Starvin Larry

Humans are not newcomers when it comes to messing around with nature. While we haven’t created Frankenstein’s monster yet, what we do transforms the natural world.

One recent example is the creation of the coywolf — a hybrid of the coyote and the wolf that is also known as the Eastern coyote. According to a new article from The Economist, their population seems to have reached more than a million.

These animals have a completely new genetic makeup: Their genes are about one-quarter wolf DNA and two-thirds coyote DNA; the rest is from domesticated dogs. A 2013 study suggests this dog DNA is mostly from a few specific breeds, including German Shepherds and Doberman Pincers.

Human activity likely played a role in the species’ creation. As humans cut down wolves’ forest homes and hunted down their populations, the lack of available partners for wolves led them to search elsewhere for mates, leading them to coyotes and dogs.

Scientists think this intermixing began with wild wolves in southern Ontario about a century or two ago.

Charles Moreau PhotographyCharles Moreau caught this coywolf pup in Alberta, Canada.

The coywolves’ success is astounding scientists. According to The Economist:

The animal’s range has encompassed America’s entire north-east, urban areas included, for at least a decade, and is continuing to expand in the south-east following coywolves’ arrival there half a century ago. This is astonishing. Purebred coyotes never managed to establish themselves east of the prairies. Wolves were killed off in eastern forests long ago. But by combining their DNA, the two have given rise to an animal that is able to spread into a vast and otherwise uninhabitable territory.

Read the rest Here

Our kids were out hiking today,it’s a nice day,and it beats sitting around the house.

One of their friends slipped,fell and broke her leg-badly broke it.

Rather than risking making the break worse,I called 911,and hiked back in the woods with them to show them where the kids were.

We started out with the two guys from the ambulance,and one park ranger the two male kids and me when we began our 3/4 mile hike out of the woods with a 5′ 11″ 180# girl.

That’s a hell of along ways to carry someone,with over half of it in woods where there’s no trail.

Lots of up and down hills,several creeks to cross.

3 more park rangers and another fire dept. guy showed up when we were almost out of the woods-3 of the 6 guys tagged out and let the park rangers help carry her the rest of the way out-which was only about 100 yds.

One of the fire dept. guys,and the two young kids are the ones who tagged out,I just said screw it-just let me change sides,and went the rest of the way.

It was hard-anyone who thinks carrying wounded guys out of the woods,or out of wherever isn’t that hard should try it sometime.

It’s a learning experience-and not as easy as you think.

This was using top of the line gear made for carrying people-how easy do you think it’s gonna be when you use a tarp and a couple saplings for poles to carry someone out?

Carrying your people out of the woods/field needs to be part of your training,so you know what it takes.

It ain’t as easy as it looks on the tee vee.

Get out and try it so you see for yourself.