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Bob Zink

For those hunting and exploring in snake country, is the fear of being bit really justified?

Featured, Features, Home Page News, Hunting, Minnesota, National Hunting /

Going hunting or hiking in a state with venomous snakes? Read on.
Some evidence suggests that we’re born with a fear of snakes. Personally, I have gone both ways. I once kept snakes as a teen, which mostly ended when my large garter snake (note, they are not “gardner” snakes) escaped its cage and lived somewhere in our house for a couple of weeks. This sent my mother into a snake-fearing frenzy in which every step she took was preceded by careful inspection of where her foot would land.

For those hunting and exploring in snake country, is the fear of being bit really justified? Read More »

Bob Zink: PETA meets the Dunning-Kruger zone

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Minnesota, National Hunting, Opinion /

I admit to being a bit behind regarding my grasp of PETA.
The last thing I remember was that we all chuckled when we heard that in 1995, Michael Doughney registered the domain peta.org as “People Eating Tasty Animals.” Alas, in 1996 Doughney was sued by the extremist organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and ultimately was forced to surrender the domain. However, once you’ve heard that PETA stands for people eating tasty animals, you can’t unhear it, so there’s that, at least. It’s still what I think of, almost 30 years later.

Bob Zink: PETA meets the Dunning-Kruger zone Read More »

What do estimates of bird populations tell us about these species?

Featured, Home Page News, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nature Page & Night Sky, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

How many birds are there, anyway?
If you wonder about the number of birds of a given species, you can access some remarkable current data here. It’s a joint effort between Partners in Flight and the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies.
You’ll learn that the American robin is apparently by far the most common bird in the United States and Canada, with an estimate of 370 million, followed in second place by the blue-gray gnatcatcher and chipping sparrow, both at 230 million.

What do estimates of bird populations tell us about these species? Read More »

Bob Zink: Post-party illnesses a reminder of how to cook bear meat

Featured, Features, Home Page News, Hunting, Minnesota, National Hunting /

I have friends who have varying degrees of meat aversion. One will eat fish, but no other meat. One has a pet pig and will eat nothing with pork in it. Another is a “locavore.” Some are strictly vegetarians, and I know a couple of vegans. And then there is part of my immediate family whose reaction to game meat is “ish.” No hope for them.

Bob Zink: Post-party illnesses a reminder of how to cook bear meat Read More »

Scientific abstract scrutinizes two human deaths, but there’s no evidence CWD has jumped species barrier

Featured, Featured, Featured, Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Hunting, National News, New York, News, News, News, News, News, News, News, News, News, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

In Minnesota and beyond, resource agencies across the country are managing elk and deer populations infected with chronic wasting disease.

Scientific abstract scrutinizes two human deaths, but there’s no evidence CWD has jumped species barrier Read More »

Why do some deer species retain spots in adulthood?

Featured, Features, Home Page News, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Hunting, Nature Page & Night Sky, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

Biologists have spent a century or more pondering why organisms look the way they do. Two common principle ideas include camouflage and mate attraction.
We thought that stripes on zebras were to confuse predators, break up the outline of the animals, or even provide individual identity (no two zebras look alike, at least to other zebras).

Why do some deer species retain spots in adulthood? Read More »

Can microorganisms control a deer’s behavior?

Featured, Home Page News, Minnesota, Nature Page & Night Sky, Opinion /

The more you learn about nature, the weirder it becomes. Take the case of the “zombie” parasite Cordyceps. Spores from this fungus end up on an ant in a tropical forest. The spores take over the ant, infiltrating its muscles, causing it to move to a warm, humid place, and to lock its jaws into a plant.
The ant is no longer in control of its behavior. I might wish that this sort of behavior stops with ants and fungi. But alas, it doesn’t.

Can microorganisms control a deer’s behavior? Read More »

Efforts to change names of birds named after people divisive topic among ornithologists

Featured, Home Page News, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nature Page & Night Sky, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

It’s hard to escape the attention that the decision by the leadership of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) to change any bird name that was coined to honor a person to something more descriptive about its habitat or appearance. So a Cooper’s hawk or a LeConte’s sparrow will be called something else in the future, like Medium-Sized Bird-Snatcher or Streaked Little-Brown-Job.

Efforts to change names of birds named after people divisive topic among ornithologists Read More »

Fish slot-setting: Based on science, or arbitrary?

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Minnesota, National Fishing /

The Minnesota DNR sets limits for game fish that can vary from lake to lake. For example, on Lake Winnibigoshish, anglers may keep (and possess) six walleyes – one over 23 inches (tail pinched) or all under 18 inches. Whereas on Leech Lake, a few miles away, the limit is four walleyes, with one over 20 allowed in the limit.
Of course, you’re on the honor system. If I have six walleyes in my freezer at my place on Leech, I’d have to say they came from Winnie.

Fish slot-setting: Based on science, or arbitrary? Read More »

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