I really don’t want to be like this, but it’s hot again and I’m back to hate-reading the publications that cross my path, some of which I even pay for.
For instance, a lame-ass op-ed published by the Detroit News, written by none other than Ted Nugent. It’s about better management of wildlife, a table Ted and I could sit down at and maybe find at least a little common ground. Deer are popping up in my suburb all the time now; on one of the local Facebook pages, a woman said she came across a doe with three fawns on a nighttime walk this week. I always heard that deer will have twin fawns when the livin’ is easy, but I never heard of triplets before.
The Canada geese are so plentiful now that when a beach closes for e.coli, it’s as likely to be because of goose poop than human.
There are other issues, but the bottom line is: I don’t object to hunting and never have. It’s an important part of managing the ecosystem in the absence of natural predators, and I don’t think anyone wants to release a wolf pack in suburbia. For now, it’s Bambi vs. cars.
Unfortunately, from this promising beginning…
Wise use — it’s common sense to us attentive common citizens, and our hearts and instincts compel us to perform our clear and obvious responsibilities to participate in God’s miraculous creation as conscientious hands-on stewards in harmony with nature.
…things go downhill:
Wild game and wildlife are thriving across North America as a direct result of this proven conservation model, and out of touch, even corrupt bureaucrats, and the equally disconnected fantasy-driven uneducated nature haters that they mistakenly listen to are a very dangerous scourge that good, caring people must be ever vigilant of and willing to push back and stop at all costs.
Those real-world healing powers of nature is what I have dedicated my life to, and the embarrassment of mismanagement in my beloved birth-state of Michigan must no longer be tolerated.
This, I think, is going to be the hardest stain to scrub out of the country, if it can even be done, once Ted and company have gone to their reward: “Bureaucrats” must never be overmatched, or even incompetent. They must be corrupt, which suggests maybe they were bought off by Big Bambi, I dunno. Ted goes on for a bit about patriotism (he’s performing his “we, the people” responsibilities, he says); more corruption, this time “blatant”; and finally gets to the point: He wants to shoot not only deer, but bear, mourning doves and sandhill cranes, which birdwatchers know as lovely creatures and he calls the “ribeye in the sky.” They damage crops.
Mourning dove hunting comes up from time to time; they’re not a nuisance, but they do flush in a manner that trap and skeet shooters enjoy, once they get bored with clays. And bears can be a pain in the ass around unsecured garbage, for sure, but the answer seems to be: Secure the garbage. Also, limit or eliminate all food sources, including deer corn and bird feeders.
Ted disagrees, needless to say. The answer is: Whack ’em and stack ’em.
Mostly I wouldn’t object, but he ignores the obvious problem here. What do you do about those wildlife that have moved to suburbia? Make the deer season all year, hell I don’t care, but I would care about bullets, crossbow bolts or even arrows whizzing through the neighborhood, and this is where most of the so-called problem deer are. Canada geese, ditto — they can shit in the middle of the lake all they want, but they like placid places like parks and golf courses, another place it’s difficult to bump them off without risking hitting a kid, or a duffer. Extending the season on up-north deer isn’t going to do anything for down-here deer.
And anyone who could kill a sandhill crane because they gobbled up some farmer’s soybeans ought to move to Texas, or some other bloodstained shithole. That’s where Ted lives, anyway.
Let’s move on. Let’s treat Edward Coristine, aka “Big Balls,” the way his camp treated — treats — anyone in the other camp who suffers a misfortune. If you haven’t heard, BB, a protege of Elon Musk and a DOGE “worker,” was injured in what police are calling an attempted carjacking in Washington. From the WP:
Coristine was assaulted around 3 a.m. Sunday in the city’s Logan Circle neighborhood by a group of teenagers attempting to carjack him and a woman whom police identified as his significant other, according to authorities.
Three a.m. on a school night? Whatever could BB and his girlfriend be doing out in the District at that hour? Could they have been buying drugs? Googling can you buy ketamine on the street in Logan Circle n’hood right now.
OK, I must scoot. After nearly 10 days in the shop, my car is being liberated later today. Time to flex the Amex card and go for a drive. Have a great weekend.
