Don't pick the ducklings

Here's a release from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Sounds like a no-brainer. But then again, maybe not.

Wildlife Babies Belong in the Wild

As predictable as April showers and May flowers, the calls to Iowa conservation officers and fish and wildlife stations is a sure sign that Iowa’s wildlife baby season has officially begun. From now until at least mid-June, phone lines will buzz from hundreds of calls reporting “lost, stranded, or orphaned” wildlife.

From fuzzy yellow ducklings to tiny baby bunnies, nothing appears more cute and cuddly than baby wildlife.  It's really no mystery why humans feel so compelled to come to their aid.  But in reality, most of the wildlife babies people encounter are not orphaned at all.  And those who attempt to "save" these babies may have the very best intentions they are in fact dooming the very creatures they intend to help.

Regardless of species, most birds and mammals will leave their nests or dens well in advance of being able to care for themselves.  Although broods or litters may become widely scattered during this fledgling period, they still remain under the direct care and feeding of their parents.  Unfortunately, this care is often terminated when youngsters are discovered by humans.  In most cases, it is immediately assumed that the animals are orphaned -- that their mother is dead.  Their fate becomes sealed as the hapless creatures are promptly "rescued from the wild".  It happens every spring.

Most wildlife babies will perish soon after capture -- often from the sheer terror of being handled and confined.  Should an animal survive the initial trauma, it often succumbs more slowly to pneumonia, other diseases, or undernourishment.  Whether young or adult, all species of wildlife have highly specific needs for survival.  "Rescuing a baby from its mother" not only shows bad judgment -- it is also illegal.

Remember this simple message: Mother knows best.  Leave wildlife babies where they belong -- in the wild.

Hiking poles

Crossing a bridge with new hiking poles.
Last week, we bought the kids some telescoping hiking poles to keep them from arguing over mine. One of the big-box stores had a good deal --- a pair of poles for $20. One for each kid.

After the store, we took a trip to Fontana Lake Park to test the new sticks. We climbed down to the bottom of the waterfall, goofed around to the nature center and hit the trails.

Now the challenge is to keep the kids from hurting themselves and others when they swing the poles around.
 (5.6.12)

Photo: Horned fruit

The kids learned not to judge a fruit by its skin this week. The horned kiwano fruit looked cool, but they didn't like the green seedy innards. I thought it tasted OK and liked the colors. Random fact: it's part of the cucumber family. (4.30.12)

Italian choir pages in Portland

Left: An Immigration and Customs Enforcement photo of a looted  illuminated choir leaf that was returned to Italy after being discovered in Oregon. Boy, I bet the Italians are going to be mad when they see someone stamped an ICE logo on it.

Everyone loves good smuggled antiquities stories, so we couldn't resist passing along this piece from ICE that wraps up four investigations ...
ICE returns stolen and looted art and antiquities to ItalyNews ReleasesAPRIL 26, 2012

WASHINGTON — Seven stolen and looted objects of Italian cultural heritage will soon be on their way back to Italy, following a ceremony Thursday in which U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano officially returned the antiquities to Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero at the Embassy of Italy in Washington.


Two 2,000-year-old ceramic vessels, one Roman marble sculpture, one Renaissance painting and three music sheets from choir books dating back to the 13th century were recovered during four investigations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). All four of the investigations involved the collaboration of ICE's offices in New York and Rome and Italy's national police force, the Carabinieri.


"The United States and the Department of Homeland Security are proud to honor our commitments to our ally, Italy," said Secretary Napolitano. "We will continue to work to ensure cultural artifacts and treasures that were stolen and entered this country illegally are recovered and returned to their rightful home nations."


Two of the four investigations have been linked to Gianfranco Becchina, an Italian national allegedly associated with Italian organized crime and a competitor of the Giacomo Medici smuggling organization, which has been identified by the Carabinieri as the most prolific known traffickers of Italian cultural heritage.


