Poison for Profit

I came across this rather amazing tin of unopened roach killer in a local antique store.

That’s some label!

Though the can is itself cryptic, this was produced by B. Heller & Company, doing business as the Chicago Insecticide Laboratory, located at S. Calumet Ave. and E. 40th St., Chicago, IL.

Though the can offered a $1000 guarantee, it listed no ingredients, suggesting it was made before, or just shortly after, the Caustic Poison Act of 1927 forced companies to list dangerous chemicals on their labels, as well as antidotes and treatments.

The “$1,000.00 Guarantee” was slapped on a large swath of Chicago Insecticide Laboratory products, but no detail as to what it meant.  Afterall, I am pretty sure if you slammed this can down on a roach, it would kill it — guaranteed!

One of the Heller company’s products was the “Freezine,” milk and cream additive which guaranteed that “the Milk and Cream will remain perfectly sweet and fresh regardless of the temperature of the room they are kept in.”  

Not said: Freezine was actually a 7 percent solution of embalming fluid (formaldehyde) which resulted in the poisoning death of over 1,000 Chicago infants. Freezine and its analog competitors were banned by the U. S. Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

Tyler Childers :: Bitin’ List

At Least Six Possibilities

A nice open sette with clear evidence of lots of use. This may be fox, but you never know until the dog bays and you dig down or it bolts free. I’m just scouting in expectation of January snow.

For the quick and wrong, this is not the UK.  No badgers in this part of the US. The hole was dug by a groundhog, but the current resident could be groundhog. red fox, raccoon, possum, skunk, or gray fox.

Be Here Now

TOMORROW NIGHT is the actual full moon, but clouds may get in the way, and so I shot this tonight.

IN HIS BOOK, “The Sheltering Sky,” Paul Bowles wrote:

"Death is always on the way, but the fact that you don't know when it will arrive seems to take away from the finiteness of life. It's that terrible precision that we hate so much. But because we don't know, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless."

Small Signs in the Hedge

Here’s an interesting hole from earlier today.  Zoom in on the kick-out.  That’s Yellowjacket comb dug out by a skunk.

Three Kinds of Trouble

I once had a dog in the ground, when I spied an almost entirely white skunk coming down the hedgerow toward us.  

At the same instance, the unmistakable smell of skunk came from underground.

What followed was a few minutes of intense action.  

It all ended well (skunk spray can kill a dog underground), but as we were filling in, I spied another sign of what I suspected had attracted the skunks:  a “Red Velvet Ant”.  

Red Velvet Ants, sometimes called ”CowKiller Ants” are actually a kind of wingless wasp that lays its larva in underground wasp nests.  

Both of the skunks, and the Red Velvet Ant, were after an underground wasp nest a bit deeper in the sette.  

Lucky for us, we had not hit it!

For the record, the sting of a Red Velvet Ant is VERY painful, ranking 3 out of 4 on the Schmidt's sting pain index. 

Do. Not. Mess. With. Them.

The Value of That Endorsement?

Raccoon Skull

As found.

Unmistakable

Very fresh Beaver sign along the river.  On rivers too big to dam, Beaver will simply tunnel into the bank.

Bald Eagle Strengthening Their Nest

The local Bald Eagles are starting to get broody and are repairing and strengthening their nests.

The Last of the Chestnuts

The Last of the Chestnuts 

by NC Wyeth (c. 1916),  Brandywine Museum of Art 

Diversity vs Conformity

To the AKC’s credit, they see a problem and are willing to illuminate it. 

The AKC is holding up a mirror to their own —that’s tough leadership.

This is a painful article because it’s observed truth, not theory. 

During Rolissa’s research on dog training, she became fascinated by a new breed and decided she wanted to pursue Bullmastiffs. But again, she discovered that her biggest roadblock to getting the dog she wanted was her skin color. “Once they found out I was Black, they didn’t want to sell me a Bullmastiff,” she said….

The majority of people in Rolissa’s training classes had limited social exposure to Black people before. The same was true at Obedience competitions. But she realized that once fellow competitors saw she knew what she was doing in the ring, and she knew how to control her imposing dog, their attitudes changed. “The more people that got to know me, the more their reactions to me changed,” Rolissa said. “I don’t know if they got past my color, but I got past their judgement.”….

