The first two bison calves of the year were born Monday at Fermilab in Batavia, IL. Why shouldn't a particle physics lab maintain a herd of bison on its grounds?
In a way they were; there is remnant tallgrass prairie on the grounds, and there is restoration being done. So bison were likely there long before the scientists. The Fermilab herd was started in 1969 when the lab's first director, Robert R. Wilson, had the idea to bring bison to Fermilab "to recognize the prairie frontier of the land while the scientific frontier was being explored using particle accelerators." The herd was tested in 2015 for cattle gene introgression, and they don't have any, so they are real bison.
I could give you links if you're interested, but you may be able to find that info yourself with the clues I've dropped.
In the news of Vlad's toe, he now says it's not any better after the latest 10 days of antibiotics. It doesn't hurt all the time, which it did before the first antibiotic.
Jay Janney, R. Rice, Doug AZ, Lkymcdonald, John M., Phil H, LucyTrice, Kurt, Dsfelty, The original Optimum.net, IncognitoG, and CynthiaW: Thank you! I was confident there would be a response and that was a comfort all its own. Grateful you manifested it.
Thanks to all for the community you maintain as I flit in and out. It's a nice "place."
Every armadillo species may be found in South America, but the nine-banded variety is also in the southern and southwestern US. My Louisiana in-laws considered them a nuisance as they dug holes n their yard.
Also a nuisance as they can be leprous. I dunno about fairy armadillos - but the idea of touching them (let alone eating them) gives me the creeps due to the Hansen's Disease...
It's funny to google the song and see attributions to Jerry Jeff Walker, or Kinky Friedman as the author of the song. It was Gary P Nunn. The world wide web is a lazy place. In the days (1990s) Gary P Nunn was commonly performing in small beer joints in Austin. Good times.
I remember now that I used to sing this song to my toddler kids when giving them a bath together. Giggling at me in a tub of suds. I'd give everything to go back to those days and do it all over again. I guess in a way I'll get that chance with my soon to be first grand babies.
I sang loads of songs to my kids. Nicollette Larson released an album of lullabies, which I sang to my children. My MIL loved to hear me sing them to the kids. Not that I have a good voice, but because the songs are sweet. Appalachian Lullaby and The Moment I met you are my two favorites
With friends! Flaco Jimenez and Kris Kristoperson among other wonderful performers. Thanks, I wasn't familiar with the song. Really bouncy for singing to kids :-)
Their Wikipedia article states "The primary cause of this rapid expansion is explained simply by the species having few natural predators within the United States, little desire on the part of Americans to hunt or eat the armadillo, and the animals' high reproductive rate." The article notes they have reached southern Illinoin and Indiana, and may reach Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. They are already in other southern states.
They only reached the US in the 19th century. I suppose they could be called invasive.
Good morning. 44 this morning, rising to 70 this afternoon, or so the guessers predict. The mothership is highlighting Trump’s war with the media, which he accused’s of bias for doing things like accurate reporting about him. The comments section has an item about pink fairy armadillos by one CynthiaW. 🙂
Was anyone else amused, in the worst way, by our Homeland Security Chief having her purse...which contained literally every item that constituted security both personal and professional...stolen while she was at a restaurant?
But, at least she wasn't having more chats on Signal...Right? Right?!?
And, she has no defense. She's in charge. That's what's bothersome. Why was she being casual? She's a cabinet level appointment. Her subordinates just reflect her approach. Careless.
She's in charge, yes. They do security so she can attend to other things.
She's not a person I can imagine being casual about a purse with money. From a great distance and no experience with purses containing thousands of dollars, security details or South Dakota, I can imagine.... let's call it over-confidence.... being a factor.
So, per that explanation, we got two parts where neither apparently knows what the other is supposed to do…(?).
I don’t like her for lots of reasons and there’s not a single thing anyone could say that would make me think different.
The big picture is she’s in charge of extremely important stuff and I don’t think she has a clue about any of it. She’s play acting at being important and we’re all the worse for it.
