We should really be happy that this is the first time all winter we've experienced prolonged below zero weather. We're all acting like a bunch of babies & wussies. This wouldn't have been more than a blip on the radar screen of winters past. It's a lively -14 this morning. We set a new overnight low of -22, with a wind chill of -42. While yes, everybody has forgotten that temperatures like this are the norm... it still blows. Speaking of blowing, the wind has calmed considerably this morning so the wind chills are only a few degrees below the actual temperature. I guess that's something to happy about.
I think I'm feeling the dreaded Cabin Fever coming on. I've only been house bound for what, five days now? I can't even imagine what it was like back in the 1800's and 1900's when settlers and pioneers were in their cabins for months on end... cabins that were the size of my bedroom for all the people in the family! Yeah... I would have lost it too.
It's easy to see how it came to be termed Cabin Fever, there were so many murders and psychotic breaks that occurred during those times what else could they call it?
I find myself pacing like a neurotic caged panther in a zoo. I feel like one too.
Did you know that when you see that relentless pacing at a zoo, it is caused solely by captivity? I also just recently learned that when a predator of any kind (big cats, bears etc.) begins exhibiting the pacing and other signs of captivity getting to them, how they are cared for behind the scene is radically altered?
While these animals have been (or should have been) handled carefully and cautiously as large predators all along, once they begin this behavior they are pretty much placed on what could be termed "Instinct Watch" ?
This means that handlers have extra watchers standing by with tranquilizer darts and sadly, rifles with live ammunition in the event of an attack during any zoo personnel interaction with said animals. And in some instances, the animals are so unstable that any time a handler has to get near them they are routinely shot with tranqs and out cold before the people step in. Large animals that receive constant sedation, as a rule, run the risk of premature death almost 20% higher than the norm.
Once a zoo animal has begun to exhibit the neurotic behavior of chronic pacing, it is nearly 60% more likely to attack without warning. This sad reality even applies to animals that have been born in captivity.
These animals also exhibit behaviors they would never do in the wild. The picture below is a prime example of this. It's a picture of a "Liger" this is an animal that was produced by a male lion impregnating a tiger. There are also "Tions" which are the reverse. (I may have reversed the names to which is which...)
Forgetting for a moment that lions and tigers live on separate continents and wouldn't have the opportunity to breed, in the wild, they both would kill any other species that would attempt cross-breeding. Picture a cheetah trying to mate with a lion...
So the animal below only exists because of man's interference and so called "superiority" over animals. And just plain, flat-out stupidity at creating an atmosphere in which something like this was even possible.
Okay, I'll get down from my soapbox now. While I understand and can appreciate the attempts to keep animal in zoos because of nearing and/or actual extinction in the wild... I know I'll never go to another zoo. Not after watching that show... I cried my eyes out and it made me sad beyond words. I really wonder about us as a species sometimes.
Okay, talk about going off on a tangent!! Me, I blame it on the Cabin Fever.
And just an aside... The woman in this picture is out of her fricking mind. Did she not hear about what happened to Siegfried?? Attacked by a fifth-generation, born in captivity and raised by his own hand animal?! She's nuts. I thought this was cool when I first got it in an email. Now I just feel downhearted about it. I think it's time for a nap.
