The Girls

Pennsylvania artist and pigeon man Hans Windgassen saw a pic of Ataika and Lashyn and wanted to paint them. I sent him more photos and this is the result. I think it captures Taik’s arrogance and Lashyn’s often worried look. He calls it “Les Girls”

New Data on Turkey Domestication

Yesterday’s LA Times had a most interesting piece on turkey domestication based on new DNA data. Apparently turkeys were domesticated independently twice, once in Mesoamerica and once in what is now the American Southwest. One of the archaeologists not involved with the study who is quoted in the article points out that the turkeys domesticated …

Read more

New Arrival

My daughter Lauren and her husband Zach are pleased to announce the arrival of their first child and our first grandchild, Isabella Rosalie Wilson, born last Monday in Long Beach, CA. Isabella was 8 lb 14 oz and 22 inches long with dark curly hair. Mom and baby are doing fine. Connie and I are …

Read more

STILL another Mauser

Years ago, more flush and thinking that anyone who called himself “.275 Rigby” should have one, I gave Jonathan Hanson my Rigby 7 X 57 (on a Mauser 98 action). Jonathan has done well with it, and I have never regretted it, but I have never, as has been documented here, found a 7 X …

Read more

Irbis recovers

He THINKS he is 100% better and that he can go chase rabbits, but he still has 6 weeks on restricted, ie leash, movement. He is bored, and not afraid to let us know it.

Blogs and sites

A few blogs and sites new to me: Birds of Kazakhstan. The new Ithaca Gun Company– with 28 gauges! Coming soon: a watchdog site contra HSUS. Mouthful of Feathers: a tough literate bird- hunting blog. Trevor Herriot’s Grass Notes: a Canadian prairie blog.

Links

Rebecca has “the best job ever” in part because she works in the perfect office. Holly reviews Rebecca. Karen Myers has a splendid portfolio of their Uhlan, one of our tazi relatives, romping with their basset bleu de Gascogne in the Virginia snow. She also sent a link to this story on the subway- riding …

Read more

Resume blogging..

Been a long winter and everything– Irb’s accident, heavy snow and darkness (good for the land but not for the “SAD” mood): possible new project work; NO movement on other projects; even arthritis: all have contributed to a lack of things to say and desire to blog. But lengthening days, recovering dogs, conditioning hawks (Using …

Read more

A puppy challenge

I’m done posting images of the captive wildlife I photographed during my tour of captive facilities a few years ago, and I’m back to posting some of the shots from the ranch. This is one of my favorites – we (Jim and I) had to use a broom to safely escort this beautiful porcupine away …

Read more

Wild cat!

Flipping through photos of this captive mountain lion, I laughed when I realized he really looked like a dangerous beast in this photo. I could use this as a stand-alone photo for dramatic effect, right? But the truth is this shot was taken at the peak of this tom’s yawn, as you can see from …

Read more