Stay Alive and Unhurt In Visiting National Parks

Above, Yellowstone's bears are best seen from a safe distance. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The frequency of moronic actions by tourists in Yellowstone National Park (and in some other national parks) seems to be on the rise.

Encounters between tourists and wild animals sometimes turn deadly. Also, not following the rules by staying on designated boardwalks can literally get one in to hot water. Former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan is in trouble for going off a designated boardwalk near a hot water feature. He is to go to trial over this.

RV Travel has some tips on how not to become a tragic "statistic".

They begin with:

A highly popular social media site, TouronsOfYellowstone, brings home the antics of “stupid” Yellowstone National Park visitors. Scores of film clips show human beings showing far less sense than “dumb animals.” How many times do visitors need to be reminded that bison don’t want to be ridden, bears fiercely guard their cubs, and moose on the loose are dangerous? Want to stay alive and unhurt while visiting the parks? Stick around—we have a few tips. 

To read more, go here. 

Shooting Area Idiots

This afternoon, I hopped into the Jeep to do some OHV driving.

I headed down Six Mile Canyon Road and decided to head over to the shooting area. There were two vehicles there: a white pick-up and a dark SUV. The white truck arrived before I got there and went down the pipeline road while the other left and passed me on the north-south road.

When I arrived at the shooting area, this is what I saw:

Above, one of our wooden spools (used as a table) was moved
 and was being used as a target stand. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I can't say that the people in the two vehicles did this. I immediately got on my cell phone and posted a request for help to move the spool back. Thankfully, my next-door neighbor Mike responded and got there in minutes. (I was able to move the spool most of the way, but I was getting winded.) We then moved it to where it was supposed to be.

Above, the "table" area with one spool missing and one collapsed. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Here's the spool back to where it belongs (the one on the right):

Above, the spool back to where it belongs. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It looks like we'll need to patrol the shooting area so that outsiders don't do this again. Obviously, whomever did this flunked the Darwin Award test. As Mike pointed out, they could have used the spool that has broken apart. 

C'mon folks, I know what we have isn't the "lap of luxury", but it's what we have. Outsiders are welcome to shoot here, but please respect what's there. The spools are there for everyone to use as tables, not as target stands for morons!

I am going to post this on the Gun Owners of New Mexico Facebook page. Maybe the turkeys who did this will see it.

My thanks to neighbor Mike for his assist!