Tuesday night, more than 50 law enforcement officials... patrolled the 40-acre (16-hectare) farm and the surrounding areas in cars and trucks, often in rainy downpours. [Muskingum County Sheriff Matt] Lutz said they were concerned about big cats and bears hiding in the dark and in trees.Here's some video.
October 19, 2011
"Mature, very big, aggressive" lions, bears, and wolves are on the loose in Ohio.
"Schools closed and motorists were warned to stay in their vehicles as officers with assault rifles patrolled a rural area in eastern Ohio Wednesday, a day after police killed dozens of escaped animals from a wild-animal preserve, where the owner was found dead."
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69 comments:
Dorothy: Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my!
Nothing worse than an actor, from LA or, heaven forbid, Wisconsin, trying to pull off an authentic New York City cabbie accent.
It never sounds right to a highly trained ear.
The stories this morning keep referring to the beasts as "escaped animals."
The animals did not "escape." Someone unlocked the cages, and the animals walked out.
They are "released animals." "Escaped animals" diminishes the human culpability here.
This takes me back to one of my earliest memories. My mother telling my brother and me to stay inside because a tiger escaped from the zoo. My imagination conjured the image of a tiger leaping roof to roof looking for careless children. The image was burned BURNED into my brain. That woman.
I understand Kevin James is being rushed to the scene.
Here's another link.
http://www.wlwt.com/news/29524570/detail.html
Not close to where I live. How cool would it be to bag a lion in my backyard?
The animals did not "escape." Someone unlocked the cages, and the animals walked out.
From what I heard on the radio on the way into work, the owner apparently released all the animals and then committed suicide.
Too bad Timothy Treadwell was already eaten.
Yes, DADvocate, I just saw that, too. Sad.
What happened after Dr. Dolittle discovered The Cure.
Are there lions and tigers and bears? Or just lions and bears?
MGM may want to get involved.
This is a good time to organize #OccupyZanesville.
Jumanji?
Has anyone spotted any tags from the Army Of The Twelve Monkeys?
Jumanji?
Exactly my first thought on the drive in this morning. I bet the CGI is better in Ohio though.
Cheetahs never win.
Hmm. Farmer Jones is dead and the animals have escaped/were released.
Has anyone seen Napoleon and Snowball lately?
How soon before PETA starts screaming?
So, last weekend we went to San Diego and visited the Safari Park, which used to be the Wild Animal Park until quite recently, apparently renamed because the animals weren't technically in the wild. I don't know if that's true, but it sounds like a good reason.
Anyway, there was a 3 week old baby elephant.
At some point I'll tell the story of the time I was attacked by a leopard at the San Diego Zoo.
"If you took the city of Tokyo and turned it upside down and shook it, you'd be amazed at all the animals that would fall out: badgers, wolves, boa constrictors, Komodo dragons, crocodiles, ostriches, baboons, capybaras, wild boars, leopards, manatees, ruminants in untold numbers. There is no doubt in my mind that feral giraffes and feral hippos have been living in Tokyo for generations without being seen by a soul."
The farm from where the animals were released is not far from "The Wilds" which is a very large compound with various African wildlife. Maybe the Cheetahs can make it to there and feel at home. Otherwise, they will have to compete with the 2-3 Mountain Lions reported over the past few years in the Muskingham area.
The comming winter may be too much for them, however. Too bad. We really need the deer population culled in that area.
Good lord. One can only imagine what you would get if you turned Detroit upside down and shook it.
Why is the default response to this story jocularity?
On the one hand you have the possibility that some of these animals could harm members of the community, and on the other hand you have animals who have already been shot dead by the authorities, because some asshole decided to release them.
I think this is sad.
A 650 pound black bear was shot just north of Hudson, WI a couple of days ago. That's south of me about 15 miles. Not that far from St. Paul, MN the capital.
"Clear something up for me, Gladys, is he a giraffe?"
American "assault rifles" generally fire low-power, small caliber rounds that are insufficient, inhumane, and in many states, illegal to use for hunting large game. The whole point of the military "assault rifle" concept is to use a low-power round that has little recoil. The standard 5.56 NATO round used by the military and police was derived from the .223 Remington, which was designed to shoot small agricultural pests like prairie dogs.
If that's really what they're using on big bears, I'm disgusted.
Reminds me of a book "Emergence" that had a scene in it where: people realized that they were going to die from an epidemic disease that would probably kill everyone, the zoo keepers set all of the animals free rather than have them starve to death in their cages. Zoo keepers are generally kind people who care about their charges.
Rhinoceroses and lions roaming in NYC. Now there is a thought for making the OWS people get out of the park.
Since only a very few people actually survived, they had to deal with areas where the zoo animals were roving around and in some cases filling in the ecological niches that had been opened by previous civilization.
@ BarryD
If that's really what they're using on big bears, I'm disgusted.
Me too. That is just cruel torture for animals who didn't ask to even be in Ohio. Morons. There must be someone who knows how to hunt big game.
If you turned the city of Tokyo upside down and shook it, Hello Kitty, Chococat, Kuromi, Cinnamoroll, Keroppi, and
Badtz-Maru would fall out.
