Sand Creek and Glorieta Pass

The LA Times carries the story of the dedication of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado. It tells of the sad story of how Col. John Chivington and his regiment, the First Colorado Volunteers, attacked a peaceful and unprepared village of Cheyenne and Arapahoe under Chief Black Kettle on November 29, 1864. Over 160 Indians were killed in cold blood, mostly women, children and the elderly. Former Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell was able to get funding through Congress to establish this memorial. The National Park Service has this website that tells more about the site and its history.

This was of particular interest to me, as my graduate school colleague and friend Doug Scott led the effort to relocate the site and conducted archaeological investigations to prove its identity. Doug co-authored a book on his work entitled Finding Sand Creek. Doug has had a great career doing historical archaeology for the National Park Service. He is best known for his work at the Battle of the Little Bighorn battlefield, where his innovative research totally recast our understanding of the course of the battle. That deserves a post of its own that I'll get to later.

Chivington and the First Colorado Volunteers are now rightfully remembered in infamy for their inexcusable behavior at Sand Creek. It is an amazing turnabout, as he and his troops had covered themselves in glory two years before in a little known battle in an obscure chapter of Civil War history.

In the summer of 1861, Confederate troops left El Paso, TX and occupied the town of Mesilla, NM. They proclaimed Mesilla the capital of the Confederate Territory of Arizona. In February, 1862, a Confederate force under Gen. Henry Sibley invaded the rest of New Mexico Territory, working his way north along the Rio Grande. He outmaneuvered or outfought several Union garrisons, caught asleep and out of the rigors of Civil War campaigns in the East. By March 10, 1862, Sibley had occupied Santa Fe.

Confederate strategic aims were two-fold. First, capture the Colorado gold fields to secure another means of financing the war. Second, set up land communication with California where there were many Confederate sympathizers.

In late March, 1862, Sibley sent troops north toward Colorado. On March 26, the Confederates were met by the First Colorado Volunteers, with Chivington second in command, at the Battle of Glorieta Pass in the mountains northeast of Santa Fe. The Confederates were soundly defeated. This defeat coupled with overextended supply lines led to a complete collapse of the Confederate occupation of New Mexico. By May, all of Sibley's surviving troops were back to Mesilla and El Paso and their dreams of a Confederate Southwest were at an end.

Bee Crisis

.. and a little barking lunacy just for fun. As anyone environmentally concerned knows, domestic honeybees are disappearing. Here is a detailed and balanced view of the problem.

While I agree that Africanized bees-- present here-- are overhyped as a danger (and may well be a source of mite- resistant genes) the native pollinators may be under different stresses in some areas. See this fascinating book for details.

And then-- well, you can expect madness when Vegans get into the act.

"Even if crops do currently require honeybee pollination, that is no reason to further exploit bees by consuming honey, beeswax, bee pollen, etc. The fact that everything in our society is based on animal exploitation shouldn't surprise us since Western civilization literally began with the "domestication" (i.e. enslavement) of animals. Dead animals are used to build roads, but this doesn't justify eating animals."

That last sentence is never explained...

But at least he likes the Buchmann and Nabhan book.

Ignorance

I hate to dwell on this kind of thing but...

From the LAT:

"One, of course, is the change in the potency of weaponry. Before 1966, the best weapons available to most would-be killers were pistols, rifles, maybe a shotgun. That is no longer the case; today, semiautomatics are all too easily accessible."

The (semiautomatic) gun below is made by Kimber, but it is of a design commonly known as a "1911".

Because that is the year when John Moses Browning invented it.

From then to the recent adaptation of the (less powerful) Beretta, it was the US service pistol, available everywhere.



(Also, "potency" has NOTHING to do with whether a weapon is "semiautomatic". A semiauto pistol can be a .22; a Smith and Wesson .500 is considerably more potent!)

If you want to argue against firearms you'd best at least do your research. I have never seen so much misinformation than in recent anti- gun pieces, from TV to the New Yorker. Apparently if one believes something fervently facts don't matter.

