Survival of the fittest?

Survival of the fittest or just plain stupidity?  I'm opting for the latter.  In the past week I've come across two "news" stories of people being stupid when it comes to wild animals.  The first one is this:

Baby skunk with rabies

Okay, so some people think skunks are cute, and they wanted to help out.  I get that.  But, this is not a tame animal! Skunks are known carriers of rabies!  At what point in time does someone NOT think, "Oh, maybe I should just leave it alone and let animal control take over?"  Seriously.  Now because of those actions, many people have to go through what I've heard is a very painful process of injections so they don't have to suffer the effects of rabies. 
Honestly.  No one even thought of a quarantine period for said skunk?  Nope, let's just invite all our friends and family to come meet the animal. Isn't it a cute little thing?  Look at it, stomping toward us.  Oh, hey, it's sick.  Maybe we should go to the vet.  What? Rabies?   Hope it's a fun reunion at the doc's office while you're getting the injections.

The second story is this one (video):

Bison Attack

What were these people thinking?  "Oh, they're like cows grazing in a field- how pastoral!"  Umm, no.  First of all, cows can be dangerous too.  You have a large creature get in a mood to run you down, and see how you do.  Yeah. Not fun.  Been there, done that.  I watched Matt get run over by a calf (and worried about our chances of having children afterward, but luckily the calf stepped on his thigh instead). There's a reason farm stores sell cattle prods. It's not a fun thing. Yeah, for the most part cows just go on chewing their cud when you're in the pasture, because they have been tamed. But there are times...

However, bison are wild.  If you piss one off your chances of getting away are slim.   Why were these people out of their vehicle?  They would have had a better chance to get away then.  Just roll down the window and take the footage.  The zoom function on cameras work wonders when you want a closer shot.  I just plainly don't understand.

Then I think about it more.  Are we as a nation so insulated from the "wild" that when we see it we have no idea what's safe?  I realize I'm lucky, as are my kids.  We live in the country.  We have access to animals.  We have a wildlife area right across the road.  We get any number of birds, mammals, etc. coming through our yard.  And as a child, I was taught to respect nature.  I was taught what God gave the animals for their protection and to respect it.  I was taught to be wise and weary.  Because of that, I will never be the one running for my life from a bison, or the one to take a skunk into my home. 

My girls too, are going to learn the same.  For us, it's part of being a parent.  But then there are the kids-and adults- who never see anything other than the occasional robin in their yards.  I believe that's sad.  And it's these people who will believe taking a wild animal into their homes is fine.  It's these people who won't use common sense. 

Now, I'm not too pleased by my tame animals right now either.  Our cats were out of food.  Therefore they tried to eat the plants.  The result is less than pleasing, and takes some carpet cleaner to fix.  Ugh.  So, I'm going to sit back, relax (now that I cleaned up the cat puke), watch the animals come in from across the road, and tell Kirstin and Emily all about them.