My boyfriend and I are waiting for the day when our cats get jobs. I asked Dan the other night how he thought their search was going. He said it seemed to be going great -- our calico had found a new spot on a shelf that she could sit in and look cute. Now she's just waiting for someone to turn up and pay her for it.
     Although two dogs making headlines this week haven't necessarily landed paying gigs, at least they're getting themselves out there. According to this Al.com story, a yellow Lab in Fairhope, Al. named Willie Bean Roscoe P. Coltrane, is running for mayor. His campaign is currently in full swing with T-shirts and lawn signs, and is headquartered at his owner's coffee shop. Willie's mayoral run came about when the seven candidates already in the race were acting so absurdly, his owner wanted to make a statement about the ridiculousness of the situation.
     The second dog with something important to do is chocolate Lab Remi Sue Lajaunie of Thibodaux, La., who served as ring bearer in his mater's wedding last weekend. This Houmatoday.com story says the bride had given the dog to her soon-to-be husband years earlier, who named the Lab after his Remington shotgun. By all accounts, Remi discharged her duties with grace and good manners.
     And in the meantime, our calico is still sitting on her shelf, waiting for a paycheck. We're so proud. -K.H.

     In the past few days, three women made headlines when they were attacked by wildlife. None were hunting at the time, but their stories are yet more reminders that freak encounters like these can happen at the unlikeliest of times.
     The first incident was a severe black bear mauling in Bakersfield, Calif., on July 22. According to this BakersfieldNow.com story, the victim was 57-year-old Allena Hansen, who had gone out to work on her property with two of her dogs. After the attack -- which left her with serious facial lacerations -- she managed to drive herself to a fire station, from which she was air-lifted to UCLA Medical Center.
     Also on July 22, a Memphis woman was at a Pensacola, Fl., resort, when she was trampled by a deer. This Walton Sun story reported that 68-year-old Shelia Potts was walking back to her rental unit, when she was struck by a deer running from a nearby wooded era. Among Potts' injuries was a cerebral hemorrhage, five broken vertebrae, several broken ribs, a pulmonary contusion, and a laceration to the scalp. She also has no memory of the event.
     As if that's not enough, on July 25 The Salt Lake Tribune reported that a grizzly bear attacked a 21-one-year old woman in Alaska. The bear reportedly pounced Abby Sisk around 11:00 p.m., near the lodge where she worked, grabbing her head in its jaws and dragging her several feet. She was listed in critical condition at Providence Alaska Medical Center, where she was suffering from head injuries, a broken jaw, and puncture wounds on her legs and arms. Her family, however, said she seemed to be in good spirits.
     Sisk had reportedly been returning from a hike when the bear came out of the woods and attacked. She played dead, but when she got up after the initial encounter, the bear came at her again. A guest at the lodge spotted the bear on top of Sisk and ran toward it screaming, at which point the bear moved off.
     Pretty sobering what can happen when you're just out for a walk. -K.H.

     Okay, this story got me a little. It's an article posted today on the Illinois news server Post-Gazette.com about a 74-year-old woman, who turned her late husband's hunting jacket into a teddy bear.
     Jackie Sansone, of Champaign, Ill., had long enjoyed hunting with her husband of 54 years, Henry Sansone Jr. Henry passed away last year, and Jackie decided to commemorate their anniversary in June of this year by sewing a memory bear. She chose the hunting jacket as material for the bear, which she named Hank. There's a photo of her with the bear at the link.
     What can I say except that I think it's a beautiful second life for an old hunting jacket. -K.H.

     Taxidermist Angela Wilson started her business in 1998. Called Wild Intrigue Taxidermy, Wilson's Gregory, S.D., shop managed about 200 deer, 150 pheasants, and 300 "others" this year. Although she says most of her business is in deer, pheasants and turkeys, she points out, "We do most anything that comes along." At crunch time, Wilson sometimes enlists her sister Lisa to "bail me out" (that's Lisa on the left and Wilson on the right).
     Wilson made some time to talk to the blog about cape care, the challenges of the trade, and what she likes best about her job. -K.H.

FSHuntress: How did you first get into taxidermy?
Angela Wilson: I started in taxidermy when I was 16. I started dating a guy that was in the business and became interested in it. I just did finish work until I graduated from high school. I had no interest in college, so I worked at a gas station while I continued to learn taxidermy. I eventually got married and then did taxidermy full time. After five years, we divorced and I went back to working at a gas station. Two years after that, I started a taxidermy business of my own.

FS: What are some of the best things hunters can do to take care of their hides? And the worst things?
AW: The most important thing you can do to make sure you have a good mount is to cool it down. If you use ice to do this be careful not to get the animal wet. If you freeze the animal, make sure that it is wrapped well. A garbage bag works well. Fish should be wrapped in a wet towel first, and then in a bag, and frozen.
     The worst thing you can do is leave it in the sun or any warm area. The sooner you can cool it down, the better quality mount you will get.

FS: What's the most challenging mount you've ever done?
AW: Buffalo were the most challenging. I don't take them anymore. They are a little too big for me to handle, and I am busy enough without them.

FS: What do you think most hunters don't realize or maybe don't appreciate about the work a taxidermist does?
AW: A lot of people don't realize the difference in quality of mounts. This is something that I find frustrating and amusing at the same time. It's really neat when you come across someone that sees and appreciates it.

FS: Anything else you think our readers would like to know?
AW: I do really enjoy my business and my customers. I used to hunt a lot, but now my time is pretty limited. I enjoy listening to the hunting stories (and they ALL have them), and I really appreciate their excitement over a good hunt.
     My favorite season is turkey season. The majority of the hunters are archery hunters. We make hen decoys, and during the season the guys will come in with ideas. I spend a lot of days trying to change a decoy around for that night's hunt. I really enjoy the feedback I get from them.

     In the recent debate over an anti-gun segment by CBS contributor Nancy Giles, a few commenters included dietary benefits on their list of reasons for hunting.
     Around the same time, a friend linked me to an interesting and highly relevant paper by UCLA professor Jared Diamond, published in 1987. Titled, "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race," Diamond's piece says the shift from a hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural society was among humanity's most disastrous developments, and led to compromised health and the division of social classes -- among other things.
     One of the studies he used to support his argument was conducted by a University of Massachusetts team, who examined skeletons buried at Dickson Mounds, near the confluence of the Spoon and Illinois Rivers. The remains offer a before-and-after health profile of the shift from a hunter-gatherer culture to maize farming around 1150 A.D.
     As compared to the hunter-gatherers, the later farmers had:

- An almost 50% increase in enamel defects, which indicates malnutrition
- A fourfold increase in iron-deficiency anemia, evidenced by a bone condition
- A threefold increase in bone lesions, which reflects infectious disease
- A rise in degenerative spinal conditions, which could be a result of demanding physical labor
- A 7-year drop in life expectancy

     Diamond's paper is full of such evidence in support of the level of nutrition generally enjoyed by hunter-gatherer cultures.
     Of course, this isn't news to us (not even back in 1987), but it is an interesting illustration of a truth I know I enjoy asserting every chance I get. -K.H.

     This opinion piece in today's Bismark Tribune got me thinking about a question I ponder from time to time. I realize I'm drifting into perilous waters, but the question is, is it possible to find any common ground between hunters and certain animals rights activists?
     I've long wondered if the issue of canned hunts is a rare area where these typically opposing groups could potentially agree. And that's the point the director of the Northern Rockies regional office for The Humane Society makes in this piece.
     "Some North Dakota sportsmen might be skeptical of the Humane Society..." he says of those who oppose canned hunts, "But we applaud the North Dakota hunters who aim to put the 'hunt' back in hunting and the 'wild' back in wildlife."
    Of course, I'm by no means suggesting that all animal activists are approachable. As we all know, many are beyond reason, radical, and sometimes criminal.
     But I'd like to think there's the occasional person or group chapter here and there -- as I hope we can trust opinions such as this to indicate -- who are able to recognize a common cause.
     Based on your own sense of animal rights activists, do you think there's room for dialog on issues such as canned hunting, or are the differences too great? -K.H.

     Of course, there will be plenty of opportunities to discuss politics between now and November, but a recent statement by presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama made it seem like a good time to kick off some general election chatter.
     According to this Standard State Bureau story, while campaigning in Butte, Montana last week, Mr. Obama told reporters, "There is not a sportsman or hunter in Montana who is a legal possessor of firearms that has anything to worry about from me."
     So I checked out the Obama campaign website, which includes a 2-page position statement on the "Rights and Traditions of Sportsmen." While it points out in the first sentence that Mr. Obama did not grow up hunting and fishing, (a straight-up admission that I frankly appreciate), it goes on to outline his views on issues such as gun rights, access, conservation (including saltwater, wetlands, national forest, and climate change concerns) and youth hunter outreach.
     Have you had time to read the positions of both Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain on their respective sites? And what do you make of them? Sincere expressions of opinion or say-what-they-want-to-hear politics? And does a person have to be a hunter to appreciate views near and dear to sportsmen?

     "These deputies have too much power ... They can arrest anyone, anywhere, at any time, and they're not professionals. They're cowboys with guns."
     This is a comment by Pa. State Senator Gibson Armstrong, who has proposed an amendment that would severely restrict the power of part-time deputy wildlife conservation officers. According to this story published by the timesleader.com, if passed, the measure would strip the state's wardens of the authority to -- get this -- stop and inspect vehicles, go on private property, search people, camps or cabins, or drive state law enforcement vehicles with sirens and lights.
     The story is quick to point out that Sen. Armstrong's proposal comes after his son's citation by a deputy. The 37-year-old son had already pleaded guilty to offenses of resisting or interfering with an officer, disorderly conduct, driving away to avoid an inspection, and failure to produce identification to an officer, for which he had been fined almost $1,300. The son, however, contends that the charges were baseless, and that he only pleaded guilty because the matter was interfering with his ability to get licenses for his business.
     Now, I wasn't there, at the side of the road in Lower Chanceford Township, Pa., on the dark and chilly night when the citation-producing incident occurred, so it's hard to know what side to take in such a he-said / he-said situation. However, it seems reasonable to suggest that the elder Armstrong has perhaps taken things a tad too far.
     What's your read? And have you ever had an encounter with a CO that made you want to strip every deputy everywhere of their authority?  -K.H.