And while we are kicking this around, read Tam on the alleged "availability" of firearms, a constant irritant to those of us old enough to remember a world before 1968:

"I've said it before and I'm going to say it again: Never in the history of our republic have guns been more difficult to purchase. Prior to 1968 they could be purchased through the mail. Between 1968 and 1993, all you needed to do was sign a form, in pink crayon if you felt like it, saying you weren't a junkie, commie spy, or crazy, and you took your gun home with no questions asked. The background check didn't appear until the passage of the Brady Law in 1993.

"Name a mass shooting that occurred before 1968. How many between 1969 and 1993? How about 1994 and beyond? Folks, whatever the causative variable is here, it is not the ease of purchasing a firearm."

As she says, liars or just ignorant? I think mostly the second. But if these writers refuse to acknowledge their mistakes--??

Update: more lazy misinformation.

Update #2: Dave Kopel replies to criticism with some interesting statistics.

Virginia: A Few Links

California (of course?) once again considers disarming its citizens. As Reid says, "you can have all the guns you want but no ammo".

Yale goes further. Shakespeare with nerf bats and boffers? Maybe they can do an adaptation of the Maltese Falcon with squirt guns...

The always thoughtful Steve Browne provides sensible and serious advice, including this interesting comment on guns and women:

"...And I don't mean anything as simplistic as "buy a gun". Unless your life is such that the risk factors are considerably higher than that of the average college student, it could be more trouble than it's worth. (If you're male that is - like a lot of things we aren't supposed to talk about, it's different for women.)"

(Anybody who quotes Kipling as much as Browne does has my attention; but he is also a college teacher (anthropology) and a gun guy who has lived in eastern Europe, giving him some unusual combinations of perspective).

So far Fred the actor is the only politician who has had anything sensible to say.

Guest Post: Dr John on Cal Spay- Neuter

John Burchard writes:

There are many valid reasons for opposing California AB 1634. Perhaps the most
important are these:

1) It won't work. Mandatory s/n does not reduce shelter or euthanasia numbers.
On the contrary, it makes them worse. It has been tried in many jurisdictions,
always with the same effect: an *increase* in shelter intake and euthanasia
numbers, an *increase* (usually dramatic) in animal control costs, a *decrease*
in licensing compliance and revenues, and a *decrease* in rabies vaccination
compliance, leading to more cases of canine rabies.

2) S/n at or before the age of four months, as prescribed by AB 1634, has many
serious ill effects on the growth, development and health of dogs and cats.

3) the proposed eligibility criteria are illusory ... the only people eligible
to obtain "intact permits" for their dogs would be business-licensed commercial
breeders. No dogs or cats can meet the stipulated criteria for competition
animals or police, service or working dogs at the age of four months. So get a
business license, no big deal? Not exactly. In most California jurisdictions
you cannot legally operate a retail-sale business out of your home; instead you
require a kennel license, which prohibits you from operating in a residential
zone and involves setback and other regulations impossible of fulfillment unless
you own significant acreage in a commercial or agricultural zone. That is only
the beginning of the chain of regulations in which you are then embroiled, and
which only a large scale commercial breeder can hope to navigate successfully.
AB 1634 as written prescribes the elimination of non-commercial breeding from
California.

There's lots more, but perhaps that will do for starters.

Decline and Fall (with Hawks & Pigeons!)

Rebecca sends this item from England. It needs deconstructing. All emphasis mine...


"The mechanical birds — called "Robops" — have been placed on rooftop locations around the British city of Liverpool and will flap their wings and squawk loudly to scare the problem pigeons away."

Yeah, that's what falcons do..

"The initiative was launched to deal with the birds who are now considered a nuisance in the city, flying at people and leaving droppings everywhere, Liverpool council said."

Attack pigeons?

"The pigeon problem has been exacerbated by residents in the city feeding the birds — whose natural diet is seeds and insects — with take-away leftovers. “We need to get the message across that anyone who feeds the birds intentionally, or occasionally with leftovers such as sausage rolls or burgers, is responsible for our streets being so crowded with these birds,” Berni Turner, Liverpool city council’s executive member for the environment, said."

INSECTS??

"The council’s environmental health manager, Andy Hull, said that the scheme was an attempt to improve the health of the pigeons, as their current diet is unhealthy and dangerous."

