Hunting Season Opens for Mythical Creature

[Gouda]

There's a metaphor in there....<br><br>****<br><br>"Hunting Season Opens for Mythical Creature"<br><br>By KARL RITTER, Associated Press Writer <br>Fri Nov 11,12:35 AM ET<br> <br>STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A mythical monster, believed by some to have lived for hundreds of years in the murky depths of a Swedish lake, is now fair game for hunters — if they can find it. Authorities have agreed to lift its endangered species protection. <br> <br>Hundreds of people claim to have spotted a large serpent-like creature in Lake Storsjon in the northwestern province of Jamtland, and in 1986 the regional council put it on a list of endangered animals.<br><br>But a government watchdog challenged the decision, saying such protection was hardly necessary for a creature whose existence has not been proven.<br><br>The regional council agreed to remove the listing this month, but declined to rule out that a monster lives in the 300-foot deep lake.<br><br>"It exists, inasmuch as it lives in the minds of people," the council's chief legal adviser Peter Lif said about the purported beast. "But I guess we'll have to agree that it cannot be proved scientifically, and then it should not be listed as an endangered species."<br><br>The so-called Storsjo monster was first mentioned in print in 1635. Hundreds of sightings have been reported since then. Some people describe the creature as a snakelike animal with a dog's head and fins on its neck. But no clear image of it has been captured on camera.<br><br>Storsjo monster aficionados said lifting the endangered species protection was a mistake, and appeared insulted by the decision.<br><br>"We are not fanatics," said Christer Berko, of the Storsjo monster association. "We see this as very interesting phenomenon that we unfortunately have not been able to document."<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051111/ap_on_re_eu/sweden_lake_monster">news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051...ke_monster</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[banned]

...but if it does, kill it."<br><br>Some day, the intergalactic forces are going to realize that they should have sent a big ass asteroid hurtling toward the third rock from Sol while they had the chance. <br><br>Imagine the aforementioned 'prime directive' being carried off this planet into space.<br><br>And I thought the Swedes were all nonviolent and all. Guess they're just cowards, eh? Shooting unarmed mythical creatures.<br><br>Let's hope the 'monster' turns out to be a dragon and turns its hunters into Swedish meatballs.<br><br><!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rollin --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/roll.gif ALT=":rollin"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>