Her department agencies reflect more than carelessness, given the headlines about foreign travelers being locked up at ports of entry over minor issues. And then there are "administrative mistakes".
I'm a believer in top down organizing, and bottom up building. The top is an idiotic festering pile of confusion and it infects everything, so there's no bottom up system building. No one's in charge; they're all play acting at being important. When I say they don't know what they're doing, I mean it literally.
Secret service duty is not take a bullet pay scale. It doesn't necessarily draw the best and brightest. When I did the gig next door to Obama's, I had to go through the checkpoints every visit. Some of those guys were air tight, and others...I'd see them playing with their phones all day.
"I'm a believer in top down organizing, and bottom up building. The top is an idiotic festering pile of confusion and it infects everything, so there's no bottom up system building. No one's in charge; they're all play acting at being important. When I say they don't know what they're doing, I mean it literally."
Weird, and revealing. Careless. Complete, utter carelessness. If I got $3k, all ID including my professional tags, keys, passport, and multiple other security critical items in my bag...I'm going to know where that sucker is, period.
It's the tacit display of being entirely unserious. I mean, your HS ID tag and passport...(?) I try really hard to not let this stuff get under my skin, but it's burrowed in pretty deep nowadays.
Well...shuffles feet sheepishly...when I'm traveling I have a ballistic nylon shoulder bag that's got the perfect arrangement for passport, tags, keys, phone, wallet and notepad/pen. It's like the nuclear football; every critical item in one place. It's also perfect for carrying; no printing or fumbling around. When I'm being normal, I'm a big fan of cargo pants and I don't care what the fashionistas have to say about it. Cargo pants rule.
I got these great ones from the Under Armour outlet store that are marketed to tactical squad public safety types. They've even got an extra pad at the right hand front pocket so the knife clip doesn't fray the material.
For occasions where I don't want the overly casual look of cargo pants, I throw on a sport coat. Sport coats (and suit jackets in genera) have lots of pockets to store stuff. Sport coats have the added advantage of showing class and looking like a Serious Person, even if you wear one over a tee shirt and jeans.
I offer no judgement about carrying shoulder bags, especially without seeing one in use. It's possible a guy could carry one and pull if off without compromising a manly look. No doubt you can do that, Kurt. But you might want to consider a sort coat, the next time you travel.
Agree on the sport coat. Lots of pockets, and they definitely up the game. Working, they wouldn't work. Nowadays, I'm not beating stuff up all the time. I overheat easily; that's why I'm big on the technical clothing. I love all that quick dry breathable stuff. I should find a technical sport coat.
Merrill Tactical Desert Boots, cargos tucked in. Cheap T Shirts and cool technical jackets. Maui Jims.
The murse is a Tumi, ballistic nylon. It only comes out when traveling 24-36 hour marathons across time zones. Gotta know where the documents are at all times.
Hmmmm. You may be correct. I love those color names. and making them up is even more fun. There's a yellowish brown that I think of as "Mom, the puppy got sick!".
Right? We could start a company! One of us would think of a name (Cruciferous Obsession) then the other of us would find a color to which to append it!.
Cruciferous makes me think of that cool hybrid cauliflower-broccoli thing with its florets in a fractal shape, sort of a chartreuse green in color. I suspect if someone were obsessed with the Fibonacci sequence, they might enjoy this vegetable often, perhaps while doing math, and be the healthier for it.
Thanks! This truly is a secret goal of mine. When I go to a nail salon with my girlfriend, I marvel at the color names----most of them not at all relatable to the actual color of the polish. For example, Cantankerous Neighbor, or some such thing.
Years ago, there was a semi-upscale restaurant on the edge of a town some 20 miles or so from me, the menu for which was about 1/4 "wild game" dishes of one kind or another... venison, elk, bison, pheasant, goose, duck, etc. Of course, it was all *farm raised* wild game but still made for some interesting appetizers, side dishes and complete meals if you were in the mood for something besides standard restaurant fare.
