Reindeer droppings

Staffers make decorations out of droppings from the zoo's two reindeer, Ealu and Rika.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

Waste no resource.

Beware elk droppings

Elk droppings in the Evergreen area contain the same strain of E. coli bacteria that sickened eight children in three mountain counties, state health officials reported today.

- Denver Post (link here)

I try to avoid eating elk droppings at all times.

The toughest mile

Authorities in Arizona say a jogger attacked by a rabid fox ran a mile with the animal’s jaws clamped on her arm and then drove herself to a hospital.

- AP/ajc (link here)

I am not sure that I could do that.

Lead in the food chain

North Dakotans who ate wild game killed with lead bullets appeared to have higher lead levels than those who ate little or no wild game, according to a study released Wednesday by the North Dakota Department of Health.

- Duluth News Tribune (link here)

Reminds me of the good old days of my youth when I picked lead fine shot out of my teeth while eating small game killed with shotguns.

Orcas and salmon

But Ms. Morton and researchers like Martin Krkosek of the University of Alberta and John Volpe of the University of Victoria predict that some local salmon runs will disappear unless the farms are altered or removed. And because salmon loom large in the diets of orcas, bears, eagles and other animals, their disappearance would unravel the region’s web of life.

- NY Times (link here)

Interesting article on orcas and salmon.

Eating bugs

Derek Mamoyac, a climber who survived five nights alone on a southern Washington mountain and ate insects while crawling toward safety, remembers well how his mountain meals tasted.

The centipedes? Like Doritos.

And the ants? Spicy, like hot tamales.

- AP/ajc (link here)

Wild boar

Massachusetts State Police say a 200-pound Russian wild boar was euthanized after being struck by a vehicle on a road in Lancaster earlier this week.

- AP/azcentral (link here)

When I was in Michigan last time, I heard that wild boars (escaped from hunting preserves) were becoming more common in the northern lower peninsula.