Posted on 11/26/2023 7:36:45 AM PST by DFG
As odd as it might seem, a train conductor confirmed to Cowboy State Daily that grizzly bears and other wild animals frequently get intoxicated on fermented grain spilled from rail cars, and too many of them end up getting killed as a result.
Paul Summers told Cowboy State Daily he’s seen it with his own eyes.
“Especially in the summertime, it’s common to see bears, including grizzlies, drunk on grain. You will see them wobbling,” he said. “You will see them staggering.”
In fact, he said the bears’ own stubbornness often works against them, as they don’t want to move off the tracks despite warning horns from approaching trains. It can essentially be a game of chicken between the grizzlies and trains, with the bears losing every time.
Nothing Funny About It At first, the notion of drunken bears stumbling along railroad tracks might seem humorous. But such drunkenness, as well as the general danger of the rail lines, kills numerous wild critters, said Summers. He worked on BNSF Railway trains as a conductor from 2013-2022. He now lives in Seattle and works for Amtrak.
During his tenure with BNSF, Summers said he was frequently on a roughly 500-mile stretch of track running between Havre, Montana, and Spokane, Washington. Part of that runs through prime grizzly habitat over Marias Pass in Montana near Glacier National Park and other vast wild country.
He loves wildlife, and said it still troubles him to think of all the animals he saw killed by trains.
“We’ve been on trains that have probably killed every type of large animal that lives in the state of Montana,” he said.
As bad as it was in the mountains, Summers said it could be worse out on the prairies, especially with antelope herds.
(Excerpt) Read more at cowboystatedaily.com ...
We’ve had birds go after over ripened cherries and pears. They do get silly.
In Georgia the squirrels eat fermented acorns and then they run erratically out in the street and get killed. Mr. GG2 calls it Squirrelicide. 😏
The ones doing cocaine won’t steal your food, however, they will rob you for your wallet and cell phone.
I’m sure the grizzlies would welcome loads of Bud Light. They have not heard of Dylan Mulvaney and wouldn’t care.
“.,,drunk on grain. You will see them wobbling”
…sounds like Thanksgiving at my uncles house
Down on south beach Miami there’s a park that the parrots get into the fermented seagrapes and it funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. The waddle when walking on the ground then just fall over. The ones that can still fly are dive bombing the crows to keep them away from the seagrapes on the ground. It doesn’t seem to effect the crowd but those little green parrots are really funny. You can walk over and pick one up, but beware of the dive bombers.
Beer Bear just doesn't have the screen appeal of Cocaine Bear
So where are they getting the booze?
Grain falls from the railcar to the ground. The grain gets wet and ferments.
This warning bears repeating.
.
Move the tracks! MOVE THE TRACKS!!!!
I hope we don’t encounter wolves 🐺 or coyotes on cocaine.
Ping to a bear story.
I agree.
Well, there’s an abundance of them at least. It’s not like they’re hitting white rhinos.
I’d think that even one would be too many!
In Africa, there is a fruit bearing tree that elephants really savor. They gobble down its fruit. Then drink lots of water. Problem is that the fruit turns into alcohol in their stomachs, and they get totally drunk. Bigger problem is that some elephants are mean drunks.
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