You just cannot fix stupid

[garyhaupt]

One has to wonder why it is that people either ignore signage or figure it's just not really dangerous...right honey?

Last week it was video of people in contact with a mom black bear and her cubs, in Yellowstone. The fact that no one was mauled was purely good luck. Mom was looking very confused and the cubs were being cubs.

https://youtu.be/tkkm-JtrPfk


Now..we have a kid gored by a bison.


http://globalnews.ca/news/2002574/girl-gored-by-bison-in-yellowstone-national-park-while-posing-for-...


Gary Haupt

[rk911]

we were taking a tram tour down in the everglades one year. the tram stops at an 'observation tower' (maybe 20' tall) from where we can get a panoramic look at the glades. before we get off the tram we are warned that there may be gators on the wide, paved path and to avoid stepping over them if they are perpendicular to the walkway and to otherwise give them a wide berth. if that was not possible we were instructed to wait for staff to clear the path.

all went well until we reached the path leading to the entrance to the tower. as we approached we saw a kid who was maybe 14 or 15 sitting on the back of what we presume he thought was a statue of a gator that was on the unpaved edge of the walkway. he was smiling ear-to-ear as he posed for pictures...that is until the gator shifted slightly and the kid realized that this was no inamimate object. I've never seen a human move so fast as that kid moved.

[OkSixpack]

3oaks wrote:

Thom02099 wrote:

the media, and cartoons, have contributed to the problem by portraying these animals as warm and cuddly, which of course, they are not.


Complete agreement. The "Disney" Affect.

And I completely disagree!
Same old "blame game" again for some peoples' own stupidity. This is the result of the "dumbing down" of America. I guess I was raised in a gone by era when our parents taught us the difference between fact and fiction.

But the "Disney effect" is a part of the dumbing down.
Jim

[tegu69]

coolmom42 wrote:
Poor bears.

And, FWIW, rangers DO NOT blame the bears. Rangers are smarter than that.

What exactly do they do to a bear that has attacked one of these people? Try to educate them.

[3oaks]

Thom02099 wrote:

the media, and cartoons, have contributed to the problem by portraying these animals as warm and cuddly, which of course, they are not.


Complete agreement. The "Disney" Affect.

And I completely disagree!
Same old "blame game" again for some peoples' own stupidity. This is the result of the "dumbing down" of America. I guess I was raised in a gone by era when our parents taught us the difference between fact and fiction.

[wa8yxm]

Many have had their STUPID cured.. You can read all about it

http://www.darwinawards.com

Sadly... For most of them the cure was fatal but..Makes for good reading!!!

[ken56]

Bears have even come into downtown Gatlinburg occasionally and the news shown video of people approaching the bear to get pictures. Of course the story was about what NOT to do when a bear is in town. People were close enough to touch it and the looks on their faces shown no fear of the danger they possibly were in. Nope, you can't fix stupid but it sure can die.

[coolmom42]

Poor bears.

And, FWIW, rangers DO NOT blame the bears. Rangers are smarter than that.

[OFDPOS]

We went through one of those petting zoos up in Oregon the name slips my mind.
Between the coast and Medford I believe ?
They were bringing out different animals , one in particular a baby lion cub.

Each time the person brought out an animal she said Do Not , Do Not make eye contact and stare , even tho they are just a couple months old they are CONSIDERED WILD.
They would say that through out the whole time while the animals were out.
I came up slowly like they instructed , petted the lion cub.
That thing was as solid as a rock! I was amazed at how solid it was.

Ok now to the "Here's Your Sign" moment
Some idiot kid about 15-17 with his girlfriend were off to the side and he was making snide remarks about the cub.
The cub kept looking over at him like it knew what was coming !
After I walked off slowly like I was instructed to do , this idiot decides he doesn't have to stand in line and rushed from the side and as he went reach his arm I guess around the cubs neck (as his GF walked up with a camera to get a picture). The cub swatted the kid on the side of his head and the kid went down like sack of rocks.
The gal luckily had a decent hold of the rope attached to the cubs collar that kept the cub from jumping off the table onto the kid.