I used to hunt and fish regularly years ago and went to a couple of *genuine* wild game dinners put on for one thing or other. Can't say I was all that impressed with a number of the dishes that were served, the reason for that, I suppose, being in how it was prepared and cooked, since most of what was offered were things I'd put on my own table at one time or another through my own efforts afield and enjoyed eating.
I've been fortunate to have game dinners in Western Mass, my Vietnam USMC tax accountant was a national leader in trapping. As was my neighbor. Had some in WVa.
But venison at a nice restaurant anywhere in Europe is great. Also pheasant, dove, partridge, boar...
For probably a decade or more, I take my trash to the Pima County Los Reales dump. Basically deep mine like holes they dig out that last years to full up. The covered Dodge Ram holds the trash. Most kitchen bags assembled inside the bed with large contractor bags.
$15/3 months. Old school me enjoys it. Saves $50/month!
49F. Ms Pinki birthday tomorrow. A gentleman nevers tells. Harry S. was President. Ordered her favorite Costco sheet cake. Vanilla cake, Chocolate mousse, tons of buttercream flowers.
Harry Truman, or maybe JFK, was the last Democratic President I could respect. (No, I was not born during the Truman administration. I'm an Eisenhower baby, born 2 months before the start of the Space Age),
I've been having strange dreams lately. Last night I dreamed that at the end of an uneventful but curiously emotionally cold day with my wife, I realized that it was her birthday that I had forgot.
My wife has always insisted that birthdays are "just another day" and they "don't matter to her". It only took me a year to realize that this didn't mean that they shouldn't matter to me!
I'm pretty fortunate that my wife has a very forgiving nature, so I don't think it would come to anything dramatic as divorce! But it would be reflected and my wings clipped for no small number of days. :-)
The first two bison calves of the year were born Monday at Fermilab in Batavia, IL. Why shouldn't a particle physics lab maintain a herd of bison on its grounds?
Maybe the bison were there first.
In a way they were; there is remnant tallgrass prairie on the grounds, and there is restoration being done. So bison were likely there long before the scientists. The Fermilab herd was started in 1969 when the lab's first director, Robert R. Wilson, had the idea to bring bison to Fermilab "to recognize the prairie frontier of the land while the scientific frontier was being explored using particle accelerators." The herd was tested in 2015 for cattle gene introgression, and they don't have any, so they are real bison.
I could give you links if you're interested, but you may be able to find that info yourself with the clues I've dropped.
In the news of Vlad's toe, he now says it's not any better after the latest 10 days of antibiotics. It doesn't hurt all the time, which it did before the first antibiotic.
*shrug*
He's going to a podiatrist tomorrow afternoon.
I wonder if they are social or not? Perhaps the children armadillo play a game familiar to all of us adults; "Salmon says"? 🤔
Still here? OUT!
Oy.
Yesterday post about Universe activities, reminded me to share my daily "what's going on in the skies email source"
https://earthsky.org/
A deeper techy sciency. Daily is from"
https://sciencex.com/
https://sciencex.com/news/
You can detail interests.
Jay Janney, R. Rice, Doug AZ, Lkymcdonald, John M., Phil H, LucyTrice, Kurt, Dsfelty, The original Optimum.net, IncognitoG, and CynthiaW: Thank you! I was confident there would be a response and that was a comfort all its own. Grateful you manifested it.
Thanks to all for the community you maintain as I flit in and out. It's a nice "place."
Glad it helped!
It's good when we can help. You're always welcome to flit in and out.
You're welcome.
I get silverfish and even lobster vibes from the pink fairy armadillo. The pink fairy version does not carry leprosy bacteria.
Yes, me too.
Every armadillo species may be found in South America, but the nine-banded variety is also in the southern and southwestern US. My Louisiana in-laws considered them a nuisance as they dug holes n their yard.
