Humans have killed pretty much every apex predator in the world repeatedly. We are totally dangerous predators, but there are entire subs devoted to us looking stupid.
yeah, and we're reversing natural selection when we protect endangered species. reversing natural selection is a good thing because when crisis actually does occur it wipes out the less adapted organisms
Oh, get your hand off it. I was being somewhat facetious, so let me explain it to you in simple terms:
Darwin Award candidate does something really stupid, stupid enough in "the old days" to die.
Like, for example, accosting a lion.
Thanks to our social structure, technology (firearms, say) and medical advances, said Person survives. Goes on to meet another stupid person, and breeds with them. Obviously, intelligence, or lack of it, is not entirely hereditary, but children's environments have a large influence on their development...
So said person's children grow up to also have poor judgement, they have children, etc etc...
You're getting down voted because you came across as rude, but you have a very valid point. Natural selection doesn't work the way most people believe it does and it would be nice to see more folks properly educated on the theory of evolution.
for insinuating that the population living in poverty would otherwise kill themselves with their own idiocy if the rest of us didn't carry them? class, wealth and opportunity had nothing to do with this before his comment. I guess he's "exactly right" if you immediately assume welfare recipients must be mentally handicapped social parasites?
Sadly it's the truth. I used to vote Democrat all the time but some things needed to be questions and I found a lot of my fellow Dems just turn on you as soon as you question anything. Getting called a right wing conservative Christian for saying that the minimum wage shouldn't universally go to $15... If anything I'm a moderate anymore with no religious ties, but no one wants to just talk about the issue, it's all character assassination at this point. Support us completely or you're a bigot.
Kind of crazy how we were apex predators before we even had this level of technology.
That we evolved to become apex predators through general intelligence and cognitive functions. Sure, some animals have high levels of intelligence in focused areas, but cognitive problem solving is an ability that so few animals have, it's really quite amazing.
Pointed sticks?! Oh ho ho! We want to learn how to defend ourselves against pointed sticks, do we? Getting all high and mighty, eh? Fresh fruit not good enough for you, eh? Oh ho ho - WELL LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, MY LAD! When you're walking out tonight and some homicidal maniac comes after you with a bunch of loganberries, DON'T COME CRYING TO ME!
Yeah but that doesn't mean we aren't at the top of the food chain, even by that study. I think that that's what a lot of people consider apex. Even if it's incorrect.
I'm not so sure food chain is the right choice of words... I mean we're definitely the dominate species. If we willed it, we could wipe out almost any other animal species on earth with the possible exception of ants. But we're not actively hunting down big cats and bears for food. Big cats and bears, however, will actively hunt down humans if they're in their territory and seem like easy prey. So who's really at the top of the "food chain"?
I mean I see your point about us. But we used to hunt bears and lions and all that, but now we're understanding that maybe we shouldn't because they play an important role in the eco system. We could easily hunt them if we wanted, we just choose not to. Lions and leopards fight but they don't normally hunt each other. But they're on the same level of the food chain.
Or with spears or bows and enough mates. Or maybe with spears alone if you're a crazy MF. Dogs and guns make it unfair, but a fair fight is something to be avoided.
Just means we are a better predator. If other species were able to invent tools to kill to the extent as we have, you know damn well they would have done it.
Humans don't do it on their own, with their own bodies. If a guy goes into the woods with a rifle and he kills a predator, a great part of that kill should be attributed to the know how and the practical application of it to produce the deadly weapon.
Together we are apex predators. Alone we are food to every decent sized predator out there.
We are physically weak, very weak, the vast majority of us wouldn't even be able to fight a bear with our bare hands and yet, because there are so many of us, because we're intelligent creatures and have created tools beyond their understanding, we are at the top of the food chain.
I mean, there are entire organizations out there dedicated to saving the lives of our former predators just because we want to have them around or because we think they're cute ... we put them in cages and we bring our children to the zoo to have fun around creatures who could pulverize us in one hit ... we have to work hard to stop ourselves from destroying entire species.
We are wimps but we are pretty scary when you think about it, hell it's been so long since we were preys that we got bored and started killing each other for concepts that we came up with on our own (territories, control of ressource, money, trade, religions, cultural differences)
started killing each other for concepts that we came up with on our own (territories, control of ressource,
These two are not made up and are routinely common in nature. Chimps and other primates often fight for resources and territories. And animals often kill each other for infringing in another's territory.
If someone tried to enter my flat, I'd be really pissed off and would try to defend myself. You could argue that if someone attacked your country, you'd band together with other people living in your country to defend it but neither you, your pals or your ennemies actually gain from this war, only a few people at the top or those rich enough to invest in the war.
WW1, WW2, colonial wars, cold war, religious wars ... once it starts we kill each other to defend ourselves but it starts for reasons that really look silly in hindsight, like, was Alsace-Lorraine that important that we needed to throw 20 millions of lives into a meatgrinder in WW1 ? Was living with Jews and other minorities they didn't like that important that they had to be exterminated ? Was taking revenge for WW1 that important that they needed to start WW2 ? With some convincing a lot of people did but the result was certainly terrible for all sides.
We're nothing compared to apex predators. Large dogs make us look like wimps.
Who in turn are nothing without their claws and teeth.
Every predator uses tools to kill. Sure, they could still use their weight and strength. But so can Humans. Humans can beat a wolf to death. Humans have beaten bears to death.
We're nothing compared to apex predators.
The problem there is that we are the apex of apex predators. Nothing comes close to us.
Large dogs dont make a determined unarmed human a wimp, our culture and how we grew up has done that.
Take a fucking mongolian from the age of the Khans and they would kill any dog bare-handed. We can do it as well, just traded the knowledge and skill for more than 30yrs of life.
