Inconvenient truths
I actually had yesterday off and like the martyr that I am I volunteered to go man the 'Friends of State Parks' booth at the Eno River festival. I was signed up for 2pm until 6pm and so me and the family went off. It was a pretty good time, despite the fact that I pretty much sat at a booth the whole time. The music was good and the people watching was great, and since I was volunteering I did not have to be in uniform.
Not many people stopped by the booth. This was in part because we had the desperate look of people who want you to join their orgamization and donate some money. Which is exactly what we wanted. It was in part because we were right across from the Eno River State Park display, which had lots of cool activities and live river critters (crayfish and the like) to look at.
Performers golden rule #3; Never compete with children or live animals.
Still we had a steady trickle of people and got a handful of new people interested. Yah us!
I got asked alot of questions about cottonmouth snakes and whether they live in the area. The short answer to the question for now is no. We are right on the line of their potential habitat, though- head a little east and the water is warm enough to accommodate them. So I tell people that if you believe that global warming is happening (and I do) then it may only be a matter of time before we start seeing cottonmouths in the area.
I tell people this and advise them to be careful. If you are not a snake expert, assume any snake may be venemous and avoid them. This is a good safety rule.
One of the people who approached my booth was an older gentleman who asked me about cottonmouths. I answered his questions. He asked me about public greenways. I answered his questions. He asked me if I was aware of the Raleigh Metro parks regulations that were keeping him from developing his land completely and said that yes, I was. I knew I was in trouble, but I also mentioned the river basin buffer zone rules that might further impede development of his land, since it apparently was bordered by a public waterway. Then he complained about beavers. See my previous rant on beavers. I pretty much always side with the beavers over the developing land owners. It is part of my . . . idiom.
He raged on for several minutes about how the hippy tree huggin' environmentalists were regulating him out of his god-given landowner rights. He also mentioned Global warming and how the wacco greenpeace people were blaming everything on it.
He claimed that he himself was pro-environment but did not believe that meant HE should not be able to build whatever HE wanted to on HIS land.
I smiled and nodded and let him rant. When he was done I did not bother to ask him if he wanted to join. By this time I mostly wanted him to go away and thankfully he did.
I have to wonder how a man can walk up to a booth labeled 'Friends of State Parks' and not realize that it is likely to be manned by hippy tree huggin' environmentalists. Perhaps he did realize this and just wanted to argue . . . hard to say. I just let him rant and go away.
Is it evil of me to say that I hope in the warmer future he is among the first people bitten by one of the newly arrived cottonmouths in this area?
Maybe not evil . . . maybe just 'natural'.
Not many people stopped by the booth. This was in part because we had the desperate look of people who want you to join their orgamization and donate some money. Which is exactly what we wanted. It was in part because we were right across from the Eno River State Park display, which had lots of cool activities and live river critters (crayfish and the like) to look at.
Performers golden rule #3; Never compete with children or live animals.
Still we had a steady trickle of people and got a handful of new people interested. Yah us!
I got asked alot of questions about cottonmouth snakes and whether they live in the area. The short answer to the question for now is no. We are right on the line of their potential habitat, though- head a little east and the water is warm enough to accommodate them. So I tell people that if you believe that global warming is happening (and I do) then it may only be a matter of time before we start seeing cottonmouths in the area.
I tell people this and advise them to be careful. If you are not a snake expert, assume any snake may be venemous and avoid them. This is a good safety rule.
One of the people who approached my booth was an older gentleman who asked me about cottonmouths. I answered his questions. He asked me about public greenways. I answered his questions. He asked me if I was aware of the Raleigh Metro parks regulations that were keeping him from developing his land completely and said that yes, I was. I knew I was in trouble, but I also mentioned the river basin buffer zone rules that might further impede development of his land, since it apparently was bordered by a public waterway. Then he complained about beavers. See my previous rant on beavers. I pretty much always side with the beavers over the developing land owners. It is part of my . . . idiom.
He raged on for several minutes about how the hippy tree huggin' environmentalists were regulating him out of his god-given landowner rights. He also mentioned Global warming and how the wacco greenpeace people were blaming everything on it.
He claimed that he himself was pro-environment but did not believe that meant HE should not be able to build whatever HE wanted to on HIS land.
I smiled and nodded and let him rant. When he was done I did not bother to ask him if he wanted to join. By this time I mostly wanted him to go away and thankfully he did.
I have to wonder how a man can walk up to a booth labeled 'Friends of State Parks' and not realize that it is likely to be manned by hippy tree huggin' environmentalists. Perhaps he did realize this and just wanted to argue . . . hard to say. I just let him rant and go away.
Is it evil of me to say that I hope in the warmer future he is among the first people bitten by one of the newly arrived cottonmouths in this area?
Maybe not evil . . . maybe just 'natural'.