Deborah said on August 8, 2025 at 12:21 pm
I’m mixed about bird feeding, as I said a couple of days ago about our upstairs neighbor’s bird feeding over our patio attracting mice and an opportunity for snakes coming for the available mice during rattle snake season.
I love having birds around, listening to their lovely songs is so peaceful. LB made a fountain for them which also makes a lovely gurgling sound. Feeding the cute little hummingbirds can bring ants that love the dripping sugar water nectar.
I think it’s fair to feed birds in cities because we have encroached on their natural territory and owe them something. But at our cabin in NM we don’t feed the birds like lots of our neighbors do. We aren’t there all the time and the birds etc have a lot of natural food even though it’s a high desert area. The circle of life is so evident there. I love listening to the coyotes in the dead of night. Bears are rare but not unheard of. Wild cats are spotted here and there and even big horn sheep have been seen nearby recently. Snakes are around, helpful ones like bull snakes, and beautiful ones like red racers, aggressive but not venomous. In 25 years I’ve only seen one rattle snake on our land, I know they’re there and keep an eye out when hiking.
In our “hood” there are about 16 human dwellings spread out pretty far apart, yes we have encroached, there used to be half that many 25 years ago. They say it takes 10 acres to sustain a typical family of 4 with water, we have 100 acres and have yet to dig a well, we bring in our water when we’re there. Most of the neighbors have at least 10 acres, some more than that 20, 40 etc. There was once a developer who bought land there and was selling 6 acre lots with shared wells but he went broke and moved out (thank goodness). He brought in electricity from Jemez Electric, which added J boxes to the landscape unfortunately but most people have solar panels, we have one. At least the power lines the developer brought in are underground. He did some things to our lovely dirt road which were unfortunate but that’s another story, I’ll spare you, or I’ve already commented about it in the past.
People do what they do, sometimes I’m disappointed but I haven’t said anything to anyone about what they choose to do. At least no one so far has built a Connecticut style cottage or put in a swimming pool…yet.
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Julie Robinson said on August 8, 2025 at 1:23 pm
Complete tender heart here who can’t abide the thought of killing anything save a few bugs. Cannot see sport in it and never will. I will let others take care of overpopulation in deer, etc, as long as they don’t chortle about it.
We are thinking of getting a new car before the rebates run out on EVs and Hybrid EVs, so today was our first look. It’s been 12 years. Thinking of something bigger so we can accommodate walker or scooter. This morning we looked at a Kia EV9. I’d be interested in knowledgeable thoughts.
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Mark P said on August 8, 2025 at 2:19 pm
Berry College here in Rome used to prohibit hunting on their 27,000 acres, but the deer started to overrun the area, so they slow it now. Unfortunately there are too many hunters who kill a deer, take the antlers, and then dump the entire carcass on the side of our roads. As to geese on golf courses, I suspect that the right kind of dogs could solve that problem.
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Dexter Friend said on August 8, 2025 at 2:48 pm
10 days sans automobile is rough. My last VW Microbus sat in a lot for 10 months once before the mechanic got around to doing major repairs, but I accepted that as I always had 4 or 5 vehicles insured and running. Last winter my Honda was in the garage for 73 days until the mechanics finally figured out that cheap Chinese replacement auto parts don’t always work. They finally ordered OEM Honda parts and I was up and running, and the old bus is running like new van, at 18 years of age.
Since I don’t drive nearly as much since I retired long ago, I haven’t hit any deer for 28 years. I see them all the time. Only once did I see one bounding through town, right down Lynn Street to the edge of the city limits and cornfield.
Geese are everywhere around here. A couple times I have seen dead ones with broken necks when they were diving towards the 4 ponds area and hit the thick power line.
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Mark P said on August 8, 2025 at 3:41 pm
I was trying to say that Berry College *allows* deer hunting, not that they slow it. Darned old autocorrect and typing on a phone.
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Jeff Gill said on August 8, 2025 at 3:52 pm
Driving home from the fair last night, in the evening light I caught a glimpse by the roadside against a curtain of bright green foilage a twelve-point buck, relatively young, with full velvet on his antlers. The soft russet outline of the rack and his head and neck against the illuminated vines and leaves behind him was stirring.
