World's Dumbest: Animal Encounters

[JEFF4i]

How stupid are people? I mean, seriously...

We have a dude hallucinating eating over 100 snakes.
A kid who sleeps with a croc.
A lady who wants to get up close and personal with a polar bear.
A trainer who fights off four tigers surrounding him with a stick...

I mean really people, what the heck?

Tell me to go to bed with a croc, I'll see you in the morning with my new boots.
Polar bears...oh yeah, let's get close and cuddly with the most pissed off, few human-hunting animals in the world.

Need I go on? Just ranting on how stupid some people are, especially the lady who jumped two fences to get to the polar bear.

[tony hipchest]

the 4 tigers and stick game DOES sound kinda fun.

[Crushzilla]

The 100 snakes caused him to hallucinate, or he was hallucinating and mistook 100 snakes for 100... treats... ?

[JEFF4i]

Originally Posted by Crushzilla

The 100 snakes caused him to hallucinate, or he was hallucinating and mistook 100 snakes for 100... treats... ?

They caused him, its crazy though!

[fansince'76]

Originally Posted by JEFF4i

How stupid are people? I mean, seriously...

A lady who wants to get up close and personal with a polar bear.

Just ranting on how stupid some people are, especially the lady who jumped two fences to get to the polar bear.

I think you're talking about "Binky" here. I remember it as I still lived in Anchorage at the time.

Binky (1974–1995) was a polar bear who lived at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska, and was famous for mauling zoo visitors. He was found orphaned on the coast of the Beaufort Sea in 1974 and was taken to the Alaska Zoo the next year.

In July 1994, an Australian tourist, Kathryn Warburton, climbed over the second of two safety rails to get a close-up photograph and was bitten as the bear stuck his head through the bars and grabbed her; she suffered a broken leg and bite wounds. Another tourist caught the event on tape. Binky kept the woman's shoe for three days before it could be retrieved by zoo officials, and the day after the attack a news photographer took the iconic image of Binky with a shoe in his mouth that was printed in almost every press account of the incident.

The next event, six weeks later, involved drunken local teenagers who apparently hoped to swim in Binky's pool. One nineteen-year-old was hospitalized with leg lacerations after he got too close to the polar bear's cage and was mauled.

After these attacks, Binky became a hero in Anchorage. Merchandise including t-shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers, often adorned with the iconic shoe photo or with the slogan "Send another tourist, this one got away," were popular.

Local letters to the editor supported Binky during both incidents, most often arguing that polar bears' dangerousness should be respected. The Zoo's director, Sammye Seawell, criticized the Australian tourist's actions in the Anchorage Daily News, saying "[s]he violated the rules and jeopardized the bear's life."

Though Seawell initially insisted that the attack would not change how the zoo is run, security around Binky's cage was upgraded to keep zoo visitors out. Binky and cage-mate Nuka died in 1995 of a fungal/bacterial infection to their paws only a few days apart from each other.

Binky

[AllD]

I think we have a deal with the pidgeons.

[MACH1]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...-bearman_N.htm

Can't get dumber than this guy.

Alaska prosecutes man who feeds wild bears

ANCHORAGE (AP) — Charlie Vandergaw's love of bears landed him on a recent Animal Planet series -- and in trouble with the law.

Vandergaw's knack for winning the animals' trust was showcased in a documentary made last year by a British filmmaker at Vandergaw's remote Alaska cabin and aired as part of Animal Planet's series "Stranger Among Bears." The videos show Vandergaw scratching the belly of one black bear as if it was the family dog, feeding a cookie to a large black bear sitting under a tree, and feeding dog kibble to a cub from his outstretched hand.

Vandergaw has been coexisting with bears this way for the last 20 years, and he wants to be left alone.

That is not likely to happen now that the state is using a beefed-up law to prosecute Vandergaw for feeding bears. Game officials consider feeding bears a danger to humans, especially if others duplicate the behavior.

The state last week charged Vandergaw with 20 counts of illegally feeding game — a charge that could put him in jail for a year and fine him $10,000.

