June 16, 2025 • 28 mins
This week, Cal tackles a renewed effort to sell public land, a mushroom murder trial, and a family of raccoons that took over an Airbus manufacturing facility.
Connect with Cal and MeatEater
To learn more and get involved with any Cal to Action, click here.
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips
Subscribe to The MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube
Shop Cal's Week in Review Merch
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Calai. Here's cal.
Late last month, in Quebec, Canada, masked intruders were caught
red handed after breaking into a manufacturing facility of the
aircraft Giant air Bus. In this case, it wasn't thieves
(00:32):
trying to lift precious aerospace metals or agents from rival
company stealing design plans, but instead a family of raccoons
looking to take shelter from the elements. A plant worker
discovered a nest of five baby raccoons known as kits,
hidden inside the fuselage of an A to twenty passenger plane,
and the mother was separately found climbing up the landing gear.
(00:54):
Subsequent investigations revealed chewed up wires and areas that had
been used as the bathroom. The raccoons also did not
turn the latch to show the occupied sign, which was
pretty inconsiderate. The company reported that thorough inspections were conducted
and the electrical damage was repaired, but declined to say
if more than one plane in the factory was affected.
(01:16):
The official Airbus spokesperson delivered the following not especially reassuring
comment quote, the aircraft is now pursuing its assembly process. Hey,
if anyone from Expedia is listening right now, can you
add a feature to your website that allows customers to
select the specific model of plane that's traveling at a
particular route. From now on, I might give the Airbus
(01:39):
a two twenty a pass and stick with the good
old A three point thirty or a three eighty, just
to be safe. However, this story did give me an
idea for a bit of a win win synergy for Airbus'
American rival Boeing, which over the past several years has
been plagued with manufacturing snaffoos and aircraft crashes. Well. Raccoons are,
of course, some of the smartest and most dexter animals
(02:00):
in North America. Their paws contain no webbing between the digits,
which allows them to move each finger individually and manipulate
objects with great skill. Two thirds of their cerebral cortex
is made up of neurons connected to their paws, and
one study from way back in nineteen to eight showed
raccoons opening complex locking mechanisms just as well as reesis monkeys.
(02:23):
Raccoons also have extremely good eyesight in low light, so
you can see where I'm going, right, and we've all
seen ratitude at this point. Maybe Boeing could invite in
its own bash of raccoons, bring them up to speed
wiring diagrams with the latest triple seven X jetliner, turn
them loose inside those tight little crevasses with a pair
(02:44):
of ice grips and soldering iron. Yeah it'll be cute
but effective. Might be a pain to clean up all
the turned over garbage cans on the factory floor, but
they're natural born night shift workers. This week you've got
Senate Public Land sales, mushroom Killer, Mounta Lions, and so
(03:05):
much more. But first, I'm going to tell you about
my week. In my week, if I'm being totally honest,
I got crushed by the flu. Then I got crushed
by the news out of the Senate Natural Resources and
Energy Committee, chaired by Mike Lee. I'm currently sitting in
absolutely fantastic place. Well, I'm sitting in my truck, which
(03:27):
is a great place too, but I'm parked at the
Teller Wildlife Refuge, run these days by a good buddy, mine,
Dan Bailey. Teller is hosting our field to table dinner,
which is as fancy as BHA gets. It's a seated
fundraiser dinner for backcountry hunters and anglers, and it's the
(03:49):
most unique meal in America. Got a bunch of volunteer,
highly skilled chefs who look all year long in preparation
for this dinner, almost exclusively foraged ingredients from all over
the place, including game. Yeah, it's a ticketed event. You
pay some cash, and it's gorgeous out here at the
(04:12):
Teller refuged barn, and the food is incredible. It's so
incredible that I don't partake in the actual eating. I
volunteer and serve folks and make sure people are happy
and enjoying themselves. So before I get in there and
do what I just said, I got to record this podcast.
(04:33):
Don't have to, but in times like these, friends and neighbors,
I feel like we are providing a service. And before
we get into like the news news of this, I
got to tell you what's been going on here a
long time now. We've been talking about like how amazing
North America is right with our public model of wildlife management,
(04:57):
our public access to public life. It is literally the
envy of the world. I have many many emails and
messages from listeners of this show in countries outside of
the United States and Canada who regularly write in and say, hey,
do you guys not understand what you have? How could
(05:19):
anybody want to mess this up? Right now? The news
that we got out of the Energy and Natural Resources
Committee is just way worse than we thought it would be.
It includes the the mandatory sale of over two and
a half million acres of land, possibly higher in a
bunch of Western states the areas that they're talking about. Okay,
(05:43):
there are places where the American public can regularly go
and enjoy good old fashioned American freedom and adventure on
public land, right. We're not talking about like the places
that take technical skill or or backcountry airstrips or mules
(06:03):
or skis. This is something that you can pull over
on the side of the road and enjoy. It's where
people take off after work to get a little bit
of fishing in or a little bit of turkey hunting in,
or bear hunting or deer hunting, or get out before
work or go out for a run at lunch, or
run the dog or work the dog, or site in
(06:25):
the rifle in preparation for the upcoming season. We're busy, folks.
We need easy access to this stuff as much as
we need the big, untrammeled backcountry stuff that you know,
I got a big soft spot for as well. The
land sales are an assault on front country. And what
(06:47):
everybody needs to be thinking right now is if the
front country goes away, gets sold off to the highest bidder,
and there are carve outs in this language, and listen, gang,
don't believe me. Don't believe a freaking word I say.
