[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus]
yes, hippos can be quite deadly. But cute? Did they change the meaning of cute and forget to include me on the email?
[/QUOTE]
I can’t help but envision those pink tutu wearing hippos Disney had dancing to “The Dance of the Hours”.
(Of course, those are trained dolphins at an aquarium, not wild ones, but still…!)
Did they at least say thanks for all the fish?
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
You know that thing we’re not allowed to do to other posters outside the pit? Yeah, consider it contemplated.
[/QUOTE]
Stop contemplating and come on over.
Nothing in the OP surprises me, because I’ve done several dolphin-watching boat tours of Corpus Christi Bay with an old hippie couple who’ve been watching the dolphins for years.
They love the dolphins but do not idealize them. They’ve told me all kinds of stories about the wild, aggressive behavior of adolescent male dolphins (the female hippie calls them “the teenagers”). It seems that adolescent male dolphins aren’t much different from adolescent male humans! They’re aggressive, they’re horny, they hang out together in gangs, and enjoy harassing anyone (human, dolphin, or any other species) unfortunate enough to wander into their turf.
Most of the time, even the teenagers aren’t homicidal (though they CAN be). Most of the time, they’re just going to mess with you, as a gang of teenagers on the street might.
[QUOTE=ouryL]
Actually, a lot of “cute” animals can be quite vicious:
Hippos, Koala bears, for instance.
[/QUOTE]
Koalas? I’ve actually seen pictures of people cuddling koalas-the Queen of Spain, for example, on a visit to Australia. She was holding one in her arms like a child.
[QUOTE=Guinastasia]
Koalas? I’ve actually seen pictures of people cuddling koalas-the Queen of Spain, for example, on a visit to Australia. She was holding one in her arms like a child.
[/QUOTE]
Zoo employee here: koalas are nasty creatures.
They were black and 15 feet long? You sure they were dolphins?
[QUOTE=lissener]
Zoo employee here: koalas are nasty creatures.
[/QUOTE]
Huh. I believe you, I just wondered how they managed that photo op then.
As for the OP, reminds me of the time a woman came to the Pittsburgh Zoo, stood up on a barrier wall, pushed open a small gate, and tried to pet an Amazon River Dolphin, named Chuckles. Chuckles took a large bite out of her hand. I believe she tried to sue.
[QUOTE=lissener]
Zoo employee here: koalas are nasty creatures.
[/QUOTE]
Really? What would be a good site to read up koalas? (Or might you be inclined to start a thread on them?) I’m deathly curious now.
[QUOTE=Sharky]
Feeding and/or swimming with dolphins is ILLEGAL.
If a Florida FWC officer had seen what you did (and they patrol the area around the jetties heavily) you would have been ticketed. There was an article in the paper recently about how they have been increasing patrols and surveillance around the jetties because of people like you who think it’s perfectly OK to interact with wild animals.
[/QUOTE]
Just out of curiousity, how are deep sea fishing, crabbing, shrimping, spearfishing, et.al. not interacting with wild animals? I realize dolphins are protected, but you can sure as hell interact with wild animals in Florida. There are entire industries devoted to it; or at least there were when I lived there 30 years ago. Have all the seafood restaurants closed?
[QUOTE=lissener]
They were black and 15 feet long? You sure they were dolphins?
[/QUOTE]
False Killer Whales and even the Orcas themselves are dolphins. Even in the link you provided to wiki they mention that the Flase Killer Whale is a large Dolphin.
[QUOTE=lissener]
They were black and 15 feet long? You sure they were dolphins?
[/QUOTE]
Like WhatExit, those are a member of the dolphin family. Thanks for the link, that is definetly what I encountered. I’m somewhat relieved that I was terrorized by something with “killer” in the name and not just a regular dolphin.
[QUOTE=DeadlyAccurate]
Really? What would be a good site to read up koalas? (Or might you be inclined to start a thread on them?) I’m deathly curious now.
