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After Death by Goat, National Park Warns: Don’t Pee on the Trail

Michael Frank — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 08:00:50 PDT

It’s been a deadly year in Washington State’s Olympic National Park. For humans and for animals.

Last fall a 63-year-old man named Bob Boardman was attacked by a 370-pound male mountain goat. Boardman was gored in the thigh and bled to death and the goat that killed him was shot soon after the incident. But when pathologists examined the goat, suspecting perhaps some sort of neurological abnormality or disease, they found no such evidence.

The blame, according to NPS officials, is likely simple habituation — the 300 or so goats in the park are used to a human presence. They’re also attracted to human urine because of the salt in it. And until now the park has had no policy restricting peeing near trails, but a new policy will change that. Visitors are advised to constrain urination to at least 200 feet from any marked trail, to prevent what officials there call “linear salt licks”. Yep, nasty. But the corridors that humans follow are splashed with their excretions and since goats will be goats, they’re attracted to them.

In addition to peeing elsewhere, further measures include:

- Always staying at least 50 yards away from goats.
- Closing trails where goats decide to gather or persistently follow people.
- Closing trails for up to two weeks where goats have shown to be aggressive (followed by park service staff hazing the animals by throwing stones, making load noises and making life unpleasant enough that the animals move on.
- There are also contingencies to kill goats, in the event that becomes necessary.

What hasn’t been as widely commented on is that the incident this past fall occurred during the rut, when males grow much more aggressive. But it’s clear this isn’t the only cause. On June 14 a hiker was stalked by a male goat as well, though the incident luckily ended without injury.

The new guidelines will hopefully reduce human and goat interactions and, more broadly, human-animal interactions as well, since on June 17 park officials had to shoot an adult elk that was exhibiting aggressive behavior, charging a tent and park patrol truck, and stalking park rangers.

The National Parks Conservation Association Study that came out on July 1 spotlighted Olympic National Park as one of the more threatened in the nation. Clear cutting on the edge of the park has been so stark that the entire peninsula is pocked by deforestation, which crowds large animals into the park where they are less threatened. In the NASA image above all of the red areas represent clear cuts. Only deep green represents standing, older and denser woods, and all of that forest is within the park’s boundaries. It’s never easy (and often impossible) to connect a given animal-human interaction to habitat loss, it’s also clear that with more people using parks and development or extraction chewing at the edges of wildlife’s range, such incidents will only be more common.

This environmental coverage made possible in part by support from Patagonia. For information on Patagonia and its environmental efforts, visit www.patagonia.com.

Illustration: NASA

Chicago Essential: Giordano's

(author unknown) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 11:30:00 PDT

[Photographs: Daniel Zemans]

Giordano's

223 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60606 (map); 312-583-9400; giordanos.com
Pizza Style: Stuffed and Thin Crust
The Skinny: The stuffed pizza, perhaps the perfect exemplar of the style, justifies all of the raves; the thin crust is forgettable
Price: Medium stuffed spinach is $21.40; medium thin crust with sausaage is $13.65
Notes: 40 additional locations in Chicagoland and a handful more in Florida

Pizza lovers across the land justifiably view Giordano's as the premier exemplar of stuffed pizza. Tourists flock to the downtown locations, especially the flagship restaurant on Rush Street, while Chicagoans and suburbanites keep dozens more Giordano's in business throughout the metropolitan area.

Open since 1974, Giordano's was either the first or second restaurant to offer stuffed pizza. Nancy's (reviewed here) was also founded the same year, and both places trace their creation to a tomato-less Easter pie the founders' families made in Turin, Italy. (Read more about the traditional holiday treat here). Given the tremendous similarities between the timing, the story, and the final product, I suspect there's more to the relationship between the Boglio brothers, who founded Giordano's, and Rocco and Nancy Palese, the couple behind Nancy's. But that's a research project for another day. For now, the focus is on Giordano's, which is undeniably one of Chicago's essential pizzerias.

I'm always amused by the two-part reaction when people encounter their first stuffed pizza. Seeing the two-inch tall pizza put in front of them, their eyes widen. Then awe gives way to giggling when the server pulls way the first slice, revealing more cheese than they've ever seen on a pizza. I'm talking quality whole milk mozzarella that's shredded in-house.

