Posted on 06/17/2012 1:14:47 PM PDT by null and void
Great. I knew that, but the reminder will keep me awake all night. Roasting coffee so I can brew it later...
/johnny
We have coywolves living here on the training center, two breeding pairs. Fish and wildlife spent all of last week trying to shoot them with no success. Apparently they aren’t that dumb, just like everyone on base thought.
I saw one of them a couple months ago - had to weigh over 50 pounds. Big coyote.
I used to be a zookeeper, and yes I cared deeply for the animals I worked with.
But I followed safety protocols. Only a fool goes into a wolf pack unprotected and alone.
That's the problem.
Lets us play. When they get opposable thumbs, I'll show a little respect.
Until then? They are pelts that need cleaned.
/johnny
BTW genus Canis will speciate through hybridization. It’s not a new observation for this genus.
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My husband went beyond the old stone wall at the back of our property last week and found bear scat. We have had a black bear visiting our front yard, and finally gave up on our bird feeders.
We live in central MA, cradle of freedom, on five acres that backs up to hundreds of acres of privately owned, wooded land. Most of our land is wooded and untouched, at least by us. We have a six foot chain link fence around about a quarter acre of our back "yard", for our dogs.
There are bear, cougars and wolves out there.
Learned my lesson.
But I DID have a firearm in the off hand, and the dogs were watching out for me. Didn't step far off the porch, and I learned my lesson.
Getting me to wear pants on a regular basis? Meh. It's warm here. ;)
/johnny
Even the gentler animals in zoos have to be treated carefully. Zookeepers often get seriously injured by giraffes. These placid animals are incredibly clumsy and can accidentally kick your brains out. I never had the privilege of working with giraffes, but I’m told they give this goofy “gee, did I do that?” look at the human they just eviscerated with an errant swipe of that long leg.
In the wild, yes. But in captivity it is an advantage if the animals don't feel threatened by the keepers. The dangerous situations often occur when the animals are afraid and don't feel they have anywhere to escape. However, there are situations where the animals attack unprovoked, maybe because they want to assert their dominance, something that soon can turn into hunting/killing behaviour.
The giraffe is noted for its extremely long neck and legs, as well as its horn-like ossicones. It stands 5–6 m (16–20 ft) tall and has an average weight of 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) for males and 830 kg (1,800 lb) for females.
Even a gentle nudge could be lethal.
Moochelle’s picture turned out very well on that book’s cover, I think.
Instead of shooting the wolves, they watched passively as she was mauled to death.In Aristotelian logic, the efficient cause of her death was wolf-pack behavior, while the final cause was a society that values animals above humans.
Since she undoubtedly shared the values of that society (I would assign the probability of her sharing those values at 99%), then we are almost forced to say that she got what she deserved.
In defense of housecats, they usually won't kill you first...
No need to explain it any further or fancier than that.
It’s good the dogs have a fence to protect them. Wolves and coyotes try to kill them when they can. We have a fence for our dogs too. Bears have moved into our suburban area (western PA) and I want a little security that they won’t become bear food.
Yes. They won't eat you unless you remain inert and unresponsive through a couple of feeding cycles.
The coyotes that I have seen are bigger than foxes and have somewhat long legs. I always that the coyotes were just a little bigger than foxes. The animal officers in town tell people to just keep away from them and they will not harm you.
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The original intent of the fence was to keep the dogs in the yard. I now see it equally as a method of keeping other animals out. :)
I love living here, but it does require a firm footing in reality. Wild animals may be beautiful, but we must never forget that they may also be extremely, if not fatally, dangerous.
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