On trips to the Midwest and South, Rolissa’s husband would stay in the car. “I cannot go inside and watch. You’re going to places where there are no Blacks, Rolissa,” he said.

“But there are no Blacks anywhere,” Rolissa responded. At the time, Rolissa had never seen another Black person show a dog in Conformation.

“Never. Ever. Nowhere. Anytime. I would walk in places and they literally had their mouths hanging open. It was the strangest feeling, but I had an objective. The objective was to enjoy myself and to give back. Not just to give back to my dogs but to give back to me.”….

It wasn’t until the early ‘90s that Rolissa saw another Black woman competing in the show ring. A few years later, at the Bullmastiff National, a group of Black people came in with about 20 gorgeous Bullmastiffs. They didn’t win anything. Not their class, not a placement. Nothing.

“Don’t let this define you,” Rolissa told them, encouraging them to stick with it. “If you keep coming and you don’t get bitter, you will win. But you have to keep coming out. You have to keep pushing forward to get the respect you deserve. If you leave, they’ve won.”

That was the first and last time Rolissa ever saw them.

Read the whole thing >> here.

Misogyny at Westminster

As improbable as it may sound, it appears that until very recently women were not allowed to join the Westminster Kennel Club, or serve on its board. 

That has now changed, but there does not appear to be any record of when that change was made. It was clearly after 2015.

The 150th anniversary of the Westminster Dog show is coming up in 2026.  

It would be nice to see Westminster Kennel Club own its past misogyny, by at least memorializing the date at which they thought women might be allowed to be members.

And speaking of gender exclusions, it would be interesting to know if defacto or dejure racial exclusions ever existed, and when that fence first fell.

Turkey Trotter

Austin was 181 out of 3,978 runners in the Frederick, MD 5k Turkey Trot, which is pretty good for someone who’s 5’ 5” and 36. The really fast runners are all over 6 feet, rail thin, and under 25.

Austin started running in April and is knocking out 50-60 miles a week. He’s running his first marathon in May.

Snoopy Balloon

MACY’S THANKSGIVING PARADE, NYC

Photo, 1988 by Elliott Erwitt

Wild Wolf-Dog Hybrids In Italy

From >> https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320725006524?via%3Dihub

Genetic evidence reveals extensive wolf-dog hybridisation in peninsular Italy: warnings against ineffective management by Di Rita Lorenzini, Antonella Pizzarelli, Lorenzo Attili, Massimo Biagetti. Carla Sebastiani, Paolo Ciucci, in stampa in Biological Conservation.

Highlights:

• Wolf-dog hybridisation (WDH) is a relevant and emerging threat for European wolves.

• Using tissue samples from 774 wolves we assessed WDH in peninsular Italy, 2020–2024.

• Peninsular Italian wolves suffer from widespread (46.7 %), ongoing dog introgression.

• Persistent lack of management will likely cause complete admixture (genetic swamping).

• The genetic integrity of wolves is crucial to assess their conservation status.

Silly on a Stick

Specialized things are specialized for a reason.

This is true of dogs, as I have noted in the past. A terrier small enough to go to ground cannot also be large enough to be a really excellent all-day retriever. You may get a small dog that can retrieve a few birds, but it will not be as good a dog as a dedicated breed on either end of the spectrum.

More likely, by planting one foot on the dock and one foot on the boat, you are going to end up in the water. Sometimes it's best to make a decision and not get somewhere in the middle.

And so it is with guns and fishing rods. One is not like the other, and if you need both out in the woods, might I suggest a reasonably-priced four-piece Eagle Claw pack rod paired with a Smith and Wesson .22 Kit Gun or its analog made by Taurus?

But no, an American genius has decided what the world really needs is a 1-pound pack-rifle and fishing pole combination.

As a fishing pole, it appears to be a wonderful tire iron, and as a rifle it appears to be a wonderful tire iron that loads one shot at a time and might blow up in your face. 

