Friday, January 18, 2008

Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright ...

So, add to the list of Stupid Things Not to Do: Getting drunk with a couple of your buddies and hopping up on the railing of the tiger's enclosure at the zoo to scream and taunt the big cat.

Talk about instant karma.

Gotta wonder how some folks remember how to breathe ...

8 comments:

Dan Gambiera said...

From their website:

"At the San Francisco Zoo, it's our mission to connect people with wildlife"

I reckon they did. It's a shame they had to kill the tiger.

Daniel Keys Moran said...

High schools around the country should show videos of stuff like this: Stupid Ways To Die. "Now, son, you don't want your poor parents to deal with the pain of the entire country snickering over the manner of your death? Thought not. You're a good boy, if a bit dumb ..."

Steve Perry said...

Yeah, I feel sorry for their parents. And even the boys -- stupidity ought not to be punishable by death, at least not every time. If that was the case, you wouldn't be able to walk to the market for the corpses littering the sidewalks and streets.

Still, I would guess that this would give at least some folks pause. "Let's go taunt the tiger." might not have quite the appeal, especially if you get to wondering just how high that critter can jump, and did the local zoo cut a few corners on cage specs ...

Like the guy who went to live with the bears in Alaska, and for his trouble, got himself and his girlfriend eaten.

I'm reminded of what Jay Leno asked Hugh Grant after the Brit was busted for picking up a street whore in L.A.:

What were you *thinking?*

Daniel Keys Moran said...

To butcher May West, "thinking had nothing to do with it."

At least, not with the big head....

I grant you, if stupidity was regularly punishable by death, I'd be dead about .... 27,000 times at this point. So I'm glad it's not.

But by God, getting drunk and taunting the tiger? There's stupid and then there's .... uhm .... getting drunk and taunting the tiger.

I saw one of those youtube bits a while back of a kid leaning out of the open door of a car, head a foot off the ground, and videotaping oncoming traffic. He got a great shot of the car door that took his head clean off.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Tiger - Ugly Humans - Go Karma Go. Protecting it's very limited territory against group of people that might not act that way if alone - gang mentality showing its dark self - punks picking on a perceived lesser - in a weakend situation or backed in a corner animal - ya punks. Then there is the guy in England that sees some younguns vandalizing his car outside his home and gets kicked to death for "his" trouble -- ya PUNKS. --- boy I must have had a bad week - sorry. Well not as bad as the Tiger or the English guy.

Bobbe Edmonds said...

My Seven Gods.

My wife reminded me of an ancient Chinese proverb that is relevant to this:

"If you fuck with a Dragon, do not be surprised when it tears your goddam head off, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup".

And they had to kill the Tiger??!? Oh, for the love of Snake Plissken, that guy should have at least been thoughtful enough to douse himself in a lovely saffron sauce before jumping in the cage...Give the Tiger a fitting last meal, and all!

steve-vh said...

Killing the Tiger is the true tragedy. For doing what? Being himself.
"It had a past history" Um, yeah it remembers being able to kill it's food on the hoof.
If it's not docile enough to put on display (and the public wants it's entertainment) set the poor majestic thing free.

Steve Perry said...

I'm not a big fan of zoos; on the other hand, given how people are, and how many species we have wiped out, a critter in a zoo is sometimes the lesser of two evils.