Also a nuisance as they can be leprous. I dunno about fairy armadillos - but the idea of touching them (let alone eating them) gives me the creeps due to the Hansen's Disease...
Not all armadillo populations are infected with leprosy, but you shouldn't eat animals that could be endangered.
It definitely doesn't sound like armadillos -- nine-banded ones in any case -- are endangered. And some people do eat them -- or so says Wikipedia.
"London Homesick Blues" by Gary P Nunn
I want to go home with the armadillo.
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene.
The friendliest people and the prettiest women
you've ever seen.
~~~~~~~~~
It's funny to google the song and see attributions to Jerry Jeff Walker, or Kinky Friedman as the author of the song. It was Gary P Nunn. The world wide web is a lazy place. In the days (1990s) Gary P Nunn was commonly performing in small beer joints in Austin. Good times.
Sometimes I reference him on multiple choice exams; choice D: Gary P Nunn of the above.
There is only one choice for you: 🚪
I remember now that I used to sing this song to my toddler kids when giving them a bath together. Giggling at me in a tub of suds. I'd give everything to go back to those days and do it all over again. I guess in a way I'll get that chance with my soon to be first grand babies.
I used to sing "Hillbilly Hell" to my oldest daughter.
I sang loads of songs to my kids. Nicollette Larson released an album of lullabies, which I sang to my children. My MIL loved to hear me sing them to the kids. Not that I have a good voice, but because the songs are sweet. Appalachian Lullaby and The Moment I met you are my two favorites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_FzsUE-Do4
With friends! Flaco Jimenez and Kris Kristoperson among other wonderful performers. Thanks, I wasn't familiar with the song. Really bouncy for singing to kids :-)
Nine-banded, which may actually have between 6 and 13 bands, are expanding their range in the United States.
Their Wikipedia article states "The primary cause of this rapid expansion is explained simply by the species having few natural predators within the United States, little desire on the part of Americans to hunt or eat the armadillo, and the animals' high reproductive rate." The article notes they have reached southern Illinoin and Indiana, and may reach Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. They are already in other southern states.
They only reached the US in the 19th century. I suppose they could be called invasive.
Expansionist more than invasive.
Manifest density?
I feel sorry for Greenland. They already have enough to worry about without a bunch of expansionist armadillos threatening them.
Armadillos really don't like cold weatther. Greenland is safe (from armadillos anyway).
One would think so, but there's been a lot of pretty crazy things happening of late.
Good morning. 44 this morning, rising to 70 this afternoon, or so the guessers predict. The mothership is highlighting Trump’s war with the media, which he accused’s of bias for doing things like accurate reporting about him. The comments section has an item about pink fairy armadillos by one CynthiaW. 🙂
Was anyone else amused, in the worst way, by our Homeland Security Chief having her purse...which contained literally every item that constituted security both personal and professional...stolen while she was at a restaurant?
But, at least she wasn't having more chats on Signal...Right? Right?!?
Some poor dog's gonna pay for this! 🙁
In her defense, she had secret service protection! How did they miss this?
And, she has no defense. She's in charge. That's what's bothersome. Why was she being casual? She's a cabinet level appointment. Her subordinates just reflect her approach. Careless.
She's in charge, yes. They do security so she can attend to other things.
She's not a person I can imagine being casual about a purse with money. From a great distance and no experience with purses containing thousands of dollars, security details or South Dakota, I can imagine.... let's call it over-confidence.... being a factor.
So, per that explanation, we got two parts where neither apparently knows what the other is supposed to do…(?).
I don’t like her for lots of reasons and there’s not a single thing anyone could say that would make me think different.
The big picture is she’s in charge of extremely important stuff and I don’t think she has a clue about any of it. She’s play acting at being important and we’re all the worse for it.
"Play acting at being important" is what Trump is all about.
Yep.
Her department agencies reflect more than carelessness, given the headlines about foreign travelers being locked up at ports of entry over minor issues. And then there are "administrative mistakes".
Yeah, exactly. It's chaos. I don't often get worked up over morons in government, but this one has put me off my feed.
