RFTP 3 A "Introduction"

Rememberances From The Past 3 (for as many parts as I can remember), is about some things that happened to me in Yosemite National Park.

In my first few months in the park, I saw a woman and her child die from stupidity. This is much like a recent story I read today.

From what I have seen, big city folk tend to see nature as a big, tame zoo. Please understand, I know that this does not mean all people from the big cities, just the idiots I saw.

Anyway, during the dog days of summer, the mule deer tend to come out to the meadows to relax and sleep in the shade. This family saw the deer and decided to take some pictures. The mother thought that it would be a good idea [last bad thought she had] to take a picture of her son sitting on the back of one particular male deer. So, she carried her son up to the deer and put him on it.

The sleeping deer awoke to find a kid on his back. He jumped up, threw his head back, and gored the kid. Kid gone (bled out quickly). This deer then reared up on his hind legs and used his front hooves to punch a hole through the mother's chest. He then walked to another shady spot in the meadow and went back to sleep.

The point of this (and a few more to come) is that the animals are wild. This is no petting zoo.

I heard and learned on this day the meaning of the word touron. It seems that people go to the mountains and check their brain in at the gate as they enter. So that what you have are a bunch of tourist morons running around with a bunch of wild animals. Not a good combination.

This was also my introduction to a theme that lasted for the entire time I lived there.

"If they call it tourist season, why can't we shoot them?"