Armed Polite Society

Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: lupinus on October 03, 2012, 05:40:03 AM

Title: "It's all fun and games" or "Oh! the huge Manatee"
Post by: lupinus on October 03, 2012, 05:40:03 AM
Till someone rides the manatee  :mad:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1254405.ece

All the times I've see a manatee, nothing in me has said "Hey, I'll hop on and ride that sucker!"
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: BobR on October 03, 2012, 06:25:09 AM
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tampabay.com%2Fmultimedia%2Farchive%2F00242%2Fb4s_manateerider100_242340c.jpg&hash=81d62476528153e183e66d7ba98b235f9f9927e7)

Just exactly which one is the sea cow????   =|

bob
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: MillCreek on October 03, 2012, 06:47:46 AM
Oh, the huge manatee!

Interesting how the linked article went on about the psychological impact to the manatee of being ridden. 
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: vaskidmark on October 03, 2012, 06:48:04 AM
Someone has to say it.

(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm4.staticflickr.com%2F3011%2F2640789668_48a2a84ddf.jpg&hash=57a046e3d0bd809f102d3169ce93954729e7d751)

stay safe.
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: Fly320s on October 03, 2012, 06:55:23 AM
Oh, the huge manatee!

Interesting how the linked article went on about the psychological impact to the manatee of being ridden. 


Maybe the manatee liked it.
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: AZRedhawk44 on October 03, 2012, 07:28:46 AM
How is this any different than what people do with dolphins on very lucky encounters?

Quote
Many [manatees] are curious about human beings. Their tolerance of people's presence has led sea cows to mutilation or death when run over by motorboats.

The manatee strikes me as a cross-species benevolent creature that is just fatter and dumber than a dolphin.  The woman did not "molest" the animal by any of the 3 definitions provided by this resource:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/molest?s=t

Quote
1.
to bother, interfere with, or annoy.
2.
to make indecent sexual advances to.
3.
to assault sexually.

According to Wikipedia, manatees are capable of bursts of speed up to 20mph.  So it can get away if annoyed by a human.  And it can demonstrate "annoyance" to observers by traveling at that speed (among other defensive techniques as well).

Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: MrsSmith on October 03, 2012, 08:13:38 AM
Manatees really aren't fat - they only have about a quarter inch of body fat, which is why they return to warmer waters in the winter. Just had to toss out that tidbit of useful information.

But this is all part of the whole "we love our fellow mammals" protection act which has been overblown and taken to the nth degree in recent years. In GA, $20,000. fine for interfering with a marine mammal, which includes manatees. Yep, that's four zeros. And they take that crap seriously. Local shrimper was hamming it up for tourists, got fined and lost his license for holding a piece of shrimp overboard to a dolphin. A man's livelihood gone over a piece of shrimp that, had he swept it off the deck with a shovel would still have been eaten by the dolphin but would have been legal. Utterly freakin' ridiculous.
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: bedlamite on October 03, 2012, 08:25:11 AM
Is that like jumping the shark?
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: HankB on October 03, 2012, 08:47:01 AM
Manatees really aren't fat - they only have about a quarter inch of body fat, which is why they return to warmer waters in the winter. Just had to toss out that tidbit of useful information.

But this is all part of the whole "we love our fellow mammals" protection act which has been overblown and taken to the nth degree in recent years. In GA, $20,000. fine for interfering with a marine mammal, which includes manatees. Yep, that's four zeros. And they take that crap seriously. Local shrimper was hamming it up for tourists, got fined and lost his license for holding a piece of shrimp overboard to a dolphin. A man's livelihood gone over a piece of shrimp that, had he swept it off the deck with a shovel would still have been eaten by the dolphin but would have been legal. Utterly freakin' ridiculous.
Sounds like not just a stupid law, but some stupid jurors as well.
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: MechAg94 on October 03, 2012, 12:04:52 PM
A bunch of those manatees get hit by boat motors don't they?  I really doubt being ridden by a sea cow would hurt it much.  It can alway dive and take the human for a nice deep ride.
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: BobR on October 03, 2012, 12:12:40 PM
Quote
It can alway dive and take the human for a nice deep ride.

That it could.

I used to tell all of the people who used to tell me dolphins were kind and gentle, and had even saved people from drowning, that that is only because you only heard about those few they brought back. You never heard about the people they took out to sea to play with, got bored with, and left them there to drown.  ;)

bob
Title: oh, the huge Manatee
Post by: Harold Tuttle on October 03, 2012, 05:13:47 PM
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/10/03/162230744/manhunt-for-manatee-riding-lady-comes-to-an-end-in-florida

For a short period, yesterday, the hunt was on in Pinellas County, Florida for a lady photographed riding a manatee.

