Calamity and mayhem from all over the region.
Montana
Weddings are usually considered “dangerous,” But the word seems appropriate for a ceremony that takes place on the scenic shores of Lake Two Medicine in Glacier National Park. When videographer Stanton Giles was filming the August wedding, his camera gravitated from the groom’s promise of eternal love to the dramatic commotion across the lake. , said that the bride and groom were still in the middle of their vows when the wedding party realized what was going on, and that the festivities were forced to pause until the bear had finished killing the calf. was there almost as long as” Giles said. “As soon as it died and stopped struggling in the water, he dragged it back to the tree.” The shocked guest didn’t know how to react, Giles said.” The entire 3 minute 30 second scene was captured on video for posterity and uploaded to YouTube where it has been viewed over 400,000 times. Nature is beautiful and scary. A wedding in the great outdoors can also give new meaning to the phrase “until death bids farewell.””
Armand Veve/High Country News
California
As house pets go, tarantulas are an acquired taste. Creepy spiders aren’t for everyone, but spider worshipers in Corsgold, California hope everyone loves them as much as they do. The 25th Annual Course Gold Tarantula Awareness Festival, held on the final Saturday, celebrates the colorful fuzzies and their contributions to the ecosystem. NBCLosAngeles.com said the festival would feature pumpkin his cheesecake, costume him contests, tarantula-inspired poems, not to mention the opportunity to meet, touch and hug honored guests. Festival organizers are trying to educate the public and stigmatize giant hairy spiders. The first week of October saw another Tarantula Festival in La Junta, Colorado. According to Fox21news.com, attendees celebrated the spiders and their annual mating ritual.” However, it occurs naturally in over 443,000 acres of Comanche National Grasslands. For spiders it’s like Burning Man, and for dancing it has even more legs.
Montana/Wyoming/Yellowstone
Speaking of legs, in August near the aptly named West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park’s Abyss Pools, a partial human leg was found left inside the owner’s shoe, ABC News said. reported. Could this eerie find have anything to do with the other 21 amputated legs that washed up on the Canadian and Washington shorelines in recent years? and authorities have been racking their brains over the grisly discovery since discovering an Adidas sneaker with a fully attached foot on Jedediah Island, near Vancouver Island. Just six days after her black-and-white Reebok showed up on Gabriola Island, 30 miles away. Another disembodied foot has since washed up in the Salish Sea. However, there is an explanation. Forensic scientists have considered body decomposition, shoe fads, and DNA studies to determine the cause, but it’s not aliens. Or a serial killer. Or a shark attack, or an enthusiastic pedicurist. Big Think explained that sea corpses are commonly dismembered by sea scavengers and bottom feeders and break apart into pieces within a week. , the feet may be floating. Sneakers made after 2000 are made with lighter foam and have air pockets in the sole. But while Yellowstone Foot remains a mystery, West Thumb Geyser can’t help but wonder what else might be lurking in his basin. Sometimes it’s better to leave it unknown.
Alaska
We’ve long admired the small-town police blotter’s brief but evocative prose. Alert readers John and Eileen Eavis sent me such a clipping from the Seward Journal. A public safety report that summarizes data from a variety of sources, including police, fire, EMS dispatches, and court documents. “At 2:09pm on June 19th, the caller reported that at 8:36am on June 19th, an individual in a gorilla costume broke into his yard and left a rooster behind. I did.”‘s “It’s just a fact, ma‘As the old Dragnet TV cops say, but sometimes facts are enough.
Tiffany Midge is a citizen of Standing Rock Nation and was raised by wolves in the Pacific Northwest. her book, Very My Heart by Chuck E. Cheese’s (Bison Books, 2019) was nominated for the Washington State Book Award. She lives in north-central Idaho near her hometown of Nimiipuu, the Columbia River Plateau.
Quirky tips from the West are appreciated and often shared in this column.describe [email protected]or submit a letter to the editor.