Go and read this document. It is out there for
everybody to see. You can see it at the Federal
(07:08):
Register dot gov, or you can go to the Meat
Eater website and hit the link and read the full document. Okay,
there are carve outs in here that are very specific
to large landowners and their ability to purchase more than
anybody else outside of state government or local government, which
(07:31):
is not defined by the way in this document. So
if you're thinking that you're on equal footing and maybe
being like, oh yeah, public land sales, that sucks, but
you're trying to get your affairs in order so you
can purchase a chunk of America, well guess what gang
deck is. So stacked against you, and it's right there
(07:51):
in the language of this bill. We're getting the wool
pulled over our eyes. Do not sit back and let
somebody try to fix this for you. You've got to pick
up the phone and call your senator, call your congress
people and tell them that, hey, you can understand some
land sales, but that has got to happen through the
(08:14):
processes that we have in place, namely FLIPMA Federal Land
Policy Management Act, not in the budget process, and sure
shit can't be mandatory. Sorry little nippers for cussing there,
but a little fired up, I'm gonna get on with
the news. That's my opinion again. Don't believe me. Go
(08:34):
read this document. It is straight from the mouths of
our elected officials, and you got to read it, ingest it,
and then get on the horn and tell people what
you think about it. You gotta do it. It's up
to us. Also, you know, I got to tell you, man,
while I'm sitting here outside of this amazing BHA function.
(08:55):
Become a member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. What you
get for the low low price of your membership, which
I still think is like thirty bucks or thirty five bucks.
You get representation, You get somebody in the room saying, hey,
our membership does not agree with this. Let's work to
find a better solution, right, which is very important when
(09:18):
we all have jobs and we can't be in that
room as many days as it takes. One of the
many benefits. Moving on to the public land desk gets
deja vu all over again again. A mere three weeks
after Hunters and Anglers in Conservation has successfully defeated a
provision in the US House that would have sold five
(09:40):
hundred thousand acres of public land, an even worse amendment
was added to the Senate version of the One Big
Beautiful Budget Bill, spearheaded by Utah Senator Mike Lee, a
longtime opponent of federal public land. The Senate selloff could
put as many as three million acres on the auction block.
The proposal takes Senator Lee's Houses, a bill he has
(10:01):
tried and failed to pass in Congress the last three years,
and applies it to eleven Western states. It purports to
solve housing shortages by expediting the process of selling public
land to build affordable housing. Previous versions of the bill,
which again failed to even be considered on multiple occasions,
would have allowed any state or local government to nominate
(10:23):
land to sell, but this one would only allow BLM
and Forest Service land to be sold in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada,
New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. It also protects
certain federal lands from disposal, including national parks, national monuments,
and National wildlife refuges. However, unlike previous versions of this bill,
(10:48):
this one requires the sale of between point five percent
zero point seventy five percent of BLM and Forest Service land.
The percentages aren't enormous, but the actual acreage between two
and three million acres, dwarfs the five hundred thousand acre
threat that we had in the House. What's more, the
(11:10):
bill doesn't just prioritize small tracts of land around existing
metropolitan or suburban areas where you might consider building homes.
In the list of land that should be given priority
consideration are isolated tracks that are inefficient to manage. The
bill does not explain which parcels count as quote inefficient.
The bill requires the party interested in purchasing the land
(11:33):
to explain how it will address local housing needs. As
well as any associated community needs. These needs presumably could
be anything from a new grocery store to, in the
case of those inefficient lands, wildfire mitigation. In most ways,
the bill is worse for public land advocates than the
House version, but it's the same in one respect. The
(11:54):
money generated from these lands will go straight to the
US Treasury, not to conservation or expanding public land holdings. Elsewhere,
there is a five percent of revenue set aside for
state or local government. Again, that doesn't look super straightforward
to me. Read the bill, let me know what you think.
Senator Lee justified these sales in a video posted to
(12:16):
social media. He described as quote not fair, the fact
that seventy percent of Utah is federal land. He said, quote,
it's not serving the Americans who actually live here. We're
opening under used federal land to expand housing, support local government,
support local development, and get Washington d C out of
the way of communities that are just trying to grow.
(12:38):
He also tried to assure hunters and anglers that they
won't be losing the land that they love, but that quote,
Washington has proven it can't manage this land. This bill
puts it in better hands. You may have noticed that
Montana is notably absent from the list of states where
public land will be sold. Montana Senators Steve Danes and
Tim Sehey have both public opposed public land sales. A
(13:01):
spokesperson for Senator Danes told us previously that he quote
always and will always oppose the sale of public lands.
You might say that Senators Danes and Chihi are just
doing their jobs and advocating for the wishes of their constituents.
But you might also say that they're ducking their responsibility
as public land advocates and selling all the other Western
states down the river. So what can you do? There
(13:25):
is still time to amend the bill before it passes
the Senate. Contact Senate Majority Leader John Thune and ask
him to remove the land sale language before it goes
to the floor for a vote. You should also contact
your senators and representatives in the US House, especially if
they're a member of the Public Land Caucus. The members
of the Caucus know that we're watching them, and we
(13:45):
expect them to honor their words and vote against this
bill if it retains public land sales. You did it once,
Do it again. Come on, gang, We're rooting for you,
and we need heroes. Now. I want to circle back
and dry your attention to something that you will hear often.
That land isn't serving a purpose, that land is under used.
(14:08):
Washington has proven it can't manage this land gang. You know,
if you're listening to this, if you have the magical
ability to drive a vehicle and listen to this podcast
punch stuff into the Google machine, then you know for
a fact that broad statements like that can be partially true,
(14:29):
but they are seldom wholly true. How many of you
listening to this have been in some absolute kick ass,
amazing chunks of public land. Raise your proverbial hands. I
sure have. I've been on some chunks of public that
would just break your heart over how pretty they are
(14:49):
and how much game they have available. You wouldn't trade
that chunk of public for a private estate darn near anywhere,
I absolutely promise you, and those places exaist. Okay, because
Senator Lee can't see it, that doesn't mean it's not
valuable and it's not doing its job. We need big,
wide open spaces that quote unquote are underused in order
(15:14):
to matriculate all of our water down into the ground.