The sheriff's department called a deadly serious press conference in which they asked the help of the public in identifying the perpetrator. The lady was wearing a white cap, red shorts and a black bikini top. Witnesses in the area, the sheriff said in a statement, took photographs and contacted police.



deadly serious :police:
Title: Re: oh, the huge Manatee
Post by: Tallpine on October 03, 2012, 05:19:50 PM
I don't see the problem.  She wasn't wearing spurs  :angel:
Title: Re: oh, the huge Manatee
Post by: AZRedhawk44 on October 03, 2012, 06:07:16 PM
Dude, you are so behind.  This is totally "yesterday" in APS-world.

http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=36383.0
Title: Re: oh, the huge Manatee
Post by: zxcvbob on October 03, 2012, 06:22:16 PM
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi388.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Foo323%2Fbubbanomics%2Fhugh_manatee.jpg&hash=ea0db58187a6e517ddc3c4b5d46b91de91b2fb1f)
Title: Re: oh, the huge Manatee
Post by: dogmush on October 03, 2012, 06:26:58 PM
Sigh. At least I moved out of Pinellas County in June.
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: BlueStarLizzard on October 03, 2012, 06:31:54 PM
Well, at least the manatee had fun.

Till someone rides the manatee  :mad:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1254405.ece

All the times I've see a manatee, nothing in me has said "Hey, I'll hop on and ride that sucker!"

They're not scared of humans, our weight, combine with the boyant effects of salt water is probably nothing to them, and they show signs of curiosity and playfulness?
Other then stupid laws and potential injury to oneself, why not?
Basic human vs. manatee and the manatee is going to win, hands down, everytime. It's only when humans have tools that the manatee is endangered.

There arn't many wild animals that people can interact with in the animals habitat. Seems stupid to bar ourselfs from the wonder of such experances as long as we arn't hurting the animal.
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: dogmush on October 03, 2012, 06:40:51 PM
There arn't many wild animals that people can interact with in the animals habitat. Seems stupid to bar ourselfs from the wonder of such experances as long as we arn't hurting the animal.

That's what Tim Treadwell said.


*Actually, BSL I agree with you (and Tim) that snark was just to good to pass up.
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: bedlamite on October 03, 2012, 06:50:46 PM
That it could.

I used to tell all of the people who used to tell me dolphins were kind and gentle, and had even saved people from drowning, that that is only because you only heard about those few they brought back. You never heard about the people they took out to sea to play with, got bored with, and left them there to drown.  ;)

bob


That's closer to the truth than most would like to admit. (http://www.aardvarknyc.com/about/dolphins-rape-people/)
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: Declaration Day on October 03, 2012, 07:12:49 PM
Possibly NSFW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjitsh0re3o&feature=player_embedded
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: HForrest on October 03, 2012, 07:42:52 PM
Quote
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held a news conference to decry the alleged abuse of an animal he called "a huge part of our culture here in Florida" and "a very integral part of what Florida is about."

At the gathering of reporters and news cameramen, slightly surreal in its gravity, Gualtieri said he hoped photographs a bystander snapped of the mysterious manatee rider will identify the woman and bring her to justice.

"Go ride a Jet Ski. Don't use animals," the sheriff said. "She needs to be held accountable for her actions."
I wonder how many armed robberies, rapes, and homicides there were in the same region and time frame as the manatee abuse, that didn't get their own news conferences.
Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: Boomhauer on October 03, 2012, 08:07:20 PM
Is that like jumping the shark?

That's a higher fine.

Title: Re: It's all fun and games
Post by: BlueStarLizzard on October 03, 2012, 08:13:47 PM
That's what Tim Treadwell said.


*Actually, BSL I agree with you (and Tim) that snark was just to good to pass up.

Far be it for me to deny someone a moment of snark.  :laugh:

Stay snarky, my friend.
Title: Re: "It's all fun and games" or "Oh! the huge Manatee"
Post by: LadySmith on October 03, 2012, 09:04:47 PM
She turned herself in saying she didn't know it was wrong.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/03/14200029-woman-rides-wild-manatee-in-florida-turns-herself-in?lite (http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/03/14200029-woman-rides-wild-manatee-in-florida-turns-herself-in?lite)
Title: Re: "It's all fun and games" or "Oh! the huge Manatee"
Post by: Tallpine on October 03, 2012, 09:18:14 PM
Save a Horse
Ride a Manatee