Employees of a few energy companies in Colorado had become fond of a big horn sheep that had peeled off its herd and made a home in De Beque Canyon. Local residents and employees of the energy company that use a road near the animal had taken to seeing it on a daily basis and shooting pictures of the animal. On October 30th, a person found the animal dead with a single shot to its neck. They contacted authorities who put the word out in the neighborhood to try to find the poacher. The energy company found out about the poaching and has offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who turns in or helps catch the poacher.
Man, energy companies are like the mob. The guy who shot and left this animal has a price on his head. We're so accustomed to hearing about energy companies screwing us over, and the one time they do something cool they're motivated only by their sense of vindictiveness. Anyone who can turn the poacher in can collect the cash through Colorado's Division of Wildlife.
The wildlife biologist Lynn Rogers had logged thousands of hours studying North America's black bears.
He had shot them with tranquilisers before fitting them with ear tags
or radio collars. He had drawn their blood and mapped their DNA. And he
had tracked their movements with pins on maps.
But none of that
had allowed him to really know the creatures. When he did get close to
a bear in the wild the animal was usually terrified, caught in a live
trap in the woods.
Rogers eventually realised he couldn't hope to
know bears unless he won their trust. And so he abandoned scientific
detachment and took the daring and controversial step of forming
relationships with his study animals, using food to gain acceptance among an extended bear family inMinnesota.
Gaining
the trust of the bears has given him a close-up insight into their
behaviour and social organisation as well as allowing Rogers to explode
myths about them. Contrary to popular belief, for example, he contends
that the bears are not violent and do not like honey.
What's the over under on this guy? At least he picked black bears, so he's got that going for him. Via Guardian UK.
Slow news day, other than the 10,000 Brits searching to see if Dean Potter was alive after watching a special on him and his slacklining fetish last night. Speaking of daredevils, bears and grandmothers, forget everything you've learned about the proper way to deal with a bear encounter. Screw the low voice, deference, and slow movements, grab a decorative pillow from you pack and pillow fight the hell out of the bear:
It's like a real-life version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Vail grandmother Sally Rebehn fought off a bear that broke into her bedroom with a decorative pillow. The mama and one of the cubs then went into the kitchen and had a meal -- feasting on ice cream, chili and what appeared to be their favorite, leftover barbecued chicken wings from Moe's Barbecue." The ice cream was too cold, the chili too spicy, but the Moe's barbecue was just right," said Rebehn. "I heard the door open to my room and I thought, 'Well, it's gotta be Yoo-Hoo the family dog.' And I turn around and here was this big bear. I was screaming and she went up on her hind feet. And I was in between my bed and the wall. I grabbed one of these pillows and I just slung it at her. And she turned around and she left," said Rebehn of the encounter in her bedroom.
Grannie even knows how to throw out the soundbites. Enjoy your 15 minutes Sally. Via The Denver Channel.
We've heard about this talented bear before, but the NY Times did a full feature article on the Yellow-Yellow's talents opening up the BearVault 500. And she may be gaining some apprentices:
“Yellow-Yellow seems to be the most adept at defeating it,” said David Winchell, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Region 5, which covers the High Peaks. “Certainly, she is the most commonly observed in the area when it’s happening.”
It is not certain exactly how Yellow-Yellow plundered campers’ Italian sausages and granola bars, but she apparently depresses one tab with her teeth, turns the lid, uses her teeth on the second tab, and then opens it. At the Adirondack Mountain Club’s High Peaks Information Center here, where campers can rent canisters, an example of a defeated BearVault is on display: a bear’s teeth have left deep gouges in the hard plastic lid, as though it were putty.
Right now only Yellow-Yellow and her posse seem to have cracked the BearVault, so no need to worry if you're in other parts of the country. And in the mean time, BearVault is looking into improving their design to thwart even Yellow-Yellow.
Wonder what PETA is going to say about this one. Hopefully something that features naked celebrities. New York is going to start gassing Canada Geese to cull the population around the 40 city parks near the airports. Depending on who you want to believe, its either going to make the skies safer:
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "The serious dangers that Canada geese pose to aviation became all too clear when geese struck US Airways Flight 1549. The incident served as a catalyst to strengthen our efforts in removing geese from, and discouraging them from nesting on, city property near our runways."