To repeat: Specialized things are specialized for a reason.
.

Every Breed Is a “Designer” Dog

Nothing is as funny to me as dog breeders clutching their pearls and falling on to fainting couches over the rise of “doodles,” which they castigate as “designer dogs”.

Every Breed is, by definition, a designer dog. 

Do these folks not know this?

The “breed standard” is the design.  

It’s written down.  

There are even measurements and drawings.  

The dogs are literally made to order.

And Poodle crosses?  Poodles ARE a cross!  

They were made from their antecedents, the various types of “water dogs” now known as The French Barbet, the Irish Water Dog, the Portuguese Water Dog, the Pudlepointer, the Lagotto Romagnolo, the English Water Spaniel, the Wetterhoun, the Cantabrian Water Dog, and the Tweed Water Spaniel.

Poodles come in three sizes, Standard, Miniature, and Toy.  

How many breeds came out of those three sizes?   The Bichon Frisé, the Havanese, the Coton de Tulear…. we could go on, but you get the idea.  

And what have they created now??

Oh. My. GOD!  A Poodle-doodle!  

Is there no stopping these designer dog people?!

Cujo I and Cujo II

These two are ready for a Stephen King story.

Stephen King actually toured with a much more normal looking dog.

Reforestation Success in Costa Rica

Costa Rica's forestry sector has reversed deforestation, from a low of about 21% in the 1980s to nearly 60% today. 

The country's success is due to government policies that made logging illegal without permits and implementing a groundbreaking Payment for Environmental Services (PES) program that financially incentivizes landowners for conservation.

Other strategies include expanding sustainable forest management and landscape restoration programs, creating national parks, and planting native trees.

These efforts have created new economic opportunities through ecoa-tourism and a rise in GDP, and the country is now recognized as a leader in forest conservation.

Will Trade Racists for Refugees

"Refugee Thanksgiving" (1943) by Norman Rockwell for The Saturday Evening Post.

A Damn Good Job

The new Royal Kennel Club web site is at >> https://www.royalkennelclub.com

It’s a truly significant step up from the old site, with a special section on the problems of brachycephalic dogs, a section on obesity, and a COI calculator.

The web site is not cluttered and fairly transparent — two things notoriously difficult to achieve on a large web site.

More later.  

For now, take a look and post your comments.

How Did an American Bird Get Called Turkey?

Back when Constantinople was a hub of international trade, and merchants sold goods from Africa and the Far East to distributors across Europe, a lot of goods got tagged with the nationality of the exporter.  

For example, Persian carpets were often sold as 'Turkish rugs.' 

Guinea fowl, originating from Africa, and sold through Constantinople, became known as 'Turkey Cock' in the markets of England, where they were a popular food fare.

When British settlers arrived in the New World and encountered a large woodland bird that looked a bit like a Guinea fowl, they called the bird a “Turkey cock,” and a shortened version of the name stuck

The Kennel Club Doubled Down on Inbreeding?

Yes, I am a cynic.  

But also, YES, King Charles III’s inbreeding coefficient is estimated at just over 10%.

Disappointment Turned to Optimism

Mail-order plants are always a surprise. 

My first mail order plants were for my previous house.  The yard there was deer-free due to solid-fencing all around, and I wanted a lot of day-lilies and hostas, but I was reticent (read too cheap) to pay potted-plant prices.

My first order was for 85 day-lilies from Gilbert H. Wild and Sons in Missouri, a place in operation for over 100 years, and specializing in day-lilies. The box seemed quite small when it arrived, but 85 bare roots were indeed inside, and I immediately set to planting them out and, two weeks later, they were already roaring to life. Pictures here >> https://shorturl.at/jTKZX

That daylily order was followed up, two weeks later, by an order for 50 hostas from the same Gilbert H. Wild and Sons. These too came in a distressingly small box, and were immediately planted out. Pictures here >> https://shorturl.at/uKjNt

Guess what?  They too immediatly roared to life.  See >>  https://shorturl.at/uXlss

Last night 75 Hay-scented ferns were delivered from a plant place in Tennessee.  It was the smallest and lightest box yet. Had I been snookered?

