Attacks, what do they see in it and the plight of elephants and rhions

19 August

It’s happened again … 

Just look at those photos. Both of our bird feeder stands pushed over. Jan was up at 5am watching the hedgehogs out there and everything was fine at that time. Then we get up a few hours later to find this! This time we are thinking its personal, and not just an act of spontaneous vandalism. No other back areas have been touched. We do have a suspicion of who it was but of course we can’t prove it, but if we do get the proof, she had better watch out!

The whole idea behind what has happened here is totally beyond me. Even when I was a drunken prat in the 1970s, I never used to do things like this. I just don’t know what people get from doing this sort thing, do you? If you do please let me know. The person we suspect does have mental illness problems, probably manic-depression by the sounds of it. What gets to me though, is that these people always know where the line is and never seem to cross it. They get very close, close enough to raise suspicions but that’s all. I’ve seen it before while I was with the OU; there were a number of people on FirstClass that used to do exactly the same but did so through safety of the keyboard. That is what makes me wonder just how ill they really are. Anyway, enough of that!

I have just watched the 1 o’clock news on BBC and heard the so-called gag of the year; ‘I’ve just decided to sell my hoover, it was only gathering dust.’ Is that really the best they’ve heard this year? Oh dear, no wonder I don’t like the new bunch of stand-up comedians.     

Something that is not at all funny is the plight of the African elephant. It’s thought that 34,000 are killed each year for just their tusks. These killers and dealers are so short sighted aren’t they? Part of the same report that now there are more elephants being killed than are being born and they could be extinct in 100 years. Rhinos are being hunted to extinction for their horns as well. What will they turn on next I wonder?

When Africa was first being opened up to the so-called ‘civilised nations’ the rush for the animal wealth in the continent was huge. Hunters at that time thought that they would never run out of animals to kill. I suppose they were right, they didn’t run out of them before they themselves died. Now large animal numbers are falling, yet the killing goes on. And don’t forget the plight of the buffalo in North America. They too were hunted almost to extinction and were only saved at the last minute by forward thinking men and women. Buffalo numbers will never be as great as they once were, but they are still living in various areas now. They have been lucky; elephants and rhinos need to same luck.

Right then, today’s photo … 

Three cameras, three snappers – but only one snapping.   

Today’s funny …

Bob Smith was sick of his job and was determined to find work elsewhere. But no matter how hard he tried, his reputation as someone who was not dedicated to the job, seemed to follow him around. One day the phone rang at his office. Although Bob did not usually pick up the phone, he picked it up and said hello. “Hi” said the man on the line, “I have an unusual question to ask you, I’m looking into a fellow Bob Smith for a position in my company. Do you know this fellow?” “Sure I know him”, responded Bob with a smile. “Tell me,” asked the man. “Is he consistent with his work? Does he always show up on time?” “Well I’ll be honest with you” Bob truthfully replied, “I’m not so consistent myself, but whenever I’m here he’s here!”