The story of the lions of Tsavo, which is loosely told in The Ghost and The Darkness, is a real one. The lions were ultimately killed by a British officer named John Henry Patterson in 1898. It turns out the remains of the lions ended up at the Field Museum in Chicago. In an effort to separate legend from fact, a handful of scientists recently studied the teeth and hair of the lions.
By analyzing samples of the hair and bone of the lions, researchers were able to estimate that one lion likely ate 11 humans and the other consumed 24 people during the animals’ final nine months. Both lions were shot and killed in December 1898 by Lt. Col. John H. Patterson, a British officer and engineer hired to restore safety in the region. For years after, Patterson, who gained great notoriety for the feat, claimed the lions had killed 135 people — far more than the Ugandan Railway Company’s estimate of 28 victims.
“This has been a historical puzzle for years, and the discrepancy is now finally being addressed,” said Nathaniel J. Dominy, an associate professor of anthropology at UCSC. “We can imagine that the railroad company might have had reasons to want to minimize the number of victims, and Patterson might have had reasons to inflate the number. So who do you trust? We’re removing all those factors and getting down to data.”
Unfortunately this story is about all the average American will know about coyotes.
Simpson’s dog, Daisy a maltese-poodle mix, was taken by a coyote yesterday, reports MSNBC.com. The 29-year-old singer tweeted about the incident last night. “My heart is broken because a coyote took my precious Daisy right in front of our eyes. HORROR! We are searching. Hoping. Please help!” she wrote on her Twitter page.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this motivated people to take a closer look to predator control and wildlife management in general? We can dream…
I thought it was interesting that the word, “poaching” does not appear in the story. It makes sense if you think about it. It’s not poaching to kill a neighbor’s cow. Just because this happened to be a whitetail doesn’t make it a wild animal. In fact the story says as much:
“He basically went in there and killed a pet.” Peabody was a tame deer, and Knight said it may have played a part in the animal’s death by approaching Jernigan.
But not to worry, you can still buy plenty of tame deer. After seeing this article this afternoon I spent a few minutes looking for big high fence deer you can kill. It seems like to me $86,000 isn’t even that good of a deal. Most of the time you don’t even need to go through the farce of buying a hunting license. Makes sense, since you’re not hunting.
For example, take a look at the website here. Now I don’t know the specifics of Ruttnut Hunt’s personally but I found this revealing. From their page:
All of our hunts are totally confidential…. When you are hunting with Ruttnut Guide Service our hunts are kept 100% confidential. Guaranteed.
Why are they offering the same guarantees as high priced hookers? I’ll give you a hint… Sunlight is the best disinfectant… I can see the hypothetical conversation now:
Guy Shooting Tame Deer: Why isn’t he afraid of me?
“Guide”: It’s because you’re such a stealthy and skillful hunter! Now shoot already, I’ve got $25,000 to spend.
GSTD: But we’re just standing here 50 yards away and he’s looking at us like he expects to be fed.
“Guide”: It’s that apple cover scent I sprayed on. Quick, shoot him before he gets away!
GSTD: Where would he go?
“Guide”: Look, we’ve got 200 Million acres of prime habitat he could escape into. Shoot him NOW!
GSTD: Then how could you sell me a 1 day guaranteed hunt for this exact deer?
“Guide”: If you don’t shoot now I’ll sell this deer to another GSTD!
GSTD: You promise I can make up a story so I can tell everyone about what an experience this half day hunt was?
“Guide”: You read about our confidential guarantee didn’t you?
GSTD: BOOM!
World-renowned heart transplant surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub today presented sixteen-year-old Hannah Clarke from Mountain Ash, near Cardiff as a genuine medical miracle story.
She was born with cardiomyopathy and at the age of two became one of the tiny number of people to undergo “piggybacking” – having a second heart, from a five month old girl, grafted onto her own.
A decade of immunosuppressant drugs led to her developing cancerous tumours but the medical strategy of reducing the dose of immunosuppressants led to Hannah’s second heart failing. In 2006 doctors at Harefield Hospital in West London decided that the piggyback heart must be removed.