Earlier in the day, in expectation of the ferns arriving, I had gathered up seven growing tubs.  These tubs have drainage holes drilled an inch or two from the bottom, so that water can pool there to get plants through drought, but also dump water, when needed, to avoid drowning them in heavy rain.

I put a deep layer of old leaves in the bottom of each tub, with a few thick sticks on top to prevent too much packing when the soil was added on top. On top of this, I opened up a bag of humus-rich topsoil.

Now for the plants.  What the hell had I bought?

Inside the box was a plastic bag, and inside it was a rats-nest of roots.  What?

Things got clear when I started to pull on the rats-nest.  Little tiny green fern sprouts were arrayed down 3-12 inch root-like rhizomes. Ah!  Got it!

I arrayed the rhizomes, with sprouts up, in the bins and covered them with a thin layer of top soil. 

Will these things grow?  Had I gotten my money’s worth?

I have no doubt.  75 ferns?  I had gotten 75 rhizomes, each with 3-10 sprouts!

Hay-scented ferns are native ferns, quite deer-resistant, and are supposed to be rapacious growers, all of which is exactly what I need in a half-acre of forest immediately behind the house, which is largely plant-free.  

I am only the second owner of this house. The previous owner had spent 27 years trying to grow grass in shade under 80-foot oaks. When the leaves came down, it was war against the leaves, and that war was ultimately lost when he moved to Florida, rented out the house, and the tenant did nothing about the leaves. When the leaves came down, of course, they killed the always-struggling grass. When I bought the house, the half acre in back was a barren, muddy mess. 

What to do?  

Having no interest in either recapitulating failure or chasing weeds for the next 20 years, I coated the entire areas in a patchwork of weed-control cloth, plastic, and cardboard, and topped it with mulch and wood chips. I added more wood chips every six months, and now —18 months later — I have a perfect weed-free substrate for ferns.

If these ferns do as well as I think they will, my next order may be for Ostrich Ferns and Christmas Ferns.

On This Day, On the Origin of Species

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, by Charles Darwin, was published on this day in  1859.

MonaLisa Twins :: Hazy Shade of Winter

Mona Wagner and Lisa Wagner are twins. Honest.

Joe Cocker :: The Letter

Beth Hart :: I’d Rather Go Blind

Article VI, US Constitution

This is a sign at the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY. 

Please read it.  This is the law.

“An order requiring the performance of a military duty or act may be disobeyed when such act is unlawful.” — Manual for Courts-Martial United States (2024), Part IV, ¶ 14.c.(2)(a)(i)

In a Single Life Time

South Korea’s forests were wiped out in the 1950s war. 

Today 63 percent of South Korea is forested.  It’s one of the largest reforestation success stories in the world. 

The country planted over 11 billion trees, restored biodiversity, stabilized erosion. 

A whole landscape literally came back to life within a single lifetime. 

Terrier Longevity Vs Brachycephalics

“Jack Russell Terriers and Yorkshire Terriers have the highest life expectancies of dog breeds in the UK, according to a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports. However, flat-faced breeds such as French Bulldogs and Pugs have some of the lowest life expectancies.

“Kendy Tzu-yun Teng, Dan O'Neill and colleagues analyzed 30,563 records of dog deaths from veterinary practices across the UK between 2016 and 2020 using the VetCompass database, categorized into 18 dog breeds recognized by the Kennel Club and also a group of crossbreed dogs. They created life tables which calculate life expectancy throughout the life cycle, starting at birth (0 years).

“Jack Russell Terriers had the highest life expectancy at birth (12.72 years), followed by Yorkshire Terriers (12.54 years), Border Collies (12.10 years), and Springer Spaniels (11.92 years). In contrast, French Bulldogs had the lowest life expectancy at birth (4.53 years). This is approximately three years less than other flat-faced breeds that showed low life expectancies at birth including English Bulldogs (7.39 years) and Pugs (7.65 years). The authors propose that these short life expectancies could result from the high health risks known to occur in these flat-faced breeds.

