Big Snake & Other XL Creatures

[thegrogmonster]

Last weekend the daughter of the couple that own the local golf club was getting reading to play a round and as she went to put her shoes into her golf bag a 1 metre brown snake came out of the bag. The brown snake is one of the most deadliest snake around.

Fortunately a golf club fell on top of the snake and it is sadly no longer with us.

[lazarus]

[lazarus]

[forcebwithu]

Don't know why they didn't just leave the pool right away and leave it to moma elephant to get her baby out. Most know, or should know, never get close to young wildlife when their mom is about.

 

[lazarus]

19 hours ago, lazarus said:

Interesting IRL 'back story' to this meme.

. . .

Man or bear? A viral question has spawned scary responses

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/06/us/man-bear-safety-tiktok-question-cec/index.html

Another day, another hypothetical scenario tearing people apart on social media. However, this cultural discourse has some sharp teeth.

The question, directed towards women, seems simple: Would you rather be alone in the woods with a man or a bear?

While there’s no unanimous answer, a good number of women on TikTok, Instagram and X have made it clear they’d prefer the bear. This has sparked anger among some men online, but more than that, it has snowballed into a valuable discussion about violence against women and how danger doesn’t always take the shape of a wild animal on the prowl.

It’s not actually about the bear

In one TikTok video, viewed more than 16.7 million times, an interviewer asks eight women on the street whether they’d rather be stuck in a forest with a man or a bear. Seven out of the eight answer, with very little hesitation, the latter.

There are innumerable variants of this video, with the question asked among groups of friends, to family members and partners and strangers on the street. When asked why they would pick the bear, women all give some iteration of the same answer: With a bear, they know what the dangers are. They know, at least in theory, how to survive the encounter.

The comments on the previously mentioned video make that painfully clear:

“You know what to expect from a bear.”

“Absolutely a bear humans are capable of so so much worse.”

“Bear, because If I got attacked by a bear people would believe me.”

It’s impossible to conduct a statistical analysis on whether one particular man would be more dangerous than one particular bear, especially since we all spend a lot more of our daily existence in proximity to men than wild ursines. The point of this clearly hypothetical exercise has nothing to do with survival skills or being able to tell a black bear from a brown one.

“The fact that women would even consider hypothetical man/bear questions means we have utterly failed to create a safe society,” one user wrote on X.

According to data from the United Nations, almost 89,000 women and girls were intentionally killed worldwide in 2022. UN data also shows that one in three women across the world have experienced intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence, categories that include domestic violence and rape.

That doesn’t include sexual harassment or other situations that can put a woman in fear of her life. The UN’s data claims a sizable majority of women parliamentarians and journalists have experienced psychological violence in the public sphere — a specific statistic, but one that shows how deep into a woman’s existence the threat of violence can go.

A lot of critics are missing the point

People rankled by the number of women choosing to take their chances with a bear have called the question “misandrist” and said it’s an excuse to freely hate on men. Others, missing the point entirely, have taken the opportunity to mock and belittle women in response.

One X post shows a cartoon of a woman telling a bear she’s glad to be stuck with it “instead of a man teehee.” In the second panel, the bear has violently mauled her.

“Help me understand the math,” a top response reads. “Women said they feel safer with a bear than a man. So in response you as a man decided to create imagery of them being violently dissected to prove that you’re not violent and are safe to be around?”

This kind of unintentional proof-of-theory has frustrated women who feel like some men genuinely don’t understand, or care to understand, what it feels like to never feel entirely safe around other people.

A post on Instagram Threads, shared thousands of times, further illustrates this gap.

“A woman should definitely pick the bear,” the post reads. “The bear would eat her. It’s not going to help her one bit. A man she can bond with to a point where he will work with her to survive in the woods. If she used her feminine traits. He would hunt, building and protect.”

It goes on, but that penultimate line, “if she used her feminine traits,” spawned waves of comments from people shocked at the irony.

A lot of detractors also seem to be misunderstanding the definition of a hypothetical question. LSD Law, a portal for law students, offers an especially clear explanation:

“Hypothetical means something that is not necessarily true, but is used to help explain or understand something else. It is like a pretend situation that we use to learn or think about something.”

Men are lending their voices to the discussion

As much as it feels like a battle of the sexes, the “man vs. bear” question is far from split along gendered lines. Many men have shared their take on the situation, and come out on the side of the bear as well.

One TikToker asked her father, a lifelong bear hunter, which he would prefer for her.

“You’d have a better chance with the bear,” he said, after a moment of thought. Then, without a hint of irony or drama, he goes on: “Because men are evil.”

Another user added a layer of nuance, pointing out that men (or people in general) can lie, make false promises, downplay their own danger and generally be predatory on a level no bear could ever be.

“The bear wouldn’t apologize after and promise to never do it again,” he said.

TikTok creator and anti-misogynist educator Call Me BK, who claims to have started the current man vs. bear debate, said he didn’t even consider the question to be hypothetical.