The first investigation tied to Becchina is the case involving the two 2,000-year-old ceramic vessels. In 2009, investigators learned about the sale of an Attic red-figured pelike, circa 480-460 B.C. for $80,500, and a red-figured situla, circa 365-350 B.C. for $40,000, at Christie's New York auction house. The investigation determined that these two objects were looted from archeological sites in Italy and smuggled into Switzerland. The ownership of the objects was transferred before they arrived in a Beverly Hills, Calif., gallery and subsequent consignment to Christie's in New York. HSI special agents in New York seized the objects, and upon authentication, both were forfeited for return.


The second investigation tied to Becchina involved a Roman marble statue, a janiform herm that was believed to have been smuggled out of Italy into the United States via Switzerland. HSI special agents in New York initiated an investigation into the sculpture which had been auctioned and sold at Christie's for $26,250. It was later seized at Christie's pursuant to a seizure warrant obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and in May 2011, forfeited to HSI for return to Italy.


HSI's investigation concluded that the two ceramic vessels and the statue were removed from Italy in violation of Italian law and brought into the United States in violation of U.S. customs laws and regulations. Specifically, the objects had been removed in violation of a bilateral agreement negotiated by the U.S. State Department, first in 2001 and renewed in 2006 and 2011, between the United States and Italy prohibiting the importation of certain Italian archaeological material into the United States without proper export documents.


A third investigation began in 2008, when HSI special agents in New York received information concerning a renaissance painting, "Leda e il Cigno" (Leda and the Swan) by Lelio Orsi. The investigation revealed that the painting had been illegally imported into the United States in 2006 through New York's JFK International Airport and auctioned at Sotheby's New York in January 2008 for $1.6 million. The buyer rescinded the purchase after learning of the Italian criminal investigation and it was judicially forfeited in January 2011 to HSI by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.


The fourth investigation began in 2010, in Portland, Ore., concerning two illuminated choir book leaves. The pages are believed to have been removed from two different antique chorus books, one stolen from the St. Paul Church in Pistoia, Italy, in 1990, and the other from the Monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Siena, Italy, in 1975. The manuscript pages were being offered for sale online by a rare book dealer in Oregon. HSI special agents in Portland investigated the case and the manuscript leaves were surrendered by the dealer. In June 2011, the special agents seized a third manuscript page that had been the subject of a previous investigation but never recovered.

The same book dealer had the choir book page in his possession, and, after examining evidence of the theft provided by the Italian government, agreed to surrender it to HSI special agents.

(4.28.12)

Antiquities plea

Photo of artifact recovered during an Egyptian antiquities smuggling investigation, courtesy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Earlier this month, an antiquities dealer pleaded guilty in a smuggling operation that customs officials said was the first time a cultural property network was dismantled within the United States. Two others were indicted in the investigation, which authorities said moved an ancient Egyptian nesting coffin (think Russian nesting dolls with a decaying mamushka at the center) and other artifacts through the United Arab Emirates in 2009.

Interesting background: The customs agent who headed the probe became suspicious when reading the shipping documents that were allegedly falsified to allow the coffin into the country. The papers said the cargo was wooden panels from UAE, but the agent knew UAE didn't have a lot of trees and therefore didn't have a lot of wood.

As the investigation unfolded, customs officials seized a Greco-Roman sarcophagus, funerary boats and limestone figures.

Part of the mystery remains unsolved. According to an inscription, the nesting coffin belonged to a woman named Shesepamuntayesher from around 660 to 550 B.C. The mummy wasn't inside the seized coffin, so one has to ask " where's Shesepamuntayesher?"

Below is a release from ICE that adds a few other details:


News Releases April 19, 2012
Antiquities dealer pleaded guilty to smuggling Egyptian cultural property
NEW YORK – An antiquities dealer pleaded guilty earlier this month to smuggling Egyptian cultural property into the United States and making a false statement to law enforcement authorities. The guilty plea comes as a result of an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Mousa Khouli, aka Morris Khouli, 38, an antiquities dealer who operated a business called Windsor Antiquities in New York and arranged for the purchase and smuggling of a series of Egyptian antiquities between October 2008 and November 2009. This included: a Greco-Roman style Egyptian sarcophagus, a three-part nesting coffin set, a set of Egyptian funerary boats and Egyptian limestone figures.

