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Ron Bacardi said:

Dear funkypancake,

I have been forced to go to the extreme length of signing up to some outfit or other so that I can let you know that THESE ARE NOT BOLLARDS!!! They are CONES.

Bollards, as even those who dropped out of Street Furniture Studies at Key Stage 2 can tell you, are highly sedentary lifeforms, which nearly always put down very deep roots in such habitats as (typically) street corners and the entrances to narrow alleys. Bollard pairs, especially, usually exhibit a highly stable mode of life and, once nested, can inhabit the same spot for decades.

This is so TOTALLY unlike the flighty habits of the migratory cone that I wonder how you could possibly have confused the two species. Cones frequently mass in huge linear flocks which can number well into the hundreds and, what is more, no-one who has seen a line of cones in the wild will ever forget their unmistakeable bright colouring (so different from the dull green, grey, or even black coats - relieved at best by a white stripe or two - of your typical bollard).

Finally, please do remember that cones are essentially gregarious animals. A lone cone is a sick creature, but you should NOT DISTURB IT. Kind-hearted students sometimes take pity on isolated cones and take them home and try to hand-rear them. THIS IS A MISTAKE: once a cone has been inside a habitation it will have the smell of humans (and late-night kebabs) on it, and it can never be returned to the wild because it will be rejected by its kind. (Ever seen a cone that has been tortured and tormented to the extent that its base has been ripped off? OTHER CONES did that to it!)

So, come on, fpc: get those categories sorted out. The only pictures of cones purporting to be bollards on Google Image Search come from YOUR SITE! Now you know that doesn't make sense...

Ron

Ron Bacardi said:

Dear funkypancake,

I have been forced to go to the extreme length of signing up to some outfit or other just so that I can let you know that THESE ARE NOT BOLLARDS!!! They are CONES.

Bollards, as even those who dropped out of Street Furniture Studies at Key Stage 2 can tell you, are highly sedentary lifeforms, which nearly always put down very deep roots in such habitats as (typically) street corners and the entrances to narrow alleys. Bollard pairs, especially, usually exhibit a highly stable mode of life and, once nested, can inhabit the same spot for decades.

This is so TOTALLY unlike the flighty habits of the migratory cone that I wonder how you could possibly have confused the two species. Cones frequently mass in huge linear flocks which can number well into the hundreds and, what is more, no-one who has seen a line of cones in the wild will ever forget their unmistakeable bright colouring (so different from the dull green, grey, or even black coats - relieved at best by a white stripe or two - of your typical bollard).

Finally, please do remember that cones are essentially gregarious animals. A lone cone is a sick creature, but you should NOT DISTURB IT. Kind-hearted students sometimes take pity on isolated cones and take them home and try to hand-rear them. THIS IS A MISTAKE: once a cone has been inside a habitation it will have the smell of humans (and late-night kebabs) on it, and it can never be returned to the wild because it will be rejected by its kind. (Ever seen a cone that has been tortured and tormented to the extent that its base has been ripped off? OTHER CONES did that to it!)

So, come on, fpc: get those categories sorted out. The only pictures of cones purporting to be bollards on Google Image Search come from YOUR SITE! Now you know that doesn't make sense...

Ron

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