DETAINED by NPS

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bennyking9987

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While I was at Dangling Rope this last week, I was suddenly detained by a very grumpy NPS officer. With hands on hips (if not on his actual gun) he told me I wasn't going anywhere and forced me to walk in front of him to his office and sit down.

My crime? I was allegedly assisting in the circle of life in helping some of the western orb weaver spiders on the dock fall into the water and be consumed by the local crappie population.

After being interrogated and lectured for nearly 30 minutes I was given the option of righting my poor example to my children and explaining to them what I had done was wrong, or I could get a $150 ticket. Naturally, you can imagine which one I chose. The NPS officer

In looking back at this, I'm a little fumed, though. The official charge I was supposedly going to be brought up on was "harassing the wildlife". Not sure if what I was allegedly doing even qualifies for that or what that statute is actually defined as. A member of my party made a good point that they regularly spray for those pests at bullfrog (not sure about dangling rope). Not sure how giving a crappie a meal would be more harassing than systematically wiping out their entire dock population.

Additionally, the NPS officer tried to tell me "chumming is illegal", which I know is. But I WASN'T CHUMMING, though he tried to tell me I was, but then quickly retreated from that argument.

Then he told me that its illegal to feed the carp on the dock. I have been feeding those carp for 30 years and NOBODY has ever said anything about that. I told him that and he pulled out a little sun-faded 8 x 11 poster that was barely visible that said for people not to feed the carp.

Anyway, wanting to get some of the users' input from on here. Me and my party obviously thought this was a laughable experience and chalked it up to an officer who had a bad day and I was on the receiving end.

Any other thoughts?
 
Talk about setting a bad example for your children, you should be ashamed of yourself. How are you going to feel if they grow up and get involved in the shady business of pest control now......what's next, are you going to start taking out cockroaches by the dozens?

Pretty bored NPS officer I guess.......
 
What did you say his supervisors name was? I would have told him that I am part of the circle of life. You don't think he secretly kills spiders do you?
 
Not sure what his supervisor's name was. With the tongue lashing I received from him, I think he preserves and respects all wildlife within the park, except for that of human life, because we are the intruders.
 
Not really sure what to say. I'd like to laugh at the situation, but I am not sure I can. I certainly wouldn't have been laughing if I were in your shoes. Especially if he really had his hand on his firearm as he approached. To me, that would warrant a discussion up the chain of command.
 
You are a better person than me. If my choice was his 30 minute office speech, or the $150, I would have told him to "write it". I then probably would have told him I'd enjoy wiping my arse with it. That would have been my lesson for my kids. If someone crosses you that is CLEARLY in the wrong, authority or not, don't give them the pleasure to pontificate upon you. My exception would be police or highway patrol. Don't listen to them, and they'll kill you. NPS isn't high enough in the food chain in my opinion.
 
I would think and absolutely would warrant a discussion up the chain of command. There would be NO way I would ever let that slide... In fact I'm lucky, I wasn't even there to hear that asinine thing, I would probably be in jail or dead... But that's just me .. I'm fired up just typing this !!!
 
Aren't we supposed to be grateful we have a ranger like this who is intent on protecting natural resources under CFR Title 36, Chapter 2.1, i? ;) The "disturbing wildlife" section is just above the "mineral resources" part.:D
 
some people are out of touch with daily life, especially many people in power who forget where their paycheck comes from. Think he would treat Zinke like that if he flipped a spider into the water? Absolutely not and therein lies the problem. He simply acted like a jerk.
 
I have a friend who had one of those big orb weaver spiders in her garden one summer. She named it Charlotte. It did not survive the winter. I am not a fan of spiders. Especially when they are all over the back of the houseboat like it is their private jungle gym. Nothing worse than one hanging outside the window and watching you sleep when you wake up in the morning. We clear them out with a broom and spray if they are really bad. They have all of Lake Powell to hang and feed on those pesky gnats. This ranger, like my friend, had formed an attachment to these particular spiders. Wonder what he would have done if they had walked across his face while he was sleeping.
 
botnb said:
I would think and absolutely would warrant a discussion up the chain of command. There would be NO way I would ever let that slide... In fact I'm lucky, I wasn't even there to hear that asinine thing, I would probably be in jail or dead... But that's just me .. I'm fired up just typing this !!!
Click to expand...

Fact. :)
 
Got a full website of funny people.

As we all know, this stuff is only funny from a distance. Having youngsters around would definitely impact the response calculus. I, too, think this situation may have warranted an upline conversation; the only problem is that it is really hard to get on with your day at the lake when spending yet more negative energy on it.
 
I'd definitely report this up the chain of command. If no one reports these kinds of interactions, then we reinforce the offenders perception that he is not only doing his job, but doing it well. Ultimately we will all suffer as the individual gains seniority and more authority for training new rangers
 
Yes, yes, yes, and yes, all four of you are right on in my world and there is a lot to be said about a spider walking on you in the middle of the night. Better hope it ain't the biting type.
 
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