangerous to humans and euthanized for unnatural behavior thrust upon them, if that is good way to express it.
Again, my pet peeve.

I share this pet peeve. "A fed bear is a dead bear". While I don't believe this to be true in every single case, feeding the bears increases the likelihood of them becoming nuisance bears and sometimes relocating just isn't enough. And the bear is not the one at fault.

As much as I love feeding the birds, I only have my feeders out for a short time in winter. I don't want my yard to be seen as a smorgasbord for bears and other animals. In the eight years we've lived here, I've seen plenty of "calling cards" from bears in my yard and woods, but have only seen one bear - and it was running away into deeper woods. People are fascinated by wildlife, especially the bigger animals - I get that. While vacationing with three other couples last year - in an area known for a heavy bear presence - one of the people kept saying "I want to see bears! I want to get closeup pictures of bears!" And one of the other people (who also lives in an area where bears are common) and I kept saying "No, you really don't." 

Bears are beautiful animals; I have a healthy respect for them - and it hurts me when I hear of one having to be euthanized due to losing its fear of humans and/or becoming aggressive as a result. Bison are majestic and beautiful animals as well - and having seen more than a few of them in my lifetime, I still can't wrap my mind around people trying to get within a few feet of them. Bison are huge animals that can weigh over a ton. A TON. I saw the video before the link was removed. And as bad as it was, the ending could have been much worse. 

[Woodpecker]

Years ago, when the children were small, 3 years & 5 years we took our first hike into the Catskill Mountains. There are black bears there, no grizzlies. I never liked camping , the X was an avid hiker and camper. The children were having a great time, with the cooking and scouting the area. I wouldn't let them out of my sight. We made that first camping trip, no problem, just lots of bug bites.

Another time we went to a campground, started to set up our tent. The kids and X went to pick up wood for the fire. There I was alone, waiting for them, as I set up the tent, etc. I was setting up the tent, when I saw from the corner of my eye, a black bear, about 40' from me. I panicked and stood absolutely still. Thank God it just went it's merry way. Every vacation we took, was camping a couple of nights in the woods in a tent or leanto & then a few nights in a hotel. We most always took our dog Cooper with us. He loved it and was the best dog, as far as listening. He would run ahead of us, always come back when called. We were in a buggy leanto. Cooper was tied right next to us, with about 6' rope to go out of it, if needed. He started crying, a porcupine had shot hundreds of quills into his face area. There we were, with flashlights, picking them out. I still have the jar full of them.

Yellowstone, IMO, is way too lax in letting people so close to the animals. All it takes is common sense, not to go near the Bison or bears etc. Sadly, some parents have no common sense at all!!! To me it's Yellowstone's fault and I'm sure that can't be the first time someone was hurt or almost hurt. Just plain stupid!!!

[Tim Horton]

In a setting like that, where bears especially and other predators loose fear of humans, it is a very short step before they are dangerous to humans and euthanized for unnatural behavior thrust upon them, if that is good way to express it.
Again, my pet peeve.
I share this pet peeve. "A fed bear is a dead bear". While I don't believe this to be true in every single case, feeding the bears increases the likelihood of them becoming nuisance bears and sometimes relocating just isn't enough. And the bear is not the one at fault.
>>>>>>>>>
A fed bear is a dead bear... Believe it.. 100%... Maybe not the particular day or hour you see that particular animal. But maybe the next day or hour it will have an issue that seals its fate. I've seen it all so many times.

!@#$%^
To me it's Yellowstone's fault and I'm sure that can't be the first time someone was hurt or almost hurt. Just plain stupid!!!
>>>>>>>>>>
There are many cases of people getting hurt and killed by the wildlife through out the history of most parks like Yellowstone. Many cases of people spooking wildlife into running, falling and such into the hot pools and leaving a grease slick on top of the water. They could haze the wildlife away from the people areas, but that would be an every 10 minute task. Then the people will ask, "where is the wildlife we are supposed to see?" The greenies, animal rights people will say "the wildlife was here first" and get kicked in the face when they get too close. I guess thinking there PETA card or something gives them privileges??

Just plain stupid!!!... That is pretty much my evaluation of the biggest majority of people.

Don't get me started....

[mogal]

Jul 29, 2019 2:55:04 GMT Tim Horton said:

Just plain stupid!!!... That is pretty much my evaluation of the biggest majority of people.

Don't get me started....

 
Tim, it looks like you already are...Grin.  

I love "citiots."  Couldn't be more appropriate.

Back in the late 50's and early 60's, Arkansas reintroduced black bears to the northwest and north central parts of that state.  We lived in the Ozark foothills about 50 miles north/northeast of Little Rock in the mid 90's and there were enough bears to allow a hunting season.  We never saw one around our place but did see a young one at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View one day.  The restaurant had an entire glass wall that overlooked a natural area.  Restaurant staff would leave scraps on rocks just outside that window to attract squirrels and chipmunks for the enjoyment of patrons.  Well, one day when we visited, they had a young bear eating those scraps.  Rangers had an interesting day keeping track of the bears while they shuttled visitors to the parking area.  DH always teased me that if I saw a bear around our house, before he could get home from work, I'd be gone, lock, stock and barrel, leaving 2 huge holes--one where the house had been, one where the barn had been and I would be carrying everything to a bearless environment.  

Fast forward and here we are in Missouri for the last 20+ years.  MO Dept. of Conservation has a program "Be Bear Aware."  A few years ago, a juvenile bear showed up in our county seat sniffing around at the garbage cans of various eateries.  The PTB thought perhaps he'd just left MAMA and had been lured into town along a fairly wooded creek by the smell of an easy meal.  He was last seen beating a hasty retreat and I hope he learned his lesson early that he didn't need to go to town again.  This past weekend, we had an opossum right at the back porch and 4 deer just across the fence in the front field.  We've had several opossum visitors so far this summer and with our dogs, they don't "play possum" for long.  Last week we came home from town at dusk and saw a raccoon and 2 deer crossing from our place to the woods.  We know there is or has been a cougar in our immediate area so I wouldn't be surprised to find a bear considering all our fruit trees both in the fenced area protected by our Pyrs and down in the open pasture/woods that we've left wild for several seasons.  Don't know what I'd do if I spotted one near us.  Those familiar with the late Jerry Clower might recognize this quote from one of his stories about going on a coon hunt and finding a bobcat instead:  "HAW!  JOHN!  Shoot amongst us.  One of us has got to have some relief!"  I'd want to make the bear's visit unpleasant but not kill it unless it was threatening one of us or our livestock as the law allows.

[Ozarks Tom]

Many years ago, riding my motorcycle from Dallas to Canada, I decided to take a side trip to see Old Faithful.

Riding a park road, I came across about a dozen cars stopped, and about four bears being thrown food, making their way down the line of cars expecting something from everyone. Since there aren't any windows to roll up on a motorcycle, I made a quick U-turn. I couldn't help noticing the signs along the road telling people not to feed the animals. Apparently I was the only one to see them.

[ketoriverfarm]

Ozarks Tom, apparently so!