[/QUOTE]
I saw a show on them once a year or so ago. Nasty things. They claw, bite, hiss, and that’s when they’re getting a date. After seeing that I wouldn’t go looking for trouble with one.
Originally Posted by Bryan Ekers in the pit thread on this subject:
I dunno what WhyNot’s problem is (I suspect they’re numerous)
Yeah, actually, they numbered four at that moment: the two two year olds and the 5 month old who were making me tear my hair out. I had just had one of those meltdown moments where everyone was crying at once, and just managed to get them to sleep. Then (this is number four) the very first thread I opened was like reading a coast guard test question from stupid school. I scolded. I reacted to the OP like I wanted to react to the little 'uns in my care but can’t until they’re a little more sentient. Total projection going on there.
OTOH, the OP never indicated in the OP that he and the other people involved were kids themselves. I can’t guarantee it, but I probably would have reacted with a :rolleyes: had I known that. Hoo boy, do people do dumb things at that age! I totally get that. I read it as a “this is what happened to me last week” anectode about adults.
As for the military crack, that was actually quite serious. While I have never enlisted, I’ve dated quite a few men who have (army and marine, not air force) and their stories of basic always included comments about how carefully they were taught to follow orders and NOT be impulsive and do rash things without thinking of the legalities and consequences. I mean, there have been whole marketing angles around the idea that you send your impulsive, reckless stupid teenagers to them and they make stable, dependable, “real” men out of them, haven’t there? That’s what convinced my idiot brother to join, and it worked wonders on him.
So I apologize for the mother hen tone. I’m sorry about that. It was a bummer of a downturn in what could have been a lighthearted “you dummy!” thread. It was like Roseann Barr stomping into a friendly barchat and getting all shrill and annoying. It acomplished nothing other than to get defenses up, and it was a dumb thing to do. I hereby promise to not post under the influence of babies any more.
I’ll go cross post this in the other thread so that anyone who doesn’t read here can read it there.
Mea culpa.
[QUOTE=D_Odds]
Hippos are cute? I would have chosen minks, which are some nasty creatures. Ever encounter one of those in the wild on a bad day and you’ll never feel bad about wearing a coat made of them.
[/QUOTE]
As a child I encountered a mink on what must have been a good day. My dad and I were fishing along a river. A mink came out of the woods to investigate us. By the time we left it let me pet the fur on its back while it was chewing on a dead minnow. It seemed like a friendly little guy. I haven’t seen one in the wild since then.
I posted this in the other thread as well, but just in case, thank you Whynot.
No hard feelings 
[QUOTE=lissener]
They were black and 15 feet long? You sure they were dolphins?
[/QUOTE]
Bottlenose dolphins (Flipper type) can get as large as the OP described
[QUOTE=DiggitCamara]
Wouldn’t the correct depiction of the events be "I based my (dumb) actions on half-understood TV variety shows. "? And, possibly “TV is not always based on reality”?
[/QUOTE]
Or maybe: “I should only base my actions on things I’ve learned from the Simpsons, which clearly showed how dolphins are evil and want to conquer humanity.”
Also: From my own ‘swimming with the dolphin’ experience, I’d say that dolphins are very friendly. So friendly that not-Flipper put the moves on a friend of mine, which is what dolphins do when they’re making friendly.
Male dolphins have penes that are the size of your forearm. And they’re prehensile. :eek:
“Oh, no! Flipper!” is still a catchphrase amongst my friends.
Finally, I do not understand how the OP saw the dolphins swimming along and leaping about – yet did not see that they were 15-ft. long. Were you looking at them in one of those car mirrors where objects may be larger than they appear?
[QUOTE=Lightray]
Male dolphins have penes that are the size of your forearm. And they’re prehensile.
[/QUOTE]
I was looking for a cite for the prehensile bit when I joked about this yesterday, but it seems as if that is an urban legend.
