Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 15:27:57 -0600 (MDT) From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: fpawlak@execpc.com Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Does it's true? Message-ID: <199806272127.PAA20604@softweyr.com> In-Reply-To: <980627181808.ZM27850@darkstar.connect.com> References: <980627181808.ZM27850@darkstar.connect.com>
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My hidden microphone recorded Frank Pawlak (fpawlak@execpc.com) saying:
% Again, not taking any particular position on gun control, but relating my
% experience with wild animals as a once avid hunter, I can say that having %
spent
% many hours alone in the forested areas of northern Wisconsin, I never had a
% problem being attacked by anaimals. Granted the species native here differ
% from those of the West. People here had a fear of the wolf and created an
% extinct species of animal which has resulted in big and growing problems with
% the deer herd. They have been re-introduced here, and I hunted in areas %
where
% wolves were present and never had a problem.
%
% It has been my experience that in general wild animals fear man. That
% situation can and does change if the animal is injured or starving. Man,
% supposedly, having the higher intellect should be able ot get along with
% animals and survive together just fine. Yes there are risks when a human
% enters the natural habitat of an animal, but knowing what you are doing they
% can be minimized without necessarily killing the animal first.
%
% BTW, I do have experience with wildlife in other parts of the US and in other
% countries. The above pretty much holds true.
No argument there. I consider myself extremely lucky to have spotted a cougar
in the wild; most will never see one. There are only reports of cougars
attacking people about once every other year in the western US, and then it is
usually a small child who hasn't been taught how to deal with a cougar.
Here in the Salt Lake Valley, we actually get to see them fairly frequently. A
young male, about 70 pounds, was captured wandering around the runways at Salt
Lake International Airport last year. Early this year, a large male wandered
into a tennis court and got stuck; animal control had to dart him to get him
out because he was terrified of them.
There are a few exceptions to the rule of wild animals staying away from
humans, and they are all generally disastrous to the human involved. These
include grizzlies who've been fed by people and no longer fear them, any polar
bear, wolverines (ever meet one of THOSE in Minnesota?), (apparently) javelinas
(I've never met one), and the worst of all, feral cats. There is a large
population of feral cats in many of the small arroyos surrounding creeks in
northern Utah, and people are badly bitten and scratched by them quite often.
We've also had 3 or 4 incidents of black/brown/cinnamon bear attacks in the
Wasatch mountains this decade - probably caused by people feeding the bears and
removing their natural fear of humans.
Even given all this, I still choose to travel armed when in back country where
I know there are dangerous animals. I thrill at seeing a cougar in the wild
again, and completely acknowlege his right to be there, right up to the point
where he tries to eat my two year old daughter, who DOES know that you never
run away from a wild kitty. And I would do the same thing taking here into
places with other dangerous animals, like any city east of Denver.
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
http://www.softweyr.com/~softweyr wes@softweyr.com
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