Some Canadian National Parks are now requiring hikers to carry bear spray. They’ve also banned cycling and dogs during peak bear activity months. The law falls under their National Park Act, and fines could be as much as $25k for not carrying spray, though it’s hard to imagine them actually charging someone that much for not being properly equipped.
Is bear spray required in any U.S. National Parks? No but it is ok to carry the .44 magnum variety here which is much more effective. Via Backcountry
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Navy has obtained authority to blast and sink as many as two real ships a year in the Gulf of Alaska over the next five years to give pilots and gunners authentic targets for their sights. Read more
Intense snowfall during the day meant that about 250 skiers and snowboarders were told to head to the Mt Lyford lodge and stay put until further notice. Then further notice didn’t arrive until the next morning. Overnight they shared a couple mattresses between snacks and waiting for the power to come back on. After some avalanche control work authorities let people leave in packs of ten cars. Why 10 cars at a time? I suppose they weren’t 100% sure that an avalanche wasn’t going to bury the road, so they’d have fewer cars to dig out if it happened. I hope they also let them drive as fast as they wanted.
Glacier National Park officials in Montana report that a motorcycle passenger was briefly knocked unconscious after being struck by a 10- to 15-pound falling rock on the Going-to-the-Sun Road yesterday. The unidentified female, who was wearing a helmet, was treated and released from a Kalispell hospital. Daily Inter-Lake.
Following several recent attacks and pet killings by coyotes in the gated Orange County retirement community of Laguna Woods Village, the Laguna Woods City Council is planning a special meeting today to consider reversing its current law banning the discharge of firearms inside the city limits. Orange County Register.
Today’s Anchorage Daily News reports that Charles Monnett, a scientist with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), whose 2004 published observation of presumably drowned polar bears in the Arctic helped galvanize the global warming movement, is being investigated for scientific misconduct, possibly linked to the veracity of his research.
Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have successfully induced hibernation in actic ground squirrels, a finding they say could have promise for human survival. The study, published in the July 26 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, concludes that understanding the neuroprotective qualities of hibernating animals may lead to development of a drug or therapy to save people’s lives after a stroke or heart attack. Science Daily.
Two employees of Tarpon Springs, FL crossbow manufacturer Barnett Outdoors and a third person have been charged with the theft of an estimated $300,000 of crossbows and parts and selling stolen property. Investigators said employees Clifford Bombard, 41, of Largo, and a 17-year-old juvenile used a storage unit in a Largo industrial complex to assemble crossbows from the stolen parts. St. Petersburg Times.
A 28-year-old hiker bitten by a timber rattlesnake in SE Minnesota last weekend marked the first apparent unprovoked poisonous reptile strike in the state in more than ten years. The victim was listed in fair condition Tuesday at Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse, Wis. The last time a timber rattler bit a person in Minnesota was 2000; the last time one bit without provocation was 1996. The last known fatality was in 1868. Pioneer Press.
Wildlife authorities in western Nevada trapped and euthanized one bear and relocated three others over a two-day period this weekend after the animals exhibited dangerously brazen behavior in inhabited areas. The bold, 350-pound bruin that was subsequently destroyed was found in a busy Incline Village shopping center parking lot and walking up to customers seated at an outdoor restaurant. Tahoe Bonanza.
The jar-headed critter trifecta has been completed with a story out of Fort Kent, Maine, where three young women who work at Forest Hill Rehab and Skilled Nursing Center braved a potential spraying to successfully remove a peanut butter jar from the head of an unfortunate skunk. Cha-ching! In the Fiddlehead Focus.
A group of Venice, FL gun owners planned a one-mile march to Venice Beach this morning to raise awareness about a little-known state firearm law that allows open carry only when going fishing, camping or hunting. Organizers said they would carry holstered firearms—and presumably fishing gear—on their way through town. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
In 1911, the first Boy Scouts—committed to being helpful, loyal, obedient and brave, among other virtues—boarded a steamship in Chicago and headed across Lake Michigan to Camp Owasippe. During its heyday in the 1960s, between 15,000 and 18,000 Boy Scouts were escaping to the Whitetail, Mich. wilderness camp every summer. The Muskegon Chronicle.
Today marks the 112th anniversary of the birth of Nobel Prize-winning novelist, raconteur, hunter, big game angler and all-around man’s man, Ernest Hemingway. It means that Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Key West will again host its annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest. But here at shilohtv.com, the thought of Hemingway’s birthday begs the question: if he were alive today, would he tweet?
Three visitors to a famed US national park are presumed dead after being swept over a 317ft (96m) waterfall. Witnesses at Yosemite National Park in California said the trio had ignored warning signs and climbed over a metal barricade to pose for photographs. Read more
A 2 1/2-year-old boy was bitten by a young coyote but not seriously injured while walking with his father near a trail in Broomfield, CO Monday evening. ”As soon as I saw (the coyote) I started yelling and stuff,” said the father. “He still had time to knock my son over and bite him in the lower back area. (The coyote) then ran about 20 or 25 yards up the trail before turning around and looking at me before running off.” Broomfield Enterprise.
For the first time in more than 35 years, the Nevada Department of Wildlife will be stocking Lake Tahoe with Lahontan cutthroat trout, the only trout species native to the basin. ”Our goal is to provide some variety in the sport fishing opportunities at Lake Tahoe,” said Kim Tisdale, the Western Region Supervising Fisheries Biologist at NDOW. N. Lake Tahoe Bonanza.
A Wanship, Utah man is nursing a sore toe after an unusual surprise encounter with an adult mountain lion outside his home Friday. Authorities with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said the man kicked the cougar in its mouth and one of the cat’s teeth punctured his Crocs-style shoe, injuring his toe. The lion ran off after the incident. Salt Lake Tribune.
A bald eagle apparently hit by a car near Bend, OR and revived by a veterinarian who performed a mouth-to-beak resuscitation is expected to recover and survive. “He has gained 10 percent of his body weight and is eating fish like crazy,” said Dr. Jeff Cooney. “His attitude is greatly improved, and he’s starting to act like a normal, rambunctious bald eagle.” Video at KTVZ.com.
A new advisory from the Michigan Department of Community Health is recommending lake trout 20 inches and larger caught from Lake Michigan should not be eaten, a length that just happens to be the legal limit for keeping the species. Department of Natural Resources officials stressed the advisories are nonbinding and the risks of real harm from occasionally eating lake trout are slim. Detroit News.
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