Rock Creek Park: 20 Deer Down, 130 to Go.

Despite protests by concerned DC citizens, sharpshooters have bagged 20 deer in Rock Creek Park, which runs though the middle of the Nation’s Capital. The National Park Service is reducing whitetail over-population in the urban outdoors, and hopes to harvest a total of 150 critters by the end of a 3-year deer-reduction period. Resulting venison is donated to local food banks and shelters.

_______________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-goP

Image (“Rock Creek Deer Hunt, after Atelier de Walt Disney”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Bye-Bye Bambi: The Hunt Is On In Rock Creek Park.

In the dead of night, while half the city is out of town for Easter Week, the National Park Service is implementing its ruthless slaughter of helpless, cute, fuzzy deer whitetail reduction plan in Rock Creek Park.

More:

“‘Deer Reduction Operations’ to Begin Tonight in Rock Creek Park,” Martin Austermuhle, DCist

“Sharpshooters to begin killing deer in Rock Creek Park for National Park Service,” AP via Washington Post

“Rock Creek Park Deer Slaughter Starts Tonight,” Will Sommer, Washington City Paper blog.

_______________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-gmJ

Image (“Bye-Bye Bambi, after Atelier de Walt Disney”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length

Rock Creek Park: The Hunt Is On

Rock Creek Park runs right through the middle of Washington DC, and it has a problem. The skinny ribbon of National Parkland is infested with deer, five times more than the 1,750 acres can support. The deer wander onto Rock Creek Parkway where commuting motorists mince them into Bambi-burgers. They cause international incidents by browsing backyards on Embassy Row and visit the grounds of the Vice President’s residence for wrestling matches with the Secret Service.

The National Park Service issued shoot-to-kill orders, but five DC residents went to court to stop the hunt. A judge just threw out their lawsuit so the hunt is back on. The NPS plans to donate harvested venison to area homeless shelters.

UPDATE:

“Rock Creek Park Deer Killing for Me, Not for Thee,” Will Sommer, Washington CityPaper blog

________________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-ggu

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Killer Kittycats

Domestic cats kill as many as 3.7 billion birds a year, according to a study led by a Smithsonian biologist. That’s about 15 percent of the bird population. They kill about half as many mice, voles and other small mammals annually. Not everyone is confident about these numbers, however, and it’s unclear how many of these killer cats are actually feral and aren’t anyone’s pets.

Clearly, our sweet house kitties are natural-born hunters, “snakes with fur.”  No need to kill them off, but letting pet pussycats roam outdoors is another matter. There are health reasons to keep cats indoors; now there are ecological ones, too.

___________

Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-fNC

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Squirrel Meat, Again?

Washington Post columnist Joihn Kelly brought his week-long examination of squirrels to a logical conclusion by writing about hunting and eating the varmints. Alas, no recipes.

“I’ll have the squirrel pot pie with barbecued squirrel on the side,” John Kelly, Washington Post

Related:

“Squirrel: It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore!” Mike West’s Squirrel Stuff

“Al rodente: Could squirrel meat come back into vogue? ” Heather Smith, Grist

___________________

Short Link:  http://wp.me/p6sb6-cYF

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Bambi Harvest in Rock Creek Park

In 30 days, trained sharp-shooters will spend their nights in Washington’s Rock Creek Park. They’ll be blasting away at the urban park’s resident white-tailed deer. Rock Creek’s deer population is about 1900, 385 per square mile. The National Park Service hopes to cull half the critters.

More:

“Final White-tailed Deer Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for Rock Creek Park,” National Park Service

__________________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-cc2

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Sarah Palin’s Hamburger on the Hoof

Here’s a wild game recipe from former Temp-Governor Sarah Palin: Caribou Hamburger. You know it’s fresh because you start grinding it while the animal is still alive. Here’s how:

Take one free-range, fresh and local Alaska caribou. Instead of downing it with one or two well-placed high-powered rifle shots, shred it with about five rounds. Burger meat the “Caribou Barbie” way. 

Oh, wait. She missed four out of five shots. The feat of arms is featured on her cable TV  show on the Learning Channel. The show really was educational. We learned the truth about Sarah Palin The Mighty Hunter, anyway.

 

Bonus feature: Do You Have What it Takes? Caribou Tracking. Take the quiz!

 Update:  “Sarah Palin succeeded in doing the impossible this week … when she faced her biggest wildlife challenge to date — Kate Gosselin.” More from Kirkland Hamill here.

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Virginia Is For Meat Lovers

Former Virginia hunters just got a postcard from the Commonwealth’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries inviting them back to the woods to kill deer. Deer hunting season opens Saturday, and the Old Dominion’s forests, farmlands, highways, and suburban yards are chock-full of whitetails (Odocoileus virginianus). They’re pesky and hungry, but also tasty.

Attention locavores: the average deer yields 50 pounds of organic, free-range red meat. Vegetarian hunters can donate venison to needy meat-eaters at local food banks.

 

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine