BEARSCARE

As this page establishes itself as a true colossus of the internet with TEN THOUSAND page loads, I would like to take a moment to discuss pelicans. Today, a pelican landed on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA, stopping traffic for a long time. This is the best thing that’s ever happened to that bridge.

I first noticed pelicans while photographing crabs and flying men in North Carolina earlier this summer. They captured my imagination and also the imaginations of generations before me–the graceful wings, the dump-truck beak–they’re probably just the best birds. Here’s a picture of one from Wikipedia’s article on them.

Also, Pelican is a pretty great band.

I think pelicans were featured in The Flintstones, which is fine. But I could be wrong about that.

It’s a rare day when a grizzly bear attack is national news. Today is one of those rare days. A bear, called Rocky, who appeared in Will Ferrel’s timeless classic, Semi-Pro, bit his trainer on the neck. As you might guess, a grizzly bite to the neck is tough thing to walk off and Stephan Miller probably died on the spot. This happened in Big Bear Lake, CA.

The authorities have not decided what to do with Rocky. While my condolences go out to the Miller family, I feel strongly that the bear should be set free. Or at least not killed. Rocky really didn’t know any better and no grizzly bear should be punished for being a grizzly bear. If you devote your life to training some of the most dangerous animals in the world, you must accept the risk that those animals could kill you. Irwin died doing what he loved and I can only hope that Mr. Miller really loved bears–because, well, I hope he loved them. Below is a picture of Rocky. That is all.

So, maybe you’ve heard about this little story. A bunch of elephant seals have made it over the fence between Hwy 1 in California, USA and the beach and now they’re just chillaxing with motorists [1]. These little guys have been weighed in at 11,000 lbs [2]. That’s right, nearly six tons. Now, [1] is only calling them “quarter-ton” and I don’t know what that’s all about. They were probably measuring in stone, or something.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ9VoNIro-k&rel=1]

[1] http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_8163172

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_seal

So, the San Diego Zoo has some new grizzly bear cubs (see below).

They look pretty sweet and I’m going to free them.