So all these houses and new housing developments can suck
them up. That's just one example, and the list goes
on and on and on. Carbon sequestration, clean air, mental health.
My goodness, let's not shoot ourselves in the foot. I'm
(15:36):
gonna get off this bully pulpit of mine. But gang,
you know the drill. I trust you call righte in,
make it happen, and we're gonna move on. An Australian
woman is on trial for killing three people in what
she says was a horrible mushroom foraging accident. Fifty year
(15:57):
old Aaron Patterson has pled not guilty to murdering her
seventy year old in laws and another sixty six year
old relative by feeding them death cat mushrooms in a
beef wellington. The fateful meal went down in Patterson's home
in Victoria in twenty twenty three. Patterson told The Jerry
that she had been foraging during COVID and that she
liked the taste of wild mushrooms because they had quote
(16:18):
more flavor. She said the vast majority of the dried
mushrooms that went into the beef Wellington had come from
the store, but she also said she keeps both wild
and store bought mushrooms in the same container, so it's
possible a bad shroom she foraged weeks ago got accidentally
included in the dish. The prosecution, on the other hand,
presented evidence that showed a person using a computer found
(16:39):
in Aaron Patterson's home had conducted searches for deathcap mushrooms
on ianaturalist dot com. Patterson says she doesn't remember whether
she reached out for that or not, but it could
have been one of her kids. Part of the reason
officials are suspicious of Patterson's claims is because she was
a strange from her husband, whose parents she killed. She
separated from her husband in twenty fifteen, but more recently
(17:02):
began having financial conflicts with him in twenty twenty two.
Reporting from the trial, the BBC said prosecution showed explative
laden texts between Patterson and her friends in which she
criticized her husband and her in laws. Patterson countered those
texts were just her venting her frustration, and she maintained
a good relationship with her in laws despite her struggles
(17:23):
with her husband. She reportedly became emotional on the stand,
describing how much cared for the couple. She killed, and
how she regretted saying those things. Among the other pieces
of evidence against Patterson are the fact that she tried
to throw away her mushroom dehydrator that had deaf cat
mushroom residue on it, photos of mushrooms on scales that
included death caps, and the fact that she didn't feed
(17:43):
the beef Wellington to her children. She had been admitted
to a hospital for poisoning, but the prosecution says she
was faking her symptoms to cover her crimes. By now,
you're probably wondering how do I identify deaf cat mushrooms
to avoid getting whacked by a beef Wellington. Producer Jordan
and Sellers googled this topic, but he would like to
go on the record as saying he has no enemies
(18:04):
and would never feed them to anyone on purpose. Death
cap mushrooms are white and look like other edible varieties
like paddy straw mushrooms or puffballs. They have a greenish cap,
white gills and spores, and a distinct ring on the stock.
Eating just half a death cap mushroom is enough to
kill an adult if you see one or think you do.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare advises plucking it
(18:27):
from the soil before mowing to prevent spreading it further.
You can touch them without hurting yourself, but I'd say
it's still a good idea to wear gloves. If you
ever worry you or someone else has consumed a death cap,
seek medical attention right away. Early symptoms of poisoning are
persistent and violent vomiting, abdominal pain, and profuse watery diarrhea
six to twenty four hours after eating the mushroom or symptoms.
(18:49):
These symptoms generally last a few hours, after which there
is an apparent recovery with no symptoms for a few days.
Then jaundice, loss of strength, coma, and death can occur
from liver fail and kidney failure. Anyone for a mushroom
pizza Mamia? Moving on to the kiddy desk. The first
(19:10):
time in modern history, Mountlon kittens have been documented and
confirmed by biologists in the wild in Oklahoma, non zoo kidneys.
The Sooner State has seen an increase in cougar sightings
in recent years, and not just in swanky casinos around
Oklahoma City. No, we're talking the big cat type of cougar.
(19:31):
And now the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation has photographic
evidence that they're reproducing in the state. The images, which
you can see on the agency's website, show two kittens
in Osage County in October twenty twenty four and three
more kittens in Cimarron County in December twenty twenty four.
Both were captured by trail camera that had been placed
by a private landowner, So two cheers for citizen science.
(19:54):
ODFW furbearer biologists Jared Davis called the photos quote exciting
and interesting, but caution that they are just one small
piece of the puzzle needed to better understand this species. Historically,
Oklahoma is mountain lion territory. In fact, the species range
once extended across the entire lower forty eight. However, as
Europeans settled North America, they extirpated mount lions in much
(20:17):
of the Northeast and Midwest by the late nineteenth century,
though populations persisted in the West and Florida. In recent years,
though anecdotal evidence indicated that mount lions have been spreading
from Western populations back into parts of the Midwest. A
recent study by Tufts University researchers confirmed suspicions that Mount
Lion Range is likely expanding to several Midwestern states, including
(20:39):
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The same
appears to be true for Oklahoma. Prior to the photographic
evidence of two breeding pairs, confirmed sightings have been on
the rise in the state for the past eight years,
peaking at nineteen in twenty twenty three, which is up
from zero in twenty sixteen. Residents, including many mentors underneath
(21:01):
the Facebook post announcing the kitten photos, have long suspected
that breeding pairs of lions are living in the state.
The Wildlife Agency has been more cautious about those claims,
but these photographs will likely force them to start developing
a more robust plan for how to manage this new species.
Moving on to the wolf desk. Wolves were extirpated from
(21:24):
Japan in nineteen not five, but there's been a recent
push to bring them back big thanks to listener Dan
Brow for sending us this story. Much like in the US,
Japan's human population has urbanized in recent decades, since rural
residents tend to hunt at higher rates than city slickers.