“Across all dog breeds, the average life expectancy at age 0 for male dogs was 11.1 years, four months shorter than the estimate for female dogs. Dogs that had been neutered had a higher life expectancy (11.98 years for females and 11.49 years for males) than those that were not neutered (10.50 years for females and 10.58 years for males). The authors discuss the potential benefits of neutering and associated increased life expectancy and whether neutering could possibly reflect more responsible dog owners and better care.

See >> https://phys.org/news/2022-04-life-uk-dogs-jack-russell.amp

The Local Doomsday Bunker

I was having a coffee with my wife at my local coffee establishment, when my cell phone died, necessitating a reach for a nearly week-old analog version of the local small town newspaper.

There, I found a fascinating story, by James Rada, Jr., detailing the hollowing out of a portion of nearby South Mountain in the 1950s, in order to build a massive atom-bomb-proof bunker to house politicians and military personnel should that be needed following a nuclear attack.

The Raven Rock site was chosen because “the mountain was made a very hard green stone granite, the fourth hardest mineral on the planet. At the time it was believed that the underground bunker could withstand a nuclear attack.”

Right.  That same Catoctin Greenstone is the hard stuff on which my house sits.  It’s a type of meta-basalt, green schist, or prasinite that was laid down about 570 million years ago, making it older than the rings of Saturn or the North Star.

I’ve shifted a bit of this stuff, and it’s as hard as Easter Island hammer stone.

So how much of this stuff was blasted out?  Apparently, half a million cubic yards over the space of 10 months. Wow.  A big dump truck might hold 15 cubic yards of material. To move half a million cubic yards, you would need over 33,000 dump truck loads.

The hollow part is a half a mile inside the mountain, and a half mile below the peak. Inside is a facility the size of a small town, complete with fire department, police department, medical facilities, bowling alley, and a dining facility serving four meals a day. The buildings inside are as tall as three stories.

Today, the site appears to be a communications facility which houses part of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

All Aboard the Change Train

From the Telegraph >> https://shorturl.at/v4MNW

“Designer dogs with flat faces, wrinkly skin and bulging eyes will disappear in the next 10 years under plans to eradicate extreme traits in dogs.

“Breeds such as French bulldogs, pugs and English bulldogs have had features bred into them that cause health problems and suffering. Issues include a high risk of infections and not being able to run. Many are forced to undergo surgery to help them breathe.

"The scheme is voluntary but has wide support from charities, insurers and the Kennel Club."

Nature or Nurture?

Domesticated or wild? Tame or feral?

It’s not quite that simple is it?

Yes, if you are painting broadly, wolves as a group are “wild,” and one on a leash can be described as “tame”.

Conversely, dogs as a group are “domesticated,” but an adult dog that was born in a dump far from humans, eats roadkill, and has never seen the inside of a building or worn a collar on its neck can be described as “feral”.

But things fall apart and come together if we look a bit closer.

Take a truly feral adult dog or cat.  

Can they be rehabilitated?  

It depends on the animal, but it’s *always* difficult, as truly feral adult cats and dogs are as fearful of people as a naturally wild animal. 

Why is that?  

Well, it seems the process of “going feral” in dogs and cats fundamentally changes how their brain and central nervous systems deal with novelty.

Anxiety is almost always on the front burner.  

These genetically “domesticated” dogs and cats have been effectively “wired for wild”.

Where and when does this wiring occur?

It occurs in the Limbic System of the brain, and it occurs in the first few days and weeks after birth.

What’s the Limbic System?

The Limbic System is the part of an individual animal’s brain that controls “flight or fight,” emotion, fear, and mood.

An individual animal’s Limbic System is wired and rewired starting at birth and over the next few weeks.

Changes in the Limbic System are, as far as we can tell, one-way events. 

What’s that mean?  It means that if a domesticated animal, such as a dog or cat, is born and raised to adulthood without human contact, it’s always going to be wild, and its “flight or fight” button will govern a great deal of its life.

Conversely, if a wild animal, such as a wolf or big cat, is born and raised to adulthood with lots of positive human contact, its “flight or fight” button will be attenuated due to changes made to the Limbic System shortly after birth

What about domesticated dogs that are born with genetic fear?  