The kid and his GF were escorted out the doors.

Like the OP said You Can't Fix Stupid !

[pk1023]

I grew up in the woods of Southern Indiana, we spent many a day trying to be as stupid as possible! One of our favorite activities was going down to the big creek bridge and looking for snakes. We found plenty of blue racers and king snakes and the like.

It was the day I came eye to beady eye with a water moccasin that we stopped that game. We were tired, wet and cold when we decided to exit the creek by the bank next to a field. That was a mistake! It was late March and a cloudy day, so no bite to the face... But, it taught me a lesson... They own this place and I probably should be more careful where I stick my big, unprotected, pink head!

[navegator]

They do not need to be wild animals, I spent summer and winter vacations and worked at my uncles farm, he had, cows, pigs, sheep, goats and my aunt had a seasonal boarding house, the city folks would always try to pet the animals, mind you they were domestic, even they have an area where you do not approach if they do not know you!

During the time that we had the city folks we were very vigilant where we placed the electric fences, away from the guests, some still managed to get hurt even after repeated warnings not to do it.

People do not understand the speed and force that the animal can use just to let them know to move away, that animal does not know how frail we are, we do brake easy.

Children are even more vulnerable, they do not realize the danger that they are in, and some grown ups, simply ignore it.

Stupid is as stupid ignores.

navegator

[hokeypokey]

When in Hawaii, we stopped to watch the ferocious waves crashing in on high rocks. We were in a safe area, but we saw a man and his little children standing out on those slick rocks. They were close to the edge and getting sprayed with water and laughing it up. We moved on immediately because we didn't want to witness this stupid act. When we read about horrendous things happening, there's often more to the story.

[nineoaks2004]

People seem to think that wild animals are all like the cute and cuddly tame animals at the zoo or the pets you see on TV. They need to understand that the animals in the wild are just that, wild and unpredictable and will hurt you.

[kknowlton]

Dudes will be dudes. The NPS does its best, with signs, newspapers, etc. (most of which, many visitors totally disregard). A friend of mine has talked about "vacation brain" (i.e. lack of it), and I think that's a good part of the problem: "we're on vacation, and all the arrangements have been made, so my brain can relax too" kind of thing. Anyway, it sometimes has tragic results, and in many cases (more than you'd think) a lot of guardian angels get a real workout.

[toedtoes]

Naio wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

no matter how a wild animal is portrayed, if anyone doesn't think a wild animal can be dangerous, then I guess it goes to The Darwin effect.

I think a lot of people who grow up in cities don't know what animals ARE.

I mean, the only animals they know are pets -- who have been bred for millennia to be very human-oriented, and to think like humans (a bit, more than wild animals do) and interact with humans and care about humans.

My big ol' tomcat, no matter how angry he was at me for dragging him out from his hidey hole by his fur to take him to the vet, did not rip the skin and muscle off my arms, as he was perfectly capable of doing. All he did was make biting _gestures_, with no real intent behind them other than to communicate. Didn't come near breaking the skin, even.

Wild animals are not like that. They are strong, and they don't give a cr*p about keeping humans safe. But city humans, how would they even know that? How would they conceive of the idea?

I'm sorry, it has NOTHING to do with where a person lives or grew up. There are just as many country folk doing these stupid things as there are city folk doing them. Just as there are just as many city folk who know better than approach a wild animal as there are country folk who know better.

The plain and simple fact is that people simply believe "it won't happen to me". It's why people do stupid things every day. When people do start to feel vulnerable, they pick themselves up with justifications "I know how to approach them", "oh, people do this all the time, it's not dangerous", etc.

[tegu69]

Just one guy at Cades Cove tried to have close encounter with a bear? Usually there's many. I saw one woman taking her small children for an up close picture.
Then they blame the bear.