Inluential Books (and Writers)

Rod Dreher has a post on “Ten Most Influential Books. I responded after thinking hard and coming up with entries that surprised me a bit, in more or less chronological order: Kipling’s Jungle Books– first read to me by my mother– gave me a lifelong love of the underrated author, and England. Adventures of Sherlock …

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Just a Pic

Our friend Nance McManus, artist, horsewoman, and bird trainer (see here ) took this photo of us a couple of weeks ago at the Albuquerque conference of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators, where I was featured speaker (Central Asian eagling and such). Just to show I am hardly at death’s door!

Pigeon Slander

Apparently there is to be a “reality” show about pigeon racing starring Mike Tyson. While he might not be the perfect spokesman I’d pick, the once- great Audubon Magazine sees this show as an opportunity to link the Horror of Tyson to the Horror of a sport of which the only characteristic is that some …

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Some Links

Are Middle Eastern wolves the ancestors of domestic dogs? I would have to see a lot more, and wonder what Saivolainen, who suggests an eastern China origin, would say. More and more domestication sites seem to move east as we look there.And the most primitive dogs remaining (dingos, singing dogs) are SE Asian. They may …

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The Answer to the Quote

Samuel Beckett, in “Molloy”. Which some of you Googled. Hey, that’s no fun!– wild guesses are a lot more entertaining than correct answers from any kind of “encyclopedia.”

Hunting Advice from an Unlikely Source

Tom McIntyre sent this quote. Who is it? Wild guesses encouraged, even necessary. I’ll give the answer later in the week. “…for sleep is a kind of protection, strange as it may seem. For sleep, if it excites the lust to capture, seems to appease the lust to kill, there and then and bloodily, any …

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Mostly Links

Irbis has his check- up tomorrow and should be close to running free– we hope! Despite the fact we are in the tail- end of our season’s biggest snowstorm (a foot so far) spring is in the air, and in the pup- and I do mean SPRING. So more soon– but first a few links. …

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Spring strut

It’s official: spring has arrived in western Wyoming, as evidenced by the number of Greater Sage-Grouse on the lek I visited this morning. Leks are traditional strutting/breeding grounds for this biggest of our native grouse species. I usually set April 1 as my target date to visit leks, but with warm temperatures and most snow …

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End of the Season

Louisiana’s rabbit season is over. I put my hawk up for the molt this weekend after a hunt with friends in New Orleans East. The place name refers to rural parts of Orleans Parish north of Chalmette and Arabi, two St. Bernard Parish hamlets that border the 9th Ward and spent weeks underwater in 2005. …

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