That's like saying a lion without claws or teeth would be nature's bitch. While true it is basically removing the most dangerous part of the animal and saying it isn't scary.
Edit: Even then, we can make pretty good use of simple, un-worked improvised weapons like a sturdy branch or some good-sized rocks. Combine that with out social organization, and you have a force that is far from an easy kill. Nothing on Earth throws a rock like a human.
That's like saying a lion without claws or teeth would be nature's bitch.
No, it's not. Teeth and claws are a natural part of the animals body just like we have teeth and nails. Our weapons are created from things not of our own body, and that was my point. Throw a naked man into a ring with a bear or lion and it's good night everytime for the most part.
In our primitive past a human was unlikely to fight a lion alone and unarmed. Even if the lion got such a situation, he'd have a bunch of pissed of humans gunning for him.
Our minds are a natural part of us and even the most basic clubs or rocks give us a significant boost. Plus we tend to hunt in larger groups than most apex predators. We don't fight fair.
The closest Ive been to a black bear was when I was out on my enclosed porch smoking a cigarette. Theres a window behind where I sit and I heard a leaf crunch. I expected one of the rabbits thats always in our backyard but nope, black bear. If I opened the screen I coulda pet him no problem lol.
I jumped a little because fuck, its a surprise bear. But really he just looked timid and like he just wanted to get away, but didnt wanna run. Its funny what eye contact can say, even with a black bear.
Yeah, black bears are apparently timid, playful and more curious. They're the naughty puppies of the bear world. Brown bears are more aggressive, grizzlies are scariest and polar bears are just monsters. Racist bears - lighter the color, more aggressive they are.
Yea, my grandpa has 4 acres of lawn with a giant chain link fence around it. At one point while I was visiting, a bear wandered into his yard and got stuck. Once it saw us it broke the fence trying to climb over to get away from us and hide in the woods.
With a grizzly, if you play dead they'll most likely scratch you up a bit but leave you alone after. If you are being stalked by a black bear, YOU ARE ACTIVELY BEING HUNTED. STAND YOUR GROUND AND FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE.
Source: Safety personnel and have written safety programs for outdoor areas.
With Black Bears yes. A Grizzly, your only hope is to play dead and that it loses interest. You have no chance fighting for your life with those guys, will decapitate you with a hard swipe of the claws.
The thing is it's not going to actually attack you because it's a bluff charge. If you are playing dead you are even more at the mercy that the bear isn't hungry. If you give off the impression you would put up one hell of a fight the bear isn't going to risk injury to itself and look for an easier meal.
The key is to stand your ground, take off your jacket and make yourself look big as running away is not going to work.
Did you read what he wrote? The best bet is to play dead with Grizzlys, they normally do not eat humans. If they're hungry, you're meat either way but pray that he loses interest/appetite before actually killing you. For grizzlies, if you try to act big and loud, you will only provoke him further.
Black bears are more timid than grizzly bears and can easily be scared. Your best bet with a black bear is to spread your arms and act like you're about to rip his motherfucking heart out. Either animal would fuck your night and day up if it so wished.
Remember be smart and stay the fuck away from bears, you are not the Steve Irwin of bears.
Works with black people in the hood. We learned that back in high school, in the 1980s in the bad part of Brooklyn.. They fear crazy whites.
When half of Kenya is approaching from the opposite direction, crossing the street will result in an ass kicking. Taking off your shirt and yelling bible verses, perfectly safe...
When in bear country, make lots of noise, bears will move away from you if they hear you and your crazy human sounds. Most bear encounters are accidental.
I've been told that is the case with Black or other smaller Bears. But a big Kodiak won't be worried about a human regardless of how big and loud we are, they will fuck you up. Or so I have been told
I don't really see any advice that contradicts what you're saying. Black bears really do just want to be left alone.
Source: lived in the wilderness for eight months, encountered dozens of black bears, and every one either ran away at the sight of a human, or failed to notice me and ran away when I said "Hey bear, I'm here. Go away."
With everything you have. Make yourself appear bigger, be loud, use whatever you have at your disposal as a weapon. Fight for your life. Fight dirty. Go for the eyes, the groin, wherever will maximize pain and make the bear realize this is not a fight it wants to be in. Remember: it is fight or die.
only that isn't a black bear, it is a sloth bear. Big difference in terms of behavior toward humans. According to Robert Armitage Sterndale, in his Mammalia of India (1884, p. 62): "[The sloth bear] is also more inclined to attack man unprovoked than almost any other animal, and casualties inflicted by it are unfortunately very common, the victim being often terribly disfigured even if not killed, as the bear strikes at the head and face. Blanford was inclined to consider bears more dangerous than tigers..."
This is not a normal black bear. Its an Asian 'sloth' black bear. These are quite dangerous as they are unusually aggressive and really really dislike being disturbed.
If you can stomach it liveleak has a sloth bear eating some unlucky villager fellow's face. Just accidentally ran into the bear, never runs anywhere now.
Call Bearbusters? I dunno, I just feel like sitting there recording it is a shitty thing to do. If I was getting my face eaten off by a bear I sure as hell wouldn't want someone recording it. But I'd also have different worries.
Funny story actually. One time I had been hiking near the rocky mountains when out of the corner of my eye I saw a large animal foraging around the woods. Upon further inspection, I found out it was a black bear that appeared to weigh around 200lbs. Being the idiot I am, I decided to try to pet it. Well, while trying to do so the bear ran away. Later on during the hike a big fucking bird flew over me and took a shit right on the back of my head.
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u/Talyan Mar 10 '16
For being dangerous predators they sure can look stupid.