living in this world anymore. I know I should have learned a thousand times over to stop reading the "comments" section on news stories or Facebook pages, but alas, I have not.
A mountain lion has been spotted in Altoona, twice now in three days, recess was cancelled. A local television station asked the question, "What should be done?" The hilarity ensued in the comments section. Here were some of the nuggets of wisdom that spewed forth:
"People have been taking over the Mountain lions habitat for 200 years."
"Relocate it, its not the poor animals fault that we've encroached on its territory" (Seriously impressed that the moron could spell encroached, BTW.)
"Release it in a rural area."
Then it got really funny because someone with common sense said, "Sure, release it into the rural area where WE have to deal with it." Which was followed by, "If you don't want nature at your back door, don't live in rural Iowa. There are possums and raccoons that get near a playground, and they bite too, but we don't cancel recess if we spot one of them."
At this point it was palm to the forehead.....listen douchebag...I don't mind nature at my back door if its a possum or a raccoon, as those animals are omnivores, meaning, they will snoop through my garbage looking for tasty morsels and leftovers, as long as its edible, they will eat it. That also means, more often than not, they are not HUNTING. If they are hunting, they certainly aren't hunting a dog, or a calf or a horse. A raccoon won't pounce on Fred, our bottle calf, and then use our corgi, Miley, as a toothpick, like an "innocent, defenseless" mountain lion would. When a mountain lion is spotted in the same area repeatedly, more often than not, it means it has "stalked its prey" (i.e. it has seen you let little Fluffy out to take a piss at the same time everyday and if his timing is right, little Fluffy will be Mr. Mountain Lion's afternoon snack.)
FURTHER MORE..mountain lions are not native to Iowa...hence the name MOUNTAIN LION...sure as fuck aren't many mountains in Iowa are there? And for those preaching that humans have been encroaching on the native habitat for hundreds of years, go ahead and walk into rush hour traffic on 235, would ya? As YOU are human...YOU have a hand in the encroachment, just like the rest of us do, so the ridiculousness of your statement just increased tenfold.
The idiocy and complete stupidity of these people makes me scared of the world I live in. This person however, should get a medal for their tongue in cheek interpretation of what should be done....
"Wait. After reading all the comments, I think the only way to make everyone happy is to home school it, allow it to marry the same sex animal, arm it with a shotgun, pay for it and it's families Obama care and free cell phones, give it a lil boost without a drug test and allow it some food stamps and call er a day. Now that's the American way."
On a totally different note: Is this heat wave about over? I am sick to death of swamp ass and boob sweat....When I was a young girl, I was mortified when I saw my great aunt, literally throw one of her ta-tas over her shoulder and run her Arid X-Tra dry underneath. I mean it scarred me for life...that is until this heat wave started and I began to realize her true genius. How to deal with boob sweat is one of those topics that is never shared as you age...kind of like the magic of tucks medicated pads after child birth....I guess if we told our younger selves that boob sweat was something you would have to deal with as you aged, we would all be scarred for life.
I briefly sat in on a presentation at the State Fair about big Iowa cats by the DNR. It was very interesting and ceased most fear I had of mountain lions. Wish I saw the whole thing but the kids were bored, ha. Anyway, this should make people feel better, especially the first stat.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Iowa DNR:
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A CLOSE
ENCOUNTER WITH A MOUNTAIN LION
In the past 150 years, 19 U.S. human fatalities
have occurred from mountain lion attacks.
Fortunately, none have occurred in Iowa.
Generally a mountain lion will sense human
presence before humans know they are in the
area and the mountain lions will quickly vacate the
area. However, if one has an unexpected rare
encounter with a mountain lion (we anticipate this will rarely happen in Iowa, because there are so
few animals in the state) the following is
recommended:
1) DON’T RUN! Running will stimulate certain
animals to chase you (like a dog that wants to
bite you, especially if you run).
2) Stand tall, look big, puff up, and lift your
coat over your shoulders.
3) Take control of the situation. Scream loudly,
throw objects.
4) Gather children in close and slowly back
away keeping your eye of the animal.
5) If attacked, fight back vigorously with sharp
objects and poke the eyes of the animal.
Good info Sambo!!! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete