Stupid Tourist Tricks

[Bwana]

It's off to a fast start already this year! A list of incidents involving people trying to obtain the coveted Darwin Award. I will keep you up to date of all the stupid tourist tricks.

This yesterday: We thought it was cold! (this is a first)
http://www.ktvq.com/story/31975424/y...ed-it-was-cold



How this lady lived and was not gored is beyond me: Buy a Powerball ticket lady:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfk1O9_quxs

This from last week: Amazing no one got taken out:
http://www.krtv.com/story/31915893/v...nal-park-video

Much of the time, this is what happens: Fat guy vs Bison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNvTHOrTf_Y

At this rate, it should be a record year for goring incidents, Chinese tourists seem particularly clueless. So far no goring's, but it's coming.

If you have any from your area, post them up.

[Bwana]

While it has become a ubiquitous idiom, the true impacts of poking a bear have never been studied. Obviously, the unfortunate outcome was inevitable, but sometimes science needs to prove what we think we already know. With that in mind, we can now confidently remind everyone to please avoid poking bears.

[Bwana]

It starts:
Yellowstone visitor dies after bison gores her, tosses her 10 feet
A woman from Ohio had come within 10 feet of a female bison, park officials said.

[notorious]

Should be renamed “Darwinstone”.

[Bwana]

Today
The little kid damn near got smoked.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Bwana

Today
The little kid damn near got smoked.

That thing came charging them from quite a ways away when the video started. I wonder if they were taunting it?

[Hydrae]

Originally Posted by lewdog

That thing came charging them from quite a ways away when the video started. I wonder if they were taunting it?

They were on the boardwalk too, it looked like.

What was the guy at the end spraying? If it was supposed to be a repellent, I don't think it is working very well.

[R Clark]

Being on the boardwalk don’t mean shit stupid asshats got to close . It ain’t a bear or cat turn your ass around and run .

[Wilson8]

First of all, don't mess with bison. They are big strong animals and can kill.

BUT... watch the video

That was an older couple, walking on the boardwalk with what I assume is a grandchild.

That bison came from a distance to go after them. Not sure what they could have done differently. They weren't going to outrun the bison.

The guy that got the worst of it was a hero and probably saved the kids life.

He came from a distance to get between the bison and the kid. He could have just stayed back and let the weak get really hurt.

Side Note - Since there was a boardwalk trail, not sure why the guy that saved the kid was off walking in the grass. Yellowstone has lots of thermal activity and they don't want people off the path.

Watched video a second time. Maybe the guy getting rammed by the bison was the kids dad and he left the kid to walk with the grandparents.

It was kind of a nightmare scenario.

[Bwana]

Originally Posted by Hydrae

They were on the boardwalk too, it looked like.

What was the guy at the end spraying? If it was supposed to be a repellent, I don't think it is working very well.

That was bear spray. The bison walked through it twice and didn't flinch.

[Rain Man]

I bet the bison was trash-talking that guy at the end. "Bear spray? Bear spray? I'm gon' kick 'yo a**, puny human."

It's hard for me to find initial fault here because I can't tell who was approaching whom. If the family was on the boardwalk and the bison approached, maybe their only crime was not moving away quickly enough. If the bison was minding its own business and they came close, it's on them.

But as Wilson said, why was the one person off the boardwalk at the beginning? That's ill-advised for a number of reasons. I bet the bison view that as trespassing.

[InChiefsHeaven]

Yeah, I'll not be walking amongst the Bison, boardwalk or no. Those things can overturn a truck without breaking a sweat and they are fast as hell. Maybe observe from the road in a vehicle, but I'm not walking up on one...

[Wilson8]

We were in Yellowstone about 3 years ago. Came over the top of the hill in the road and down in the valley area was a herd of bison about 200 yards away. There was a nice big shoulder to pull off so we could admire the herd from a safe distance. We had a pretty steep embankment to the right of the car, and thought it looked safe to walk down the road a bit to take some pictures. Wrong! The first clue was the sound of bison grunts, snorts, and the ground shaking as a couple hundred bison came running down the hill and over the embankment. We made a hasty retreat back to the car, but it certainly impressed, you don't want to be in the way of a bison stampede.

[displacedinMN]

ROMULUS, Mich. — Six giant African land snails have been found in the luggage of a traveler who flew to Michigan from the west African country of Ghana.

The mollusks, which can carry diseases that affect humans, were discovered and seized March 9 during an agriculture inspection at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Friday.

The man transporting the snails is a resident of Ghana and said they were to be eaten. He was released without further actions.

''It is not uncommon for travelers to bring food items from their native countries, which underscores the importance of the inspection process upon arrival to U.S. ports of entry,'' Customs and Border Protection spokesman Steven Bansbach said. ''This allows CBP officers and agriculture specialists the opportunity to determine whether these goods are permissible or not, while mitigating the potential for public health or environmental issues.''

Giant African land snails are prohibited in Michigan and the rest of the United States. They eat at least 500 different types of plants, along with plaster and stucco on buildings.

They grow as long as 8 inches (20 centimeters) and carry a parasite called the rat lungworm that can cause meningitis in humans. They also can produce up to 1,200 eggs a year.

''Our CBP officers and agriculture specialists work diligently to target, detect, and intercept potential threats before they have a chance to do harm to U.S. interests,'' Port Director Robert Larkin said.

[Kman34]

“Sir.. your underwear appears to be moving…”
“ That’s just my giant snail”

[displacedinMN]

Bio-terrorism