I'm a believer in top down organizing, and bottom up building. The top is an idiotic festering pile of confusion and it infects everything, so there's no bottom up system building. No one's in charge; they're all play acting at being important. When I say they don't know what they're doing, I mean it literally.
Secret service duty is not take a bullet pay scale. It doesn't necessarily draw the best and brightest. When I did the gig next door to Obama's, I had to go through the checkpoints every visit. Some of those guys were air tight, and others...I'd see them playing with their phones all day.
"I'm a believer in top down organizing, and bottom up building. The top is an idiotic festering pile of confusion and it infects everything, so there's no bottom up system building. No one's in charge; they're all play acting at being important. When I say they don't know what they're doing, I mean it literally."
Yes.
Yes, that was very weird.
Weird, and revealing. Careless. Complete, utter carelessness. If I got $3k, all ID including my professional tags, keys, passport, and multiple other security critical items in my bag...I'm going to know where that sucker is, period.
It's as if she expects other people to be responsible for her stuff. I know a lot of kids like that.
It's the tacit display of being entirely unserious. I mean, your HS ID tag and passport...(?) I try really hard to not let this stuff get under my skin, but it's burrowed in pretty deep nowadays.
Yes, that's the thing. The incident is emblematic of the incompetence of this entire administration. "You are not serious people."
Hire stupid people, get stupid results.
Nope. Not even a teeny bit.
It’s good to be a guy who doesn’t carry an external bag known as a “purse” as women do.
Well...shuffles feet sheepishly...when I'm traveling I have a ballistic nylon shoulder bag that's got the perfect arrangement for passport, tags, keys, phone, wallet and notepad/pen. It's like the nuclear football; every critical item in one place. It's also perfect for carrying; no printing or fumbling around. When I'm being normal, I'm a big fan of cargo pants and I don't care what the fashionistas have to say about it. Cargo pants rule.
I got these great ones from the Under Armour outlet store that are marketed to tactical squad public safety types. They've even got an extra pad at the right hand front pocket so the knife clip doesn't fray the material.
I too favor cargo pants, for their pockets.
For occasions where I don't want the overly casual look of cargo pants, I throw on a sport coat. Sport coats (and suit jackets in genera) have lots of pockets to store stuff. Sport coats have the added advantage of showing class and looking like a Serious Person, even if you wear one over a tee shirt and jeans.
I offer no judgement about carrying shoulder bags, especially without seeing one in use. It's possible a guy could carry one and pull if off without compromising a manly look. No doubt you can do that, Kurt. But you might want to consider a sort coat, the next time you travel.
Agree on the sport coat. Lots of pockets, and they definitely up the game. Working, they wouldn't work. Nowadays, I'm not beating stuff up all the time. I overheat easily; that's why I'm big on the technical clothing. I love all that quick dry breathable stuff. I should find a technical sport coat.
Not only cranky at times but wears cargos and carries a murse (man purse.) The picture is crystallizing.
Shot fired! 🤣
Merrill Tactical Desert Boots, cargos tucked in. Cheap T Shirts and cool technical jackets. Maui Jims.
The murse is a Tumi, ballistic nylon. It only comes out when traveling 24-36 hour marathons across time zones. Gotta know where the documents are at all times.
I have to get out my Benjamin Moore Color Wheel, but I'd say, from some of the pictures, that they are more of a Mauve.
I think it's closer to their Unspoken Love 1269, or Pink Innocence 2082-60.
https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/red
Hmmmm. You may be correct. I love those color names. and making them up is even more fun. There's a yellowish brown that I think of as "Mom, the puppy got sick!".
Yeah, I know. In my next career, I want to be a color namer.
Right? We could start a company! One of us would think of a name (Cruciferous Obsession) then the other of us would find a color to which to append it!.