Populations of deer, wild boar, and monkeys have risen. These
gritters damage crops and native plant species, and some believe
(21:47):
reintroducing wolves is a good way to restore balance to
the ecosystem. The Japan Wolf Association has been around since
nineteen ninety three, and they told the South China Morning
Posts that they would like to see small scale reintroduction
efforts in remote regions of the country. They'd like to
import wolves from China for the main islands of Hanshu, Shikoku,
and Kyushu, and a more hearty species from Siberia for
(22:10):
the most northerly Maine island of Hokkaido. While introducing natural
predators can help balance an ecosystem, this idea may not
pass muster with Japan's human occupants. That's because, as we've
reported on this podcast, the country has seen a spike
in bear attacks in recent years. Last year saw a
record two hundred and nineteen bear attacks, six of which
(22:30):
were fatal. Wildlife officials believe the bears are becoming less
fearful of humans as hunting participation declines in urban sprawl
makes for more bear human interaction. Wolf attacks are extremely rare,
but it seems unlikely that those city dwellers will be
keen on importing another predator with sharp teeth and a
scary reputation. Moving back to the land of the Free year,
(22:52):
Arizona wildlife officials are hearing it from protectionist groups for
capturing a family of Mexican gray wolves in the southeastern
portion of the state. Landowners in the area reported several
cases of wolves predating on livestock, so the Arizona Game
and Fish Department sent out range riders to deter the
wolves from killing cattle. But the ongoing drought is making
natural prey scarce, so officials knew that probably wouldn't be sufficient.
(23:16):
Instead of killing the wolves, they opted to capture them instead.
They found the den where a female had recently given
birth to three puppies. All of the puppies appeared to
be underweight, but one was doing so poorly that it
had to be euthanized. But the other two puppies, along
with a female and a male, were captured and brought
to a captive facility. Now you'd think animal rights groups
would be fine with this course of action. Problem wolves
(23:38):
were captured rather than killed, and now they're in a
position to survive the drought. But no our friends over
at the Center for Biological Diversity said that removing these
four wolves is a quote assault on ongoing recovery efforts.
They say landowners are fearmongering about livestock depredation and are
unwilling to live alongside the predators. I've known more than
a few livestock producers in my time, and I can
(23:59):
tell you that if they're unwilling to live with wolves,
they don't call the Game and Fish Department. I'm sure
there are some BADA actors among them, but this doesn't
seem like a good case for the CBD to get
all hot and bothered. The wolves survived and will be released.
Maybe take the win instead of hounding state officials just
trying to do their jobs. Moving on to a coyote
(24:21):
edition of the Legislative Desk, wildlife officials in Nevada are
considering a changed General Regulation five twenty six, which would
prohibit the use of thermal image technology in hunting. Right now,
in Nevada, it is illegal to take big game after dark,
but silver staters may hunt round the clock for coyotes
using spotlights or thermal optics. Supporters of the thermal imaging
(24:44):
band say the technology is an unfair advantage that violates
fair chase, and they worry that poachers use the technology
under cover of night to kill deer elk undetected. Just
think of the effects thermal optics would have had on
one of the greatest movies ever made. Predator also launched
a gubernatorial career co'm on. George four Bush of the
(25:09):
Nevada Predators Hunting Association gave the opposing viewpoint to Fox
five News, saying, quote, you will make the most effective
kill without wounding or losing that animal with thermal If
your night hunting off of lights, you have the opportunity
of misidentifying an animal, shooting the wrong animal, whether it
be the rancher's dog, a fox instead of a coyote,
or hitting the animal in a bad spot, and then
(25:30):
that animal takes off and runs away. Four Bush and
other opponents of the band are calling for better enforcement
of existing laws to punish poachers. Although public comment on
the issue will have passed by the time this episode airs,
you can still call or write to Nevada Board of
Wildlife Commissioners to make your voice heard on this issue
before it is voted on later this year. Legislators in
(25:51):
Michigan also have coyotes on their mind. State Senators Michelle
Hoitanga and Parker Fairbairn have drafted an amendment to the
Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act reinstate year round hunting
of coyotes. Until recently, Mischiganders were permitted to kill coyotes
three hundred and sixty five days a year, but in
March twenty twenty four, the state's Natural Resource Commission enacted
(26:11):
a hiatus from April fifteen to July fifteen. The sponsors
of the bill argue that this band doesn't have a
basis in conservation science and that coyote numbers are out
of control in Michigan. Michigan United Conservation Clubs sued the
Commission earlier this year, but a judge ruled against them
last week and upheld the commission's decision. Now the legislature
is trying to take matters into their own hands. As
(26:33):
much as you might agree that there's no scientific reason
to end the year round take of coyotes, you have
to be cautious whenever politicians stick their noses into wildlife policy.
For those who want to weigh in, the bill, number
is SB three six six Gang I am hot and
bothered on the topic of thermals. I'll be completely straight
(26:53):
up with you. I do not care about the use
of thermals for coyotes and wolves. As long as we're
not poison in those creators, they're going to be just fine.
May sound callous, but that's just the truth of the matter. Additionally,
I don't know how we prevent people from locating big
game animals with thermal optics. If we don't ban thermal optics,
(27:19):
what is the right solution. One of the things that
I've thought about is if you possess a valid big
game tag, you can't have optics in your possession or
in the possession of anybody in your party. But then again,
you're only a cell phone call away, and every cell
phone's a sat phone from somebody who probably does have
thermal optics. It's hard, man, it is a quagmire. But
(27:41):
I've seen thermal optics in the field and there's just
no part of that stuff that I think belongs in
the use of big game hunting. Right in, Diane, to
know what you think, askcl that's ascal athmeeater dot com.
Thank you so much in advance for calling your duly
elected afis and telling them that this land grab is
(28:03):
just ourse backards. It really is. Gang. If you think
land sale should happen, then let's make sure that they
happen in the right way, through the right process, and
in a way that gives back to the conservation community
and all Americans by purchasing land of higher strategic value.
(28:25):
That's what we have in place. Doesn't have to be
all or nothing. Funny how that works. That's all I
got for you. Thank you so much for listening. Remember
to write in askc al Askal at the media dot
com let me know what's going on in your neck
of the woods. You know I appreciate it. Thanks again.
