Bystander captures tourist blatantly ignoring sign posted in prohibited area: 'It blows my mind'

A passionate nature enthusiast was met with less passionate responses in a recent post on Reddit. 

The Redditor posted a photo of someone fishing in a pond on the University of Maryland Baltimore County campus with a visible sign nearby prohibiting it. "Ain't no way," they wrote. "Bro, the sign is right there." 

What makes the photo more concerning is that the sign designates the small body of water and its surroundings as a wildlife management area, indicating that disturbing it could put the local ecosystem at risk. 

However, most of the comments seemed to laugh off the incident or imply that something else was taking place. "Let the man pee in peace," one user posted. "There's not even enough fish in the pond to be fishing anyway," another noted. 

Therein may lie the problem, though, as the person said they were aware of so few fish in the pond. This may be because of problems the designated wildlife management area intends to solve. 

"It blows my mind how often people are out there fishing," one of the most supportive commenters said. "Who wakes up thinking 'I want to go fishing today. Hey, I bet that shallow little pond at UMBC is a fantastic fishing hole!'? Go to a state park or fish off a bridge or something."

One possible explanation for the disregard for the posting is that the people fishing in the pond couldn't read or understand it. Not everyone speaks or reads English, and the sign uses only text without pictograms or symbols. 

According to Newsweek, as of 2024, approximately 54% of adults in the United States had a reading level below sixth grade. While perhaps a stretch that a native English speaker could find the sign confusing, words used on the no-fishing sign such as "prohibited" could be difficult to understand. 

Hopefully, signs posted with symbols and other nonverbal cues will bridge any language or reading comprehension gap and take a proactive step toward protecting wildlife management areas. 

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Ultimately, since "taking a photo isn't going to stop them," as one Reddit user noted, a friendly, nonconfrontational explanation to point out the sign and explain the reasons could go a long way. 

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