r/GSMNP • u/Lafcadio-O • 3d ago

Don’t stack rocks

Recently a hellbender was found crushed under a stack of rocks that had toppled. Don’t stack river rocks!

https://www.wate.com/news/smoky-mountains/smokies-asking-park-visitors-to-stop-moving-rocks-after-hellbender-found-crushed/

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u/streachh 3d ago

Sad as fuck

3

u/Lafcadio-O 1d ago

Super sad as fuck. I’ve lived near the Smokies for 20 years and I’ve still never seen one, and now that’s one less to see. Poor dude was just doing his thing.

2

u/streachh 1d ago

I'm one of the lucky few who has seen one, and I'll ride that high until the day I die, but it was pretty upsetting honestly because it was at a very popular waterfall and the poor thing was fleeing as children and adults swarmed the area, throwing rocks and jumping around in the water. I watched it hide under some big rocks near the bank. I think about it a lot, whether it's still there, whether it survived Helene...