Wild Animals Part Two

Hopefully you have heard the very unfortunate story of the exotic animals in Ohio. But if not here is a quick summary: Terry Thompson, who was recently released from jail, had a sort of farm for exotic farm for animals like bengals, lions and grizzlies. He left the cages open for 56 animals to escape before shooting himself. Unfortunately 49 of the animals had to be killed, some were shot with tranquilizer darts but that did nothing but aggravate them more.

The real tragedy is not that so many animals had to be killed, but that they were held there in the first place. As I talked about in an earlier post, there is a difference between collecting and hoarding. Thompson kept the animals for himself for reasons that are not clear. His intentions were not public awareness or preservation, he seemed to be a hoarder of exotic animals.

The animals had to be killed as they posed a great threat to all humans nearby, as unfortunate as this is it was necessary. I am happy to say though that there has been much talk about changing the laws in Ohio about the owning of exotic animals. Hopefully it only takes this one disaster to make every one rethink owning such an animal. What dot you think? Is it ever right to keep animals like that captive? Zoos are an entire different debate, not to be brought up here. But one man owning so many of these wild creatures, is it really a surprise something went wrong? Especially seeing as there had been escapes in the past.

Why the Wrangler?

One of my friends recently asked me why it seems that the current car of choice for teens is the Jeep Wrangler. We live in a more wealthy part of the suburbs, so the choice of cars is not all that limited. But what image are high school kids trying to send by driving large 4x4 cars meant for off-roading, that get horrible gas mileage, around the paved streets of the North Shore?

With money not being an issue there are many much more practical cars to drive. The Wrangler gives off an feeling of a tough outdoorsy person, because that is what it is made to do. With high ground clearance, a high horsepower engine, just under 300, and large knobby wheels the Wrangler is meant for muddy rocky terrain, not the asphalt of the North Shore.

Getting under twenty miles per gallon, the Wrangler uses a lot of gas for being not too big of a car. But it is still really popular. I am wondering why. What does having a doorless roofless car say about its owner? That they are an outdoorsy person or that they are very impractical?

Collectors VS Hoarders

I live in a house with three little sisters, so naturally I try to keep all my stuff safely closed up in my bedroom. The only problem is my bedroom is the smallest room so it gets a bit cluttered. I try my best, keeping all that I can on a nice metal shelving unit, but for some reason my parents hate it.

Why is it that I am called a hoarder for keeping my seventeen years worth of possessions in one safe place, but a man like Lee Hartung keeps acres of, for lack of a more descriptive word, junk and is considered a collector. I may just be on my way to ending up like him.

Now after saying that I must admit that I hold a great deal of respect for Lee. He recently departed this world after living a very full life, and his multi acre estate in Glenview is to be auctioned off November 3th-5th. Lee Hartung was a collector, he had everything from rows upon rows of original early 20th century Fords to kids toys and just about anything else. He ran this collection as a kind of low key museum when he was alive. But it was his wish for there to be an auction so a new generation of collectors could buy the acres of items he had.

My question is where is the line between being  collector and just having lots of junk? Albeit millions of dollars of collectible junk. Lee Hartung was considered to be an eccentric man by many, but he did what he loved. The airplane hanger like building of his possessions is proof of that.

To me the only thing that separates hoarders from collectors is the value of their objects. Hoarders find their own personal value in everything, but collectors look to obtain items that are widely believed to be of some value.

If you want to check Lee Hartung's collection out you can go on a preview day and for twenty dollars admission you may peruse the fields and buildings, but there is a hundred dollar charge in order to be allowed to bid on any item. This is understandable as they wish to keep the bidding to people who are actually interested in collecting things of their own.