Marin County People Discover They Really Are Better Than Everyone Else "Most people would say if this was anywhere but Marin, people would just shoot him," Dixie Goldsby said about the rodent that hopped into her Honda Insight in Utah and came back to California with her. Goldsby is factually incorrect but it doesn't matter if you're a Marin resident. Being haughty is what counts. John Kerry will likely get 95% of the vote there. What she doesn't realize, and most Americans do, is that no one would have bothered to shoot the little critter. 1) Any decent size bullet would obliterate the chipmunk so there would be no way to make a big trophy out of him and put him in the den with the lions and tigers and bears we all have mounted. Marin County people tell their kids scary bedtime stories about the rest of America and they all invariably involve evil people shooting helpless animals while driving SUVs that use all gasoline ... and smoking cigarettes in public bars. 2) There's not much meat on chipmunks ... for the $.65 I would waste on a shell I could get three times as much meat in a McDonald's hamburger. No, most Marin County voters actually believe that in other places the little thing would be dead. The most telling way you know it's Marin County? They want to fly the little guy back to Utah ... on a private plane ... and they want someone else to pay for it. The chipmunk could not be released in Marin legally or ethically because he is not native and because ecosystem balance is important, according to Melanie Piazza, director of animal care for WildCare: Terwilliger Nature Education and Wildlife Rehabilitation. The trip will require more than $300 for gas, along with food and overnight lodging for the humans. WildCare is hoping animal lovers will donate money to help pay for the mission. Piazza did not mention what wasting all of that gas and electricity would do for 'ecosystem balance.' "If we couldn't get him back he'd be euthanized, so I did have an investment in getting him back," said Goldsby, a clinical lab scientist. Huh??? Who was going to euthanize the little guy? Someone in Marin County? Or would they drive him east for that nasty job? Article Here