Scientists discovered ancient wolves on a tiny Baltic island where they could only have been brought by humans, suggesting an unexpectedly close relationship between people and wolves thousands of years ago. Evidence indicates the wolves were fed, possibly cared for, and may even have been managed or selectively bred long before modern ideas of …
Leopard Athleticism
Another stunning leopard video.
A new film about Anthony Bourdain reviewed
Tony draws from Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain’s 2000 best seller that laid bare the rough-and-tumble world of haute cuisine from the perspective of a jaded yet passionate New York chef. But the screenplayadapts only the early chapters, which cover Bourdain’s tentative beginnings in the cooking profession, including one teenage summer he spent, frequently hungover, working in the …
Snake Eater
The American badger digs rattlesnakes out of their dens, absorbs their bites, and eats them. In South Dakota, it is considered the rattlesnake’s most important predator. A rattlesnake in its den is supposed to be safe. The burrow is narrow, dark, defensible, and the snake can coil and strike at anything that enters. Against a …
Yosemite from the Merced
The falls. Another view. Seen from this angle gives Yosemite another perspective and it is an amazing place. No shortage of people that agree however. Albert Bierstadt – Merced River, Yosemite Valley Viewed at The Met – NYC on 01/24/2026 Date: 1866 Dimensions: 36”x50” Bierstadt’s take on it.
Leopard catches Bateleur Eagle
The athleticism of cats and big cats is always a marvel. Bateleur Eagle
Pencil leads
In the 16th century, a violent storm uprooted an English oak tree to reveal a freak geological anomaly: the only large-scale deposit of solid graphite ever found on Earth. The deposit was located in Borrowdale, a valley in the Lake District. Locals quickly realized the dark substance left remarkably permanent marks, and its discovery completely …
Yellowfin Cutthroat
Somewhere in Colorado’s backcountry, biologists are actively searching for a fish everyone assumes is extinct. In 1889, ichthyologist David Starr Jordan documented a massive golden trout at Twin Lakes, Colorado, up to 12 pounds, with a bright yellow stripe down its flanks. He collected seven specimens. Within 15 years, rainbow trout were introduced, the population …
Windswept musk ox, etc
Windswept musk ox carved by Inuk artist Joe Kavik (born 1950) from Rankin Inlet (Kangiqiniq), Canada. Amusing and it works. Nice piece. A different art form but with cultural affinities. Local Song A throwback to one of my first posts.
Birding Changes
Virtually all of the 20 or so birders and bird-adjacent professionals I spoke with attributed the shift to two watershed events. The first is the coronavirus pandemic: At a moment when many Americans spent far too much time anxiously bouncing around their own home, birding represented a low-stress, low-screen, outdoor activity that could be done without …