You need to get up in the morning and say, “Boy, I’m going to – in my own stupid way – save the world today.” –Carol Bellamy
So yesterday a man on vacation from TN decides to play a round of 18 holes at one of our many beautiful golf courses we are known for here in Florida.
On the 6th hole, he overshot the green sending his ball down a small incline before it plopped into the picturesque pond. When he looked into the water, he could see his ball and figured why lose the twenty-five cent ball and lose a point for having to drop a new one on the grass? He could have used his golf club to retrieve the ball but didn’t want to get it wet so what does this genius do? He reaches into the pond.
An 11 foot alligator happened to live in that pond – had been living there for years according to the owner. When it heard the “plop” of the ball, it naturally came over to explore this new wave in it’s environment. Then, when the man started moving his fingers around, why the gator probably thought it had hit the jackpot. The gator was hungry, it hadn’t had it’s supper yet, and couldn’t be blamed for chomping down on something in it’s territory.
What pisses me off is once again a reptile must pay the price due to human arrogance, greed and stupidity. The ponds are all clearly marked “Beware of Gator” but the man chose to ignore the warning and for what? For a golf ball? How absolutely asinine is that?
Now the gator had to be trapped and “removed” from it’s habitat – they won’t say “destroyed” because too many people protested after the last moron did the exact same thing.
Who knows how old that gator was – at 11 ft he was probably pretty old. It had lived peacefully in our ponds and canals that entire time. People had come to take it’s picture and marvel at him swimming around. Can’t tell you how many times you’ll hear people get excited when they see a gator sticking it’s head up out of the water – cameras click as everyone tries to get the best picture possible. But now, thanks to that moron, he has to be removed. Yes, it really pisses me off.
So many humans go around thinking they have some sort of entitlement to ravage and rape our environment and all the creatures it supports. Do we really forget that we are one of those creatures? Man may be near the top of the food chain – but we are still on it. We always have been. Because we are a part of it, we are responsible to ourselves and the other creatures both above and below us.
If nature had to decide what it’s weakest link was and mark it for extinction – humans would be the 1st to go. We are by far the most destructive creature in the chain and the ones least in harmony with nature.
Please people – let’s all try just a little harder to be good shepherds of our environment. Please use common sense – if a sign says “beware of humans”…oops, I meant “beware of gator” then stay the hell out of the water!
