Friday, November 6, 2020

Lions, Tigers, and Bears

WARNING:  This post contains graphic images.  Not suitable for Bambi lovers.  On Tuesday, I went to stretch my legs at the track.  The track is on the campus of Lassen Community College (LCC).  While I walked, I was surprised to see two deer grazing on the soccer field.  I shouldn't have been surprisedthere are deer everywherebut I realized that I had never seen them on the well-watered field before.  On Wednesday, I returned for my track laps and noticed just one deer (above).  Well, I encountered the body of the deer; the spirit of the deer had (hopefully) reached deer heaven.  On Thursday, I returned for my daily track laps (have I mentioned that I am a creature of habit?) and found the gate locked and signed (below).

Because the track was closed, I went out to the Bizz for an hour.  After about half a mile, I encountered a steaming pile of bear poop, which caused me to start thinking:  If you are a reader of Jack London (or H.H. Monroe/Saki), you know to be afraid of wolves.  But should we be afraid of lions and bears?  I'll grant that petite females don't want to see a lion on the track at dusk, but can closing the gates save us?  Instead of walking on the track, I went to the Bizz and walked in the woods (below).  Was that a safer choice?  I guess I feel as though wild animals are everywhere and that, if they want to eat us, . . . Oh, My!  On the other hand, as VSO pointed out, the closure was probably dictated by a lawyer for the LCC's insurer.

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