Nanny State for pigeons?

And-- why not use hawks?

Oh, right, it wouldn’t be good for their health...

A Springtime Run

My friend Jonathan Millican, falconer and Marine helicopter pilot, passed through Baton Rouge last weekend and stopped for a visit.

It was uncharacteristically cold, which is hard to tell from the Springtime look of the field we slipped into for a stroll with our dogs. But days like that are some of my favorites in this part of the country.

Here are a few of the wonderful shots Jonathan took. His young lab, Buck, and my Rina had a fine time.

Spring Snow

We had a couple days of rain early in the week that of course fell as snow in the mountains. That gave a fresh coating of white to Mt. Evans (14,264 ft.) west of us...

and Pikes Peak (14,110 ft.) to our south. We have also been having some wind, which if you look closely you can see whipping snow off of both of these mountains.

Tall and remote as Pikes Peak and Mt. Evans seem, you can drive to the tops of both of them in the summer.

Mt. Evans is about 50 miles from us and Pikes Peak is about 45 miles away. It's nice having these long unobstructed vistas again. Thinking of this just reminded me of the passage in Querencia, where a newly arrived Steve tells a native New Mexican that you never get views like this in the East and she asks, "What gets in the way?"

Bat Falconry?

Couldn't resist posting this re comments below...

More Dog Food Recalls...

... here. I am disturbed by the refusal to name names-- the brand I use contains rice.

Patrick has commented on dog food with his usual curmudgeonly good sense, but I am beginning to wonder if the more sensible versions of the BARF diet might be a good idea, at least for those of us with bulk sources of cheap meat and veggies locally and enough dogs to make the (large) extra effort worth while. I have nothing against Purina except that it uses corn, and I have an old dachsund with sensitivity to corn. (Well, I'm also pretty down on Big Corn and ethanol and such-- see Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma-- but that is another story; besides, I doubt Big Chinese Rice is any more environmentally sound).

Patrick? Any thoughts?

You should also check out his comments on fat dogs. Our ancient Moritz Dachs is overweight as she steals from the others and the bird, and doesn't get the exercise she used to.


But our others stay fit.

Egregious-- and Hilarious-- Error

Do editors (as opposed to acquisitions people and Spellcheck) exist any more?

First, visit Pluvi's post, appropriately titled AAAARGH!

For non- birders, the cover of The Peregrine does not show a Peregrine or even a falcon; the cover of The Goshawk shows a Gyrfalcon.

Now, go here. See the long bio of Nobel Prize- winning Aussie codger Patrick White? It is all very interesting but it is a bio of A DIFFERENT WRITER WITH A DIFFERENT FIRST NAME.

T. (Terence) H. (Hanbury) White, an Englishman born in 1906, was the author of, among many things, The Once and Future King (on which Camelot was distantly based) and Mistress Masham's Repose (amazingly, also republished by New York Review of Books Books).

I wrote to NYRB:

"In your forthcoming section you have a note for The Goshawk. There are two problems.

"First, it is NOT BY PATRICK WHITE, the Australian novelist whose bio accompanies your description, but by the English novelist T(erence) H(anbury) White, author of The Once and Future King and Mistress Masham's Repose.

"Second, the cover uses a detail from Holbein's portrait of Cheseman, of a Gyrfalcon. This is akin to using a picture of a cat to illustrate a book called "The Dog". (You have already used a photo of a "Buteo" hawk on the cover of Baker's The Peregrine, an error of the same order of magnitude).

"As the author and editor of several books concerned with birds of prey (A Rage for Falcons, Eagle Dreams, and the Lyons Press edition of The Goshawk) I think I can speak with some authority. Please correct these errors on this wonderful book!"

I will report if they respond. But...

Don't hold your breath.

Isn't anybody literate anymore?

Bird- Eating Bats

Dr. Hypercube was kind enough to unearth Darren's old post on bird- eating bats and my additions re New World hoary bats:

"The hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus, has some very strange "spatial" habits. In the summer, the males live in the southwest, while the females range as far north as the Arctic circle. In the fall the females join them in the southwest, and then they ALL migrate to southern Mexico, Baja California, and South America. I can't think of another animal that does anything remotely like this!
...