Then I saw a few miles on about five or six deep grazing by the road, one feeling the urge to fling itself into my path, but we dodged each other safely. And before I got home, another few small herds in lawns and mowed fields.
That moment of visual inspiration, the celebration of life in the wild, can pass quickly is all I’m saying.
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Dorothy said on August 8, 2025 at 4:09 pm
I have a bird feeder in our tiny patio home backyard. I love seeing all the activity there. The ducks are welcome; the geese are not. I have 7 or 8 hanging baskets on our porch and the hummingbirds come so often I did not even put out our feeder this year. I’m happy they’re sipping from the actual flowers and not sugar water.
I did a post at the end of Wednesday’s page to thank you all. Please read it!!
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Dave said on August 8, 2025 at 4:30 pm
I was astonished one morning to find deer standing by a railroad overpass that bridges I-75 in the northern Cincinnati suburb of Lockland, where the railroad bridges the southbound lanes, homes and traffic and trains but there they were.
Lockland, also a notorious speed trap for the I-75 traffic that passes through the two mile stretch within the city limits.
Deborah, my wife contacted COVID somewhere, when we got back from our quick trip to Arizona, we were both sick but she had COVID, which we learned from going to a medical clinic because our doctor seems to be hard to see on short notice. She was prescribed a five day supply of Paxlovid, a Tier 3 drug and it cost us $387 because it was a Tier 3 drug. Yes, we have an advantage plan, big mistake but here we are. It’s been nine days now and she’s nearly recovered, other than her voice is weak, I don’t know if that’s a side effect of COVID or what.
Oh, BTW, we saw a lot more stars in the Williams, AZ, skies than we can ever see here but we didn’t see the Milky Way, like we were hoping.
Did anyone else see any clips from the town meeting of Congressman Flood from the Lincoln, Nebraska, area? I guess he asked the crowd if non-working 28 year olds should get free health care and was taken back by the response, not what he was expecting to hear.
I don’t remember ever seeing geese growing up in what was then a very rural farmland area but now, they’re everywhere. I don’t remember seeing deer growing up or coyotes but now, they’re living in town.
Dorothy, positive thoughts your way, that’s all I’ve got, may the surgery go well.
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alex said on August 8, 2025 at 5:20 pm
We stopped filling our bird feeders years ago because we hated watching our cats devour birds. The worst was a big-ass pileated woodpecker. We also took down birdhouses that were within easy reach of predators; we kept finding birds dead in houses that were on wooden 4×4″ posts and we figured that raccoons were climbing up to kill mothers and swipe their eggs.
The renter drama continues. Today there was an Ecolab truck in the driveway and it wasn’t ordered by the management company. I suspect our tenant hopes to get out of her lease by proving there’s something bad in the air or water since she knows that we know where she works and doesn’t want us naming her employer as a garnishee in a lawsuit. Meanwhile, a very nice couple from down the street expressed interest in the house for their daughter and her husband, both young professionals with a small child, who would be ideal renters for a year or two while they save up for their own place.
Dex, I take my Honda to a garage that specializes in imports and when my front axles started to go at about 180K miles, they said they only install Honda axle parts because of too many failures with replacement parts made by others. Even so, one of my axles failed after only a few months but at least it was covered by a warranty. In the past year I had that work done, as well as new engine mounts, and it drives like a dream. And I hardly use it because I treated myself to a new car in anticipation of the tariffs and the novelty still hasn’t worn off. Almost 6K miles on that thing and I’ve had it only since the last week of may.
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MarkH said on August 8, 2025 at 6:15 pm
RIP Jim Lovell.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/08/science/jim-lovell-dead-nasa-apollo
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Deborah said on August 8, 2025 at 6:24 pm
Good news Dorothy! I’m so happy for you and your family.
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Dorothy said on August 8, 2025 at 8:48 pm
I did not mean to insinuate that Mike is out of the woods! The CT seemed positive; he’s still having surgery to remove the growth on August 18. They’ll do a biopsy and then we’ll know the results about 8-10 days later.
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Brandon said on August 9, 2025 at 3:47 am
sandhill cranes, which birdwatchers know as lovely creatures and he calls the “ribeye in the sky.”
I had no idea that they were not only edible but deliciously so, with a flavor comparable to beef.
