The Minimalist Approach

Thanks to Nancy for calling my attention to this story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/garden/31yurt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&emc=eta1

The minimalist approach to life in the food chain.

I don't think I could do this.

Cat stalking deer

(Thanks to Dad for sending me this picture.)

Kootenai sturgeon

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/AP/story/1386978.html

North America's largest freshwater fish.

Wildlife sightings

On my trip to Michigan, I saw two deer and a bald eagle.

While I was there, I saw pileated woodpeckers.

On my trip home, I saw two deer, a flock of turkeys, and a bald eagle.

Ancient pollinators

An obscure group of scorpionflies with specialized mouthparts may have pollinated ancient plants millions of years before flowers evolved, a new study suggests.

- Science News (link here)

This is why we need paleoentomologists.

Trophy buck

(Thanks to Brian for these pictures.)

Ten Monsters

http://www.rodale.com/protecting-environment?cm_mmc=DailyNewsNL-_-2009_10_30-_-Top5-_-NA

Interesting list.

I have several butterfly bushes in my yard.

Amphibians of Wisconsin

Another book not listed in Goodreads.

Amphibians of Wisconsin

by

Rebecca Christoffel
Robert Hay
Michelle Wolfgram

2001 Wisconsin DNR

Offers a limited amount of information and a few good photographs.

Wisconsin Frogs

Normally, I would put this on Goodreads but they do not have it in their listing.

Wisconsin Frogs

Places to Hear Frogs and Toads Near Our Urban Areas

by Randy M. Korb (2001)

Covers 12 species.

Lists several nearby sites of interest:

Riveredge Nature Center
Glacial Hills Nature Center
Menomenee Park
Schlitz Audubon Center
Nashotah County Park
Havenwoods Environmental Awareness Center
Urban Ecology Center in Riverside Park
Jacobus Park
UW-Waukesha Field Station
Retzer Nature Center
Wehr Nature Center

Includes an audio CD narrated by an enthusiastic fifth-grader.

Well worth listening to, many times, which I did.

Pythons in Pennsylvania

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this story.)

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/48885/title/FOR_KIDS_Giant_snakes_invading_North_America

I'll bet one of those Anaconda Burgers would be mighty tasty.

Horned Devil from the River of Death

Three dinosaurs that were thought to belong to very different groups are actually kids, teens and adults of the same genus, researchers say.

- Science News (link here)

Little Jack Horner in the news.

And this is a problem when everyone is so keen on naming news species.

Every little bone seems like it is the next great thing.

Mosquito Terminators

Certain jumping spiders prefer partners that have recently dined on blood-fed mosquitoes.

- Science News (link here)

Spiders are our friends.

Unicorn Fly

Scientists have found a tiny fly with a three-pronged horn and spiky eyes preserved in a chunk of amber dating to roughly 100 million years ago.

- Science News (link here)

A new family, very exciting.

And I did not realize that there was an entire scientific journal devoted to the Cretaceous.

Dinosaur Park

Interesting article on the new park in Laurel, MD [The Washington Post (link here)].

I did not know that Maryland had a state dinosaur until I read this story.

Sounds like it would be worth a visit.

Comets vs. mammoths

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/48358/title/FOR_KIDS_Three_strikes_wiped_out_woolly_mammoths

Interesting speculations on the roles of comets, climate change, and hunting by humans in the extinction of wooly mammoths.

Whales vs. global warming

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/48484/title/Sperm_whales_as_a_carbon_sink

Maybe.

Sand castles from Hell

Like sand castles from hell, fire ant mounds have been popping up across lawns, parks and golf courses – even in the middle of the street.

- Dallas Morning News (link here)

But not quite a plague of biblical proportions.

Bears vs. cars

But as the bear rummaged around in the car, causing extensive damage, the door closed and the bear could not deduce how to get out.''

- Denver Post (link here)

Smart enough to open car doors from the outside but not from the inside?

Dumpster-diving bears

For the bears around Bailey, 40 miles southwest of Denver, the choice of wild berries and tree bark or a trip to the trash bin behind the Coney Island hot-dog stand — where they can gorge on bags full of half-eaten hot dogs, hamburgers and ice-cream cones — is apparently a no-brainer.

- Denver Post (link here)

Hot dogs are better than tree bark?