Or just waste taxpayer money if it's not part of a long-term management policy:
But an animal welfare executive was skeptical. “Targeting 2,000 birds,
that is less than 1 percent of the resident population, and it’s not
going to make the sky safer,” said Glenn Phillips, executive director
of New York City Audubon. “If this is not done in context of a
long-term regional management plan, it will have no effect.”
By now most of you have seen or read about the woman who decided to take a swim with some polar bears in the Berlin Zoo. Turns out it wasn't such a great idea.
Polar Bear #1: "You hungry?" Polar Bear #2: "Yeah, sure. Why?" Polar Bear #1: "Looks like Easter dinner just landed in the pond." Polar Bear #1: "Praise the lord jesus. He does work in mysterious ways. And white meat. Mmm. What a way to break Lent"
I'm not a huge fish eater, climb_ca isn't one either. Fish are kinda, well, bland, though a fresh, crispy trout and lemon has to be one of the best dishes in the world. A big rare hunk of ahi tuna, a meaty swordfish steak, a pink and tender salmon filet - bleh, they all basically taste the same. Regardless, most of the fish we buy and eat from the supermarket has been farmed, processed, frozen, shipped, and packaged to your local grocer. While this provides a consistent product, it is drastically changing the way fish and fishing are viewed. Here are two accounts of what is currently happening and what it means for Charlie the Tuna. This one is rather boring about the EU and their efforts, this one via the NY Times is a much better read.
But we overfished these species to the point that it now takes more work, more energy, more equipment, more money to catch the same amount of fish — roughly 85 million tons a year, a yield that has remained mostly stagnant for the last decade after rapid growth and despite increasing demand.
Still, plenty of scientists say a turnaround is possible. Studies have found that even declining species can quickly recover if fisheries are managed well. It would help if the world’s wealthiest fish-eaters (they include us, folks) would broaden their appetites. Mackerel, anyone?
On the lighter side, ripped from today's headlines. Think you're tough? Think again.
Authorities in Arizona say a jogger attacked by a rabid fox ran a mile with the animal's jaws clamped on her arm and then drove herself to a hospital. The Yavapai County sheriff's office said the woman told deputies she was on a trail near Prescott on Monday when the fox attacked and bit her foot.
She said she grabbed the fox by the neck when it went for her leg but it bit her arm.
The woman wanted the animal tested for rabies so she ran a mile to her car with the fox still biting her arm, then pried it off and tossed it in her trunk and drove to the Prescott hospital.
The sheriff's office says the fox later bit an animal control officer. He and the woman are both receiving rabies vaccinations.
Sadly, in this case, the python won. Or lost depending on how you look at it:
A Virginia Beach woman apparently was strangled to death by her 13-foot pet python as she tried to administer medication to the snake, police said. The husband of the victim, 25-year-old Amanda Ruth Black, found her lying on the floor late Tuesday night in front of a large, empty snake cage in an upstairs bedroom of their home, police spokesman Adam Bernstein said. Animal-control officers found the snake, a reticulated python with tiger-stripe markings, in the room. The snake was "extremely agitated and required the force of two animal-control officers to restrain it," Bernstein said.
Slow news day, other than the 10,000 Brits searching to see if 
Wonder what PETA is going to say about this one. Hopefully something that features naked celebrities. New York is going to start gassing Canada Geese to cull the population around the 40 city parks near the airports. Depending on who you want to believe, its either going to make the skies safer:
By now most of you have seen or read about the woman who decided to take a swim with some polar bears in the Berlin Zoo. Turns out it wasn't such a great idea. 
and lemon has to be one of the best dishes in the world. A big rare hunk of ahi tuna, a meaty swordfish steak, a pink and tender salmon filet - bleh, they all basically taste the same. Regardless, most of the fish we buy and eat from the supermarket has been farmed, processed, frozen, shipped, and packaged to your local grocer. While this provides a consistent product, it is drastically changing the way fish and fishing are viewed. Here are two accounts of what is currently happening and what it means for Charlie the Tuna. This one is rather 
On the lighter side, ripped from today's headlines. Think you're tough? Think again.
Sadly, in this case, the python won. Or lost depending on how you look at it:
