Field Notes

When Dodge, a normally pleasant billy goat, broke his leash and began knocking neighbor Dawn Pinette to the ground, deputy Jeff Scott, of Colleton County, South Carolina, temporarily subdued the animal with a Taser. Dodge, however, was back on the attack in a few seconds and had to be zapped twice more. We now officially recommend packing a .243 for goat protection. Just because Tasers have been used on two moose and a bear, doesn't mean your not undergunned with one. (Click here for the story)

As this Idaho Mountain Express and Guide article points out, while global warming and development is driving some animals north, Shiras moose are heading south and west, populating some areas well beyond their historic range. Scientists admit they don't know what accounts for the move, but at least one wonders about the Western reintroduction of wolves, noting that "If wolves are putting pressure on moose, they will go some place where there aren't wolves." (Click here for the story)

Enough snowmobilers are rocketing their machines atop patches of open water to create a name for the practice. It's called skimming, and this past Sunday on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee, 51-year-old Daniel Harper of Bellingham, MA, died doing it. With due respect for the dead, the whole thing does beg a question about the prudence (or sobriety) of skimmers in general. Or, as a friend of mine put it more bluntly than I might: "Does skimming make the inhabitants of northern states smarter by natural selection?" What do you think? (Click here for the story)