We'll talk to you next week.
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Calai. Here's cal.
Late last month, in Quebec, Canada, masked intruders were caught
red handed after breaking into a manufacturing facility of the
aircraft Giant air Bus. In this case, it wasn't thieves
(00:32):
trying to lift precious aerospace metals or agents from rival
company stealing design plans, but instead a family of raccoons
looking to take shelter from the elements. A plant worker
discovered a nest of five baby raccoons known as kits,
hidden inside the fuselage of an A to twenty passenger plane,
and the mother was separately found climbing up the landing gear.
(00:54):
Subsequent investigations revealed chewed up wires and areas that had
been used as the bathroom. The raccoons also did not
turn the latch to show the occupied sign, which was
pretty inconsiderate. The company reported that thorough inspections were conducted
and the electrical damage was repaired, but declined to say
if more than one plane in the factory was affected.
(01:16):
The official Airbus spokesperson delivered the following not especially reassuring
comment quote, the aircraft is now pursuing its assembly process. Hey,
if anyone from Expedia is listening right now, can you
add a feature to your website that allows customers to
select the specific model of plane that's traveling at a
particular route. From now on, I might give the Airbus
(01:39):
a two twenty a pass and stick with the good
old A three point thirty or a three eighty, just
to be safe. However, this story did give me an
idea for a bit of a win win synergy for Airbus'
American rival Boeing, which over the past several years has
been plagued with manufacturing snaffoos and aircraft crashes. Well. Raccoons are,
of course, some of the smartest and most dexter animals
(02:00):
in North America. Their paws contain no webbing between the digits,
which allows them to move each finger individually and manipulate
objects with great skill. Two thirds of their cerebral cortex
is made up of neurons connected to their paws, and
one study from way back in nineteen to eight showed
raccoons opening complex locking mechanisms just as well as reesis monkeys.
(02:23):
Raccoons also have extremely good eyesight in low light, so
you can see where I'm going, right, and we've all
seen ratitude at this point. Maybe Boeing could invite in
its own bash of raccoons, bring them up to speed
wiring diagrams with the latest triple seven X jetliner, turn
them loose inside those tight little crevasses with a pair
(02:44):
of ice grips and soldering iron. Yeah it'll be cute
but effective. Might be a pain to clean up all
the turned over garbage cans on the factory floor, but
they're natural born night shift workers. This week you've got
Senate Public Land sales, mushroom Killer, Mounta Lions, and so
(03:05):
much more. But first, I'm going to tell you about
my week. In my week, if I'm being totally honest,
I got crushed by the flu. Then I got crushed
by the news out of the Senate Natural Resources and
Energy Committee, chaired by Mike Lee. I'm currently sitting in
absolutely fantastic place. Well, I'm sitting in my truck, which
(03:27):
is a great place too, but I'm parked at the
Teller Wildlife Refuge, run these days by a good buddy, mine,
Dan Bailey. Teller is hosting our field to table dinner,
which is as fancy as BHA gets. It's a seated
fundraiser dinner for backcountry hunters and anglers, and it's the
(03:49):
most unique meal in America. Got a bunch of volunteer,
highly skilled chefs who look all year long in preparation
for this dinner, almost exclusively foraged ingredients from all over
the place, including game. Yeah, it's a ticketed event. You
pay some cash, and it's gorgeous out here at the
(04:12):
Teller refuged barn, and the food is incredible. It's so
incredible that I don't partake in the actual eating. I
volunteer and serve folks and make sure people are happy
and enjoying themselves. So before I get in there and
do what I just said, I got to record this podcast.
(04:33):
Don't have to, but in times like these, friends and neighbors,
I feel like we are providing a service. And before
we get into like the news news of this, I
got to tell you what's been going on here a
long time now. We've been talking about like how amazing
North America is right with our public model of wildlife management,
(04:57):
our public access to public life. It is literally the
envy of the world. I have many many emails and
messages from listeners of this show in countries outside of
the United States and Canada who regularly write in and say, hey,
do you guys not understand what you have? How could
(05:19):
anybody want to mess this up? Right now? The news
that we got out of the Energy and Natural Resources
Committee is just way worse than we thought it would be.
It includes the the mandatory sale of over two and
a half million acres of land, possibly higher in a
bunch of Western states the areas that they're talking about. Okay,
(05:43):
there are places where the American public can regularly go
and enjoy good old fashioned American freedom and adventure on
public land, right. We're not talking about like the places
that take technical skill or or backcountry airstrips or mules
(06:03):
or skis. This is something that you can pull over
on the side of the road and enjoy. It's where
people take off after work to get a little bit
of fishing in or a little bit of turkey hunting in,
or bear hunting or deer hunting, or get out before
work or go out for a run at lunch, or
run the dog or work the dog, or site in
(06:25):
the rifle in preparation for the upcoming season. We're busy, folks.
We need easy access to this stuff as much as
we need the big, untrammeled backcountry stuff that you know,
I got a big soft spot for as well. The
land sales are an assault on front country. And what
(06:47):
everybody needs to be thinking right now is if the
front country goes away, gets sold off to the highest bidder,
and there are carve outs in this language, and listen, gang,
don't believe me. Don't believe a freaking word I say.
