What would you do, if your family was broke, would you poach?

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Fisherman-Gets-Prison-for-Illegal-Striped-Bass-Harvest-294572871.html

Everything has consequences.  You cannot overfish forever.  (With helpful stock pic of what a striper looks like.)

Or you could, you know, NOT capture it

How about letting it live in the wild?

http://www.newser.com/story/203381/burma-captures-rare-white-elephant.html

Vernal Pool survey & pics

Vernal, or Ephemeral, pools are temporary ponds which form due to wet weather conditions, and provide critical shelter for animals and plants.  Because they are small and shallow, they cannot support fish populations from year to year, which makes them prime breeding areas for amphibians.   With the worldwide crash in amphibian populations (climate change, pollution, environmental estrogens) each pristine vernal pool is literally an oasis in a desert.   That these pools remain unspoiled is critical, only cool clear water will effectively support the reproductive cycle.   They also provide critical protein sources to other woodland animals such as racoons, skunks, mink and coyote.

A while back I got to volunteer as part of the Wood/Pawcatuck Watershed Association (http://www.wpwa.org/) who was conducting a field survey of all identified vernal pools in the watershed.   They were doing this off old aerial photos - anything dark and pond-like from the air got GPS coordinates determined, and then pairs of volunteers went out and did surveys for things like water clarity and temperature, count and description of animals, lists of any environmental threats like dumped trash or runoff, etc.   It was a blast, and I got to walk around on a few thousand acres of privately held and protected land.   My partner and I had good luck and got a lot of data.   I'm attaching some pictures.

Frog eggs:

More frog eggs:

Box turtle carapace:

Great Blue Heron nesting ground:

Beaver activity:

1 less "grander" Blue Marlin out there

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/28161879/teen-reels-in-1058-pound-blue-marlin-off-kona-coast

A giant like this is precisely the fish you want to keep alive, breeding.

Meanwhile:


http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120920-are-we-running-out-of-fish

And
http://ecologicalsociology.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-managed-annihilation-unnatural.html

Second quinzhee attempt, Winter: 1, Ed: 1

As I previously wrote here http://faint-traces.blogspot.com/2015/02/first-attempt-at-quinzhee-winter1-ed0.html, I have been looking to sharpen my winter hiking skills.   The first attempt consisted of piling up snow, letting it sinter, then hollowing it out.  The results were positive, although I learned that a) you get soaked and b) to do it right you need a big pile and c) I was a little too claustrophobic.

Today's attempt was a sort of modified design, basically a glorified tunnel into a snowbank, the remains of multiple storms' shoveling off my back patio, which has had a few weeks now to compress.  The bank is about 3-4' high.  The plan was simply to cut a tunnel through it, to provide a sleeping space that was ~90% enclosed.  I have a fear of being buried, and I don't want to learn how to build a proper snow shelter the hard way.  I cut the tunnel N-S through the bank; the prevailing wind here is west.   This will help keep it ventilated without turning into a wind-tunnel.  The tunnel is about 10' long.

Things I learned:

• You need to make the tunnel high enough for both you and your sleep system.
• You get soaked - today was about 30 degrees and sunny, so I was wearing cotton-based 'yard' clothes.  I was pretty wet by the end.
• It doesn't take long if you have a good snowbank, maybe 30 minutes.
• The middle of the tunnel narrows as you lose the right angle for shovelling.   This isn't a bad thing, as it helps preserve body heat.
• You really need a shovel; there's no way I could have done this by hand.
• A snow shovel makes a lot of sharp, stress concentrating edges.   Use your boots. knees, hands to smooth/round the tunnel to help distribute the weight more effectively.

I'd feel comfortable in this shelter, at least on a sleeping pad.   If you're not expecting snow/rain, this sort of shelter is fine, you can sleep mostly covered, out of the wind, but still have fresh air.

Seriously, who shoots a whale?

I think this guy has some other problems.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/02/cape_may_fisherman_charged_with_firing_at_pilot_wh.html

Seriously, who shoots at whales?

"Defendant Archibald claimed that he had 'sprayed' bullets at pilot whales in a an effort to chase them away and that at times the whales might have been close to the Capt. Bob."

Pilot whales pose no danger to boats, or people... because they eat squid.

A NYT article (not linking to it, they paywall and are weird) writes that he was trying to chase them away from his lines.   He'd be better off with some kind of cannon or other noisemakers - which would also probably scare off the fish.

From another article:
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/down-the-shore/78722-jersey-shore-fisherman-faces-criminal-charges-for-shooting-at-whales

Also, nearly a month before the pilot whale washed ashore, defendant Archibald posted a Facebook photograph of a tuna head on a hook with the caption, “thanks a lot pilot whales.” 

Sounds like this guy got sick of them eating his tuna, so he shot one.

MSR Revo Explore 25 review

Disclaimer: I've never snowshoed before, and have no experience, other than selling them when I worked at an outfitter a very long time ago.

Before I begin, kudos to LL Bean - for the 10% off online shopping, the free shipping, and the 2-day delivery even though they had said 7 days.

I bought the Explore vs. the Trail shoes because the Explore ones seemed a little more heavy duty.  I've never seen the Trail ones, so I can't compare.

First impressions:
Took them out of the box, they seemed light.   The 'toothed' aluminum frame isn't nearly as sharp as I feared or that you might think.   I didn't bother with the instructions and went outside.

Fit:
I couldn't tell if there's supposed to be a right and left.  There's a ratcheting mechanism which can be used easily with gloves to snug the two attachment points, one across the toes, and one around the heel.   They say not to adjust the heel once once you've dialed it in, but in the few times I've used this, it's been tricky to get OUT of the shoes, so I ended up loosening both the toe and heel straps.   Loosening them is easy.  My only worry is that the material is plastic, and plastic+cold usually equals fail.  Time will tell.

Performance:
I tried these on rolling terrain with about 2.5-3' of virgin powdery snow.   These will not make you walk across the snow like Legloas in the Lord of the Rings, but they DO keep you from postholing.  I'd say the worst I sank in was about 8-10 inches.   Doing about 1/4" mile walk was fun, not tiring; previous treks on just boots in the same area left me gasping for breath.  The 25" shoes are supposedly good for weight up to 220lb, I'm a good chunk below that, and in this snow, I'm glad I'm not heavier.  The shoes do have optional 5 inch "tails" which add more area if you're heavily loaded, or the snow is very light.

Conclusion:  Snowshoes are awesome.   Could you buy cheaper ones or a knock-off brand?  Sure.  The fit and build quality on these seem good, the traction is excellent, and I trust both MSR and LLBean.   Well worth it.