It has always amused me that the tourists to the US that I’ve spoken to are often very excited to see raccoons, and disappointed if they don’t see them before they leave.
Some others I’ve noticed on the east coast of the US are blue jays and cardinals. Boy, do people get excited about those if they’ve never seen them before! Very pretty birds of course, just very easy to get used to and see as uninteresting as well.
Pet them? wtf?
I saw a comment on here I think which said that a big problem in parks which have bears is that it’s really difficult to design a rubbish bin which is simultaneously too difficult for the smartest bear to open but also easy enough for the dumbest human. These types of anecdotes make me believe that more and more.
Not gonna lie, I’d try if he’d let me get close enough, yeah, probably rabid, but maybe not.
Are you serious? Why do you care if he’s rabid if you’ll be dead?
When I was a teenager, I was walking past a bear cub (it was the middle of the city and some asshole took money for pictures with a “trained” bear cub). The cub didn’t like me for some reason I had a textile bag in my hand, with a leather-cover notepad in it, like a knock-off moleskin. The cub slashed the bag and his fangs cut through the bag and half of the notepad like butter. If it was my hip, he’d scratch my bones.
Now there are adult bears…
Oh shit, my bad.
I thought this was the thread about raccoons.
My original comment probably seems less insane now. I wouldn’t need to pet the bear, my grandpa had a rug, I know what they feel like. Not snuggly at all.
Great, I believe in humanity again!