Los Angelenos love their ‘gator tales! Reid noted this feature by LA Times writer Carol Williamson on the recent spate (if three be a spate) of fatal attacks on Floridians by the large reptiles. As the only one of us living within the range of the American Alligator [A. mississippiensis], I’ll do the honors. The …
On the Trail
Last Sunday I took Sadie, our Aussie pup, and Maggie, our Lab, for a hike on the Jesusita Trail. The trail starts on the north outskirts of Santa Barbara, and winds its way up northward into the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains in the Los Padres National Forest. The trailhead is at about 500 …
Another unique blog
Check out The Indian Cowboy. He is a libertarian Hindu (that kind of Indian) primatologist from Texas who is studying for his doctorate in psychiatry. He is also a gun nut, and a conservationist. Gun pics and primate behavior and evolution!
Science and Animal Art
Via Darren, two wonderful sites of scientific, paleontological, and animal illustration. Olduvai George features everything from prehistoric creatures to Cooper’s hawks; Rigor Vitae features snapping turtles (most recently), the raptor- rich badlands of Wyoming, and more. Both sites seem fond of raptors– but then isn’t everybody? Update: congratulations to Darren, who has just achieved his …
They’re Here!
The first Asian tazi pups in North America, Ataika’s. And Lashyn’s should come in a few days… Blogging may be a bit intermittent!
Early Figs
The NY Times reports the discovery of 11,400 year old remains of figs from a prehistoric site near the town of Jericho, in the West Bank. This is apparently the earliest known evidence of domesticated fruit.
Costly Signaling
I really like John Hawks Anthropology Weblog and urge all of you interested in those sorts of things to visit it often. Earlier this week, he commented on a journal article that tested a current anthropological theory on show-off behavior among hunter-gatherer peoples. Traditional models of hunter-gatherer behavior used by cultural anthropologists and archaeologists have …
Boy Pirate
The pirate ship Whydah sank in a storm off the Massachusetts coast in 1717. When it was discovered by underwater archaeologists in 1984, it was the first authenticated wreck of a pirate ship ever found. The wreck has been the focus on an on-going research project since its discovery, with over 100,000 artifacts recovered that …
Dust in the Desert
I listened to this piece on NPR this morning while driving in to work. It says we have a dust problem in arid areas of the western states because the biologically produced crusts on the soils there are being disturbed. Off-road vehicles and cattle-ranchers are blamed, “…dust storms are the result of tires and hooves.” …
Matchmaker Lawsuit
Only in California could you pay a matchmaker $125,000 to introduce you to men to date and later sue and win $2.1 million when you don’t meet one you like. I hope Overlawyered sees this.