This happened maybe five years ago, and it still makes me chuckle when I think of it. It was summer, and for some reason we had the TV on the "local" news channel. Probably because Marie liked to watch the news. It was nighttime. You know that local news runs the same stories over and over, because not much happens locally in upstate New York. Brie and I weren't really paying attention, you know, because it was the news. But then we heard the beginning of a particular story and our ears perked up as we looked at the TV screen.
This reporter was saying that a bobcat had been seen in a small town south of where we lived. They were interviewing a lady, who said she had seen it a few times and left food out for it. However, the story had a sad ending as the bobcat had been killed.
That wasn't the funny part. The funny part was that when they showed a picture of the animal, they had a black rectangle on the screen covering its face. It was as if they couldn't show its face until the next of kin had been notified. The lady that was being interviewed had set up a small memorial to the bobcat, with a picture and some flowers.
I really don't have a dark sense of humor, but this struck me as hilarious! Brie and I laughed and laughed: and they ran this story every 15 minutes. We sat there waiting for it: and each time the black rectangle showed up on screen we'd laugh some more. Marie couldn't quite understand why we thought it was so funny, so she just ignored us.
In my heart I did feel bad for the bobcat because I do love animals, but this was such a stretch for a news story that it tickled my funny bone to no end. I realized that perhaps whoever had killed the animal shot it in the head, and they didn't want to traumatize children. But isn't it interesting that they will show a dead person, or a person being killed and not worry about children, but will cover the face of a dead animal. Shows who gets more respect I guess. Sheesh.
R.I.P. bobcat. I'll try not to laugh any more when I think of you.
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