Give Wild Critters Their Space

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meaneyedcatz

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Mrs Meaneyedcatz and myself drove through a county park here in the STL area, Lone Elk Park.
It is a county park that has an area that you are free to roam about on foot or on the paved roads. It has elk and white tail deer. There is also a portion that is drive through only with deer, turkey and bison.

There are signs that specifically state to not approach the animals and also signs that state it is elk mating season and do not approach them.

There were several cows and calves loafing about in the lake with the bull watching over them. Several cars were lined up on the single lane to observe with several people out of their vehicles at a safe distance.

We made out way to the front of the line and saw the bull was a beautiful (about) 14 pointer. Slowly the bull walked out of the lake towards the line of cars. This did not cause concern. He got closer and closer stopping now and then. Suddenly the bull walked rapidly then lowered his head. I turned and saw a senior citizen of Asian descent standing by a tree recording with his phone smiling like being gored was fun. The guy stepped backwards and fell back. I thought this guy was gonna get it bad. He got back up, grabbed a limb, raised it and the bull stopped. The guy made his way up the embankment and made it safe back to his family. I yelled at him to get back to his car but only after the bull stopped as I did not want to distract him.

With that said, Even though animals are in a "park" they are still wild. Give them room.
 
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I was that stupid person once. My cousins had a cabin way back in the woods near Atlanta, Michigan where elk, turkey, deer and bears are common. My older cousin was 16 and had a drivers license and the rest of us kids were younger. He's driving us down a fire trail in his dad's car when we see two bear cubs run across the road ahead of us and climb a tree. So Dan stops and we all get out and stand around the tree watching them. A few minutes of this and he yells get in the car quick. Once loaded up he said it has just occurred to him momma bear was around and wouldn't care for us being there. Dumb kids and what did we know? Good thing kids can be stupid and often lucky too.
 
Every year or so you read about tourists getting out of their cars to pet the lions in a park somewhere in Africa. The story inevitably has a horrific conclusion. :eek:
 
I grew up near Yellowstone Park and spent a lot of time there as a kid. That was back in the days when the bears panhandled along the roads. We used to see lots of really stupid stuff all the time - people feeding Oreos to the bears, trying to put their kids on the bear's back for a ride, etc. Now the bears are mostly gone, but I still see the same stupid kinds of stuff with buffalo and elk. People think they can just walk right up to them. People never change. The only surprise is that more of them don't get killed!
 
The faces of death videos people should watch before viewing wild animals.

My uncles/family were avid outdoorsman. He told me the only thing a human can out run is a chicken.

I seen many people stopping and getting out of there cars viewing a moose. As they went closer I stayed with my car. Too bad the bull moose never charged. Is a picture really worth your life.
 
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My father took the family to Yellowstone when we were just
about eleven or so. Got to stay at one of the cabins, really slick.

Saw two cubs out side and my brother and sister and I grabbed a box of gram crackers and ran outside to feed them.

We flipped and flew the cookies to them and they came in to try the snacks.

About two minutes later my father came running out and told us to get our butts into the cabin, right now !!

Just in time.
As we passed our father, mama bear just came out of the bushes.

The rest of that was watched from the cabin window.........
and a lecture was to follow !! (1955 ? )
 
When I was a kid I watched a fellow in Yellowstone trying to get the perfect picture of a bear. He had a VW Beetle, back in the day when they top was rounded.

He was on one side, with camera, throwing food on top of the car to try and get a picture of the bear on two legs taking the food. BUT.... being a rounded top car, the food keep sliding off.

Don't know what happened next. Dad got us out of there real quick.
 
Getting too close to an aggressive moose,elk or bear is an unnerving experience,being chased takes it to a whole 'nother level!!
I usually carry when I'm fishing now,just can't run that fast anymore [emoji57]
 
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