By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

When Dodge, a normally pleasant billy goat, broke his leash and began knocking neighbor Dawn Pinette to the ground, deputy Jeff Scott, of Colleton County, South Carolina, temporarily subdued the animal with a Taser. Dodge, however, was back on the attack in a few seconds and had to be zapped twice more. We now officially recommend packing a .243 for goat protection. Just because Tasers have been used on two moose and a bear, doesn't mean your not undergunned with one. (Click here for the story) [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

Enough snowmobilers are rocketing their machines atop patches of open water to create a name for the practice. It's called skimming, and this past Sunday on New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee, 51-year-old Daniel Harper of Bellingham, MA, died doing it. With due respect for the dead, the whole thing does beg a question about the prudence (or sobriety) of skimmers in general. Or, as a friend of mine put it more bluntly than I might: "Does skimming make the inhabitants of northern states smarter by natural selection?" What do you think? (Click here for the story) [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

On January 17, Herstal of Belgium, who owns U.S. Repeating Arms, pulled the plug on its New Haven factory, thus ending 140 years of Winchester rifle and shotgun manufacture in this Connecticut city.  At its peak during World War II, Winchester had employed 19,000 workers in an immense series of depressing brick buildings. That number has since declined to 200 workers, all of whom will lose their jobs when the plant closes its doors on March 31.

While other Winchester rifles and shotguns will be produced elsewhere, this spells the end for the iconic Model 70 (the Rifleman’s Rifle), the legendary Model 94 (the classic lever-action deer gun), and the completely undistinguished Model 1300 shotgun. Sad? Yes, but nothing lasts forever. Just ask the 30,000 workers to whom Ford is about give the green weenie.

So, here are some points to ponder:

By Keith McCafferty

A lightning bolt is like a snakebite. Either can occur without warning, but most often the strike, whether it carries 100 million volts of electricity or a few drops of paralyzing venom, is preceded by ample signs of danger. By noting these and taking prompt action, hunters and fishermen can avoid becoming victim to a weather hazard that claims upwards of 100 fatalities each year in the United States.

BOLT COMING
Most lightning strikes occur at the beginning and end of afternoon storms. This is when positive and negative charges, which collide to produce the flash between clouds and the ground, build up the most electricity. Thunder (see sidebar), the sound waves produced by the explosive heating of air in the lightning channel, is the obvious omen we need to heed, but there are many other warning signs. Darkening skies, the buildup of anvil-shaped cumulonimbus clouds, and a sudden drop in temperature and increase in wind often presage the storms that are most likely to produce lightning. Immediately preceding a bolt, low levels of electricity fill the air, causing phenomena such as the hair on your body standing on end, a tingling sensation on the skin, or a metallic taste in... [ Read Full Post ]