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 …
More on Native American DNA
Matt and Chas both sent me this piece last week on another DNA study that shows Native Americans are most closely related to peoples in Siberia, indicating that is their point of origin. This isn’t exactly news, but is another corroborating study apparently done on a larger scale than most in the past. On a …
I’ve Just Finished a Month sans Internet and TV
I’ve just finished a month sans internet and tv. No saintly action, just a broken hardrive and an incomprehensible language, respectively.So I read every book I brought. Ran out fast.One of the books I brought was this monstrosity of a thing called The Executioners Song. I’d seen the film adaptation (loose use of ‘adaptation’), Cremaster …
Bureaucrats Run Amok
The Collard family of Glendale, California received a notice from the Fire Department ordering them to trim foliage from oak and sycamore trees around their house to lessen fire danger. The Collards agreed that their trees needed a trim and hired a tree service to do the work for $3,000. In the midst of the …
Updike on Dinosaurs
Novelist John Updike writes a good, short piece in the latest National Geographic on some of the “new” (and weirder) dinosaurs recently discovered. I mention this because topic and author tug at several lines of interest running through this blog, and because I’m fascinated by literary journalism, whatever you call it, the journalism written by …
Thanksgiving in Texas
My annual hunting trip to the Texas Panhandle is the highlight of my season. It splits the hawking year neatly in two: the building-up period, through late summer and fall, and the slide downward from winter into spring and the summer molt. Often the weather on the high plain reflects this split. Last week, we …