Blog Archive

October 2010 Blogs

Friday, October 29, 2010
University of Michigan scientists recently concluded that the legendary beast know as goatsucker in English and chupacabra in Spanish is a coyote with an extreme case of the mange, a skin condition caused by mites. The mite responsible for the extreme hair loss seen in "chupacabras syndrome" is Sarcoptes scabiei, which also causes the itchy rash known as scabies in people. Domestic dogs, like humans, have played host to the mites long enough to evolve the ability to fight off mange, but the condition is much more damaging to wild members of the dog family. The infected coyote is more likey to go after livestock or pets because they are too weak to hunt wild animals.

The city has a coyote trapping program. The city and county have received hundreds of calls to 311, the city's nonemergency help line, from people complaining about coyotes in Austin areas that include greenbelts, creeks and canyons. Those areas include Southwest Austin near the Travis Country subdivision, West Austin including Camp Mabry, and Northwest Austin.

Coyote tips
* Don't leave pet food outside.
* If you see a coyote, yell at it and throw sticks and rocks to scare it away.
* Call 311 to report coyote sightings or sounds of coyotes howling.
Source: Randy Farrar, Texas AgriLife Extension Service-Wildlife Services

The Library has two recent books about coyotes in urban areas:

Urban carnivores: Ecology, Conflict, and Conservation

Coyote at the Kitchen Door: Living with Wildlife in Suburbia
 

 

 

Wednesday, October 13, 2010
 

Two great bands that played at ACL have recorded cds which the super-talented Danger Mouse produced – the Broken Bells and the Black Keys. He is also part of the Broken Bells duo and has recorded with Gnarls Barkley. Since 2005, Danger Mouse, as a producer and as an artist, has been nominated for 11 Grammy Awards.

Does Danger Mouse ever sleep? In 2008 he produced Beck’s Modern Guilt. Following this year’s Broken Bells project with Shins' singer James Mercer, he had another collaborative effort, Dark Night of the Soul, where he teamed up with Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous. Guest stars included Frank Black (Pixies), James Mercer, the Flaming Lips, Julian Casablancas (Strokes), Iggy Pop, Suzanne Vega and more. The third project this year was the Black Key’s Brothers.

A few years ago Jay-Z got Danger Mouse to mash up his own Black Album with the Beatle’s White Album to create the Grey Album, which was Danger Mouse’s first hit. Then Danger Mouse was asked to produce the Gorillaz' second studio album, Demon Days.

I used to watch the very witty British cartoon series Danger Mouse back in the 1980s on Nickelodeon which was about an English mouse who works as a super hero/secret agent. Early in his career, Danger Mouse performed in a mouse outfit because he was too shy to show his face, and then took his name from the British cartoon character.

I have learned two lessons from his career – you can be shy and still reach your goals, and it helps to collaborate with other great talent.