Deer vs. woman

A woman called a deer and tried to pet it, but the deer lowered its head and charged her instead, according to the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

- KUSA-TV (Denver) / azcentral (link here)

Yet another reason to carry a loaded handgun.

Darwinopterus

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/48389/title/Darwinopterus_points_to_chunky_evolution

Modular evolution?

Giant invasive snakes

"Although the largest individuals of all of the species covered in this work are probably capable of killing an adult human, most seem disinclined to do so."

- Miami Herald, quoting a new federal study (link here)

A silver lining?

Deer vs. boys

His 9-year-old friend Wyatt Pugh beat the deer with a stick to make it go away.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

This is what friends are for.

Exceptionally strange

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/48230/title/Fungi_thrived_during_mass_extinction

New research suggests that some fungi thrived during the Permian extinction.

Gators vs. golfers

The gator pulled the golfer into the pond and ripped off his arm in the struggle.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Ouch.

10 Riskiest Foods

http://www.rodale.com/tainted-food?cm_mmc=DailyNewsNL-_-2009_10_08-_-Top5-_-NA

I am not giving up leafy greens.

Don't mess with the giant squid

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this article.)

http://www.slate.com/id/2229659/

I agree with the author.

Brown trout

Logan's antelope

I could sure go for some gamy antelope steaks right about now.

Beware raccoons

Animal control officers hope to trap a pack of raccoons that mauled a 74-year-old Florida woman who tried to chase them from her yard.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

I am going to have to start carrying a loaded gun when I am in the garden.

Just in case.

Colorado mastodon

"It's the first good record of an American mastodon in Colorado," said Steve Holen, curator of archaeology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

- Denver Post (link here)

Exciting find.

Parasites vs. T-Rex

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/47907/title/Parasite_may_have_felled_a_mighty_T._rex

Trichomonas or something similar may have brought down some T-Rex specimens.

"Little Jack" Horner was one of the co-authors.

Cats vs. birds

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/science/29angi.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Interesting article on cats as predators.

A polarizing species

Goliath grouper, formerly known as jewfish, is a polarizing species in Florida.

Once a staple of the commercial fishing and diving industries, the giant reef fish were nearly wiped out by spearfishers and hook-and-liners in the late 1980s. In 1990, the federal government put goliath grouper on the prohibited list, and in recent years, populations on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Florida have bounced back.

- Miami Herald (link here)

Err on the side of what is best for the fish.

T-Rex of the Seas

Paleontologists have unearthed the nearly complete remains of an immense ichthyosaur with serrated teeth, an evolutionary innovation that would have rendered the behemoth the top predator in its ecosystem.

- Science News (link here)

They are just not making top predators like they used to.

Also note the University of Chicago connection: vertebrate paleontologist Nadia Frobisch.

Lucky Buck

A large crowd of sportsmen and passers-by had gathered in front of Dutch's Trading Post to admire "Lucky Buck" - a 30-point "deer of a lifetime" that Wayne Schumacher took by bow over the weekend.

- (Fond du Lac, WI) Reporter/azcentral (link here)

The hunter might have been lucky, but how did the deer feel about it?

Big squid

Numerous large squid are reportedly washing up dead on the central Oregon coast near Heceta Head.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Global warming?

New, nastier python

Discoveries in West Miami-Dade have scientists worried about a new, potentially more troublesome species of python establishing itself in the Everglades.

- Miami Herald (link here)

Are they good to eat?

Mini T-Rex

A miniature version of Tyrannosaurus rex is throwing a bone to paleontologists interested in how the king of dinosaurs evolved.

- Science News (link here)

Paul Sereno in the news again.

Girl vs. alligator

A 16-year-old girl has bagged a 10-foot alligator in a South Carolina swamp.

In the middle of the night. With a crossbow.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Excellent.

Bear attacks man

Colorado wildlife officials say a man is recovering from his injuries after a black bear entered his home and attacked him.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

A person is not safe any more, even when they are in their own home.

Bobcat attacks man

Hermantown resident Gary Lucia suffered minor injuries after what he described as an attack by a bobcat in his garage late Friday night.

- Duluth News Tribune (link here)

Bobcats are dangerous, especially those 80-pounders.

Killing trees

A man accused of injecting poison into his neighbor's 60-foot-tall silver maple tree to kill it has been scheduled to appear in court in late September.

