Idiot Tourists . . .

Woman gets flattened trying to take a close-up picture of a female elk, which may have been guarding a baby elk. The photographer unfortunately freaked out and did not keep the cell phone pointed at the charging elk, but he catches the aftermath. The woman was very lucky that it wasn't a male with antlers, or she would have been shish-kebab. Remarkably dumb. The U.S. should probably require tourists to pass an I.Q. test before letting them into a national park.

Raging elk flattens phone-wielding hiker at Yellowstone National Park

 

The wolves stay in a 4-star canine villa retreat, with a full luxury package, including manicures and pedicures weekly and daily massages. They eat the finest cuts of meats prepared by a French chef. A symphonic band plays soothing music for the wolves, and a team of specialists leads them in daily enrichment activities.

There is a lodge-style hotel on-site for visitors, with 6.0 square feet of living space for each guest, natural lighting through the open doorway, and plenty of room outside for open-air bathroom facilities. No howling after midnight. Rates are quite reasonable.

 

In Florida, we prefer our wildlife to have all of the amenities of a country club . . .

Look: Florida panther caught napping at country club

 

One of the tourons in Lake Tahoe has taken to putting up posters urging children to feed the bears "because its the right thing to do". Apparently, you don't have to leave home to be a touron. This touron equates not feeding the bears with "torturing" them, which is as bad as "the mortally dangerous vaccine". Sincerely Steven is Seriously Stupid. Do NOT smoke bear droppings, people--it will mess you up.

Outrage ensues after disturbing poster is discovered duct-taped along main highway: ‘Greatly increases the potential for conflict situations’

 

O.k., who smuggled the Kodiak (Alaska) bear cubs into Okaloosa County (NW Florida)? They are NOT souvenirs, and they are not pets.

Two bears unique to Alaska found wandering Florida Panhandle. How did they get there?

 

A new bear-touron story: a group of a half dozen people in North Carolina decided to pull a small black bear out of a tree to take selfies with it. Fortunately for them, mama bear was apparently not nearby and did not kill any of them.

Video captures people pulling black bear cubs from trees for photos

 

Not exactly a tourist story, but more of a criminal mischief story. An Oregon man dumped bleach into a hatchery tank and kills 18,000 salmon. He might owe the state $14 million, but he's only 20 years old so he probably doesn't have $14 million. Mind-boggling why anyone would do this, unless he's been influenced by foreign propaganda or is mentally ill.

Man allegedly pours bleach into Oregon hatchery tank and kills 18,000 salmon

 

Back to the touron stories. This one about a drunk guy who not only walked up to a bison (after harassing a herd of bison), but decided to kick it for some reason. It didn't go well for him.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/bison-injures-man-yellowstone-arrest/index.html

 

A new low for idiot tourists: body slamming a killer whale. This New Zealand touron is lucky the huge animal did not get angry and remove one or more of his limbs. He dove off of a boat onto the back of a killer whale that was swimming close to the boat, and lived to tell the tale. It was caught on video, which led to charges and a fine.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/24/travel/video/man-body-slams-orca-digvid

 

An interesting article on the behaviors of killer whales, including why they ram boats (it's entertaining for them), and why they are prone to strange fads (like wearing a dead salmon on their heads).

Killer whales keep ramming and sinking boats. Scientists now may know why, report says.