The Woods

MeatEater Hunting – Walmart Deems Hunting Videos Violent, Orders Stores to Remove Displays

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MeatEater Hunting – Walmart Deems Hunting Videos Violent, Orders Stores to Remove Displays

In response to the recent shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Walmart is ordering its stores to “remove signing and displays referencing violence.” The company-wide memo went public today, telling stores to take action immediately. Specifically, employees were told to remove violent movies and video games, as well as any hunting videos. “Review your store for any signing or displays that contain violent images or aggressive behavior. Remove from the salesfloor or turn off these items,” the memo reads. “Turn off any hunting season videos that may be playing in Sporting Goods, and remove any monitors or displays that show the videos.”

Conservationists Want You to Stop Building Rock Piles | Smart News | Smithsonian

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Conservationists Want You to Stop Building Rock Piles | Smart News | Smithsonian

While building rock piles probably isn't the biggest threat to the environment ever in most places, I have certainly seen places where the amount of rock piles have become  a nuisance -- I'm thinking along the Appalachian Trail at Pine Cobble. I guess if you have nothing better to do then stack rocks, at least knock them back down when your done.

THE MUCH-MALIGNED WILDLIFE TOOL CALLED TRAPPING

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THE MUCH-MALIGNED WILDLIFE TOOL CALLED TRAPPING

Trapping provides an income for thousands of outdoorsmen and women. It can be supplemental income for youngsters in school. Fur sales add millions of dollars to the economy.

Trappers also help property owners avoid damage to their land. Trapping is an efficient method of controlling furbearers who have become a nuisance. Oversize populations of furbearers can cause severe damage to the vegetation. A marsh can become unproductive for other forms of wildlife. Trappers help control animal populations.

Simple Living Alaska – Beehive Update August 2019 | Keeping Honey Bees in Alaska

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I never seen those polystyrene bee hives before, but I can certainly understand the need for insuation in cold climates. I am sure they've been tested for styrene leaching out of the polystyrene, but still I have questions -- maybe not scientifically based. I know they're is a lot of concern on some quarters about styrene leaching into food, especially oily food. Plus how durable are they? Maybe I'm just old fashioned, luddite.

Hard truths about Hunting, Activism, and Wildlife Conservation — Furbearer Conservation

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Hard truths about Hunting, Activism, and Wildlife Conservation — Furbearer Conservation

The North American Model of Wildlife Management has set the standard for maintaining healthy wildlife populations upon the landscape by providing public access to public resources, and providing engaging recreational opportunities to connect folks with the landscape. A few years ago I was asked how I thought we could get more people interested in conserving land and water, and my answer was simple.

Teach them to hunt, fish, and trap. Give people an activity which intimately connects them to these resources, and then give them a place to do it.

Hiking, bird-watching, and photography are great, and I enjoy them all, but hunting is immersive to a degree which simply cannot be replicated by less demanding interactions. This very fact has driven the success of the North American Model. Hunters, trappers, and anglers, have worked hand-in-hand with state and federal wildlife agencies to restore and maintain healthy wildlife populations for over a century.

When Squirrels Were One of America’s Most Popular Pets

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When Squirrels Were One of America’s Most Popular Pets

In 1722, a pet squirrel named Mungo passed away. It was a tragedy: Mungo escaped its confines and met its fate at the teeth of a dog. Benjamin Franklin, friend of the owner, immortalized the squirrel with a tribute.

“Few squirrels were better accomplished, for he had a good education, had traveled far, and seen much of the world.” Franklin wrote, adding, “Thou art fallen by the fangs of wanton, cruel Ranger!”

Mourning a squirrel’s death wasn’t as uncommon as you might think when Franklin wrote Mungo’s eulogy; in the 18th- and 19th centuries, squirrels were fixtures in American homes, especially for children. While colonial Americans kept many types of wild animals as pets, squirrels “were the most popular,” according to Katherine Grier’s Pets in America, being relatively easy to keep.