"I should add: they apparently mate during the migration. And I wonder: their migration seems to correlate VERY well with that of Nearctic Passerines."

I should add here: we are talking falcon- like on- the- wing predation here. Several tropical genera of bats-- New World false vampires, Old World ghost bats, and more-- kill and eat roosting passerines.

More Vadim

You can get a print of this, in true color, from the REF-- see Reid's post below.

Mystery

We store our good cut glass rim- down; perhaps we shouldn't. Libby lifted this one up and it separated from its rim, perfectly, as though it had been cut. There was NO pattern where it separated. Anyone with a physics, engineering, glassmaking background have any ideas?

I have an idea a similar phenomenon was noted in the question and answer page in the back of New Scientist magazine a few years ago but I am not sure if that would be on line, or how to find it.

For what it's worth it was antique, quite old (not one of yours, Johnny UK!)

Bloggy links

Shrunken heads are not pc!

I would think not.

One of the joys of the Pitt-Rivers Museum, and the reason that it is a treasure trove, is that its collections come from a more self- confident age. See link to it in favorites. HT David Zincavage, who is self- confident.

Here is a wonderful map on a wonderful site, worthy of Indiana Jones or better Roy Chapman Andrews. HT Doc Hypercube.

Annie D sends this list of... interesting.. book titles. My DEFINITE preference is "Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan", though it only made second place. Sigh.

Photo posts soon.

Busy not Dead...

As I said below in comments. The eagle book, sure, but other deals are in the air, including but not limited to new editions, new gun articles, new (old) gun deals, new Gorbatov projects, new birds...

Probably only afew will work out but there has been more in the air in the last two weeks than in the last two years.

I'll try to post a few pics & links right away but bigger things loom...

Giant Bats Snatch Birds from Night Sky

I heard this interesting story on NPR while driving into work this morning. Bat researchers in Spain have discovered that the giant noctule bat or Nyctalus lasiopterus preys on migrating songbirds who fly at night, something not previously known. It was previously thought that some songbirds migrated at night to avoid predation by diurnal raptors. Apparently it's not safe to fly at night either!

From the article:

"Popa-Lisseanu is an expert on giant noctules, and says it has long been known that these bats feed on flying insects. What wasn't known until recently is that the giant noctule may be the only bat that eats birds on the wing. "

snip

"'They wrap the prey between their wings and the tail membrane,' Popa-Lisseanu says, 'so they make kind of a cage for the bird.' She says the bats eat just the 'most profitable parts' of the migrating bird, such as the breast, where birds accumulate fat and muscle.

When they get close to the ground, the bats open their wings and drop the mangled carcasses."

RTWT!

Gorbatov Prints

The fabulous Russian artist Vadim Gorbatov visited the US last fall under the auspices of the Raptor Education Foundation. He paid a visit to Steve and Libby in Magdalena and Steve posted on the visit and Vadim's art here and here and here.

People intrigued by the samples Steve provided may want to know that the Raptor Education Foundation is selling a selection of Gorbatov prints that are available here.

UPDATE
I didn't do a very good job with the last link. On the REF main page look at the link roll on the left side. Click on "Gallery" and then click on "Contemporary Art Gallery"

Spring Willows

Having been away from this area for years, I had completely forgotten what an interesting yellow color the willows have on their new spring shoots.

Bird Cam

This picture of two bald eagle chicks was taken this afternoon in a nest near the Fort St. Vrain Power Plant in Platteville, Colorado. Xcel Energy, for impact mitigation and public outreach purposes, has positioned cameras on raptor nests located near several of their power plants. Their Bird Cam can be accessed here.

Raptor enthusiasts can see views of bald eagle, osprey, kestrel, peregrine, and great horned owl nests.

The Falcon's Call

Alright, I had to take this one: A friend of mine is mentioned in Vanity Fair.

He's Steve Hein, Director of the Lamar Q. Ball, Jr., Raptor Center at Georgia Southern University. Steve is a falconer and a wildlife artist, a transplanted West-coaster who flourished in a far away world of barbecue and Brunswick stew and married well to a local girl. He did the good pencil sketches for my book American Kestrels in Modern Falconry. We've been friends since the late 80s.