I got this pizza with spinach, which manages to shine through the much more substantial parts of the pizza and gives the illusion of a healthier meal. While the cheese is unquestionably the most gluttonous part of the pizza, it's the sauce that steals the show. Made from fresh tomatoes, this tangy and herbaceous thick sauce packs a powerful tomato punch. The crust, made from a high-gluten flour dough that rises for about 4 days, gets flaky around the outer edge from a good amount of shortening, but doesn't bring a lot of flavor. I've yet to meet the person who picks the crust as their favorite part of a Giordano's stuffed pizza, but it's more than a serviceable platform for a craveworthy pie.

I'm not going to say the thin crust at Giordano's is bad, but were it not for "research", I never would have considered getting the thin sausage pizza at a stuffed crust pizzeria. In its favor, the pepper-packed and fennel-filled hunks of juicy sausage are very good, and more than flavorful enough to stand out in a stuffed pizza. The cheese adds some needed fat and moisture to balance out the (now here's the less favorable part) too thick, dry crust; topped with a surprisingly small amount of thin sauce.

Stuffed pizza at Giordano's deserves its status among the must-try pizzerias in Chicago. Despite a lot franchise locations, the chain has been a model of consistency. The current ownership group of the parent company is in bankruptcy right now, thanks to some ill-advised real estate ventures. The whole thing is so out of control that the current owner has actually been banned from even patronizing a Giordano's. The good news is the brand name remains strong. As long as the ultimate owner of the business remains committed to what has worked at Giordano's for nearly four decades, the delicious pizza should keep on coming.

Pirate Parents

Adam — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:00:00 PDT

Quiet But Lethal

Adam — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 22:00:00 PDT

Extended Mind

(author unknown) — Tue, 24 May 2011 21:00:00 PDT

Dear George Lucas

lcfr — Thu, 19 May 2011 21:00:35 PDT

Nature’s Schedules: How Animals Really Spend Their Time

Delana — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 10:00:20 PDT

Animals in the wild lead busy, busy lives. They have so much to do that it is frankly amazing that we see them without little day planners or digital organizers. As a public service, these are the facts that animals can’t tell you themselves: how they really spend their days.

Elephants, as we all know, find it almost impossible to forget anything. But surprisingly, they do not devote much time each day to retaining memories. Most of their days, as it turns out, are spent eating. It takes a lot of time to find enough peanuts to fill up those big tummies.

Contrary to popular belief, jellyfish do not spend all day plotting to ruin your trip to the beach. In fact, the vast majority of their days are spent just lazily floating in the water and waiting for food to come to them.

Spiders aren’t the conniving monsters some people think they are – but nor are they unpaid advertisers of the virtues of farm pigs. Their days are spent mostly resting, though the chart does not differentiate between innocent rest time and rest time used to lure unsuspecting flies into traps.

Of course, not every animal’s schedule hides a surprise. Pandas, quite predictably, spend every moment of every day being adorable. Now that is sound scientific information. (Totally accurate pie charts via Jeff Wysaski and Pleated Jeans)

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[ By Delana in Animals & Habitats & Art & Design & Nature & Ecosystems. ]

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Amazon Denies Skynet's Involvement In AWS Outage

samzenpus — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 07:49:00 PDT

An anonymous reader writes "Amazon has officially denied that the recent outage of its EC2 and Elastic Block Storage cloud platforms was the result of an attack from Cyberdyne Systems' Skynet sentient computer system, declaring humanity safe after all. 'From the information I have and to answer your questions,' a spokesperson explained, 'Skynet did not have anything to do with the service event at this time.'"

Canary Islands Time Lapse Will Blow Your Mind

steve casimiro — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:00:25 PDT

Terje Sorgjerd is the Norwegian photographer who shot the incredible time lapse of northern lights near the convergence of Finland, Russia, and Norway, and now he’s outdone himself with a stunning collection of shots from Tenerife, in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. Coastal Tenerife feels like any other stretch of European beach, but when you climb far above the ocean to the flanks of the volcano El Teide it becomes another world.

This is a must-watch film. Pay close attention near the :30 mark. As Sorgjerd explains:

“A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert on the 9th April and at approx 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.