- (Murfreesboro Tenn) Daily News Journal/azcentral (link here)

If he had killed an oak in certain parts of ancient Europe, it would have been the death penalty.

Fossil iridescence

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/46827/title/Oops%2C_missed_that_fossil_iridescence

Fascinating.

Note the Yale connection.

Wolves vs. Dogs

"There was almost nothing left: The end of her tail, a bit of rib cage and her collar. Your heart just drops. Me and her were pretty tight."

- Bruce Mell, quoted by the Star Tribune, describing what happened to his dog (link here)

As explained in the article, wolves are going to defend their turf.

This is Life in the Food Chain.

Haunted by ghosts

Interesting article on the ancient wars between lancewood trees and the now extinct moa from Science News (link here).

Tasmanian Devils

But Tasmanian devils’ social networking practices could affect the spread of a deadly and infectious facial tumor.

- Science News (link here)

Leading to the extinction of the species?

Beware bears

Wildlife officers are looking for a bear that forced its way into a home and attacked the homeowner, and may have been behind other break-ins in the Aspen [Colorado] area this summer.

- AP/Miami Herald (link here)

This what happens when the rich & famous build homes in prime bear habitat.

Beware wild dogs

The mauling deaths of a retired UGA professor and his wife, a longtime librarian at the university, are almost as mysterious as they are tragic.

- Atlanta Journal-Constitution (link here)

Bizarre story.

Bird wings

When trees fall in the forest, unheard or not, they may change the shape of bird wings.

- Science News (link here)

Rapid evolution?

Fish breaks windshield

Authorities in northwest Ohio say the fish - a Lake Erie freshwater drum, known as a sheepshead - smashed a car windshield Tuesday when an eagle dropped its catch from a height of about 40 feet.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Seems improbable.

Sting Pain Index

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this piece.)

http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/oh-sting-where-is-thy-death/?emc=eta1

I definitely want to avoid that Brazilian bullet ant.

Beware otters

The otters hissed and then followed the woman to shore before biting her. She's getting rabies shots but holds no grudge against the animals.

- Duluth News Tribune (link here)

It would be difficult to swim with a loaded handgun.

Camel burgers

Thousands of camels in Australia's remote Outback could be killed by marksmen in helicopters under a government proposal aimed at cutting down the population of the havoc-wreaking creatures.

- AP/ajc (link here)

Tasty treats?

Hank bites the big one

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/top-stories/story/1179068.html

Hank the Crocosaurus checks out at 47.

It was a shame he died so young.

Isoprene

Worldwide, plants release more than 550 million metric tons of the hydrocarbon isoprene into the atmosphere each year.

- Science News (link here)

It would be interesting to know how this number compares with volcanic emissions.

Manipulative parasites

A fungus that attacks living ants apparently manipulates their behavior for its own benefit, an international research team reports in the September American Naturalist.

- Science News (link here)

Very interesting.

Might make a good plot for a horror movie.

Crows

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/46196/title/Tool_use_to_crow_about

Interesting report on tool-use and problem-solving by crows.

I particularly liked the reference to Aesop's Fables.

Bear attack

The Colorado Division of Wildlife said a woman has died from injuries believed to be from a bear attack.

- Denver Post (link here)

There is a risk involved with feeding bears.

DEET

“DEET is a good chemical for protection against insects,” he says. “But prolonged exposure results in neurological damage, and this is enhanced by other chemicals and medications.”

Bahie Abou-Donia of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., quoted by Science News (link here)

For those of us who live in mosquito infested areas, it tough to avoid West Nile, etc. without using DEET.

Hummingbirds

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/46148/title/Tiny_bird%2C_tiny_genome

Hummingbirds have less DNA than other birds.

Very interesting.

Dinosaur Burrows

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/45721/title/Diggin%E2%80%99_dinos

Very interesting article on fossilized dinosaur burrows.

What else could they be?

Ticks

"I looked down and noticed the spot where the tick bit me was black, the size of my fist. And when I urinated, it was the color of maple syrup."

- Mike Lee, quoted by the Star Tribune (link here)

Very unpleasant.

American Honeybee

North America did too have a native honeybee.

- Science News (link here)

Fascinating.

Red Devils

The so-called Humboldt squid are native to the deep waters off Mexico, where they have been known to attack humans and are nicknamed "red devils" for their rust-red coloring and mean streak.