Go and read this document. It is out there for
everybody to see. You can see it at the Federal
(07:08):
Register dot gov, or you can go to the Meat
Eater website and hit the link and read the full document. Okay,
there are carve outs in here that are very specific
to large landowners and their ability to purchase more than
anybody else outside of state government or local government, which
(07:31):
is not defined by the way in this document. So
if you're thinking that you're on equal footing and maybe
being like, oh yeah, public land sales, that sucks, but
you're trying to get your affairs in order so you
can purchase a chunk of America, well guess what gang
deck is. So stacked against you, and it's right there
(07:51):
in the language of this bill. We're getting the wool
pulled over our eyes. Do not sit back and let
somebody try to fix this for you. You've got to pick
up the phone and call your senator, call your congress
people and tell them that, hey, you can understand some
land sales, but that has got to happen through the
(08:14):
processes that we have in place, namely FLIPMA Federal Land
Policy Management Act, not in the budget process, and sure
shit can't be mandatory. Sorry little nippers for cussing there,
but a little fired up, I'm gonna get on with
the news. That's my opinion again. Don't believe me. Go
(08:34):
read this document. It is straight from the mouths of
our elected officials, and you got to read it, ingest it,
and then get on the horn and tell people what
you think about it. You gotta do it. It's up
to us. Also, you know, I got to tell you, man,
while I'm sitting here outside of this amazing BHA function.
(08:55):
Become a member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. What you
get for the low low price of your membership, which
I still think is like thirty bucks or thirty five bucks.
You get representation, You get somebody in the room saying, hey,
our membership does not agree with this. Let's work to
find a better solution, right, which is very important when
(09:18):
we all have jobs and we can't be in that
room as many days as it takes. One of the
many benefits. Moving on to the public land desk gets
deja vu all over again again. A mere three weeks
after Hunters and Anglers in Conservation has successfully defeated a
provision in the US House that would have sold five
(09:40):
hundred thousand acres of public land, an even worse amendment
was added to the Senate version of the One Big
Beautiful Budget Bill, spearheaded by Utah Senator Mike Lee, a
longtime opponent of federal public land. The Senate selloff could
put as many as three million acres on the auction block.
The proposal takes Senator Lee's Houses, a bill he has
(10:01):
tried and failed to pass in Congress the last three years,
and applies it to eleven Western states. It purports to
solve housing shortages by expediting the process of selling public
land to build affordable housing. Previous versions of the bill,
which again failed to even be considered on multiple occasions,
would have allowed any state or local government to nominate
(10:23):
land to sell, but this one would only allow BLM
and Forest Service land to be sold in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada,
New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. It also protects
certain federal lands from disposal, including national parks, national monuments,
and National wildlife refuges. However, unlike previous versions of this bill,
(10:48):
this one requires the sale of between point five percent
zero point seventy five percent of BLM and Forest Service land.
The percentages aren't enormous, but the actual acreage between two
and three million acres, dwarfs the five hundred thousand acre
threat that we had in the House. What's more, the
(11:10):
bill doesn't just prioritize small tracts of land around existing
metropolitan or suburban areas where you might consider building homes.
In the list of land that should be given priority
consideration are isolated tracks that are inefficient to manage. The
bill does not explain which parcels count as quote inefficient.
The bill requires the party interested in purchasing the land
(11:33):
to explain how it will address local housing needs. As
well as any associated community needs. These needs presumably could
be anything from a new grocery store to, in the
case of those inefficient lands, wildfire mitigation. In most ways,
the bill is worse for public land advocates than the
House version, but it's the same in one respect. The
(11:54):
money generated from these lands will go straight to the
US Treasury, not to conservation or expanding public land holdings. Elsewhere,
there is a five percent of revenue set aside for
state or local government. Again, that doesn't look super straightforward
to me. Read the bill, let me know what you think.
Senator Lee justified these sales in a video posted to
(12:16):
social media. He described as quote not fair, the fact
that seventy percent of Utah is federal land. He said, quote,
it's not serving the Americans who actually live here. We're
opening under used federal land to expand housing, support local government,
support local development, and get Washington d C out of
the way of communities that are just trying to grow.
(12:38):
He also tried to assure hunters and anglers that they
won't be losing the land that they love, but that quote,
Washington has proven it can't manage this land. This bill
puts it in better hands. You may have noticed that
Montana is notably absent from the list of states where
public land will be sold. Montana Senators Steve Danes and
Tim Sehey have both public opposed public land sales. A
(13:01):
spokesperson for Senator Danes told us previously that he quote
always and will always oppose the sale of public lands.
You might say that Senators Danes and Chihi are just
doing their jobs and advocating for the wishes of their constituents.
But you might also say that they're ducking their responsibility
as public land advocates and selling all the other Western
states down the river. So what can you do? There
(13:25):
is still time to amend the bill before it passes
the Senate. Contact Senate Majority Leader John Thune and ask
him to remove the land sale language before it goes
to the floor for a vote. You should also contact
your senators and representatives in the US House, especially if
they're a member of the Public Land Caucus. The members
of the Caucus know that we're watching them, and we
(13:45):
expect them to honor their words and vote against this
bill if it retains public land sales. You did it once,
Do it again. Come on, gang, We're rooting for you,
and we need heroes. Now. I want to circle back
and dry your attention to something that you will hear often.
That land isn't serving a purpose, that land is under used.
(14:08):
Washington has proven it can't manage this land gang. You know,
if you're listening to this, if you have the magical
ability to drive a vehicle and listen to this podcast
punch stuff into the Google machine, then you know for
a fact that broad statements like that can be partially true,
(14:29):
but they are seldom wholly true. How many of you
listening to this have been in some absolute kick ass,
amazing chunks of public land. Raise your proverbial hands. I
sure have. I've been on some chunks of public that
would just break your heart over how pretty they are
(14:49):
and how much game they have available. You wouldn't trade
that chunk of public for a private estate darn near anywhere,
I absolutely promise you, and those places exaist. Okay, because
Senator Lee can't see it, that doesn't mean it's not
valuable and it's not doing its job. We need big,
wide open spaces that quote unquote are underused in order
(15:14):
to matriculate all of our water down into the ground.
So all these houses and new housing developments can suck
them up. That's just one example, and the list goes
on and on and on. Carbon sequestration, clean air, mental health.
