Typical of Government…

Spend money in droves to solve a problem when they could be making money instead.  What am I talking about?

Killing seven members of a wolf pack that repeatedly attacked a Northeast Washington rancher’s cattle cost about $76,500, according to preliminary state figures.

You cannot obtain wolf tags within the state of Washington.  Not even depredation tags which would allow the wolves to be taken as they’re a problem to live stock.  Think about that for a second, instead of allowing the public to hunt, control, and otherwise reign in this problem, the state spends almost a half million dollars a year on the problem.

The best part is they aren’t even really maintaining the status quo, overall they’re loosing and the problem is getting worse.

Idaho finally got the right idea and made tags dirt cheap because odds are you won’t see a wolf, they’re too damn smart, but if you do see one, shoot the bastard!  As usual animal rights activists I’m sure will end up in an uproar because they live in places like LA or Seattle where they don’t get to experience the problem first hand.  If we could relocate the wolves so the animal lovers could live with the problem I’d be in full support.

As an FYI my buddies who went elk hunting in Idaho this year informed me the hunts were a total bust.  Why?  Wolf tracks were on the tail of any elk tracks they found.  The packs are out of control and decimating wildlife.  Remember though, according to the animal rights folks, all will work itself out.  Never mind there is no other predator to hunt the wolf, I guess their solution is the extinction of the elk and deer herds.

Lets not forget increasing the state deficit in Washington by having to pay farmers for damaged stock and then the state trying to hunt them down.  Know what’s easier?  Hunters will pay you for the opportunity.  Hell I would go out of my way a few times to go wolf hunting.

Yet Another Lesson in Wild Animals

When you are in the wilderness you are not in a Disney movie.  The animals do not think of you as their friend.  You are either food, a threat, or something to be watched.  So with those things in mind, if traveling in the wilderness you need to be ready to deal with animals that may find you a nice dinner.

A 43-year-old professor says she fought off a grizzly bear that stalked her and her nieces by throwing everything she had at it – including a package of macaroni and cheese.

This woman though isn’t alone in her mistaken belief, preview this list of incidents previously discussed here:

So yet again we have the oh so familiar incident where a couple of people.  I think my favorite was she used bear spray and it continued to charge.  I think this is the money quote:

“All I could think about was this bear is so close to me I can see its teeth,” she said. “I could have kissed it. I wished I had a gun.”

Carry your damn guns.  You never know when you may need it, two and four legged varmints are both dangerous.

h/t Mad Rocket Scientist

Another Incident with Wild Animals

Wild animals are making the rounds as of late.  It started off with a man attacked by a bear, then another one got into get in a pissing contest with a Bison.  Then information came out about a coyote problem in Seattle.  Now we have an incident involving some of our tree-dwelling cousins.

 The chimpanzees dragged the man for more than a mile, under a fence and into their enclosure at Jane Goodall Institute Chimp Eden near Nelspruit, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

Armed escorts were required for the paramedics who went to treat and rescue the victim.  But they’re just smaller animals that couldn’t possibly be a danger to humans right?

“These chimpanzees have six times the strength of a human being so you have to respect them and we certainly do,” he said.

So if you still think that wild animals, no matter their size, don’t present a threat or danger to humans, remember that’s your choice and opinion.  Facts state that humans are not on the top of the food chain by PFM.  They are there because of their tools and without them they are nothing but walking meat popsicle. If you choose to go into the wild unarmed, or even around suburbia, that is your choice and you can live with the consequences of your choice.  You have no right to force your moral choices though on anyone else.

Wild Animals are Wild!

Seriously folks, nature is not a Disney movie like some would have you believe.  Wild animals are exactly that, wild, and you need to keep your distance or be prepared to suffer the consequences.

Officials in Yellowstone National Park say a Massachusetts man was gored by a bull bison that threw him 10 feet in the air and then pinned him to the ground.

The man, who is in his mid-50s, suffered a broken collarbone, shoulder blade, several ribs and a groin injury in Saturday’s encounter near the Norris campground. He was airlifted to an Idaho Falls, Idaho hospital and is expected to recover. His name was not released.

So the man didn’t taunt the animal which is a plus, but he let the bull approach and then refused to move away.  Eventually the Bison got tired of said moron being in his territory.  Being a larger animal than this puny human, unsurprisingly the Bison won.

For those who think somehow being on the “top” of the food chain makes you magically superior, let me enlighten you.  We are not on top because of some pure fanciful magic*.  Humans are on top because we figured out how to make tools.  We figured out how to manipulate the environment to our advantage.  It was our intellect that placed us at the top of the food chain.

Given that it was our intellect, not our brute strength, you better bring a tool with you if you decide that you’re going to challenge another creäture within the chain.  Without the tools we are but a walking bipedal warm Popsicle for things that have claws and brute strength.  Most predators could kill us without as much of a batting of the eyes if we are unarmed.  When armed however we are far superior to those other predators.  It’s tools that make the difference and for that reason your position on the top of the food chain is considered negotiable to mother nature.

This man is very lucky, he decided that he was going to try to stare down an animal larger than himself.  Why he chose to do that we may never know.  It was obviously a very poor idea, doubly so since he didn’t bring any tools for the fight.  What the hell did he think was going to happen?  The Bison would just shrug it off, seriously what the hell is up with you city slicker folks?  This is almost as bad as the woman who tried to pet the moose.

*The F in PFM doesn’t actually stand for fanciful, but I’m sure you can figure it out.

QoTD: TMW, 05242010

“It’s a wild animal, not your f-ing cat!” –TMW

[That was TMW verbal response after seeing this. It wasn’t Yogi’s fault that the guy was a moron, sadly ranger put her down. I just wish that the bear had completed the Darwin treatment on the moron. –TMM]