with cities on lockdown, animals roam
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/01/world/gallery/animals-coronavirus-trnd/index.htmlLions take a cat nap on a normally busy road in South Africa's Kruger National Park on April 15. "Lying on the road during the daytime is unusual, because under normal circumstances there would be traffic and that pushes them into the bush," park spokesman Isaac Phaahla told CNN.Richard Sowry/Kruger National Park
A puma is seen in the empty streets of Santiago, Chile, on March 24. Several pumas have been spotted in Santiago recently, and they've had to be captured and relocated.GDA via AP
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And when I'd take my 8 lb. Brussels Griffon outside, I'd hover over him and keep a close watch! 
We have red tailed hawks mostly, but also we see eagles sometimes too. We just have bobcats as far as big cats here. I have heard of a panther in Florida and they say there is one in the Carolinas, but I have never seen it or known anyone else who has. Most of the time with wild animals, even the bigger ones, if you just get out of their way, you won't get hurt. Get some relocation service in and nothing had to be hurt.
The worst thing about my area is either alligators (though not nearly as bad as Florida has it) at the water's edge, or copperheads that you can easily step on without seeing it first. Most people don't even die from copperhead bites and most who do get bit were either messing with it and torturing it or they accidentally stepped on it. Some people will make things up about various venomous snakes chasing people, but it's baloney. Usually, it's because someone stepped on one or they were messing with it and trying to get it to strike so they could test themselves. That activity is in the Darwin Award category, though. Where I am is just on the line between what they call the Piedmont and what they call the Sandhills. So, we ended up with 4 venomous snakes in most of the county, but five if you are in the eastern part of the county.
I once picked up a coral snake by accident as a kid, in a load of pine straw. It slithered across my hand and kept right on going. The neighbor went running off to his house and came back out with a pistol shooting at my hands. Problem was, the snake had gone off across the road already by the time he fumbled around and loaded his gun. I was ok, until he came out shooting at my hands. The idiot was shooting at me. I could have done without that. I was safer with the coral snake. I just stayed calm instead of spooking it. Thinking calmly is hard to do for most people around animals. My neighbor, the human, on the other hand was about to be my demise if I hadn't told him to stop it already, the snake was gone. I feel safer around animals of all kinds than I do around panicking people with guns and there are a lot of those where I am from.
I can tell you a secret about how to clear out a room of Republicans. Put a spider in the room with them, especially a wolf spider. They will FREAK. These are manly men who won't wear pink, hate gay people like nothing you have ever seen, carry numerous loaded guns in their trucks, but freak out if they see a wolf spider or walk through some other kind of spider's web. Wolf spiders don't make webs. They are just big. Spiders just freak them out so bad. We need to use ads with a spider picture in it in an election sometime. They will surrender just to get rid of the goose bumps and panic.
I used to be afraid of spiders and other things when I moved into my current house. Now, I think nothing of spiders or snakes. I have cow killers, ground hornets, every wasps imaginable, and red imported fire ants to look out for. Fire ants will empty the mound if you stand still anywhere in my yard for more than a few seconds. They will pants you too. I'm not the only one they have pantsed. I at least had my undies on by the time I got to the door. The man down the street didn't have anything left on by the time he got to his door when they pantsed him. So, I already have him beat. I just know not to stand still too long in one place in my yard any more. 
I guess I just have gotten used to being around more animals than people, because people, to be honest, scare me more than any animal. They really do. People are damned dangerous, especially when you add panic and loaded guns into the equation.
places reopen. I wish the animals rights groups would prepare ahead of time with relocation services to get the animals to safety. Humans are incredibly stupid when it comes to wildlife. They panic needlessly. Women jump on chairs and men grab flamethrowers or vice versa in some cases. These animals are in danger. And don't claim they have lost their fear of humans. That's bullshit. They have noticed humans have abandoned areas and are checking it out.
The human species leaves a lot to be desired.
I hope the animal rights groups are thinking about ways to handle this that protects the animals and not planning their next big dance when social distancing is over.
All the money people give them. Use it to protect the animals. I'm biased on that though, because the local "Humane Society" where I live puts animals down BEFORE putting pictures of them up on their Facebook page and uses all the money people give them to have "balls" and "cotillions." I put those in quotes because that is LITERALLY what THEY call them. They use that money to fucking party and have damn dances while they have numerous violations at their "shelter" and claim they are great. If you had to pay fines for 10 violations, don't claim to be great, then go off and dance the night away, assholes. The violations were for mold on the food and other neglectful stuff, but it was still uncalled for while they dance and party with the donations people give them. Oh, and the whistleblower was roundly ridiculed and called mentally ill and worse. Typical Richmond fucking piece of shit County, NC.
Yes, the local yocals pissed in my Cheerios. They always do, but I hope someone in the national animal groups might see this post and do something. I can forget the local yocals. They will just shoot anything they see on sight, as usual. No animals get rescued here, not even fire departments rescuing cats up trees or in the storm drain at the post office. That happened too. Drowning cat, lousy firemen who would not help it. I learned 30 years ago, nice things never happen where I live.
But, maybe, just maybe, in other places the animal rights groups will coordinate and get the animals to safety when the humans come back and run roughshod over the planet some more. I think lots of the national groups might actually be a big help then, just not where I fucking live. I actually dread my area returning to "normal," because there is nothing normal about these pro-Trump idiots.
I just had to get that off my chest.
