Comments on: Pictures from the River

By: Theresa

Theresa — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 08:25:20 +0000

I have started to think of monkeys like deer. Oh, another monkey. Granted some are cooler than others and get a bit more enthusiasm but many are just another monkey.

The U.S. does have some cool wildlife: buffalo, bears, polar bears, hummingbirds (only found in N. and S. America), pumas. Unfortunately most of them are rather rare and the majority of Americans pass through life without seeing anything particularly awesome. And yeah, none of those (minus maybe polar bears) are quite as cool as elephants or giraffes or rhinos, at least in my book.

By: Anil

Anil — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:59:11 +0000

Wonderful picture of the white bird by the lake

By: Nomadic Matt

Nomadic Matt — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:23:18 +0000

totally lucked out with those elephants huh? awesome

By: Gregory

Gregory — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:10:15 +0000

Well, that’s a question for Theresa and Jeff as I think they encountered a lot of bears during their hikes. So did you shit your pants guys? I’ve had two run-ins with bears both while in a car. Both times I was like “this is fucking sweet” until I nearly fucking smashed into the bear on the second occasion (excuse my French, but it makes the story better). I still point out deer, as though I’ve never seen one before, but I can’t really say it excites me. Though I did get excited when I saw a fox and occasionally when I see a coyote on the side of the highway.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:35:09 +0000

I saw seven deer on my ride tonight(3 different sightings), a turkey vulture that swooped down right in front of us to eat a carcass, a snake, and a boatload of wild turkeys.

You better believe I got excited at each sighting – something had to get me through the hills in Oldham County.

One of the highlights of my life is coming around a turn while riding on the top of Iroquois Park (Uphill Road) and being basically face-to-face (8-10ish yards) with a large buck. Most beautiful thing in the world.

So yeah, non-North American wildlife is different and, therefore, exciting. But I think it’s more context than anything. Tell me you wouldn’t, as Bill Bryson says, “surely shit your pants,” if you saw a huge bear out in the woods?

By: Gregory

Gregory — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:11:52 +0000

The elephants are probably there every day but they just tell everyone otherwise to get them excited. Maybe its just me but I feel like other continents have better wildlife than North America. Maybe I’m just familiar with the wildlife, that a deer really doesn’t excite me, but maybe the same can be said for these people when they see a monkey.