I’ve written a couple of stories on this already, (here and here) but there’s more sad news from Tred Barta. Long time friend and show co-host Dan Harrison has released another letter this time revealing that Tred has been diagnosed with Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia, a rare type of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Tred is now in the process of going through Chemo treatments and will be returning to rehab soon after. For Tred and Anni this is life-changing and life challenging. Tred is not poor by any means but how can anybody prepare themselves for this type of disaster? To equip his house to be handy-capped accessible will be close to $100,000 dollars. I have posted a couple of messages from his wife Anni so you can see what they are going through.
“We just found out today that Tred has full blown Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, a rare but very treatable form of lymphoma. The aggressiveness and sudden onset leads us to believe that it may be the cause of the paralysis and perhaps even reversible over time. We have been moved to Porter Hospital where Tred’s cell phone works just fine and we will be there for 5 days for plasma pheresis and chemo. This again has kept me from getting a letter out but I promise tomorrow, now that the discovery is done. FINALLY!!!!!! love, ANNI”
“Hi Dan, The damage signals on Tred’s spine are progressing, moving up to his neck now. We are basically starting from scratch now, trying to come up with the correct diagnosis. We have EVERYBODIES attention now, and they are all over us with tests in every quadrant. The good news is that if they can find the cause soon and find a solution, possibly some of the damage could be reversed. Yes, I am way too busy. I am struggling to put together a synopsis of where Tred is right now medically. I absolutely would love to rely on you to manage all the posts and keep an eye on the threads. However, I don’t have enough time to follow the streams but if you can please print them out if possible, for reading as time allows. If you see something especially good or valuable, timely of course forward it to my email or call me. Thank you so much Dan, you are such a good friend!”
“We are trying to put together a fund raising effort for all of his medical and new living equipment needs. They will probably amount to around $100,000 can you believe it. Anyway, if you would send a letter to friends and also pass along to me any websites that you think would be good. Here is the info: Donations can be made in Tred’s name to The Vail Valley Charitable Fund, which is a 501(c)3 charity, and funds are tax deductable. Their address is: PO Box 1275, Avon, CO 81620, or call 970-845-6339 or pay by credit card on line at www.vvcf.org<;http://vvcf.org> Be sure to mention that it is for Tred. You may also make deposits to Wells Fargo Bank, Tred Barta medical fund. Routing #102000076, acct # 8990772827.
A three year investigation by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service involving the illegal importation of white-tailed deer into South Carolina has lead to the indictment of individuals in multiple states.
According to documents filed in the District Court of the Southern District of Ohio, individuals from South Carolina conspired with individuals from Ohio and elsewhere to illegally import 54 white-tailed deer into South Carolina in late 2005.
According to John Frampton, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) director, “This case involved a conspiracy to import deer by falsifying records associated with the purchase and shipment of deer which ultimately led to deer being illegally imported in to the state. South Carolina law prohibits the importation of deer without a permit and since the case involved interstate commerce it resulted in a Federal Lacey Act violation as well.”
According to court records, James Schaffer of Charleston conspired with Danny L. Parrott of Kimbolton, Ohio, and other unnamed individuals, to transport deer to South Carolina on several occasions in late 2005. About $70,000 were paid for the deer which went to Graham’s Turnout Hunt Co., a deer hunting service catering to hunters from South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, which is located in Bamberg County and owned by Schaffer.
Deer originated from a number of states including at least one state known to harbor Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), said Charles Ruth, Deer/Turkey Project supervisor with DNR. “Fortunately, the deer were not released into the wild, but rather, they were released into several enclosures including one in excess of 500 acres.”
Once again, not hunting. Sad, pathetic, illegal, and not hunting. The need to kill big animals without working for them has once again proven an irresistible temptation to those already predisposed to struggle with ethics. Huh, who woulda guessed?
Apparently some researchers at the Wildlife Conservation Society have tracked a wolverine into Northern Colorado. This marks the first time an animal has been confirmed in 90 years!
Sharpshooters and bow hunters would be used to cull the large deer population at Shawnee Mission Park under a recommendation issued today by Johnson County park officials.
This park is about 15 minutes from my house and has been the source of intense debate in the KC region for over a year. Now how hard do you think it will be to draw that tag? Actually if it’s like other limited entry hunts in Kansas it may count towards my one buck opportunity. If that’s the case I’ll probably let the opportunity pass…
I’m sure this isn’t the last word we’ll hear either.
