Lookin' For Trouble, Finding It Easy!

It's tourist season, which means something different to just about everyone but certainly makes me think of one thing, as highlighted by this poster I saw in Banff.

Yes, when I think of tourist season I think of gangs of tourists, getting off a bus or clambouring out of their rental car ( another issue unto itself!) and jockeying for position to get a photo of some wildlife. The key word here is WILDlife, yet too many tourists are blissfully unaware of just how dangerous these critters can be, even those that appear to be quite docile.

The cow elk and calf in the above photo might look Disney cute but get too close and Mama might just run you over, cut you up with her hooves, or trample your head!

An Elk is one thing, but check out this video below, shot in Janff National Park. Hey, let's all get out of our cars, crowd around a bear with a cub, and see what happens. I like the guy in the video, asking people to get back in their vehicles, saying "I'm not here to protect you, I'm trying to protect the bear". Fact is, that 100kg bear can reach a speed of 60 km an hour and would cover the distance between her and those tourists in a flash. Unfortunately, the bear would end up paying the ultimate price and probably get shot later on by a Park Ranger, just for doing what it does naturally when protecting her young.

There's an adage "a fed bear is a dead bear", meaning that the only recourse for bears that get used to people food and become too habituated is being shot. The same would apply to animals who protect themselves and their young and attack idiot tourists who seem to think it's okay to approach and encroach on the wild life.