- AP/Denver Post (link here)

How many things are worse than a mean squid?

Beware hungry lions

A Colorado man used his chain saw to fight off a starving mountain lion that attacked him while he was camping in the Shoshone National Forest.

- AP/Denver Post (link here)

Scary.

Florida vs. Pythons

Florida wildlife managers are poised to unleash a team of trained hunters to track and kill the giant snakes on state lands.

- Miami Herald (link here)

My prediction = not sufficient.

Burmese pythons

'It's just a matter of time before one of these snakes gets to a visitor in the Florida Everglades,'' said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

- AP/Miami Herald (link here)

This might make a good horror film.

Wildlife sightings

On our trip to Michigan we saw 2 deer, 2 foxes, and 2 cranes.

On our trip home we saw 3 cranes.

Hordes

Grasshoppers are regular summer visitors and a perennial crop-eating pest for farmers, but this year's invasion in Tooele County west of Salt Lake City is worse than anyone can remember.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

But still not quite like the good old days when there were hordes of locusts.

Great Lakes Wolves

Pending court approval, gray wolves in Minnesota will return to their previous "threatened species" status, while the gray wolf populations in Wisconsin and Michigan will go back on the endangered species list.

- Star Tribune (link here)

Big Cat

Weeks after a reported lion sighting in north Georgia, a Jackson County woman says her horse was killed by a big cat.

- Atlanta Journal-Constitution (link here)

Maybe.

Ghosts of the Forest

(Thanks to my brother for calling my attention to this one.)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=inwi10s22a3q81f

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/White-Deer/Jeff-Richter/e/9780974188317

Underwater locusts

Lionfish, likened by scientists to underwater locusts, have been found to the south off Key Largo, to the north off Fort Lauderdale and to the east from Bimini to Cat Cay.

- Miami Herald (link here)

Black Bears

Every state in the Southeast is seeing growing black bear populations, Hammond said. The population growth is due to decreased poaching as well as the increase in “non-natural” food sources such as garbage, bird food and pet food.

- Atlanta Journal-Constitution (link here)

Life finds a way.

Wolverine in Colorado

A solo wolverine, perhaps in search of a mate, has traveled more than 500 miles to northern Colorado, the first confirmed sighting of the species here since 1919.

- Denver Post (link here)

It would be such a thrill to see a wolverine in the wild.

Cephalopods can hear

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this story.)

The discovery resolves a century-long debate over whether cephalopods, the group of sea creatures that includes octopus, squid, cuttlefish and nautiluses, can hear sounds underwater.

- Earth News, BBC (link here)

Fossilized fingers

The hands of a newly discovered dinosaur species provide fresh support for the notion that birds are closely related to dinosaurs, researchers say.

- Science News (link here)

Flies are people too?

The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants the flyswatter in chief to try taking a more humane attitude the next time he's bedeviled by a fly in the White House.

- AP/ajc (link here)

Pathetic.

Live rocks

Law enforcement officers in the Florida Keys are investigating a $1 million underwater heist -- of rocks.

- Miami Herald (link here)

They were "live rocks" covered with coral, sponges, etc.

Origins of life

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/science/16orig.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Interesting article on prebiotic chemistry.

Blueberries, or lack thereof

Southeast Georgia’s blueberry crop has taken a double jolt from the weather, ruining most of the crop.

- AP/ajc (link here)

Makes it difficult for us blueberry lovers. We might have to eat Michigan berries instead.

Let this be a lesson to me

Let this be a lesson to me that, even though Blogger tells me my blog is locked, it is not actually locked.

This is only a test

Testing to see if I can post even though the dashboard says that I cannot post.

On the State of Fish

In 1994, I published my first book, “Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking.” The premise was straightforward: if you buy fish fresh and cook it simply, you’ll eat well.

- Mark Bittman, NY Times (link here)

Very interesting article on how the fish marketplace has changed since he published his book.

Let them eat snake

Cinafa'y feclat not only packs more menu appeal than ''hot roasted python,'' it offers a culinary solution to the infestation of giant snakes threatening to overrun, or rather over-slither, South Florida.

- Fred Grimm, Miami Herald (link here)

We could use a similar solution for garlic mustard in Wisconsin.

A new reef

A massive ship last used by the U.S. Air Force to track missiles and spacecraft was sunk off Key West Wednesday, becoming a new artificial reef.

