Underrated killers
Last week I watched a special on my local PBS station about the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. I had been looking forwards to this show since it was announced earlier this year. This was basically a timeline of the events that happened from the time the bridge opened to when its remains were finally cleared from the river. There wasn’t much I hadn’t already seen before, on local TV and online. However, there was some old footage of the opening day of the bridge where a news reporter (who was sporting a very 1970’s Beatles style hairdo) was one of the first to cross it. Apparently there was little fanfare, as is often the case with other bridges. No parades, no fireworks, and no governor’s motorcade across the bridge took place that day. Which makes me wonder what will happen when its replacement opens a few years from now… I was also not surprised when the demon bridge of Tampa was mentioned, as not mentioning it would be like having a documentary on the 9/11 World Trade Center attack and not mentioning the 1990’s terrorist bombing.
If you want to watch the show, here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE7i201jc_A
Something else noteworthy happened last week as well. In my news feed up came two different stories about more middling monsters almost claiming lives. Again, these are the lynxes and not the lions, capable of causing injury but seldom death. Of course, such news reports are uncommon, and if such events are reported, it is often by very small localized outlets and buried deep within papers and newscasts. Some are only reported if the victim escapes death. The first one took place in Tennessee, and the metal monster is on the scale of the Tydings Memorial Bridge here in Maryland, but is about 20 feet taller. Unlike our local jumper, this woman survived, though with severe injuries.
The second incident took place is Missouri, and the metal and concrete monster there is little more than half the height of the former, at a much more survivable 60 feet above the water. This victim was also rescued from the water and hospitalized. No details on injuries were given, but those who make any such attempts are generally held for observation anyway.
This makes me wonder about such underrated killers, and also how often this sort of thing happens. Statistically speaking, generally only the deaths are counted in such a way that they can be researched. This reminds me of back in the day when so many nature programs only showed the successful kills made by various predators. This furthered the narrative that lions, tigers, wolves and other iconic carnivores were able to stalk, chase and kill just about any creature they had their eyes upon. But then, when researchers began following such animals (the advent of radio tracking made this much easier) they discovered that most hunts and chases ended in failure. And some even concluded with the predator being injured or killed by its intended victim. Thus for many predators, perhaps only one in ten hunts will end up bringing home the bacon, so to speak. However, there are some hunters that are almost invariably lethal to their prey, and almost always catch their dinner. These are not always top apex predators, and so they have to contend with having their kills stolen by others that are bigger and stronger.
So, the question is how many are able to avoid death at the conclusion of their interactions with metal and concrete monsters? If one hundred people in a given data set died, then how many more have jumped and survived?
Like the flesh and blood killers, I suppose this depends on the monster in question. Some are so highly efficient at causing death that they are like African wild dogs, which are medium sized pack hunting canines. Any animal they set upon is pretty much always doomed, with only the tiniest chance of survival. The Golden Gate Bridge, with regards to mortality, is analogous to a pack of wild dogs. Surviving a plunge from it is extremely rare. Once the victim jumps, they pretty much have no hope. The New River Gorge Bridge is even more efficient in its lethal prowess, as no one has ever survived a fall from it. Tampa’s Skyway demon is somewhat survivable; perhaps it is like a cheetah, in that many attempts will succeed but there will be some that manage to avoid death.
Speaking of the New River Gorge Bridge, there is a predator that builds its nest within the under structure of that bridge that also has a nearly perfect kill rate. That is the peregrine falcon, a bird of prey that is by far the fastest living creature, being able to dive at over two hundred miles an hour to strike its prey from the sky. No bird is fast enough to escape it, and it plows into its victims with such force that they are sometimes instantly decapitated. The peregrine falcon doesn’t need (nor even have) the powerful crushing feet and impaling talons of eagles. Its high impact collision with prey shatters bones, rips flesh and usually does instantly lethal damage. It is rather ironic that this feathered killer makes its home within the hollow steel beams of a notoriously lethal bridge. Those who surmount the metal monster’s parapet of doom won’t come close to reaching the dive velocity of the falcon, but they are falling fast enough to perhaps end up not unlike the falcon’s prey.
The Tydings Memorial Bridge and other lesser crossings are perhaps like predators from which prey most often escape, maybe not totally unscathed but still alive. The living predator’s problem generally arises from being unable to catch most of the prey it hunts. A tiger can dispatch all but the largest game, but first it must catch and hold onto it long enough to be able to apply a killing bite. The inanimate killer’s “drawback” is just the opposite. It may have little trouble attracting “suitable” individuals, but it lacks many of the characteristics needed to enable an assured demise. Height is the big one of these, but there is also what is below the span (water, earth, pavement, etc.), as well as other factors like ease of access for rescuers. Regardless of such distinctions, there are also those who are prevented from doing the unthinkable. This is somewhat like a buffalo that is being attacked by lions and then its herd members come to its aid. The kill is prevented due to the attack being aborted. That would also count towards a failed predation attempt. I would imagine that, at least in some places, there are perhaps more attempts than fatalities associated with certain metal and concrete monsters. Apparently even the notoriously lethal ones like the Golden Gate Bridge have lots of attempts and many who are saved before they cross the the point of no return. This even before that monster was bound and chained last year. But no, I think that the death at Maryland’s underrated I-95 river spanning bridge was just an anomaly. Not that it has never before happened, but rather it is like a lion killing an adult buffalo all by itself. It happens, but it is rather rare.