And millions of Japanese men would be trying to video all the girls' upended dresses.
Paddy, please tell the story now.
A few moments of accidental freedom, then the firing squad.
"Why is the default response to this story jocularity?"
More evidence why Mr. Cook's ideology is at odds with the way actual humans think and function.
BarryD
If that's really what they're using on big bears, I'm disgusted.
DBQ - Me too. That is just cruel torture for animals who didn't ask to even be in Ohio. Morons. There must be someone who knows how to hunt big game.
================
Both of you are a little sappy. The police roll with what weaponry they've got. No time special order high power hunting rifles. They were ordered to put down the released predatory animals and that is just what they are doing.
It is sad that the owner forced this situation. Ideally, there would have been 100 zookeepers with traquilizer guns and open ground firing conditions. But there weren't and letting the animals run free and endanger the general public was not an option. Apparantly, the 9mm sidearms, shotguns, and .223s, while not optimal - were quite adequate to get the job done.
(Cops in Hawaii had to put down a full grown elephant that got loose and was rampaging around Honolulu some years back, with shotguns and 9mm pistol fire. It took several shots, but the critter got killed)
Even without being turned upside down, Tokyo still shook out Lolita Goth.
Allen, it's probably more interesting as an anticipated story...
Anyway, I was in junior high. At the zoo, then at least, the leopard enclosure was built on a hillside, totally fenced in, with about four or five terraces going up the hill, maybe 70 yards of so high. When we walked by, we heard the leopard snarling.
I snarled back, using my best leopard impression. We saw it peek its head out of a small cave at the top of the enclosure, and snarl back at me. I snarled again. The back and forth went on for a moment longer.
Then within a blink, it took 2 or three strides from the top to the bottom of the enclosure and leaped against the fence right in front of me. I didn't have a chance to react until it was right there. I didn't quite piss my pants, but I think my heart stopped. No doubt it would have killed me and had a nice paddy for lunch if that fence hadn't been in the way.
That was a good story.
"Why is the default response to this story jocularity?"
Human capacity to absorb tragedy is pretty limited. We thus respond to such with humor, both dismissing the tragedy in essence as not demanding our own heightening danger response -- as well as to re-center our existence within our present social construct. Otherwise by taking the weight of such tragedy on our selves, in this present, we would increasingly render ourselves unsuitable for the actual attitudes and decisions important for our actual thriving.
In other words, we can't actually psychologically cope with the weight of a distant (whether in time or in space) tragedy, so we use humor to deflect the impact as to carry on with our day.
This is why people who have experienced tragedy are often quite funny, and people who have had only success in life are often humorless. The latter think they can actually cope with life and so its all quite a serious world to them.
Those commenting on the type of rifle should keep in mind that, to a great many newsies, everything anymore is an "assault rifle". Unless it was a direct quote, a little skepticism might be in order.
Robert Cook said...
Why is the default response to this story jocularity?
On the one hand you have the possibility that some of these animals could harm members of the community, and on the other hand you have animals who have already been shot dead by the authorities, because some asshole decided to release them.
Those with no sense of humor also tend to be those with no imagination.
Case in point.
So you claim for yourself (assuming you are among the amused) the virtue of having an imagination because the potential for humans coming to harm or the actuality of animals being shot to death because of the apparent capricious act of their keeper strikes you (presumably) as funny?
You flatter yourself.
Terry Thompson, RIP
a talented and misunderstood Ahhtist.
Mommy, look it's a big lion in the front yard by the flowerbed!
"So you claim for yourself (assuming you are among the amused) the virtue ...etc."
The fact that you do not grasp this simple common human behavior should give insight into why leftist ideas are so destructive.
Leftists simply do not understand humans, and then they create systems based on behaviors no humans actually follow, and then the damage ensues.
Robert Cook said...
So you claim for yourself (assuming you are among the amused) the virtue of having an imagination because the potential for humans coming to harm or the actuality of animals being shot to death because of the apparent capricious act of their keeper strikes you (presumably) as funny?
You flatter yourself.
And Cook flatters himself if his "I bleed all over the floor for all living things" act impresses anybody.
At least I can say it in a simple sentence instead of a pretentious paragraph.
WV "dogress" Much nicer than calling it a bitch.
Both of you are a little sappy. The police roll with what weaponry they've got. No time special order high power hunting rifles.
Right and there is no one at all in Ohio that hunts bear or deer. No way whatsoever to utilize the 'private' high power hunting rifles that are in such scarce supply in the land known as Ohio.
I bet they don't even have any bear hunting dogs to assist them in bringing 'big game' to ground. None. Nope....none.
Also there are probably NO hunters in Ohio who would jump at the chance to help with the 'big game' that is now running wild throughout the country side.
Nope....none at all who would want to participate in an African Safari in Ohio. None.
So instead we will have the local Barney Fifes pull out their pea shooters and whack away at the lions and tigers and bears....oh my.
/facepalm
good lord cookie. you're a communist in the 21st century. you don't care about people.
Are they going to dress the carcasses? Quite a bit of meat there.
Waste not want not.