- AP/Miami Herald (link here)

Excellent. We need more reefs.

Wildlife sightings

On the road to Michigan for the Memorial Day weekend, we saw several deer, several wild turkeys, and a coyote.

While in Michigan, we saw a bald eagle.

On the road home, we saw a pair of cranes and three deer.

Unboilable bug

According to Abramov's work, all life on Earth probably evolved from a kind of microscopic "unboilable bug" — single-cell bacteria — that survived the heavy bombardment of asteroids in underground sanctuaries.

- Denver Post (link here)

Komodo dragons

Add shock-inducing venom to the list of reasons to avoid Komodo dragons. The fierce lizard may kill its prey in a way similar to some snakes, researchers report online May 18 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The finding contradicts the widely held notion that Komodo lizards rely on nasty bacteria and resulting infection to kill prey.

- Science News (link here)

Very interesting.

Eagles vs. comorants

Bald eagles, bouncing back after years of decline, are swaggering forth with an appetite for great cormorant chicks that threatens to wipe out the birds in the United States.

- AP/Denver Post (link here)

Everything humans do, or do not do, affects relationships between other species.

And that is Life in the Food Chain.

Veggie Day

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this story.)

The Belgian city of Ghent is about to become the first in the world to go vegetarian at least once a week.

- BBC (link here)

How do the vegetables feel about this?

Firefly Watch

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this program.)

https://www.mos.org/fireflywatch/

Are fireflies disappearing?

Frogwatch

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this program.)

FrogWatch USA is a Citizen Science Monitoring Program that gives YOU the opportunity to help scientists conserve amphibians! Being a FrogWatch volunteer gives you the opportunity to gather information that will help increase awareness of nationwide amphibian declines that can ultimately lead to practical and workable ways to help conserve these important species – all while helping you learn more about the wetlands in your community and the calls of frogs and toads in your community!

- National Wildlife Federation (link here)

Origins of life

Scientists may have figured out the chemistry that sparked the beginning of life on Earth.

- Science News (link here)

Kill the killers

John Hart squatted in a muddy pasture and examined the carcass in front of him. The wounds on the eviscerated calf, and the tracks all around it, left no mystery about what had happened.

Soon Hart would set up traps to capture and shoot the killer: one or more gray wolves roaming the area.

- Star Tribune (link here)

If we carry this chain of revenge to its conclusion....

Disturbing.

Flies vs. ants

Researchers in Texas are trying an unusual approach to combat fire ants - deploying parasitic flies that turn the pesky and economically costly insects into zombies whose heads fall off.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Fascinating.

Frog diseases

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this story.)

Bd causes devastating chytrid disease, first identified about a decade ago. In the past few years, a number of studies have shown that it is an important factor in the recent drop-off in amphibian numbers. Worldwide, chytrid disease has caused extinctions and declines in 200 species of frogs. Ranaviruses also cause large die-offs, but scientists do not yet know whether they can contribute to extinctions.

- New Scientist (link here)

Deer sightings

Yesterday, Gil & I biked 23 miles.

We saw 4 whitetail deer and 1 rabbit.

Antero

Thanks to Dad for sending me this picture.

Fred & fish

Coyotes

Thanks to my brother for sending me this picture.

Awesome fangs

(Thanks to Mark for the very cool fish picture.)

Return of the bear

A young black bear that caused a sensation eight months ago after making a rare appearance on Maryland's Eastern Shore was captured Wednesday after making a return trip to the area, officials said yesterday.

- Washington Post (link here)

Excellent.

On the evils of the food industry

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this quote.)

“This is what the food industry always does — just like the tobacco industry. They obfuscate without ever looking at facts.”

- Barry M. Popkin, professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, quoted on nytimes.com (link here)

But I like the taste of beef.

Beware wild hogs

Officials said a wild hog attacked a woman in the back yard of her home.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Global warming vs. Grizzly Bears

If a warming world leads to less whitebark pine, environmentalists fear grizzlies will become more aggressive in challenging hunters — contests that bears usually lose.

- AP/ajc (link here)

Usually.

Pike eats pike

Thanks to Mark for sending me this picture.

Dangerous nitrous oxide

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling this story to my attention.)

This in addtition to the methane gas emitted by cattle, their dung also produces dangerous nitrous oxide, [Germany's Federal Environmental Agency head] Troge said.

