The LA Times reports that a major deposit of Pleistocene fossils has been uncovered during excavations for construction of a new parking structure for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The site is conveniently near the Page Museum at the famous La Brea Tar Pits, which will be taking possession of the fossils. According …
Month: February 2009
Two-year olds
We had to do some cattle work in the corrals today, so Rena (the Akbash dog) and Roo (the burro adopted off the range in Nevada), got together to entertain each other. They are both almost two years old, and are matched in temperament.
More on Chaco Chocolate
Craig Childs has an extended meditation in the LA Times on the significance of the Chaco Canyon find I posted about earlier in the week. Childs’ popular book on the Anasazi, House of Rain, is well worth the read. And while you’re at it, go take a look at Peculiar’s very cool picture of a …
Feeding time
Late every afternoon, we feed big bales of alfalfa hay to our sheep and cows, which live in the same large meadow pasture together at this time of year, along with the burros and a guardian dog. As we drive to the hay stackyard in the noisy flatbed feedtruck, we watch the moose clear the …
Web Miscellany
Nanny state alert: New York City declares war on salt. Great pictures of nanodreadlocks and fossil poop in case you missed them. And that’s not just any fossil poop, that’s moa poop! A fascinating piece in the WaPo – 30 years ago a fellow bought (for a song!) an antique cabinet that turns out to …
Camouflage
I just wanted to direct you over to an interesting post by Chas on Cubism and the origins of modern military camouflage.
New Year’s Hawking
I want to thank Isaac Nichols, my neighbor and proprietor of Another Falconry Blog, and his colleagues of the Colorado Hawking Club for letting Connie and me come along with them on New Year’s Day. Though I’ve been hanging out with this crowd for the last three years or so, this was my first time …
Living with livestock guardians
I have the pleasure of living with livestock guardian dogs. Ours is a working sheep and cattle ranch, so our dogs live with the sheep, but I generally raise a litter a year, so that means I am often living with puppies and socializing them to humans, buildings, etc. I raise the pups for other …
Eagle predation on bears
Adolph Murie described golden eagles harassing bears in Alaska as they swooped and dive-bombed the bruins. This type of action has been viewed by naturalists on numerous occasions, with the consensus being that the eagles were either playing or curious, or simply hanging out waiting for the bears to take down prey that could be …
Wrong On So Many Levels
From the AP this morning. Maybe you saw it? VIENNA, Va. – 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.Shepler, 65, said the hawk had previously killed an adult squirrel near his …