He points to a video posted on March 12, where he says, “If you’re alone in the woods, seeing a man is ten times scarier than seeing a bear.”

“I never presented it as a ‘would you rather’ question because I already knew that women were picking the bear,” he said in a recent post.

Call Me BK has spent numerous videos trying to explain to men why women would pick the bear, and each subsequent attempt has drawn comments from people saying it’s ridiculous, hateful, illogical or worse.

However, some positive comments have argued that the question isn’t meant to lambaste men or pick apart the potential danger of a bear encounter. It is, in the way hypothetical questions are, a door to something bigger.

“You started an important conversation,” one commenter wrote on TikTok. “It didn’t just go into a debate. It led to some of us mothers having important talks with our older sons. This is the kinda thing that can change the future.”

[Glasseye]

Good news for you "cavers"...

 

 

[lazarus]

Smart to take a l@@k before you squat...

. . .

Why Thousands of Snakes Are Popping Up in Thailand's Toilets

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/why-thousands-of-snakes-are-popping-up-in-thailands-toilets

A whopping 20 million people travelled to Bangkok in 2017, making it the most visited city on Earth. Yet tourists aren’t the only visitors flocking to the Thai capital. In recent years, the city has seen an alarming rise in snake sightings. Bangkok’s Fire and Rescue Department has recorded a massive 300 percent increase in snake-related calls in the past five years. Their favourite hiding spots? Toilets. Read on to discover the reason behind these intimate encounters.

Bangkok’s Murky Past
Snake encounters in the Thai capital are historically part and parcel of living there. Bangkok was founded on the banks of the Chao Phraya River after all, a lush marshland providing fertile breeding grounds for its slithering inhabitants. In 2006, the city’s Suvarnabhumi Airport was opened on land formerly known as ‘Cobra Swamp’ — a nickname fulfilled, as numerous snakes ended up in people’s suitcases. Yet as Bangkok’s economy grows and its tourism demand increases, the city will continue to entrench itself on the natural habitat of these creatures. With nowhere to go, snakes are now slithering their way into people’s homes.

On November 27, 2017, Bangkok’s Fire and Rescue Department reported 31,801 calls from people asking for snake removal this year. Compared with 10,492 calls in 2012, this is a significant stretch — marking a 300 percent increase over the past five years.

These strange events have resulted in some horrific encounters: one man almost lost his penis after wrestling with a 10ft python that emerged from his squat toilet. Fearing the loss of his manhood, he pried open the jaws of the python before passing out and being admitted to hospital. Another Bangkok resident, Panarat Chaiyaboon, was bitten on the thigh by an 8ft python lurking in her toilet. Only a week later, her daughter found a second python in the same spot. It’s clear Bangkok has a problem with snakes, and the problem isn’t so easy to fix.

While it paints a scary picture, the figures alone are not totally accurate. As some have suggested, the increase in snake calls could indicate a widening awareness of the Fire Department’s serpentine rescue duties. On the other hand, the numbers don’t register the amount of snakes caught, killed or released by locals or other wildlife groups — meaning the total figures could be much, much higher.

A Snake’s Smorgasbord
One major theory is that Thailand’s ineffective waste management system contributes to this mass exodus of snakes towards urban areas. Greenpeace reported that only 466 of the 2,490 waste management centres around the country follow proper procedure. That leaves over 80 percent of Thailand’s urban spaces subject to more trash on the street, leading to more pests (such as rats) — the perfect dinner for a hungry serpent. Unlike in the countryside, there aren’t too many predators in Bangkok, meaning snakes who invade the city are free to eat and grow as long as they please.

Snakes Seeking Refuge
But the question remains — why toilets? In Panarat Chaiyaboon’s case, officials discovered a hole in the family’s sewage pipe, wide enough for a snake to squeeze its way through. Many snakes are known to sleep or lounge about in water. As previously mentioned, their habitats include marshes, swamps and rainforests. A toilet is the perfect place for a serpent to cozy up and protect itself from the scorching Thai sun.

Scientific studies have proven that cold-blooded snakes aren’t able to regulate their body temperatures. As a result, they cannot cool themselves down without a source of water. With no natural lakes or rivers in Bangkok’s bustling metropolis, toilets are not just a convenient refuge for snakes, but a biological necessity.

A Wetter Year than Normal
With all that said, this isn’t a problem that can solely be blamed on people’s actions. A further theory points to the weather. This November, Thailand had an exceptionally wet year, with flash floods caused by heavy monsoon rains decimating the country’s southern provinces. This wet weather has seen snakes heading indoors and seeking higher ground in order to survive.

Learning to Live Together?
Pinning all the blame on one single cause is difficult, if not ineffective. As long as humans continue to expand into the territory of snakes, further sightings in people’s homes, gardens and toilets are to be expected.

The citizens of Bangkok have taken it upon themselves to create groups on the popular LINE messaging app, where photos of snakes can be submitted to help residents identify if their new houseguests are venomous. It is one of several steps being taken that indicate, at least in a few cases, humans and snakes are learning to live together. Why, Thais only have to look at their very own Cobra Village as an example of human-reptile harmony.