There’s a topic that too often gets little attention!

Dogs born with genetic fear may have been well-cared for through their first 12 weeks of life, but they remain anxious and hand-shy nonetheless.  These animals are, in the words of Lady Gaga “born that way”.  

Can they be “fixed”?  

Not easily.  

A dog with genetic fear is a dog with a broken Limbic System. People are free to do what they want, but in my opinion a dog with genetic fear needs to be put down as humanely as possible, as the defect is in the brain, and makes them maladaptive as a pet.

Now, let’s flip it around and look at it the other way.   What about wild animals that are captured when only a few days old?

Here things go in the opposite direction.  Several things are happening in this situation,  especially with animals whose eyes are not yet open.

Imprinting, socialization, and rewards-based training all work together in this scenario to “tame” the natural fear of humans that pervades most wild animals.

This is Limbic Imprinting.

Limbic Imprinting begins with Filial Imprinting, in which baby animals naturally follow the first moving thing they see.  When that instinctive behavior is rewarded with food, warmth. and positive contact, the imprinting that occurs is likely permanent, and certainly difficult to change. 

Why is it so hard to change?  

That’s because an animal’s neonatal experience wires, or rewires, the  brain’s Limbic System (aka, the paleo-mammalian cortex) which is involved in emotional processing and motivation in vertebrate animals. 

Limbic Imprinting is a physical thing, and it’s key to understanding why the “taming” of wild animals captured when only a few hours or days old, is so often successful. 

Limbic Imprinting also explains why adult feral versions of “domesticated” animals are so difficult to work with despite descending from thousands of years of domestic stock.

Can “wild” animals taken at birth be tamed to the point of being far safer and more tractable than adult “domesticated” animals allowed to go fully feral?

Absolutely. We can see that in every country, every culture, in every era, and with damn near every animal, from elephants to lions, from chimpanzees to cheetahs, from horses to buffalo, from camels to red fox, and from badger to wolves. 

Some wild animals seem to tame rather easily, such as camels, horses, water buffalos, yaks, ducks, geese, hamsters, pigs, wild cats, and junglefowl.

These same animals, of course, have no trouble going feral.

Are they domesticated animals going feral, or wild animals made tame?

Does it matter?  

It’s really a tautological word game isn’t it?  Six of one and half a dozen of the other, as the old saying goes.

To be clear, imprinting and training *alone* will not make a wolf a bird dog or a good family pet.  

Even if a “wild” animal is always friendly and safe, there will be other issues that remain; size, urine marking, denning behavior, food caching, and the like. And, in the case of coyotes, foxes, and wolves, their body movements and play behavior may not be dog-like.

But can a wolf stolen from the den at two days old be turned into an animal that is safer than a three year old poorly socialized and truly feral 120-pound dog?

Absolutely.

And so now we get down to it: “domesticated” does not mean much,

Despite being domesticated for over 15,000 years, pet dogs routinely kill sheep and goats, kill other dogs, and maul and kill people.

And what about cattle and horses?  They’ve been domesticated for millennia, but woe be the fool that crosses the wire into a bull pasture.  

If you go to Pamplona and find yourself running with four feet of horn and two thousand pounds of muscle bearing down on you, be sure to yell backwards, “But you’re domesticated!”  I’m sure that will work wonders.

By the way, a truly feral dog is NOT the same as a stray or a village dog.  Strays and village dogs generally have had quite a lot of experience with humans, early on, and these animals see people as potential sources for food handouts.  A truly feral dog does not.

——————

RELATED POSTS:

▪️Konrad Lorenz Did Not Discover Imprinting >> https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2025/11/konrad-lorenz-did-not-discover.html?

▪️The Wolf In the Dog House >> https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2012/01/distinctions-without-difference.html?

▪️The Stolen Wolves of Kazakhstan >> https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-stolen-wolves-of-kazakhstan.html?

▪️ Who Domesticated Whom? And Why? >> https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2011/09/who-domesticated-whom-and-why.html?

▪️ The Wolves of Tbilisi Street >> https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-wolves-of-tbilisi-street.html?