You wrote " ...almost EVERY form of competition at every level..." The NFL is one level. HS sports are another level. The thousands of competitions I've taken part in are other levels. Perhaps you feel that what I've been involved in is "sports", not "competition". I would disagree. When I'm grinding over putts to win a $10 Nassau, or trying to figure out what the oil pattern is on the lanes I'm bowling at to try to cash at a tournament, that feels like competition to me. When I was on the start line with hundreds/thousands of other people and I'm trying to have the best race I can have and beat a bunch of people, that feels like competition. When some guy is staring me down on the pitcher's mound and I know he's going to throw me his best pitch and I'm going to try to smack it, that feels like competition.

I love listening in when they mic NFL players, MLB, NBA, NHL - even more so when the players don't know what they're saying can be picked up and you get a raw look into the real stuff they say during competition. Lotsa shaky stuff, but lots of positivity/camaraderie too. Will also say I've worked the table for college B-Ball and officiated college & h.s. volleyball and from those positions you hear some stuff, from the court, from the benches, from behind us in the stands that is cringe-worthy (and a whole lot more from the bleachers that is just ridiculously misinformed). So for sure I know that sometimes offensive language and racism gets tossed around. My experience is that it's far from "almost every form of competition at every level".

Don’t cut yourself with that razor’s edge! You know very well who decides what words mean- users themselves! And yes, if you say the n-word the people hearing you have good reason to believe you are demonstrating racism, despite your ‘just words’ defense.

That is a plus: a certain type of person really really hates changing outdated school mascots, lol

So you think Enosburgh’s players and parents must be appeased so that they don’t invade? LOL.

The actual facts of the 1936 Olympics were so embarrassing for the US and/or boring that white America mostly made shit up, most of which is believed to this day. Jesse himself got sick of people not believing him and eventually co-signed the bullshit. I’d be happy to dive into the facts but maybe just Google ‘1936 Olympic myths’ yourself?

Rattlesnakes too, I can't remember, but I think each adult rattler eliminates 50,000 ticks per year, just from the mice it eats eliminating the larval stage of the tick lifecycle!

Oregon transplant here, they have a lot of cougars in Oregon, anecdotally they don't mess with cows that much out there, they can be hard on sheep though, so might be even less hassle for the farmers here than in Oregon, since it's a lot of dairy farming out here, and if there's big sheep farms here I haven't seen them. Central Willamette valley in Oregon is just sheep, sheep everywhere, hah.

This rocks!

Gneiss!

OP could just be a great gambler looking to cut down on their carbon footprint. We all have to do our part!

I do, however, fit the profile of someone you definitely want in your 2/5 game. Extra points for plo people!

So true. Most cops wouldn't have a house in the Caribbean, questions about sauna construction that somehow include mentions of your mountain views and be newbie to casually dropping 20k+ on art. Unless you're a cop moonlighting as an international assassin which would make it all much more interesting.

Maybe try r/hellofellowkids next time

I often felt like I was being watched during early morning or late runs on trails along the continental divide. I saw lots of prints but never had a visual of a big kitty.

Lol, feel free to peruse my post history. I doubt I fit the profile of a cop. Also, it’s not illegal to play a home game in Vt as long as you’re not taking rake. Anyway…

Sorry West Haven, you got sold off to New York state

Similar deal.. definitely was on my mind for early AM trail runs solo, but not enough of a deterrent to ever stop me. And most of the time not something I was too worried about. More likely to trip and fall. Grizzlies would change my habits. But cats? Let's gooo

I was more curious before I found out.

i smell bacon!

Our VT homestead was visited by a cougar 3 years ago. It was interested in our sheep and goats. We were able to finally scare it off through a combination of aimed gunfire and lots of noise (dog barking, wife banging pots and pans).

Now we have a Great Pyranees and she keeps the predators away.

EDIT: We are in the Chateauguay Wilderness in the center of the state. Miles and miles of connected forest.

Its not the birds, its the shitting in the woods. Cat shit is likely to carry toxoplasmosis, especially in cats that hunt. Maybe nuisance isn't the right word, let's go with public health hazard instead

Hate to point out the obvious, but VT is not CT. Our deer density is completely different along with our residential development.

Technically, the tick population is tied to drought and the nut crop. Bumper crop for nuts equals a high survival rate of all mammals, but the mice and small ground mammals are where the tick larvae feed. Only ticks surviving to adulthood feed on deer and larger mammals.

They're considering vaccinating mice against lyme to reduce the spread-

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccinating-mice-may-finally-slow-lyme-disease/

Hello officer

lol

Ticks are also attracted to Japanese Barberry which is in invasive ornamental plant that self-propagates in the woods. Nurseries sell it. Eradicate that plant and you eradicate a lot of tick habitat, but also invite some opossums to help because similar to grouse they also love eating ticks.

My Dr. Did that in Kirby and mtn bikes or skis to work. Has his own practice.