"... If that's really what they're using on big bears, I'm disgusted...."
And the bear is probably really pissed off.
Predictably the comments at some of the news stories express anger at law enforcement for shooting the animals.
Ha.
People have become so odd in their ease.
"... The police roll with what weaponry they've got. No time special order high power hunting rifles..."
I'm pretty sure the Indiana DNR has a few.
I'll wager the cops probably have personal hunting rifles they would prefer to use.
Hey Cook, I'm going to quote you from a previous thread.
Grow a pair.
Hoosier Daddy said...
"... The police roll with what weaponry they've got. No time special order high power hunting rifles..."
I'm pretty sure the Indiana DNR has a few.
I'll wager the cops probably have personal hunting rifles they would prefer to use
====================
So, the cops go out to a call and find that some 50 large predators have been released and many have already escaped the fence, with woods then many residential neighborhoods nearby. It is near nightime, raining.
But rather than protect the public safety, you think they should have let the predators run off, left to go home to pick up "better suited firearms" out of their personal collection, then used the "right" firearms over the next few days as they fanned out to cover a far wider area. And called in people from DNR to show up the next day.
Because humane dispatch of wild animals trumps public safety.
OK......
I am very sorry the critters had to die. I am very sorry that some animals might have suffered from several pistol rounds before dying versus being killed in someones backyard 2 days later while feasting on the carcass of some kid 19 miles away.
I am sorry that animal cases like this cause so many people to turn off their cognitive reasoning.
I wonder if they ate any of the lion meat. How many times in one's life will that opportunity come up?
Is lion meat any good?
I was reading a discussion of this earlier today. One of the commenters said that something similar happened near Cleveland this summer. After that the topic shifted from "those horrible people killing all of those innocent animals" to "must have been an animal rights group - killing owners and setting the animals free!"
That was a good story.
Agreed. The same thing has happened to me, incidentally, when I've snarled at Republicans. Thankfully, they are kept in fenced enclosures here in Madison.
What happened after Dr. Dolittle discovered The Cure.
Funny you should say that. I was just thinking how Chip Ahoy's photo looks like a young Robert Smith (with a bit of Dave Sim thrown in for good measure).
Good lord. One can only imagine what you would get if you turned Detroit upside down and shook it.
Stone golems made of concrete and exposed rebar.
[Muskingum County Sheriff Matt] Lutz said they were concerned about big cats and bears hiding in the dark and in trees.
You know, if it's really dark outside, you really don't have to hide.
Lutz said they were concerned about big cats and bears hiding in the dark and in trees.
OMG....It's a good thing that Lutz doesn't live here. He would have a conniption fit. We have big cats (cougars), bears, foxes, coyotes and all kinds of other animals running through the property and hiding in the dark all the time.
To be fair. The animals in Ohio were probably not wary or afraid of humans because they were in captivity and were likely much more dangerous for that factor.
Plus....the people in Ohio were probably more of a danger to themselves by acting stupid than the animals would be if left alone.
Also to get the word to everyone to be careful would probably have been futile. At least here we KNOW that things that go bump in the night are out there and to be careful.
Why they even allowed a 'private' zoo or animal preserve is a mystery to me.
I was listening to a Columbus call in program on the radio while driving home from work today. Reportedly, the only animal left on the loose is a monkey that may be sick. The last animal to be killed was a gray wolf. A few animals were captured; up to 56 were killed. One caller was lamenting that the officials had the carcasses buried rather than selling them to taxidermists to get back some of the money it is costing the county.
Toy
Is lion meat any good?
Yes, with fava beans and a nice Chianti.
No one in my house feels anything but sorrow over this. Those animals didn't ask to be in cages in Ohio and they didn't volunteer to become used to having humans around them.
But wild, hungry predators who are not afraid of humans are a risk to the community. I understand why they had to be hunted down, and I agree. That doesn't mean I'm not sad. I think that many of those doing the hunting probably feel the same way.
A 650 pound black bear was shot just north of Hudson, WI
That's huge for a black bear.
Cook, the situation is bizarre. Lions, tigers and bears running around a civilized portion of Ohio. It's sad the animals died and it's sad this guy was able keep them like he did.
We get plenty of laughs from the deaths of people too. That's the major appeal of Darwin's List.
Mary Beth, the police think the owner opened the cages and committed suicide. But fears that it was an animal rights extremist group are not fantasies, there is a history of such groups carrying out similar things with fur ranchers, medical research labs and in one weird case here, arson of a sheepskin seat cover store.
As for "suitable firearms", while I wouldn't intentionally choose an AR 15 to go hunt lion, if what I had in the trunk of my patrol car was an AR and lion was what I had to hunt, I wouldn't hesitate. Well, I'd hesitate long enough to load up a spare magazine.
For that matter, probably more elephants have died from AK fire by African poachers than any other caliber.
DADvocate, here is a link to the story.
The preserve measured 40 acres? I hope that they left one bear, a donkey, and a pair of kangaroos alone!
AllenS - thanks. That's one large bear. I've encountered black bears plenty of times in the Smoky Mountians but never one close to that size. Wisconsin must be prime bear habitat.
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