In his VF pic, Steve is looking earnest and a tad bemused, peering over the shoulder of Robert Kennedy---of those Kennedys--who authored the article:

THE FALCON'S CALL: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got his first red-tailed hawk from his father, at age 11, and an environmental education through the ancient art of falconry. Decades later, he meets up with a small band of falconers in Wyoming's sagebrush, a wilderness being overrun by Halliburton. Photographs by William Abranowicz. [from the issue Table of Contents]

Kennedy, in describing the Wyoming hunt in which Hein took part, refers to my friend as a "raptor expert." I wrote Steve immediately: "You will never live this down."

I post this note foremost to further my reputation as one who knows several famous people named Steve. But it's also evidence of my theory that some good things--natural things, even hunting--may be enjoying a little nod from the society set these days. The globe warms a bit and suddenly Vanity Fair wants us all eating hawk-caught rabbit and driving electric cars.

Frankly, I'm all for it!

Big News

The Big News that I have been promising has finally arrived. I have just signed a contract with Reaktion Books in England to write a book on Eagles for their Animal Series.

For a good example of their books go here for Falcon by Helen Macdonald, our beloved Pluvialis, to whom I owe this opportunity. Visit her
Fretmarks to see a portfolio of her late dad Alisdair's work. They are iconic images and I'll bet you already know some-- I did.

And yes, I intend to keep blogging-- writing begets writing.

Out and About

Just a few pictures and thoughts from the beginning of the week when the dogs and I were stretching our legs at the Hidden Mesa Open Space just to the west of us. We had two days of cold and snow over the weekend that gave us a White Easter, but Monday was clear and 70 degrees and you wouldn't have known it snowed except that Cherry Creek was fat with snow melt (see above). This open space area is mostly in the Cherry Creek floodplain. Cherry Creek is a major tributary of the South Platte River and the site of the original settlement that grew to become Denver is located near the confluence of these streams. The creek gives its name to a flood control reservoir where it is dammed several miles downstream of us and also an upscale shopping and residential area in Denver.

This picture epitomizes the behavioral differences between my shepherd dog and my retreiver/hunter dog: Sadie is looking to me for a cue as to what to do next and Maggie is busy checking the scent of every bunny, prairie dog, vole or meadow mouse who's scurried through in the last week. I don't think Sadie comes directly from working stock, but she carries strongly so many of the herding behaviors that I'd love to get her a chance to work with sheep.

Last week I was trying to load the dogs in the truck for one of these walks. Maggie jumped right in but Sadie refused to load. She gave me anxious, piteous looks. As I called her she repeatedly ran halfway to the front door and back, just skipping out of my reach. Turns out, from her perspective, I was trying to force her to abandon Connie, one of the "flock" she's responsible for. Sadie resolutely refused to load until Connie said, "Come on, let's go!" and pretended to get in the truck. Connie figured out what the problem was - I was too dense.

Late in the day a bunch of clouds blew in bringing a chance of showers. Living in coastal California for the last seven years, it had been ages since I'd seen these big boiling thunderheads. These are those muscular, wet Maynard Dixon clouds that the Southwestern Indians pray for for their promise of rain.

I must say, since coming here we have gotten a lot of enjoyment watching the sun set behind the mountains of the Front Range.

Blade Manufacture

A hat-tip to John Derbyshire who linked to this very cool YouTube video of a flint-knapper manufacturing blades from a pyramidal core using a punch technique. This is how artifacts that Steve saw on his trip to Turkey were made that I posted on last year.

Falling in Love with French Antiquities

The NY Times has a very nice piece on archaeologist Randall White of NYU and his research in Paleolithic archaeology in the Perigord area of France. That is the home ground of Cro-Magnon research just down the road from the famous cave art at Lascaux. Though not professionally grounded in the archaeology of the area, I've always had an interest as my first archaeology professor and advisor at Tulane, Harvey Bricker, did his dissertation research there at Abri Pataud. He was always telling us stories in class, and his discussions on his research on burins was a factor that pushed me into lithic analysis.

A Question

It occurred to me to throw out this question to Steve and Matt and any commenters who want to jump in.