Cruciferous makes me think of that cool hybrid cauliflower-broccoli thing with its florets in a fractal shape, sort of a chartreuse green in color. I suspect if someone were obsessed with the Fibonacci sequence, they might enjoy this vegetable often, perhaps while doing math, and be the healthier for it.
https://www.allrecipes.com/article/what-is-romanesco/
Ah, another color: Fibonacci Dreams.
Cruciferous Obsession...nicely done.
Thanks! This truly is a secret goal of mine. When I go to a nail salon with my girlfriend, I marvel at the color names----most of them not at all relatable to the actual color of the polish. For example, Cantankerous Neighbor, or some such thing.
Cynthia, you have a quirky idea of what's "cute"! But let viewpoint diversity flourish!
We can still agree that these small beasts are interesting.
It could have been a cute spider again ...
Contradiction in terms.
Not to other spiders.
Noooooo.... We like cute little furry things with 4 legs, not 8.
NOOOOOOOOOO!
Thank you for the clear reader feedback.
Perhaps not my most eloquent; perhaps, however, my most passionate.
Dear CynthiaW,
"They are also hunted for food, which is just nonsense: they’d hardly make a bite."
Quails are delicious, and even smaller. 😉
And who would say no to all that pinky goodness?
I wonder how many folks other than myself, have been to a "game dinner"? Many things on the menu and the majority are tasty.
The variety of animal types that have been on my plate is probably 2 dozen across 4 continents.
Years ago, there was a semi-upscale restaurant on the edge of a town some 20 miles or so from me, the menu for which was about 1/4 "wild game" dishes of one kind or another... venison, elk, bison, pheasant, goose, duck, etc. Of course, it was all *farm raised* wild game but still made for some interesting appetizers, side dishes and complete meals if you were in the mood for something besides standard restaurant fare.
I used to hunt and fish regularly years ago and went to a couple of *genuine* wild game dinners put on for one thing or other. Can't say I was all that impressed with a number of the dishes that were served, the reason for that, I suppose, being in how it was prepared and cooked, since most of what was offered were things I'd put on my own table at one time or another through my own efforts afield and enjoyed eating.
I've been fortunate to have game dinners in Western Mass, my Vietnam USMC tax accountant was a national leader in trapping. As was my neighbor. Had some in WVa.
But venison at a nice restaurant anywhere in Europe is great. Also pheasant, dove, partridge, boar...
Not me.
Do they taste like Salmon?
The article mentioned that they are said to taste like pork.
Thank you. I was going to pass either way. The silverfish vibes are stronger than the lobster ones.
*shudder*
Good morning! Happy Trash Day! I'm going to take the trash out and then do the dog and cat care.
For probably a decade or more, I take my trash to the Pima County Los Reales dump. Basically deep mine like holes they dig out that last years to full up. The covered Dodge Ram holds the trash. Most kitchen bags assembled inside the bed with large contractor bags.
$15/3 months. Old school me enjoys it. Saves $50/month!
49F. Ms Pinki birthday tomorrow. A gentleman nevers tells. Harry S. was President. Ordered her favorite Costco sheet cake. Vanilla cake, Chocolate mousse, tons of buttercream flowers.
Harry Truman, or maybe JFK, was the last Democratic President I could respect. (No, I was not born during the Truman administration. I'm an Eisenhower baby, born 2 months before the start of the Space Age),
Just a wee bit younger than me… those were good days..well as children.
I've been having strange dreams lately. Last night I dreamed that at the end of an uneventful but curiously emotionally cold day with my wife, I realized that it was her birthday that I had forgot.
My wife has always insisted that birthdays are "just another day" and they "don't matter to her". It only took me a year to realize that this didn't mean that they shouldn't matter to me!
I'm usually on camp staff on my birthday, but it's nice if there's a meal when I get home.
Oh yeah....
Is forgetting your wife's birthday grounds for divorce? 🙂
I'm pretty fortunate that my wife has a very forgiving nature, so I don't think it would come to anything dramatic as divorce! But it would be reflected and my wings clipped for no small number of days. :-)
Ruh ro.