A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.

Tag Archives: ecology

Oct 17 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Government to allow Indians to possess eagle feathers

Government to allow Indians to possess eagle feathers

Pete Yost, AP:

The Justice Department said Friday it is going to allow members of federally recognized Indian tribes to possess eagle feathers, …

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and other federal wildlife laws criminalize the killing of eagles, which are listed as either endangered or threatened, and possession of feathers and bird parts, but the Constitution and federal laws also give tribes local sovereignty for self-government.

Under the new Justice Department policy, tribal members will not be prosecuted for wearing or carrying federally protected birds, bird feathers or parts. They also may pick up feathers found in the wild as long as they do not disturb federally protected birds or nests. Giving, lending or trading feathers or bird parts among tribe members, without any other compensation, also will be allowed.

I’m sad that I wasn’t at all shocked to learn that this wasn’t allowed until now.

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Sep 05 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Study: Tigers take the night shift to coexist with people

Study: Tigers take the night shift to coexist with people

Phys.org summary of some research out of Michigan State University:

Conventional conservation wisdom is that tigers need lots of people-free space, which often leads to people being relocated or their access to resources compromised to make way for tigers.

[Neil] Carter spent two seasons setting motion-detecting camera traps for tigers, their prey and people who walk the roads and trails of Chitwan, both in and around the park. … Carter’s analysis of the thousands of images show that people and tigers are walking the same paths, albeit at different times. Tigers typically move around at all times of the day and night, monitoring their territory, mating and hunting. But in the study area, Carter and his colleagues discovered that the tigers had become creatures of the night. The camera’s infrared lights document a pronounced shift toward nocturnal activity.

Both Colin and I rep the Year of the Tiger, so we have a soft spot for the big stripey cat things, but this is some legitimately neato science stuff. There’s still a ton we haven’t figured out about conservation yet.

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Sep 01 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Argentine province plans to shoot seagulls eating the flesh of surfacing southern right whales

Argentine province plans to shoot seagulls eating the flesh of surfacing southern right whales

Gruesome AP report:

Seagulls around the city of Puerto Madryn discovered about a decade ago that by pecking at the whales as they come up for air, they can create open wounds. Then, each time the whales surface, it’s dinner time: Gulls swoop down and dig in, cutting away skin and blubber with their beaks and claws.

The problem has only grown more severe since then as more gulls caught on and the bird population exploded due to easy access to human detritus — not only open-air garbage heaps but fish parts as well, dumped directly into the water by fishermen and a seafood packing plant.

There’s even a picture! Don’t worry, it’s pretty safe.

I mean, it’s clearly not safe in the sense that it shows a seagull in the process of devouring a whale and what the fuck, but there’s no visible wound and the bird’s beak looks like it’s just resting on the whale, so if you didn’t know the context you wouldn’t even know that some bad shit was about to go down.

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Jun 21 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Missing foxes fuel spread of Lyme disease

Missing foxes fuel spread of Lyme disease

Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience:

As coyotes take over their ranges in North America, red fox populations are plummeting, and researchers have found one surprising result: The drop is fueling the spread of Lyme disease.

Lyme disease cases have increased enormously in recent years: From 1997 to 2007, the number of cases increased by 380 percent in Minnesota, 280 percent in Wisconsin and 1,300 percent in Virginia. Researchers used to think the increases were due to increasing deer populations, since deer are an important host to the disease-causing bacteria. However, the new data show these increases were independent of deer population levels.

Nature is weird.

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