Do your dogs dream?

At least I have always assumed that's what's going on. It is pretty common when Maggie is sleeping on her side to hear her making whining noises and/or muted barks while her legs, feet and tail twitch. Sometimes she makes so much noise she wakes herself up. Sadie and other dogs we have had have done that as well, but Maggie does it far more than any other dog I've ever been around.

I've never read anything about dog dreams or talked to anyone about it other than Connie. Does anyone know of research on this? What are your experiences and opinions?

Crybaby

Worse and worse. "He cried himself to sleep after his Iranian captors likened him to the comedy character Mr Bean."

Compliment

I'm blushing. John Carlson at Prairie Ice has had some very nice things to say about us. (John was my best man when I married Libby in Bozeman, MT).

You should always pay attention to his blog on birds and books and more. He lives an enviable life as a biologist in his (native) home on the plains of eastern Montana, with occasional trips to Antarctica. He has appeared here before in a tux in "his" penguin colony-- perhaps Matt can dig it up?.

I'll have to try to rmemember that tenth book...

Is Nothing Sacred?

Odor- free durians are like non- alcoholic beer or decaf coffee!

Doom, Doom..

From England of course. As the English sailors cash in on their captivity with TV interviews and E- bay sales, the BBC cancels a documentary on the newest recipient of the Victoria Cross.

"He's the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross since two Aussies, Keith Payne and Rayene Stewart Simpson, were honored with the Commonwealth's highest award for gallantry in 1969 for their service in Vietnam, and he's the first living recipient in the British Army since Lance-Corporal Rambahadur Limbu of the 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles won his in the Confrontation with Indonesia in 1965. Private Beharry is one of only 12 living Victoria Cross holders. But his story might "alienate" the British public."

But the poor captives were subjected to-- ridicule! "Royal Navy detainee Arthur Batchelor told the Daily Mirror that the Iranians taunted him by comparing his features to those of the comic British character, Mr. Bean."

The Dalai Lama is made of sterner stuff. Here is a pic Libby took of one of the "Dalai Lama's soldiers"-- a Khampa-- up on the Tibetan border of eastern Nepal. Long ago and far away...

Seitanic Pet Food

The poisoned- wheat- gluten- in- pet- food scandal continues to unfold. China now claims it had nothing to do with it-- I'd advise skepticism on that.

Patrick has the word on the seitanic substance...

Blog Friends News

First, congratulations to the lovely Heidi-- who hardly looks "hick" in these photos-- and her talented husband Jethro. More material for fiction too, Heidi?

And speaking of our beautiful websisters, Larissa has posted an essay in defense of sloth. I prefer not to know what those noodles are, though.

What Is On My Desk?

Inspired by Doc Hypercube's bookshelf series, I sent him a slice of one of mine and then turned the camera to my desktop. How many objects here can you identify?



The bejewelled crane skull is the work of local artist and friend Yvonne Magener. She may have a website and if so I'll add a link later. Her horse skulls are particularly stunning.

Banned in Beijing

Terrierman Patrick Burns seems inordinately proud of the fact that his blog has been banned by the Chinese government. Steve wants to know what we're doing wrong that they haven't banned us.

Hawk Nest

I mentioned to Steve on the telephone the other day that the first week we were here at Moonshine Gulch, I had seen a pair of red-tailed hawks mating in a grove of cottonwood trees south of the house - a first for me.

They have apparently set up housekeeping in a well-established nest in a cottonwood in the Bayou Gulch bottoms. I grabbed this shot of it with the little point and shoot, and if you look closely you can see the female in flight on the right of the picture. She jumped out as soon as I unlimbered the camera. Should their family thrive, I'll be working to get some shots with the telephoto lens to post here.

It's definitely that time of year. Rebecca O'Connor tells of the return of the red-tailed hawk that nests near her yard in Banning, whom she has dubbed "The Red Queen", who preys on her pigeons.

Backyard Pests? Think of Them as Dinner

This NY Times piece chronicles a dinner party given in New York by Steven Rinella, author of The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine. Actually the title is somewhat misleading, as most of the dishes feature venison, elk, caribou, moose, bear, and goose - not exactly backyard pests in New York. The local contributions are squirrel and sparrow. This "exotic" meal seems pretty normal to anyone who hunts or hangs around with hunters.