“Interestingly enough my camera was set for a 5 hour sequence of the milky way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way.”

Go Zombies!

glenn — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:47:10 PDT

They’re hungry, they’re undead, they wanna eat your head! Go Zombies! Go Zombies! Go, Go, Go Zombies! They’ve always been popular so what better way to show your support than a big flesh-eaten foam hand. This concept has been number 1 with our voters so was time to print BUY NOW

Dear Sriracha Rooster Sauce

Matthew Inman — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 03:36:56 PST

A tribute to rooster sauce.

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Infographic: The Death Star

Peter Sciretta — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 05:00:27 PST

GIG has released a new Star Wars related infographic which takes a look at the one of the most iconic fictional vehicles of all time — the Death Star. Hit the jump to check it out.

Compiled by Car Insurance Guide and Geeks are Sexy | Picture hosted on imgur

Are You A Zombie?

doghouse — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:00:00 PST

In case of a zombie apocalypse, print this flowchart and survey any and all clumsy, crumbling, and undead creatures lurking in the streets.

The Art of Flight Will Blow Your Mind

steve casimiro — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:35:26 PST

The only appropriate response to this teaser from the new Travis Rice/Brain Farm project is “holy bleepity bleep!” Or as an onlooker says, “What planet the fuck are you from?” Good question, amigos, and certainly not from the same orb that brings us the usual drivel of snowboarding films. This looks to take the groundbreaking cinematography from That’s It, That’s All and blow the roof off. Must…watch…again…

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Iceland, Dark and Beautiful

steve casimiro — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 06:34:53 PST

Iceland is a landscape of the imagination. Bjork called it an emotional terrain, though perhaps moody might be a better description. Perched as it is in the North Atlantic, small and subject to every whim of climate and weather, conditions are ever changing. Clouds, mist, fog, rain, a bit of sun, all can visit in 15 minutes and be gone again. It’s no surprise, then, that photographers love Iceland, especially those who are fascinated by dramatic and brooding light.

The south coast where German photographer Michael Schlegel shot these stark images is not as sparsely populated and gothic as the pictures would suggest. There are towns and farms and flesh and blood people. But Schlegel’s photos show an Iceland that lingers at the farthest edges of our fancies, desolate and inhospitable, a dream of northern contrasts and timeless symbolism of light and dark.

Iceland, Dark and Beautiful is a post from: adventure journal

Busman’s Holiday at the Pillow Factory

steve casimiro — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 05:30:28 PST

Done right, life is simple. Wake up, ski powder, repeat. Few places are easier to pursue the life hypnotic than at Mica helicopter skiing, as this recent episode of Salomon’s Freeski TV shows.

And while language might not be Henrik Windstedt’s first language, his skiing speaks volumes, as he, Mark Abma, Mike Douglas, and a cast of rippers put down lines that talk for themselves. The pillow lines and boulder fields are simply ridiculous, and if this doesn’t get you off your butt and into the snow…

Busman’s Holiday at the Pillow Factory is a post from: adventure journal

5 Gut-Wrenching Hikes

coach Rick — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 04:03:48 PST

hikingboots.com posted videos of what they call the 5 Most Gut-Wrenching Hikes on Earth:

1. Michielli Strobel, Italy
2. El Camino del Rey, Spain
3. Roche Veyrand, France
4. Lukerbad, Switzerland
5. Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia (3800m)

The via ferrata videos are scary. But nothing tops El Camino. I cannot believe that hikers are allowed on it !!

Click PLAY or go watch El Camino del Rey on YouTube in high definition 480p.

Watch the rest – Hiking Boots Blog – 5 Most Gut-Wrenching Hikes on Earth

Thanks Jeanette.

How to make your shopping cart suck less

Matthew Inman — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 01:52:59 PST

Tips on how to make checkout a little less crappy.

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Good Code

(author unknown) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:00:00 PST

You Can Now Lend Your Kindle Books to Friends for 14 Days [Books]

Adam Pash — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 11:35:00 PST

Amazon has quietly launched book lending for Kindle ebooks. On participating titles, you can lend books to anyone for 14 days. Here's how it works: More »