These antiquities were exported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates,and smuggled into the United States using a variety of illegal methods intended to avoid detection and scrutiny by CBP. This included making false declarations to CBP concerning the country of origin and value of the antiquities; and providing misleading descriptions of the contents on shipping labels and customs paperwork, such as "antiques" "wood panels" and "wooden painted box." Khouli covered up the smuggling by making false statements to law enforcement authorities, ICE investigators allege.

Most of the smuggled antiquities were recovered by law enforcement at the time the indictment was unsealed July 14, 2011. The innermost coffin of the nesting set was seized during a search of Khouli's residence in September 2009. The middle coffin and most of the outer coffin lid were seized in November 2009, after they arrived via sea cargo at the Port of Newark, N.J. The sarcophagus, funerary boats and limestone figures were seized during a search of co-defendant Joseph A. Lewis II's residence in July 2011.

The missing pieces of the coffin lid were forfeited to the government in court Wednesday. They consist of four wooden bird-like figures that attach to the four corners of the coffin lid, and four wooden panels that comprise the rectangular bottom of the coffin lid. Hieroglyphics on the coffin indicate that the name of the deceased was "Shesepamuntayesher" and that she bore the title "Lady of the House."

Khouli faces up to 20 years in federal prison. He also entered into a stipulation of settlement resolving a civil complaint seeking forfeiture of the Egyptian antiquities, Iraqi artifacts, cash and other pieces of cultural property seized in connection with the government's investigation.

ICE HSI agents also arrested: Salem Alshdaifat, an antiquities dealer who operated a business called Holyland Numismatics in Bloomfield, Mich.; and Joseph Lewis, a collector and benefactor of Egyptian antiquities. Ayman Ramadan, a Jordanian antiquities dealer, who operated a company called Nafertiti Eastern Sculptures Trading, in Dubai, UAE, was also indicted.

Since 2007, HSI has repatriated more than 2,500 items to more than 23 countries.

(4.25.12)

Photo: Door fish

Cast fish door handled to a downtown shop.
 (4.21.12)

Apps with maps

A national park in California is cutting down on its paper use by allowing hikers to opt for a digital map they download onto their smart phones. Park patrons can scan a QR code (those pixel Rorschach test-looking bar codes found in magazine ads) to get the map. For hikers like me who worry about cell phone failure on the trail, there's a paper map for that. Below are the details from the National Park Service.

National Park Service Pilots Maps for Smartphones
Date: April 5, 2012
NEWBURY PARK, Calif. - Smartphone users at select sites in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area can now scan a Quick Response Code for a free digital map. The pilot program is believed to be the first of its kind within the National Park Service.
Commonly known as QR codes, the technology allows visitors to save the map as a picture and store it on their phone for future reference. Numerous QR code readers are available as free smartphone applications.
"Now that QR codes are becoming more commonplace, this is another way we can connect with visitors while minimizing the amount of paper and potential waste in our parklands," said Park Ranger Mike Theune.
Theune launched the program this week at the two Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa trailheads and the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center. He hopes to place additional QR codes over the next six months at park sites with strong cell signals.

For those who prefer hard copies, paper maps are still available either at the trailhead or at the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center. Alternatively, site maps are available on the park website, www.nps.gov/samo, under "Plan Your Visit."

(4.13.12)

A mantis got trapped in our patio umbrella. He apparently wedged himself in there in the fall. We found it after a long winter as we were getting the backyard in order for warm weather.
 (3.31.12)

Mixer hike

For this entry, we're trying something new. Instead of a single photo, we have a slide show that scrolls a small collection of photos.

Today's hike took us to a nature preserve, part of which used to house a cement operation. Almost all trace of the business is gone, but out in the woods we found some concrete remnants of the operation and two decommissioned cement truck tumblers. They proved to be a lot of fun to climb on and peer into.

Also, there hasn't been much rain, and rivers and ponds are running low. Some of the islands in the small lakes can almost be reached by foot.

Photo: Lost Fountain

A long-abandoned fountain just down a hill from one of our favorite bike trails. (3.24.12)

WNS confirmed in Alabama bats

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the caves ...

