We discussed before here the interesting phenomenon that often occurs when species of large fauna get trapped on islands. Natural selection in the restricted habitat favors smaller individuals and you end up with a dwarf or pygmy subspecies. Previously we talked about pygmy mammoths in the California Channel Islands and dwarf water buffalo in the …
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“Arboricide”
After my post last week on tree-trimming follies in Burbank, California, I couldn’t pass this article by. A man in Nevada is facing 35 years in prison because he felled, topped or killed 60 trees that blocked his view of the Las Vegas Strip. Honestly, you’d think we were druids.
Joe Brown
Chas has a link to an excellent piece on the fine and neglected western writer JPS (Joseph Paul Summers) Brown. I met Joe Brown when we were both signing books at a sadly defunct bookstore in Tucson. I had brought a copy of his Forests of the Night, which could give Cormac McCarthy a run …
Goshawk
For the first time in nearly a decade we have a Gos in the dining room- kitchen alcove at Casa Q: He is a bit of a rehab case– he is utterly terrified of dogs, though Ataika is trying to teach him, and when he is at a lower weight he is alleged to scream …
Dog pix of the week
Looking northwest on the ranch from the northeast corner: ‘Rissa runs: Lashyn: “Want a bath, ‘Taik?” “I don’t think so.”
Projectiles
In days past, black powder and especially bow hunters were the most careful of all. Most were “naturalist” hunters, and had the ability to stalk close as well as the discipline not to take a shot that was less than perfect. Now, with a lot more time open for bowhunters and the availability of modern- …
It begins again
Congressman Lloyd Levine introduces mandatory spay- neuter in California again.
Ex Nihilo, X-Factor
Pluvialis continues to spellbind in reports on her goshawk adventures. If you haven’t been following along, you’re missing the show. A recent update included a remarkable observation about the kind of out-of-body experience common to many who love the countryside but live in the city. I hope Pluvi won’t mind a lengthy borrowing. Thinking of …
Done & Back! (With links)
I shipped off the remaining part of the book project last week– illos, captions, credits– and have my life back, though my brain doesn’t believe it yet. I have a HUGE backlog of links plus some photo posts and essays planned, but I don’t intend to do them all today, so bear with me. This …
Dinosaur Mummy
I saw several places this morning information on a dinosaur “mummy” found in North Dakota in 1999. “Mummy” really isn’t the proper term – the fossil cast is unusual in that the soft tissues are very apparent: “Unlike the collections of bones found in museums, this hadrosaur came complete with skin, ligaments, tendons and possibly …