Monday, June 29, 2009

Grasshoppers Plague Utah

June 29, 2009. Tooele, Utah

According to the article, the grasshopper density has reached as high as 2000 hoppers/ft^2. They say up to 250,000 acres have been hit. Can we do the math? ... Yes we can: 2000 hoppers/ft ^2 * 43560 ft^2/acre * 250000 acres equals HOLY SHIT THAT'S A LOT OF GRASSHOPPERS!!!!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Rabid Bat Haunts Library, Brushes Head

June 27, 2009. Longmont Colorado.

"The bat brushed against the head of a contract worker ..." Sure, give the contract workers the dangerous jobs.

Not clear what the bat was doing in the library. Research perhaps?

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Pythons On The March

Florida, 2009

According to this article, there are 30,000 Burmese pythons (up to 200 pounds each, 30 feet long) living wild in Florida! Man oh man.

The article claims that "One million live Burmese pythons were legally imported into the U.S. between 2001 and 2006", which (if true) is just amazing.

Other highlights in the article: an awesome picture of a python throwing it down with a gator. The experts quoted think the animals are evenly matched -- surprising to me. And then a vague hope by a biologist that the parking lots of Wal-Mart will save us.

Gnat Attack

Cedar Rapids, Iowa. June 2, 2009

Buffalo gnats on the rise in Iowa.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Coyote Confronts Folks

Tuesday, June 16. Northfield, Minnesota.

Coyote shuts down a trail on the St. Olaf College campus.

The article helpfully points out that a coyote "resembles a small German shepherd", suggesting a solution: find a dog that resembles a large German shepherd (perhaps an actual German shepherd), which could kick the coyote's ass. But maybe that's just a little too obvious.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Bear "Sneaks In" Through Dog Door, Steals Dog Food

June 17, 2009. Granby, Colorado.

I'm probably naive, but I always thought the size of the pet door should match the size of the pet. Either they need a bigger dog or a smaller door.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

"The Beavers Must Die"

Tierra del Fuego

Sadly, that article I linked to requires payment, but here is an older article.

Some 50 beavers were introduced to Tierra del Fuego back in the 40's to kindle a fur trade industry ... now there are over 100,000 of them. Cool, unless you're a tree.

Somehow, the situation just kills me. My understanding of history is that the beaver were pushed to extinction in all of North America by 1840 or so ... and that was done by a handful of musket-wielding mountain men. Heck, beavers were completely exterminated in England by the 13th century ... surely modern man can do better. We've got grenades, machine guns, unmanned aerial drones, torpedoes. Come on.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Komodo Dragon Attacks On The Rise

Komodo Island, Indonesia

"fear is swirling through the fishing villages ..."

"... a 46-year-old park ranger was doing paperwork when a dragon slithered up the stairs of his wooden hut."