National Park Service
Date: March 14, 2012
Russell Cave National Monument has detected the presence of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in the Russell Cave system, in Jackson County, Alabama.

National Park Service and Alabama A&M scientists conducted a survey of the Russell Cave system and observed bats that appeared to have the telltale white patches that indicate possible white-nose syndrome. Suspect tricolor bats were submitted to the Southeast Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS), where lab results confirmed the disease. This is the first confirmed finding in the state.

"The park has taken steps to help prevent the spread of this disease that is so devastating to bat populations throughout the East," said Park Superintendent, John Bundy. "Although the cave has been closed for more than ten years I am pleased to report that the archeological site remains open at this time and visitors should not be impacted in any way."

White-nose syndrome is a disease caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans and is responsible thus far for the deaths of over 5.5 million bats in eastern North America. First discovered in a New York cave in February 2006, the fungus has spread rapidly – having been detected west into Oklahoma, north into Canada, and south to North Carolina. The fungus thrives in cold and humid conditions typical of those found in caves and mines in which many bat species hibernate. The disease got its name from the white fungal growth which can be seen around the muzzles, ears, and wing membranes of affected bats, typically during their hibernation.

Bats with WNS appear to use up their precious fat reserves too quickly to stay in hibernation through the winter. The fungus is transmitted from bat to bat, but long distance, sudden leaps of the fungus are believed to have been facilitated by human activities. Thus far there are no cures for the disease which does not seem to affect humans or other animals. Scientists are cautious about applying any fungicide treatments in caves or mines which could risk disrupting delicate subterranean ecosystems.

Before WNS, bats have been long-lived small mammals with average life spans of about 20 years; some little brown bats have been documented to live over 40 years! Though long-lived, bats reproduce slowly with each mother having only one pup per year. If bat populations ever recover to pre-WNS levels, it will take many years.

To do your part to help, always adhere to local, state, and federal cave advisories and closures to help prevent the movement of WNS by humans. For your own safety (and the bats') never enter abandoned mines. If you see dead bats or bats that appear sick within the park, do not pick them up – instead report them to park headquarters.
Suggested websites to learn more about bats and WNS are:

US Fish and Wildlife Service – www.fws.gov/WhiteNoseSyndrome/
USGS Fort Collins Science Center -- www.fort.usgs.gov/WNS/
Bat Conservation International -- www.batcon.org/

(3.23.12)

Artifacts returned to Guatemala

Here's an item from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the return of raided artifacts:
News Releases
February 24, 2012
Washington, DC
ICE and CBP return illegally exported cultural artifacts to Guatemala
WASHINGTON — Eight artifacts that were illegally exported from Guatemala in two separate incidents were officially returned to the country at a repatriation ceremony Friday at the Guatemalan Embassy in Washington.
Officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) repatriated the eight Maya culture ceramic artifacts, circa 600 to 900 A.D., to Guatemala's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Harold Caballeros.
The artifacts were seized following a 2011 investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Boston and a 2009 inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Houston.

"The antiquities we are returning today are cultural treasures that belong to the people of Guatemala," said ICE Director John Morton. "Today's repatriation is another example of the exceptional investigative work HSI is doing to stop the pilfering and illicit trading of precious art and antiquities from around the world."

The ICE case began in January 2011, when the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture contacted HSI to request investigative assistance pertaining to objects at an auction house. The ministry had identified several antiquities at the Skinner Auction House in Marlborough, Mass., that they believed were the cultural property of the people of Guatemala. HSI also received leads from Interpol and the Department of Justice regarding a pending sale of the objects at the auction house.

On Feb. 4, 2011, HSI special agents served a summons requiring the auction house to turn over copies of all documents concerning four objects in question and to produce the objects for examination. Upon examination of the documents, HSI special agents discovered that there was no paperwork documenting the lawful importation into the United States or lawful exportation of the objects from Guatemala.

Later that month, Dr. Charles Golden of the anthropology department at Brandeis University in Boston determined that, of four suspect artifacts, two Maya pre-Columbian ceramic pottery cylinders were genuine articles of antiquity of Maya origin from Guatemala.

HSI's investigation concluded that the two antiquities were removed from Guatemala in violation of Guatemalan law and brought into the United States in violation of U.S. customs laws and regulations. Specifically, the objects had been removed in violation of a bilateral agreement coordinated by the U.S. State Department between the United States and Guatemala prohibiting the importation of pre-Columbian artifacts into the United States without proper export documents. HSI special agents seized the objects on June 16, 2011, and on Oct. 6, 2011 administrative forfeiture proceedings were officially concluded.

The CBP case began on Aug. 30, 2009, when a passenger arrived at Houston Intercontinental Airport from Guatemala with six artifacts that were declared as figurines. The person declaring them stated he had toured Maya ruins in Guatemala and purchased the artifacts. He explained that the local people in the villages were selling the artifacts to tourists and was told by his tour guide that they were legal to purchase. The passenger abandoned the artifacts which were seized by CBP.

HSI plays a leading role in criminal investigations that involve the illicit importation and distribution of cultural property, as well as the illegal trafficking of artwork. The agency specializes in recovering works that have been reported lost or stolen. The HSI Office of International Affairs, through its 71 attaché offices in 47 countries, works closely with foreign governments to conduct joint investigations, when possible.

HSI specially trained investigators, assigned to both domestic and international offices, partner with governments, agencies and experts to protect cultural antiquities. They also train investigators from other nations and agencies on investigating crimes involving stolen property and art, and how to best enforce the law to recover these items when they emerge in the marketplace.

(3.16.12)

Endangered creations

So, what is that we see in this picture? A new discovery found in a far-off jungle? A special-effects generated creature for a big-budget Hollywood movie?

A Miami Beach man says it's art.

The government says it's a crime.

The creation is actually a taxidermy job that combines featues of different animals --- kind of like the stuffed jackalopes at Wall Drug only with a $80,000 pricetag.

But the catch here, according to federal wildlife agents, is that the Florida taxidermist, Enrique Gomez de Molina, built his fantasy critters using parts of animals protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. According to the Department of Justice, he found sellers overseas in countries like Indonesia and Thailand who would send him pictures of specimens through the internet, and he'd make his choices.

"Some of the endangered and protected wildlife he selected was alive at the time it was photogaphed ... and later sent to him dead," according to a DOJ news release.

According to court documents, he attempted to import wildlife species including skins of a Java kingfisher and a collared kingfisher, one mounted lesser bird of paradise, the skin of a juvenile hawk-eagle, the carcass remnant of a slow loris and the carcass remnant of a lesser mouse deer, without proper declarations when imported into the United States and without the required permits.  In some cases, commercial transactions in listed species, such as the slow loris (a wide-eyed primate from south and southeast Asia), are not allowed at all.

De Molina recently pleaded guilty to illegally trafficking in protected wildlife and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

For more photos, click here.

(3.12.12)

Photo: Frozen sunrise

I don't remember the exact temperature when this shot was taken at about 6:30 a.m. Monday, but the roads were icey enough that three drivers slid into ditches not far away. By afternoon, it was in the 40s, and the snow had melted. The following day it was in the 60s. (3.9.2012)

Rum Diary

Last night, we rented The Rum Diary, the recent movie based on Hunter S. Thompson's novel about a writer who goes to work for a newspaper in Puerto Rico. Rum Diary is one of the few Thompson pieces I haven't read. It was one of his earlier works and went unpublished for a long time. It wasn't released until 1998, years after he had become famous for his journalism in the 1960s and 1970s.

When I was gobbling up Thompson books --- Shark Hunt, Fear and Loathing, Curse of Lono, Songs of the Doomed --- in college and shortly after, I had heard of Rum Diary, but it wasn't on the shelves. I did stumble across a chapter or two in one of Thompson's later compilation books.It lacks the twisted strangeness of his cornerstone gonzo writings, but you can see some of his trademark themes --- heavy drinking, the tortured novelist, a doomed crusade for justice and odd colleagues who drag the characters down a spiral that can only culminate in violence.

For me, the movie was a nice epilogue to my Thompson experience. It was a softer, more coherent, piece. And it's nice to think of him riding off into the sunset on a stolen sailboat.

I can't wait to read the book.