- The Local (link here)

Another reason to stop eating meat?

Milwaukee fox and his lunch

Published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Saturday April 4 2009.

http://jsonline.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=23060950&event=&CategoryID=

Deer are tough

A deer somehow survived being hit by a car near Little Rock, but that was only the first part of what soon became a very rough day.

- AP/Miami Herald (link here)

This story documents how incredibly tough deer can be.

American crocodile

Listed as a federally endangered species in 1975, after hunting and habitat loss nearly wiped it from the wild, the American crocodile has surged to numbers not seen in a century. Today, the population is about 2,000 at the southern tip of Florida, the species' only U.S. habitat, where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has downgraded its status to threatened.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Very cool.

Beware rabid raccoons

Three men were attacked by rabid raccoons in two incidents this week in the McLean area, Fairfax County police said.

- Washington Post (link here)

This is why people should carry loaded handguns at all times.

Gulf Orca

And last week that same scientist, Keith Mullin, explained at a public meeting in Orange Beach, Ala., that yes, contrary to common perceptions, killer whales really do live in the Gulf, far from land.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Excellent.

Wild boar

Thanks to my brother Brian for this picture of a monster wild boar killed in Louisiana.

Beware aggressive turkeys

Wild turkeys are turning into bullies in one Michigan town.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

This might be a good time to exercise the Ted Nugent "kill it and grill it" option.

Spider controversy

A spider that was found in a Tulsa grocery store may not have been as deadly as originally thought.

- AP/ajc (link here)

Misidentified and mishandled.

Shocking incompetence.

Coyote sighting

Gil and I were walking along the Oak Leaf Trail near 68th and Rawson today when we saw a coyote.

Big animal, prime condition, close up.

Very cool.

Pliosaurs

They swam with mighty flippers, two fore and two hind, all four accelerating on attack. In their elongated heads were bone-crushing jaws more powerful than a Tyrannosaurus rex’s. They were the pliosaurs, heavyweight predators at the top of the food chain in ancient seas.

- NY Times (link here)

Fascinating.

Creative antlering

A man who bolted antlers to the head of a dead doe and posed for a photograph with the deer was fined $400 and jailed for game violations.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Pathetic.

Herd of dinosaurs?

The position of the dinosaur bones suggests they were looking for water on the edge of a lake, got stuck and died as the mud engulfed them, [University of Chicago professor] Sereno said in a telephone interview.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Amazing what you can learn from a few odd bones.

Starving vultures

Spanish vultures are hungry, even starving - and the regional government in Madrid plans to do something about it. EU laws aimed at halting the spread of mad cow disease require the countryside to be kept clear of dead livestock even if they died of natural causes.

- AP/Miami Herald (link here)

I just hate is when there are not enough rotting corpses for everyone that wants one.

Crocodile attacks in Australia

If confirmed, it would be the second fatal crocodile attack in northern Australia in five weeks.

- AP/ajc (link here)

Moose on the roof

Nostdahl called police to report a moose on the roof of his hillside home northwest of Minot.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Just one of the many advantages of living in North Dakota.

Deer in restaurant

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this one.)

Montgomery County police say a deer being chased by two dogs crashed through the front window of a restaurant before ending up in the bakery section of a grocery store.

- AP/Baltimore Sun (link here)

What happened to the dogs?

Nevada state insect?

The vivid dancer damselfly is a blue insect with transparent wings that "appear silver when rapidly beating in the sunlight."

The damselfly preys on mosquitoes and other pests. It's found throughout the state. It was first classified in 1865, the year after Nevada became a state.

- Las Vegas Review-Journal (link here)

Sounds like a worthy choice.

Eagle vs. truck

The eagle has landed - with a thud - after crashing through the windshield of a tractor-trailer on a Nevada highway. State wildlife officials said Wednesday that a 15-pound golden eagle with a 7-foot wing span has a swollen head but otherwise appears unhurt after crashing into a Florida truck driver's big rig on Monday.

- AP/Miami Herald (link here)

Ouch.

Wisconsin lion

Wisconsin wildlife officials today continued to pursue a mountain lion roaming near Spooner in an effort to fit it with a radio collar.

It’s only the second documented wild mountain lion in the state since the early 1900s. One spotted in January 2008 near Milton was later killed in a Chicago suburb.

