Coffee & Provocation

Herding Central Park:
From The New York Times: The New York City Central Park Conservancy has brought in a pair of border collies and a professional goose wrangler (Geese Police Inc.) to rid the park of 300 geese that made the park their home --there had been a tenfold increase in the goose population over the course of the last three or four years. After three days of dog patrols, the number of geese was down to half a dozen. The dogs will, of course, have to return periodically.

Mink Coats as Violins?:
From a guest column at Man in Nature: "By being made into a fur coat, that mink's pelt is raised into something higher, just as a tree made into a violin is raised, or a cow made into a sumptuous steak is raised. A raw material becomes part of the human world; fur isn't just on the back of an animal scratching around for food, but is instead worked on and admired as art. Indeed, it is only really by becoming a coat that a mink's life can be said to have had any purpose at all."

Size Matters:
From The New York Times: Scientists have located the gene fragment that controls the size of dogs. No other mammal expresses a 100-fold size differential within its genetic base(from 2-pound Chihuahuas to 200-pound Newfoundlands). Thanks to Reid Farmer for bird-dogging this one.

Fishing Madness:
Want to see a video of a fellow in New Zealand who hooked a striped marlin from a jet ski, and then jumped overboard to tag the fish? Click here. A hat tip to the Field Notes blog for this one.

Coyote Attacks New Jersey Boy:
People are more likely to be injured playing ping pong than they are to be attacked by a coyote. That said, New Jersey officials are reporting what may be their first coyote attack ever on a human. The toddler was saved by his 11-year old nephew. Thanks to Teddy Moritz for bird-dogging this one.