My goodness, let's not shoot ourselves in the foot. I'm
(15:36):
gonna get off this bully pulpit of mine. But gang,
you know the drill. I trust you call righte in,
make it happen, and we're gonna move on. An Australian
woman is on trial for killing three people in what
she says was a horrible mushroom foraging accident. Fifty year
(15:57):
old Aaron Patterson has pled not guilty to murdering her
seventy year old in laws and another sixty six year
old relative by feeding them death cat mushrooms in a
beef wellington. The fateful meal went down in Patterson's home
in Victoria in twenty twenty three. Patterson told The Jerry
that she had been foraging during COVID and that she
liked the taste of wild mushrooms because they had quote
(16:18):
more flavor. She said the vast majority of the dried
mushrooms that went into the beef Wellington had come from
the store, but she also said she keeps both wild
and store bought mushrooms in the same container, so it's
possible a bad shroom she foraged weeks ago got accidentally
included in the dish. The prosecution, on the other hand,
presented evidence that showed a person using a computer found
(16:39):
in Aaron Patterson's home had conducted searches for deathcap mushrooms
on ianaturalist dot com. Patterson says she doesn't remember whether
she reached out for that or not, but it could
have been one of her kids. Part of the reason
officials are suspicious of Patterson's claims is because she was
a strange from her husband, whose parents she killed. She
separated from her husband in twenty fifteen, but more recently
(17:02):
began having financial conflicts with him in twenty twenty two.
Reporting from the trial, the BBC said prosecution showed explative
laden texts between Patterson and her friends in which she
criticized her husband and her in laws. Patterson countered those
texts were just her venting her frustration, and she maintained
a good relationship with her in laws despite her struggles
(17:23):
with her husband. She reportedly became emotional on the stand,
describing how much cared for the couple. She killed, and
how she regretted saying those things. Among the other pieces
of evidence against Patterson are the fact that she tried
to throw away her mushroom dehydrator that had deaf cat
mushroom residue on it, photos of mushrooms on scales that
included death caps, and the fact that she didn't feed
(17:43):
the beef Wellington to her children. She had been admitted
to a hospital for poisoning, but the prosecution says she
was faking her symptoms to cover her crimes. By now,
you're probably wondering how do I identify deaf cat mushrooms
to avoid getting whacked by a beef Wellington. Producer Jordan
and Sellers googled this topic, but he would like to
go on the record as saying he has no enemies
(18:04):
and would never feed them to anyone on purpose. Death
cap mushrooms are white and look like other edible varieties
like paddy straw mushrooms or puffballs. They have a greenish cap,
white gills and spores, and a distinct ring on the stock.
Eating just half a death cap mushroom is enough to
kill an adult if you see one or think you do.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare advises plucking it
(18:27):
from the soil before mowing to prevent spreading it further.
You can touch them without hurting yourself, but I'd say
it's still a good idea to wear gloves. If you
ever worry you or someone else has consumed a death cap,
seek medical attention right away. Early symptoms of poisoning are
persistent and violent vomiting, abdominal pain, and profuse watery diarrhea
six to twenty four hours after eating the mushroom or symptoms.
(18:49):
These symptoms generally last a few hours, after which there
is an apparent recovery with no symptoms for a few days.
Then jaundice, loss of strength, coma, and death can occur
from liver fail and kidney failure. Anyone for a mushroom
pizza Mamia? Moving on to the kiddy desk. The first
(19:10):
time in modern history, Mountlon kittens have been documented and
confirmed by biologists in the wild in Oklahoma, non zoo kidneys.
The Sooner State has seen an increase in cougar sightings
in recent years, and not just in swanky casinos around
Oklahoma City. No, we're talking the big cat type of cougar.
(19:31):
And now the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation has photographic
evidence that they're reproducing in the state. The images, which
you can see on the agency's website, show two kittens
in Osage County in October twenty twenty four and three
more kittens in Cimarron County in December twenty twenty four.
Both were captured by trail camera that had been placed
by a private landowner, So two cheers for citizen science.
(19:54):
ODFW furbearer biologists Jared Davis called the photos quote exciting
and interesting, but caution that they are just one small
piece of the puzzle needed to better understand this species. Historically,
Oklahoma is mountain lion territory. In fact, the species range
once extended across the entire lower forty eight. However, as
Europeans settled North America, they extirpated mount lions in much
(20:17):
of the Northeast and Midwest by the late nineteenth century,
though populations persisted in the West and Florida. In recent years,
though anecdotal evidence indicated that mount lions have been spreading
from Western populations back into parts of the Midwest. A
recent study by Tufts University researchers confirmed suspicions that Mount
Lion Range is likely expanding to several Midwestern states, including
(20:39):
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The same
appears to be true for Oklahoma. Prior to the photographic
evidence of two breeding pairs, confirmed sightings have been on
the rise in the state for the past eight years,
peaking at nineteen in twenty twenty three, which is up
from zero in twenty sixteen. Residents, including many mentors underneath
(21:01):
the Facebook post announcing the kitten photos, have long suspected
that breeding pairs of lions are living in the state.
The Wildlife Agency has been more cautious about those claims,
but these photographs will likely force them to start developing
a more robust plan for how to manage this new species.
Moving on to the wolf desk. Wolves were extirpated from
(21:24):
Japan in nineteen not five, but there's been a recent
push to bring them back big thanks to listener Dan
Brow for sending us this story. Much like in the US,
Japan's human population has urbanized in recent decades, since rural
residents tend to hunt at higher rates than city slickers.