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David C said on August 9, 2025 at 5:49 am
Hunters always talk about wildlife management. A lot of them aren’t bullshitting. More than a few are, though. Wildlife management was the fig leaf the rich dude, trophy hunter who was gored to death by a Cape buffalo (he, he) recently used to justify his hunting. But if wildlife management is your goal, you’re shooting females. When I moved to Wisconsin, the DNR was getting serious about managing the deer overpopulation to control chronic wasting disease. It’s mad cow disease for the deer family. They gave out doe permits like candy. It worked. Then the hunters bitched that there weren’t enough deer. It’s part of how we were stuck with Scott Walker. He pledged to reverse course and did. The hunters turned out for him. So if you’re still back there in Wisconsin and the deer are eating your garden or if you eat venison and get Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, thank a hunter.
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Jeff Gill said on August 9, 2025 at 7:45 am
“Unremarkable” is right up there with “benign” as a beautiful word.
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Dexter Friend said on August 9, 2025 at 11:36 am
I may have posted this here, sorry if so, but we lived 27 miles north of Fort Wayne in 1955; I was 5 that summer. We had yet to get the big Motorola set, and Mom had heard about a big live special on TV. Dad had the car, away on business, she had no car and never drove anyway. My aunt and uncle lived 1 3/4 miles away , accessed by 2 dirt roads, CR32 and CR11. We had no telephone; Mom walked across the road and used the neighbor’s, and later we set off on foot down the road. So, big deal, eh? Well, there had been bear sightings from south of Garrett to around Corunna, ground zero … where we were. Mom must have figured the chances of us getting mauled were slim; I remember being scared shitless walking in darkness with a faltering-battery flashlight for illumination. Later, my uncle drove us home; I guess it never occurred to even ask him to come get us.
Around 25 years ago, I researched to see if there really was a rogue black bear family around there, and finally it was confirmed. And as F. Gump might say, “…and that’s all I have to say about thay-itt.”
Last summer, I took a nostalgic drive to CR32, and a huge deer bounded across in front of me. We never, ever, saw deer back in the 1950s; we only had blue racer snakes, and a lot of them to scare us almost daily. Fun childhood? Actually, not bad, not bad.
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Deborah said on August 9, 2025 at 12:58 pm
Yay, on day six I’m Covid free. I really only had one day/night where I felt pretty bad, the rest of the time I just felt light headed and runny nose. My husband hasn’t tested yet today, we think it’s day 7 for him. LB is back home after dog/house sitting for the last 10 days. She tested and is Covid free so far.
I picked her up from the place she was sitting, we both wore masks and windows down. At home we stayed away from each other and if we had to be in the same room (which was minimal) we wore our masks.
I’ve read you’re not contagious after 5 days, but should wear a mask for a few days after if you have to go out in public.
So far for me, all 3 times I’ve had it have been relatively mild. Just boring mostly.
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basset said on August 9, 2025 at 8:41 pm
Dorothy, late to the conversation here but we echo all the messages of support and caring. “Unremarkable” is indeed an encouraging assessment.
Connie, been meaning to mention this but we are now your cousins’ neighbors or something like that. Grandpa B passed last fall, Mrs. B how owns a farm outside Woodville in Newaygo County and her brother took over a house in Caberfae.
Shot my first deer at the farm not all that many years ago, which leads into today’s topic. Lots of places have way too many deer, which is the main reason that in our part of Tennessee you can take three does a day every day all season, which runs in all its permutations from the end of September to the first week of January. Next year, in the 2026-27 season, private landowners can use bait and bring em in that way, not exactly sporting but it’ll help take out some does.
Deer camp at the farm used to be a big deal in Mrs. B’s family and many others… where there used to be as many as a dozen or so hunters in camp it’s just Brother B and myself who could go, for me it’s a twelve-hour drive and a $200 license to probably get skunked so I stay home.
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Jeff Gill said on August 10, 2025 at 9:04 am
Wildlife management is a field I never aspired to, but have long had lots of friends in. They’re doing some of the hardest work there is: underfunded science, armed unhappy “customers,” and the worst aspects of politics breathing down your neck as you try to do what your job description says you do. Plus getting “paid in sunsets” as my NPS friends say.
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