Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Ashland Super DSuper D is the raddest thing to hit mountain bike racing since the Tioga disc wheel. A race that’s mostly downhill is, let’s face it, the frosted donut of bike racing. It’s a treat that should be savored. The anticipation of racing one is like standing at the counter, trying to zero in on which [...] […]
- Happy Birthday, bicycleEveryone’s bike has a birthday, but it may be a funny quirk of being a Maverick owner that I sort of celebrate mine. That may be simply because I happen to KNOW my bike’s birthday. Every Maverick comes with its own name, rather than a serial number, and the date it was built. Mine, called Basilisk, [...] […]
- Ashland Super D
- Edgy Veggie
Bighorn Sheep pneumonia epidemic: hundreds dead
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep | flickr user ingridtaylar
Sounds like the worst of it is outside Colorado, but it’s still sad.
Via the AP:
Pneumonia outbreaks that have killed hundreds of bighorn sheep this winter in several Western states have wildlife officials grappling with how to minimize the impact.Wildlife officials say the disease shows up sporadically in wild herds, but its unusual to have so many outbreaks in so many states. More than 400 bighorn sheep in Nevada, Montana, Utah and Washington have died – or been killed by wildlife officials – this winter, and the death toll is expected to rise in coming weeks.
When defending the planet, try not to seem like a lunatic
When you’re not polite about your criticism, you just come off like a jerk or maybe a creepy serial killer.
Take, for example, this note posted on the door of Boulder creative pillar Alex Bogusky:
This was left on his door.
Read the rest — and the full story over at Alex’s posterous site.
‘The Cove’ update from Japan
One more “Cove” update for you –
Ric O’Barry of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition — and more famously, part of the crew of the film “The Cove” and trainer of the original “Flipper” dolphin-actors — blogs that although Sept. 1 is the usual start of the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, there’s nothing going on today.
Yes, today was a good day for dolphins. Tomorrow, I will take journalists with me around town to show them Taiji. Tomorrow, too, I predict will be a good day for dolphins. Every day that we are here and the fishermen KNOW we are here, will likely mean no boats going out to round up dolphins for the killing Cove.
When eagles die: National Eagle Repository is the eagle morgue
The National Eagle Repository is the home for all recovered dead bald and golden eagles in the U.S., but not a lot of folks — no, not even eagle enthusiast and former Attorney General John Ashcroft — had ever heard of it before this summer.
A bald eagle. | Flickr user law_keven
In June, a hiker discovered a beheaded bald eagle corpse on the north slope of Legion Park Hill in Boulder. The gory find spurred countywide concern and even a $2,500 Humane Society reward for tips on the source of the mutilated eagle. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that the eagle mutilation was part of a growing trend fueled by the black market value of eagle feathers and talons:
Special agent Ken Dulik, who works for Oberholtzer, has investigated the killing of eagles for 20 years and knows the prices eagle parts can bring on the black market.
A whole eagle carcass – whether golden or bald – can bring a minimum of $1,000, with the going rate closer to $1,500, he said. Individual tail feathers of immature golden eagles, which are highly prized, bring about $100. A tail fan of a golden eagle brings between $500 and $800, he said.
Bald-eagle tail fans can bring $500.
After nearly a month, the Department of Wildlife announced that it had received an anonymous tip saying that the eagle was beheaded as part of a Native American ceremony (for which a permit had been granted). Read more
