So, there’s a distinct possibility I could have been wrong and I want you all to know I’m big enough to admit this. We tell the kids all the time, it’s not the mistake, it’s how you act after you make it that tells what kind of person you really are.
I wrote a pretty controversial piece this past week, it sparked some discussion and probably irked more than a few people. At the risk of pandering to the audience, I’d like to go back and correct myself and maybe explain why I said what I did. It’s not easy to eat crow, so here’s to nothing.
There are no wild tapiers in Oregon.
If the thing I saw was a tapier, it had either escaped from a zoo, or walked up out of the Land of the Lost, because the last time there were tapiers in Oregon was eight million years ago during the Miocene Epoch. I may have slightly misunderstood Rich Templeton when he said there “may have been” sightings, because he failed to mention these sightings were by his crazy uncle Eddie who eats paint chips for fun. (This is a complete and total fabrication. Rich is an awesome guy who doesn’t deserve my shenanigans and I have no idea if he has a crazy uncle Eddie. If he does, I’m sorry I ate all the paint chips, Uncle Eddie, I’ll leave you some next time.)
Anyway, after much interwebs research, I came to the conclusion on my own that I really need to get glasses. Also, I confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a beehive can totally look just like a spotted owl when you’re out tromping around in the woods of Capitol Forest in Washington State for a nature photography session, and are blind as a bat.
After sneaking stealthily up on (what I thought from a distance to be an owl) to take some up close and personal owl pictures, I realized it wasn’t a pile of breathing, ruffling feathers so much as a seething mass of swarming bees. After falling to the ground for cover and injecting my left eye repeatedly with an epi pen for prophylactic purposes, I rolled/ran/generally flopped around and away from the bees without harming the delicate ecosystem and made the determination that I should go get some professional glasses when we get home.
Just to review – there are no wild tapiers in Oregon, Rich Templeton is a great guy who could possibly have a paint chip eating uncle, beehives can look like an owl from a distance, and epi pens are not toys. That about sums it up for our 2015 Pacific Northwest trip. Enjoy the pictures and thanks for following along.
