Who else played "Telephone" or "Post Office" as a child? The game where one person whispered one sentence to the next person in the circle, only allowing to current speaker to repeat it twice, until the usually hilarious result spoken at the end, which rarely contained even one or two correct items from the original phrase?
I just saw this occur in real time on NextDoor over the paswt 24 hours. NextDoor is an app intended to foster good communication between close neighbors (usually 500-750 homes). Often useful info is shared such as reporting suspicious strangers soliciting donations door to door at 8pm at night, video clips of alleged criminals breaking into cars or homes and calls for assistance in locating lost pets, cars or other valuables. Sometimes it sadly degenerates into the "busybody blabbermouth broadcasting" such as shaming someone for weeds in the yard or ranting with prejudice about specific people, or in this case, animal groups.
Here was the factually mistaken post from 1 day ago (e.g. the "end result" of the telephone game):
coyote attack Extra Space Storage on university Ave Los Gatos
"Our wonderful manager, Mike, was out running and was attacked by a couple. I don't know the details but his arm was pretty well hurt. I don't know the time of day or night. Mile is a strong, athletic guy. My kudus to him. Please, all, be CAREFUL!"
While some folks were sympathetic and appreciative of the "heads up" message, others used it as a platform to harangue the government for failing to control coyotes
What was reported hours ago by the person who experienced the attack (e.g. the "original message"):
"I'm Michael from Extra space Storage on University Ave. I'm fine!! It was back in January, and it was a Bobcat or small Mountain lion off of Shannon Road...It knocked me down on a trail just at dusk, I managed to kick it off with my legs, and I kept punching...It jumped off me after a couple of seconds, pierced my skin in a couple of areas, but survived. I just took the wrong trail off the road."
During these perilous times, when many folks are already living in fear for their lives over the many unknowns and dangers of COVID-19, it's more important than ever that we each individually behave as good neighbors and do our homework to fact-check before sharing stories anywhere on social media, whether it's Facebook, NextDoor or Twitter.
I'm grateful to Mike for sharing the truth of what happened. It sounds like perhaps a young bobcat or mountain lion was "testing his skills" and pounced on Mike. Fortunately Mike successfully fought the cat off-which I understand from wildlife officials the right thing to do IF attacked. Obviously the original poster intended to be helpful-it was a "be careful" message. However, the message would have been more valuable if the facts were verified and shared the first time.
Because as of right now, even though others have asked the original poster to change the message, it's still up as "coyote attack" when "bobcat pounce" may by more accurate.
The moral of the story is please, please make sure you ascertain and share the actual facts before posting, sharing or sending it to others.
Thanks for reading "How Did January Bobcat Pounce Become May Coyote Attack?"
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