Not everyone thinks the state needs to be going after a 70-year-old retired teacher and wrestling coach.

Even if Vandergaw ends up being killed by the bears he loves, that's the Alaska way, said John Frost, who has been friends with Vandergaw for years. He recalled that when he came to Alaska in 1973 he saw a T-shirt that said "Alaska land of the individual and other endangered species."

"Yet here we are as a state going to crush this kind, gentle little guy," Frost said. The law used to prosecute Vandergaw recently was changed to include stiffer fines and jail time and Frost suspects it was specifically changed to target his friend.

Sean Farley, a research biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, denies that Vangergaw prompted the stiffer penalties. Farley, who helped troopers serve a search warrant last year on Vandergaw's cabin, about 50 miles northwest of Anchorage, said bears there had be scared off with "cracker shots" that make a loud noise when fired.

If bears were that bold in an Anchorage park or campground, Farley said, he would recommend they be shot right away.

He also noted what happened to filmmaker Richard Terry at Vandergaw's cabin: "He got whacked and dragged across the yard by one of the bears during filming. Charlie has been nipped and slapped around."

There was no comment from Vandergaw. No one answered the door at his Anchorage home Wednesday and he hasn't responded to messages. The state has seized the plane that he normally would use to reach the cabin, Bear Haven, which isn't accessible by road. According to charging documents, the plane was used to transport dog food to the cabin.

Vandergaw's lawyer, Kevin T. Fitzgerald, said in a statement that he found the state charges "curious as to both timing and substance." He said Vandergaw stopped feeding bears last year.

The documentary describes how Vandergaw once hunted bears but quit after an encounter with a bear 20 years ago, shortly after he retired in 1985. A black bear appeared on his yard and crawled up to him on its belly. According to the Animal Planet website, Vandergaw reciprocated, and the encounter started "a long-lasting love affair" with bears.

Farley said there is a psychological component to Vandergaw's behavior with the bears. "They are associating with Charlie only because of the food. That association is fulfilling some psychological need for Charlie," he said.

Many Alaskans think Vandergaw is just plain crazy and lucky not to be "Treadwelled," a term used by some unsympathetic Alaskans referring to Timothy Treadwell, a self-described "bear protector" who had a similarly chummy relationship with bears. He and his girlfriend were eaten by grizzlies in Katmai National Park in 2003.

On one of the videos, Vandergaw says: "I think basically what I do is my business as long as I'm not hurting anyone."

But Farley said Vandergaw was profiting from Bear Haven and had drawn two friends into his enterprise. They also were charged.

According to charging documents, Firecracker Films in London paid Vandergaw and co-defendant Carla Garrod nearly $79,000.

"Charlie hasn't just been quietly feeding them. He has been profiting from it," Farley said.

Charging documents say a search of the home of Garrod — a real estate appraiser who also owns a photo business called C&C Bear Imagery — found receipts for thousands of pounds of dog food and hundreds of pounds of cookies.

Also charged was another Vandergaw friend, Terry Cartee. Documents say Cartee delivered 2,800 pounds of dog food to Vandergaw.

"It is unfortunate that the state of Alaska has taken this action now after turning a blind eye toward Mr. Vandergaw and his activities in the Susitna River valley for many years," Brent Cole, Garrod's lawyer, said in a statement. "This is an unfortunate occurrence which should make all citizens of Alaska pause and contemplate the unbridled power of the state of Alaska."

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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Texasteel]

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

the 4 tigers and stick game DOES sound kinda fun.

Give Tony a stick, and he'll poke at anything.

[Vincent]

There are some severely @#$%ed up "people" living on our tiny little planet. In addition to the knuckleheads referenced above, we have "people" that want to be animals and some that actually think they are...

and...

...sorry, couldn't help it.

And while looking for the Tyson image, I came upon this one which is really troublesome...



How did that happen? Seriously?

[steelwall]

was a polar bear who lived at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, Alaska, and was famous for mauling zoo visitors

I had to laugh when I read that part.

Yes... come to our zoo, and get eaten by a real live polar bear...fun for the whole family!!!!