Animal News

The mother bear and her two cubs vacated their tree on Uni Hill soon after dark last night, and ambled west, back into the Foothills and Open Space of Boulder County.  That's a big relief to me, because the Denver news stations kept on broadcasting that the bears would be killed if they weren't out of the tree by midnight...

Bear cub in tree on University Hill in Boulder, Colorado

Irish horse-racing star St. Nicholas Abbey is progressing well, now, after yet another set back.  The handsome bay colt broke the pastern of his right fore during a gallop, and had surgery to place a weight-bearing pin in the bone.  Two days later, he had emergency colic surgery, and his status was "guarded."  A week ago, he appeared to be in pain, and his pastern was X-rayed; the pin and screws had separated, so he had to have surgery on the leg yet again.  He is currently on his feet, with a cast on his broken pastern, and a cast covering his opposite hoof, in order to keep his legs and feet at the same height, to fight laminitis.

St Nicholas Abbey at the equine hospital in Ireland

Back to Boulder for another chapter in the story of Edward, the Mapleton Elk, who was killed by an on-duty police officer, without cause.  Samuel Carter, the ex-officer, who killed the trophy elk out of season in a residential yard had asked, several weeks ago, for a change of venue, stating he wouldn't get a fair trial in Boulder.  A judge today denied the change of venue request.  Two ex-officers were involved in the conspiracy to kill Edward; the other was Brent Curnow, who ran a taxidermist business from his home. Curnow had called in sick for his work shift the night Edward was killed, but arrived soon after Carter telephoned him, to load Edward's body into his covered pickup truck, to start the taxidermy work on the big elk.  The Boulder Prosecutor's office offered Curnow a plea deal last week, which he accepted yesterday. He will be under house arrest for 60 days, must perform 120 hours of community service and will be on probation for one year, but will serve no jail time.  This was because he pled guilty to the felony charge of tampering with evidence, and four misdemeanors involving the death of the trophy elk.  I'm afraid his plea deal is a slap in the face to Sam Carter (hee-hee!)...

Edward the Elk, in a yard on Mapleton Avenue, 3 days before being gunned down by a policeman

Odds and Ends

It's gorgeous here in Boulder this morning!  We're at 61 degrees (F) and 65% humidity.  Cool and nice with partly cloudy skies - much different than the micro-burst winds and thunderstorms of yesterday evening. Seeing a bobcat is rare in Boulder, but it does happen:

This youngster was spotted on the east side of the city, near a hiking trail.

   I recently read that one of the ways to recognize the onset of Alzheimer's is the nonrecognition of current celebrities.  I guess that means I have it with a vengeance - I recognize a lot of the "old" stars , but have absolutely no idea who any of the new ones are, or what they look like.  I know a few actors from current television programs, but in the last ten years, I've only seen four movies at a theater, and, unless it's an actor or actress that I really admire, I have no idea of the person's name.  I have seen headlines about "Honey Boo Boo" for the past year or so, and don't know anything about her, except that she is a child.  Honestly, I don't want to know about her.  I could pick Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, or Morgan Freeman out of a line-up - throw in Clint Eastwood, Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott, too.  But today's glamour boys? I have no idea.

   St Nicholas Abbey, the horse who broke his right fore, and then colicked, is doing very well at the equine hospital.  We've lost five thoroughbred breeding stallions in the last week, most due to the infirmities of old age.  Yesterday, in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga, Will Take Charge won the classic race by a nostril edge over Moreno; Orb was third and Palace Malice was fourth.  So D Wayne Lukas struck again.  The 17+-hand colt, who ran in all three Triple Crown races, is finally racing to his potential - and he's handsome, too.

  At the beginning of January, I wrote several blogs about the killing of Edward the Elk in the city of Boulder by a police officer.  Friday, the ex-officer's attorney requested a change of venue, stating that the policeman would not be able to receive "a fair trial" in pet-centric Boulder.  I was somewhat amazed.  The ex-police officer, Sam Carter, says, through his attorney, that the citizens of the area have been "brain-washed" by the media, and he's been turned into an ogre.  Fact:  The elk was a long-time resident of Boulder County, and spent the winters on Mapleton Hill, whose residents enjoyed his presence.  Fact:  Sam Carter shot the elk in the private yard of a residence, while on duty, with a BPD shotgun, which he did not report to BPD.  Fact:  Carter then called fellow police-officer Brent Curnow (who had been scheduled to work, but called in sick for his shift) and had Curnow arrive at the site with his pick-up truck to remove the body.  Fact:  Curnow is a licensed taxidermist.  Fact:  Carter reported that he had killed the elk because it was "injured."  Fact:  The Department of Wildlife performed a necropsy on the elk, once it was recovered from Curnow.  The elk had no injuries or illness discernible, other than the fatal wound from Carter.  Fact:  Twenty hours before the elk was killed, Carter and Curnow had exchanged text messages regarding the short amount of time the elk had left to live.  Fact:  The elk was considered a "trophy" animal under the Samson Law.  Fact:  It was not elk hunting season.  -  Now Carter says he won't receive a fair trial in Boulder County.  I think that most people can look calmly at the number of laws that were broken - each man was accused of several felonies and attempting to influence a public official, plus the wildlife offenses - and decide whether or not these men were guilty or innocent.  How about you?