- AP/Duluth News Tribune (link here)

Prehumans

Footprints uncovered in Kenya show that as early as 1.5 million years ago an ancestral species, almost certainly Homo erectus, had already evolved the feet and walking gait of modern humans.

- NY Times/Denver Post (link here)

Those were the good old days.

Coyote gangs

A 51-year-old woman was attacked by coyotes as she walked her dog in southeast Denver, wildlife officials said.

- Denver Post (link here)

Roving gangs of murderous coyotes?

Ferrets and flu virus

In a discovery that could radically change how the world fights influenza, researchers have engineered antibodies that protect against many strains, including the 1918 Spanish flu and the H5N1 bird flu.

The work is so promising that Fauci's institute will offer the researchers grants and access to its ferrets, which can catch human flu.

- Denver Post/NY Times (link here)

La Brea tar pits

Scientists are studying a huge cache of Ice Age fossil deposits recovered near the famous La Brea Tar Pits in the heart of the nation's second-largest city.

Among the finds is a near-intact mammoth skeleton, a skull of an American lion and bones of saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, bison, horses, ground sloths and other mammals.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Exciting finds. Those were the good old days.

Mercury in walleye and northern pike

The concentration of mercury in walleye and northern pike has shown an unexpected long-term rise in lakes throughout Minnesota, and scientists believe the problem has global causes and consequences.

- Star Tribune (link here)

Very interesting article.

I like the part about blaming it on India and China.

Whitetail deer

I saw three deer at Wehr today.

One was a buck who had already dropped one side of his antlers.

I sure would like to find those dropped antlers.

Lake Winnebago sturgeon

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/39695442.html

Interesting story about Lake Winnebago sturgeon.

Are there sturgeon like this in Mullett Lake?

Minnesota saber-tooth

Scientists say the fossils are the first of their kind discovered in Minnesota, meaning that both ice-age mammals, long extinct, ventured farther north than previously thought.

- Star Tribune (link here)

Can't we all just get along?

Two leading animal-rights groups are concerned that Greenwood Village has decided to shoot and trap coyotes, saying that the better strategy is to learn how to live with them.

- Denver Post (link here)

Snakes vs. infants

Police on Tuesday arrested the parents of a 3-year-old boy who last month was bitten and squeezed to the point of unconsciousness by an 18-foot python.

- Las Vegas Review-Journal (link here)

Hawks vs. Squirrels

Thomas Shepler, a hand surgeon, shot a hawk to death in his backyard when he said the bird was eyeing a young squirrel that he and his wife had helped raise.

- Washington Post/Miami Herald (link here)

Denver metro area vs. coyotes

A war against coyotes in the Denver metro area has begun with Greenwood Village firing the first shots.

Greenwood Village's City Council, in a special session Thursday, approved limited shooting of coyotes in public areas of the city, including parks, greenbelts and watersheds.

- Denver Post (link here)

Global warming vs. Fish

Federal fisheries managers have voted to bar all commercial fishing in U.S. waters from north of the Bering Strait and east to the Canadian border in light of the rapid climate changes that are transforming the Arctic.

- Washington Post (link here)

Pity the poor fish (to borrow from the title one of my favorite books).

Wisconsin lion

My dad and brother both sent me this picture of a cougar shot in Wisconsin.

San Diego mammoth

Workers digging at a downtown San Diego construction site have uncovered the prehistoric remains of an 8-foot-long mammoth.

A backhoe operator working at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law site unearthed a 20-foot-long tusk Wednesday.

- AP/Miami Herald (link here)

Seems like a long tusk to body ratio.

Maybe the tusk was from a different animal.

Giant snake

Never mind the 40-foot snake that menaced Jennifer Lopez in the 1997 movie "Anaconda." Not even Hollywood could match a new discovery from the ancient world.

Fossils from northeastern Colombia reveal the biggest snake ever discovered: a behemoth that stretched 42 to 45 feet long, reaching more than 2,500 pounds.

- azcentral (link here)

Restore the native bees

(Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this one.)

Those remnant wild bees, feral and native alike, might just be the seeds of a solution. And to sow those seeds and foster their growth, we must not till the earth, but do just the opposite: we must take patches of agricultural land out of production, and restore them to natural habitat.

- NY Times (link here)

More manatees

Aided by a string of cold snaps, state scientists counted a record number of manatees in Florida waters this year.

The annual aerial count, conducted two weeks ago, recorded 3,807 manatees, topping the previous high in 2001 by more than 500 animals, according to a report released Wednesday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

Wildlife managers cautioned that the aerial counts don't mean the population has suddenly boomed or the endangered mammal is no longer at risk.

- Miami Herald (link here)

Just because there are more manatees does not mean that there are more manatees?

10 days in jail

A software executive has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for authorizing the slaughter of 32 of his neighbor's bison that wandered onto his Colorado ranch.

- AP/Miami Herald (link here)

Bizarre fish

Researchers believe they have solved the puzzle of three seemingly different fish, one all males, one all females and one all juveniles. They're the same fish, and undergo remarkable changes as they mature.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Wildlife sightings

On Tuesday, I saw two deer at the Wehr Nature Center.

One was a large deer with a nice rack (4-5 points on a side).

Fossil theft

In September, after a yearlong investigation by state and federal authorities, Mr. Murphy was charged with felony theft. Federal agents have also questioned his associates about his other fossil discoveries. The investigations have caused consternation in this small town in the middle of some of the world’s richest dinosaur fields.

- NY Times (link here)

With fossils going for such extreme prices, there is no wonder that theft occurs.

Celebrate Squirrel Day

(My Dad sent me these pictures.)

Albino deer in Grayling, MI

(My brother sent me this one.)

Mojave desert tortoise

From 1996 to 2006, more than $93 million was spent on managing the long-lived reptile [Mojave desert tortoise], records show. That's more than was spent on other species such as the grizzly bear, gray wolf or bald eagle.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Spare no expense?

Beware javelina

A tourist from the Netherlands who was attacked by a javelina at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has taken the first step to filing a lawsuit against the Tucson facility and Pima County taxpayers.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

One must always be vigilant.

Cockroaches have rights

Yes, it really is now a criminal offense in Britain to abuse an ant, a worm, a slug, cockroach, a scorpion, a stick insect or whatever creature you care to name. The moment you decide to keep it as a pet you are obliged by our Animal Welfare Act to take full account of its welfare needs -- or face a $30,000 fine or a twelve-month prison sentence.

- James Delingpole, Human Events (link here)

Bugs are people, too.

Sturgeon

(Thanks to Mark for this one.)

Thousand-pound sturgeon from Ontario.

Monster wolves

(My father and brother each sent me this one.)

Wolves killed legally in Wyoming.

Deer killers

Three Weyauwega men accused of corralling and running over deer with snowmobiles have been arrested in what a state official described Thursday as an unprecedented thrill killing.

- AP/StarTribune (link here)

If convicted, lock them up and throw away the key.

People like this cannot be trusted.

Sea kittens

http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/about.asp

Heh.

After all, who would want to put a hook through a sea kitten?

Shark attacks

"People need to put the risk in perspective," said John West, curator of the Australian Shark Attack File database. "Many more people die on the roads in one day in Australia than in a decade by shark attacks."

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Wildlife sightings

Today, I saw five whitetail deer at the Wehr Nature Center.

Just before dark, I saw a coyote in the backyard.

Bees protect crops

(Thanks to Elizabeth for this one.)

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/1222/2?rss=1&eaf

Interesting article on how bees protect crops from caterpillar damage.

Save the mouse

The [Colorado Springs, CO] City Council might ask the federal government to remove the Preble's meadow jumping mouse from the threatened-species list.

In its Jan. 27 meeting, the council is expected to discuss petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove federal protection for the 3-inch mouse, which has a tail twice the length of its body and can jump as high as 3 feet.

City officials say restrictions on development to protect the mouse have cost the area millions of dollars. The mouse is thought to exist only along creeks and streams on Colorado's Front Range and part of eastern Wyoming.

- AP/Denver Post (link here)

Whitetail deer

Today, I saw a group on nine deer at the Wehr Nature Center.

One had a small rack (4-6 total points).

Eat more squirrels

While some have difficulty with the cuteness versus deliciousness ratio — that adorable little face, those itty-bitty claws — many feel that eating squirrel is a way to do something good for the environment while enjoying a unique gastronomical experience.

- NY Times (link here)

Interesting article on squirrels in Britain.

January 21

Mark your calendar.

January 21 is Squirrel Appreciation Day.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2020192_squirrel-appreciation-day.html