Is Bangkok ready to become a city of snakes? Probably not. But for now, residents have learned to think twice before they flush.

. . .

[Glasseye]

13 hours ago, lazarus said:

Smart to take a l@@k before you squat...

. . .

Why Thousands of Snakes Are Popping Up in Thailand's Toilets

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/why-thousands-of-snakes-are-popping-up-in-thailands-toilets

A whopping 20 million people travelled to Bangkok in 2017, making it the most visited city on Earth. Yet tourists aren’t the only visitors flocking to the Thai capital. In recent years, the city has seen an alarming rise in snake sightings. Bangkok’s Fire and Rescue Department has recorded a massive 300 percent increase in snake-related calls in the past five years. Their favourite hiding spots? Toilets. Read on to discover the reason behind these intimate encounters.

Bangkok’s Murky Past
Snake encounters in the Thai capital are historically part and parcel of living there. Bangkok was founded on the banks of the Chao Phraya River after all, a lush marshland providing fertile breeding grounds for its slithering inhabitants. In 2006, the city’s Suvarnabhumi Airport was opened on land formerly known as ‘Cobra Swamp’ — a nickname fulfilled, as numerous snakes ended up in people’s suitcases. Yet as Bangkok’s economy grows and its tourism demand increases, the city will continue to entrench itself on the natural habitat of these creatures. With nowhere to go, snakes are now slithering their way into people’s homes.

On November 27, 2017, Bangkok’s Fire and Rescue Department reported 31,801 calls from people asking for snake removal this year. Compared with 10,492 calls in 2012, this is a significant stretch — marking a 300 percent increase over the past five years.

These strange events have resulted in some horrific encounters: one man almost lost his penis after wrestling with a 10ft python that emerged from his squat toilet. Fearing the loss of his manhood, he pried open the jaws of the python before passing out and being admitted to hospital. Another Bangkok resident, Panarat Chaiyaboon, was bitten on the thigh by an 8ft python lurking in her toilet. Only a week later, her daughter found a second python in the same spot. It’s clear Bangkok has a problem with snakes, and the problem isn’t so easy to fix.

While it paints a scary picture, the figures alone are not totally accurate. As some have suggested, the increase in snake calls could indicate a widening awareness of the Fire Department’s serpentine rescue duties. On the other hand, the numbers don’t register the amount of snakes caught, killed or released by locals or other wildlife groups — meaning the total figures could be much, much higher.

A Snake’s Smorgasbord
One major theory is that Thailand’s ineffective waste management system contributes to this mass exodus of snakes towards urban areas. Greenpeace reported that only 466 of the 2,490 waste management centres around the country follow proper procedure. That leaves over 80 percent of Thailand’s urban spaces subject to more trash on the street, leading to more pests (such as rats) — the perfect dinner for a hungry serpent. Unlike in the countryside, there aren’t too many predators in Bangkok, meaning snakes who invade the city are free to eat and grow as long as they please.

Snakes Seeking Refuge
But the question remains — why toilets? In Panarat Chaiyaboon’s case, officials discovered a hole in the family’s sewage pipe, wide enough for a snake to squeeze its way through. Many snakes are known to sleep or lounge about in water. As previously mentioned, their habitats include marshes, swamps and rainforests. A toilet is the perfect place for a serpent to cozy up and protect itself from the scorching Thai sun.

Scientific studies have proven that cold-blooded snakes aren’t able to regulate their body temperatures. As a result, they cannot cool themselves down without a source of water. With no natural lakes or rivers in Bangkok’s bustling metropolis, toilets are not just a convenient refuge for snakes, but a biological necessity.

A Wetter Year than Normal
With all that said, this isn’t a problem that can solely be blamed on people’s actions. A further theory points to the weather. This November, Thailand had an exceptionally wet year, with flash floods caused by heavy monsoon rains decimating the country’s southern provinces. This wet weather has seen snakes heading indoors and seeking higher ground in order to survive.

Learning to Live Together?
Pinning all the blame on one single cause is difficult, if not ineffective. As long as humans continue to expand into the territory of snakes, further sightings in people’s homes, gardens and toilets are to be expected.

The citizens of Bangkok have taken it upon themselves to create groups on the popular LINE messaging app, where photos of snakes can be submitted to help residents identify if their new houseguests are venomous. It is one of several steps being taken that indicate, at least in a few cases, humans and snakes are learning to live together. Why, Thais only have to look at their very own Cobra Village as an example of human-reptile harmony.

Is Bangkok ready to become a city of snakes? Probably not. But for now, residents have learned to think twice before they flush.

. . .

 

That's a long fcuking turd bro. You might want to visit a doctor.

[lazarus]

1 hour ago, Glasseye said:

That's a long fcuking turd bro. You might want to visit a doctor.

If you think that's a turd....

I found a nice, friendly, little doggie for you a few days back (near my home).

. . .