The Aardvark’s Tongue

Well we don’t know what it is about this summer but there is certainly something fishy going on. This week’s oddity comes from North Carolina where David Hayes hauled in a 21 pound catfish using his granddaughters Barbie fishing pole (as if the Monster Shark Hunt and the Mountauk Monster hadn’t provided enough weirdness).

According to the press release from the N. C. Wildlife Resources Commission Hayes was fishing on a private pond when his granddaughter asked him to hold her Barbie rod so she could go inside to the bathroom. “A few minutes later, the float went under and I saw the water start boiling up — I knew right then that I had my hands full with that fishing rod” said Hayes.

Now that’s a heartwarming fish story.

The perfect gift for this hunter? A groundhog.

For several weeks the dogs have been terrorizing a groundhog that has taken roost under our storage unit. Each morning they lurch out of the building, squealing like stuck pigs as they dash off to check on their prey and each day they come up empty handed (although they have managed several mouthfuls of groundhog fur). Each dog on its own is a good hunter .Yuki alone has managed to deplete an entire neighborhood of cats - including my mother’s (Hallmark doesn’t make a card for that). Amazingly however when they hunt together they are completely ineffective. They have managed to get and loose their target at least 15 times.

Clearly somebody needs to be put out of their misery. While we are not too worried about the groundhog, we would like to avoid any vet bills due to groundhog bites so we have set out a live trap. So far we have managed to catch a possum, a neighbor’s cat, and today a raccoon.

Interestingly none of these have ever made it into our Aardvark-Tongue field guide. That’s something that we will remedy in volume II.

So here’s a little news item. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering re-listing the Pygmy Owl as an endangered species in Arizona. The bird was first listed in 1997 and subsequently delisted in 2006.

Now there’s probably no rush since there are nearly 30 birds still in existence, down from 41 birds in 1999. Clearly if there are 41 birds it can’t be endangered so good thing they took it off the list. But now, with less than 30 birds the agency is going to conduct a one year status review, at the conclusion of which they will determine whether or not to re-list the bird. No word on how long that determination will take but it looks as if the annual loss rate is about 1.2 birds per year so they can probably delay making a decision for at least 25 years of so. Unless of course only males or females are dying off in which case you would have to half the time period but that still leaves 12 years to get it right.

Well I guess that about says it all, if we have 12 years to make a decision then the birds can’t be critically endangered can they?

This Friday, May16th we can proudly celebrate Endangered Species Day and all that
we have to done to create an environment where animals and rare species are cherished and protected. Amazingly the U.S. government yesterday declared the polar bear and endangered species and acknowledged that climate change is indeed destroying its habitat.

So, have a beer, read up and donate a buck or two to celebrate.

If one’s environmental record can be measured in high-fives, then this 1990 version by EPA Administrator William K. Reilly and Gaylord Nelson pretty much tells the story.

In 1970 a reported 20 million people celebrated the first Earth Day and Richard Nixon created the EPA to protect the environment and the public health. Only days ago, 38 years after the first Earth Day, President Bush committed to a national goal of halting the growth of U.S. carbon emissions by 2025. Now that’s progress! Gimme a high-five.

CNN’s Glenn Beck and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) rail against the potential endangered status of Polar Bears in this great clip over at Think Progress.

They eat people! For the love of Pete, they’re big, angry bears. They eat people. Not that I say we go out and kill all of them, but I mean, it doesn’t seem to be a problem here. Senator, I can’t take the — I can’t take the lies anymore.

Now we enjoy a good joke at the expense of endangered species as much as anyone (or more than most people actually). It’s a shame that this isn’t a joke.

10 short days until Earth Hour - March 29, 2008 8-9 PM. Earth Hour is a global event that symbolizes that each one of us can have an effect on global climate change. For one hour, by turning off your lights you will help show your commitment to the need to address global climate change.

This is the perfect opportunity for individuals, governments, businesses and communities around the world to unite for a common purpose, in response to a global issue that affects us all. - Carter S. Roberts, President and CEO WWF