Preparation of the sparrows reminded me of Steve's recipe for robins in On the Edge of the Wild. I haven't had squirrel in years but the way my Grandmother Iola prepared fried squirrel was one of my favorites. She had several hunter friends in Jonesboro who kept her supplied so she could fix it for me when I came to visit.

DNA Stalkers

Amy Harmon of the NY Times tells us in this story that DNA research has added a whole new dimension to the study of genealogy, something I've talked about here before. Harmon tells us that this has bred a whole new group of people so obsessed with obtaining DNA confirmation of their research that they collect samples from discarded cups of possible relatives and plucking hairs from corpses.

"Seeking to expand their family trees, thousands of amateur family historians have begun asking people with the same last names to compare genes, even though most are total strangers. That is where the free drinks come in.

'I always say, never ask for DNA on a first date,” said Georgia Bopp, 65, a retired banker in Kailua, Hawaii. 'A courtship is involved.'”

snip

"Some funeral homes now offer post-mortem DNA collection. But Linda Jonas saw no need for professional help when she tugged several hairs from her grandmother’s head as she lay in her casket.

She made sure to get the root.

'Obviously, it’s not going to hurt her,' said Ms. Jonas, a family historian in McLean, Va. 'I had a little Ziploc.'”

You can't make this stuff up!

Etruscan Emigration?

Nicholas Wade of the NY Times brings us another fine effort in the DNA/archaeology beat that he works so well (please read his book Before the Dawn!) with a report of studies that indicate the classical Etruscan civilization of northern Italy originated with a group migration from the Near East. This seems to confirm a report by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus that has long been derided by archaeologists. I'm not sure why this should be so surprising in light of the extensive Greek colonies that were planted in Italy during this period.

The Etruscans have long been an enigma in classical archaeology. I've always been fascinated by their art. Wade reports that DNA from Etruscan burials, from modern Italian communities within the former Etruscan range, and from a distinctive breed of cattle from that area all point to Near Eastern origins.

This seeming confirmation of Herodotus reminded me of this post I did last Fall on the Antikythera Mechanism, a complex Greek clockwork "computer" dating to 100 BC, used to predict astronomical phenomena. The Roman writer/politician Cicero described having seen such a machine, but historians had always dismissed this as an exaggeration or a myth until this was finally found.

Archaeology of the Exodus

The day after Passover the NY Times has a piece discussing the lack of archaeological evidence for the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. The report focuses on the archaeology of an Egyptian border fort in the Sinai that dates to the right time period.

As the article points out, I'm not surprised that there is no archaeological evidence for the parting of the Red Sea. I'm also not surprised that Egyptian archaeologists don't seem real eager to find confirmation of Hebrew scripture.

Panorama

The Peculiars were down last week and Mr. P. took this splendid panorama of our home town nestled beneath its foothills. The higher peaks of the Magdalena Range are obscured behind clouds to the upper left.

Ornate Guns

The Islamic world has always been prone to decorating firearms in an ornate fashion. Most examples I have seen have been Afghan and Arab "Jezail"- type muzzleloaders. Recently frequent reader and commenter "Johnny UK" was in Morocco where he photographed a modern example at the mausoleum of Mohammed V , the founder of modern-day Morocco. It appears to be a Mauser (I think) of some sort. Reader feedback encouraged!

Catching Up

Like Matt, I should soon have good news (though mine should continue to let me blog freely). I have been dealing with that and also Libby's taking over the local Post Office so it has been a bit hectic here. Let me do a quick blogging news roundup and post some pics-- with more to come shortly I hope.

Real Perigord truffles are being grown in Tennessee!

Do guns equal civilization?

Maybe it is time to start feeding one's carnivorous pets the Bones And Raw Food diet. (HT's to Mary and Paul D.).

Dogs may have originated in a biological instant. HT Chas.

Blogger Bioblitz! If you are a blogger you can contribute to the project by doing a survey of a plot near your home. Go here for details. Thanks to Carel of Rigor Vitae for the tip.