Populations of deer, wild boar, and monkeys have risen. These
gritters damage crops and native plant species, and some believe
(21:47):
reintroducing wolves is a good way to restore balance to
the ecosystem. The Japan Wolf Association has been around since
nineteen ninety three, and they told the South China Morning
Posts that they would like to see small scale reintroduction
efforts in remote regions of the country. They'd like to
import wolves from China for the main islands of Hanshu, Shikoku,
and Kyushu, and a more hearty species from Siberia for
(22:10):
the most northerly Maine island of Hokkaido. While introducing natural
predators can help balance an ecosystem, this idea may not
pass muster with Japan's human occupants. That's because, as we've
reported on this podcast, the country has seen a spike
in bear attacks in recent years. Last year saw a
record two hundred and nineteen bear attacks, six of which
(22:30):
were fatal. Wildlife officials believe the bears are becoming less
fearful of humans as hunting participation declines in urban sprawl
makes for more bear human interaction. Wolf attacks are extremely rare,
but it seems unlikely that those city dwellers will be
keen on importing another predator with sharp teeth and a
scary reputation. Moving back to the land of the Free year,
(22:52):
Arizona wildlife officials are hearing it from protectionist groups for
capturing a family of Mexican gray wolves in the southeastern
portion of the state. Landowners in the area reported several
cases of wolves predating on livestock, so the Arizona Game
and Fish Department sent out range riders to deter the
wolves from killing cattle. But the ongoing drought is making
natural prey scarce, so officials knew that probably wouldn't be sufficient.
(23:16):
Instead of killing the wolves, they opted to capture them instead.
They found the den where a female had recently given
birth to three puppies. All of the puppies appeared to
be underweight, but one was doing so poorly that it
had to be euthanized. But the other two puppies, along
with a female and a male, were captured and brought
to a captive facility. Now you'd think animal rights groups
would be fine with this course of action. Problem wolves
(23:38):
were captured rather than killed, and now they're in a
position to survive the drought. But no our friends over
at the Center for Biological Diversity said that removing these
four wolves is a quote assault on ongoing recovery efforts.
They say landowners are fearmongering about livestock depredation and are
unwilling to live alongside the predators. I've known more than
a few livestock producers in my time, and I can
(23:59):
tell you that if they're unwilling to live with wolves,
they don't call the Game and Fish Department. I'm sure
there are some BADA actors among them, but this doesn't
seem like a good case for the CBD to get
all hot and bothered. The wolves survived and will be released.
Maybe take the win instead of hounding state officials just
trying to do their jobs. Moving on to a coyote
(24:21):
edition of the Legislative Desk, wildlife officials in Nevada are
considering a changed General Regulation five twenty six, which would
prohibit the use of thermal image technology in hunting. Right now,
in Nevada, it is illegal to take big game after dark,
but silver staters may hunt round the clock for coyotes
using spotlights or thermal optics. Supporters of the thermal imaging
(24:44):
band say the technology is an unfair advantage that violates
fair chase, and they worry that poachers use the technology
under cover of night to kill deer elk undetected. Just
think of the effects thermal optics would have had on
one of the greatest movies ever made. Predator also launched
a gubernatorial career co'm on. George four Bush of the
(25:09):
Nevada Predators Hunting Association gave the opposing viewpoint to Fox
five News, saying, quote, you will make the most effective
kill without wounding or losing that animal with thermal If
your night hunting off of lights, you have the opportunity
of misidentifying an animal, shooting the wrong animal, whether it
be the rancher's dog, a fox instead of a coyote,
or hitting the animal in a bad spot, and then
(25:30):
that animal takes off and runs away. Four Bush and
other opponents of the band are calling for better enforcement
of existing laws to punish poachers. Although public comment on
the issue will have passed by the time this episode airs,
you can still call or write to Nevada Board of
Wildlife Commissioners to make your voice heard on this issue
before it is voted on later this year. Legislators in
(25:51):
Michigan also have coyotes on their mind. State Senators Michelle
Hoitanga and Parker Fairbairn have drafted an amendment to the
Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act reinstate year round hunting
of coyotes. Until recently, Mischiganders were permitted to kill coyotes
three hundred and sixty five days a year, but in
March twenty twenty four, the state's Natural Resource Commission enacted
(26:11):
a hiatus from April fifteen to July fifteen. The sponsors
of the bill argue that this band doesn't have a
basis in conservation science and that coyote numbers are out
of control in Michigan. Michigan United Conservation Clubs sued the
Commission earlier this year, but a judge ruled against them
last week and upheld the commission's decision. Now the legislature
is trying to take matters into their own hands. As
(26:33):
much as you might agree that there's no scientific reason
to end the year round take of coyotes, you have
to be cautious whenever politicians stick their noses into wildlife policy.
For those who want to weigh in, the bill, number
is SB three six six Gang I am hot and
bothered on the topic of thermals. I'll be completely straight
(26:53):
up with you. I do not care about the use
of thermals for coyotes and wolves. As long as we're
not poison in those creators, they're going to be just fine.
May sound callous, but that's just the truth of the matter. Additionally,
I don't know how we prevent people from locating big
game animals with thermal optics. If we don't ban thermal optics,
(27:19):
what is the right solution. One of the things that
I've thought about is if you possess a valid big
game tag, you can't have optics in your possession or
in the possession of anybody in your party. But then again,
you're only a cell phone call away, and every cell
phone's a sat phone from somebody who probably does have
thermal optics. It's hard, man, it is a quagmire. But
(27:41):
I've seen thermal optics in the field and there's just
no part of that stuff that I think belongs in
the use of big game hunting. Right in, Diane, to
know what you think, askcl that's ascal athmeeater dot com.
Thank you so much in advance for calling your duly
elected afis and telling them that this land grab is
(28:03):
just ourse backards. It really is. Gang. If you think
land sale should happen, then let's make sure that they
happen in the right way, through the right process, and
in a way that gives back to the conservation community
and all Americans by purchasing land of higher strategic value.
(28:25):
That's what we have in place. Doesn't have to be
all or nothing. Funny how that works. That's all I
got for you. Thank you so much for listening. Remember
to write in askc al Askal at the media dot
com let me know what's going on in your neck
of the woods. You know I appreciate it. Thanks again.
We'll talk to you next week.
Host
Cal Callaghan
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.