Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

Oh come on Feba! A pet lynx in Kansas? Did I ever show you a picture of my ruby slippers?

[Feba]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

I'm not kidding. She was actually I pet I had growing up.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

Feba, its been illegal for about 10 years or more now. Not to mention extremely dangerous and totally selfish to keep one cooped up. Please tell me you're joking.

[Feba]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

Illegal, really? Is that just a Kansas thing, or federal? Anyway, this would've been right around ten years ago, yeah. The reason we got rid of her was city officials not being very happy with it.

On the cooped up part, not really. Our house had more room for her than where she had been, and she probably had more room to run than a lot of animals at the zoo (which wouldn't take her, btw. We sent her to a lynx rescue in Oregon or Washington).

On the dangerous part, maybe so, but not really any worse than a large dog. She tackled me sometimes, but the most serious injury I ever got was a cut on my shoulder, which wasn't really much worse than anything my current house cat has done to me. I don't remember her ever having many behavior problems; she had a bigger problem with roadsickness than tearing things apart.
On the selfish part, I would also say maybe, but not more than a large dog. If giving something a good life instead of letting it die is selfish, I suppose we were. She had space, she had love, she had food and shelter. The rational for leaving her in the wild is about the same as that for releasing dogs; sure, they can probably survive, and even have a quality life, but it's much higher risk. Although I think her previous owners had had her declawed, so she might not even have been able to survive in the wild. Speaking of her previous owners, they had to give her up because their house was being demolished (thanks, eminent domain!). Judging by the difficulty we had in finding a new home when government pressure was on us... the Zoo didn't want her, nor did anybody else, and we eventually had to send it to a rescue half the way across the country. Even sending her off was a task; we would have to arrange shipment for a large animal, drug her (again, roadsickness), drive her to the place and deal with everything there. And we had to do that twice, because UPS workers are pussies and refused to carry her, even while drugged out in her securely locked cage. If we hadn't taken her in, it's very likely they would've had to kill her. It's not like we went to a breeder or an exotic pet store to buy her, that would've been absurd. We don't even buy non-shelter pets anymore, what with puppy mills and all that.

I'm really not sure what other alternative there would've been-- the previous owners couldn't find anywhere else, releasing her into the wild would've been dangerous at best, and I refuse to think that killing something is the best way to give it a good life simply because it's a big cat instead of a big dog. The ideal of running free across the plains is nice, but very much not feasible.

---------- Post added at 11:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 PM ----------

So looking up the law, and I find that KC/Springfield (Missouri; I'm on the Kansas side) have laws against wild pets, including "nonhuman primates". Yes. Also, Wolf/dog hybrids aren't allowed. No matter what percentage of their parentage is from wolves. Therefore dogs are illegal? Way to fail evolution forever.

In terms of Kansas state law, the following snippet appears to apply:

(d) 'Dangerous regulated animal' means a live or slaughtered parts of:

(1) Lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs and mountain lions, or any hybrid thereof;

Given that other states explicitly list lynxes, I would assume they're not counted. In any case, illegal doesn't always mean wrong.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

Sorry Feba, imo, you can't compare a WILD lynx to a domestic dog. Dogs have been domesticated for THOUSANDS of years. A lynx has NEVER been a domesticated pet and it should never be one. A lynx has miles and miles of area that can run and hunt in and confining it to a house and yard is not the same. And putting pets and people in danger by keeping an animal who can revert to their instincts at any time just isn't a very good thing to do. Feba I realize that you loved it and enjoyed it but I think you're a bit blinded by that love.

The law is federal I believe. I used to volunteer for the Humane Society and I remember the year I stopped that a law was passed covering a couple species of animals, one being a Lynx. I believe they are on the list of threatened animals.

[Feba]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

Eh, you see some insurmountable difference between them, I don't. Domestic dogs can be dangerous, it's incredibly rare. Domestic dogs were once wild wolves. Wolves have large hunting grounds too, etc. etc. Whatever your opinion is on Lynxes as pets in general, Nikita being with us was for the best for the time we had her. She would never have been able to run and hunt, especially not in the condition that she came to us in. Between living with us and being killed, I think the choice is pretty obvious which was in her best interests; and she was never a threat to the neighborhood or us.

In far more important news, holy fucking shit five thousand posts.

[Raydeus]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

Wake me up when it's over 9000.

[Feba]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

Knowing what I know about you, I'd prefer to leave you asleep as long as possible.

[Akashimo]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

Knowing what I know about you, I'd prefer to leave you asleep as long as possible.

Grass is greener or look in a mirror.

All I know, I possibly set myself up there.

Also. While I agree with TGM on Lynx being a possible danger, I also recall from somewhere between 1st and 4th grade about a class mate being attacked, unprovoked, by a dog on her way from school with her arm in a cast. That and dogs seem to be my natural enemy since even 'friendly' dogs don't like me, I'm more inclinded siding with Lynx boy Feba.

[Feba]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

I'm more inclinded siding with Lynx boy Feba.

This reminds me, for some reason, of another thing I'm not sure I've talked about before; both of my last names (my birth name, my father's last name; and now my legal name, my mother's last name) indicate that I am a descendant of a divine figure.

One of them, a biblical saint.


The other, Thor, god of thunder.




Guess which is the one I had it legally changed to.

---------- Post added at 04:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:51 AM ----------

In the spirit of the discussion, I present:

A Comic about A Dog

[Feba]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

So I'm spending hours looking through lists of games.


Don't ask.


I have learned one thing though.


I wish to share it with Humanity. Starting with you, FFXIOers.



I hope that someone out there, somewhere, sometime finds this useful.


EDIT: latest results indicate that what were are tentatively calling the "Nike Swoosh effect" is not coincidental. More on this later this month.

[Raydeus]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

<Insert Seinfeld quote>

[Callisto]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

For the first time ever in my adult life(and I guess teenage too), I'm stuck working on both my birthday and the day after. If I get a single thing at all done today I'll be pretty impressed with myself.

[Nuriko]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

Too bad, really, but businesses tend not to care overmuch. I mean, nothing special happens for my birthday, and for the most part, it's a FAMILY business! It would sort of be nice if they at least took me to lunch or something ... not that that applied this year, my birthday was June 20th, a Saturday.

[Raydeus]

Re: Official bored at work / just shooting the shit / no rails to derail thread

Happy (delayed) birthday!







PS > Where's my piece of cake? d(^^d)