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One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

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T R E 4 5 O N

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the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Speaking of animals…

Speaking of animals…

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I went out early to take photos of some birds at a pond, and a small herd of feral pigs emerged from the tree line:

They rooted around, rolled in the mud and generally had a large time. Also saw this stork nab a fish:

Now the rain has driven us indoors. Has the regime embarrassed us in some way today? What are y’all up to?

Reader Interactions

92Comments

  1. 1.

    Trentrunner

    So is Trump’s “You are the special people” on a secret recording gonna become his “47% percent”? (Article at Politico.)

    We need to keep weaving Trump/GOP into the 1%-Crony Capitalism-Rich Getting Richer narrative.

    This seems like a good opportunity.

  4. 4.

    bystander

    Joy Reid had another satisfying program today. Malcolm Nance shredded Trump and gave his take on what happened this week. John Dean and Joy did a review of how nixonian Trump is, but without any intellect. Lately, I’ve been impressed by Scott Pelley as well. The CBS evening news is till talking about Tru,p while their competitors have moved on to the Girl Scout badmouthing her cookies and the factory in Racine making hot pads.

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Those piglets are cute. And I love the bird (stork?) in the background, just lying there ignoring the pigs and minding her business.

  7. 7.

    oldster

    Woohoo! NY-23 is representing today!

    Tom Reed is getting an earful from a lot of not-paid protestors, and it is not-fake news.

    Jessica Taylor from NPR is following today, and checking in on her Twitter feed (@JessicaTaylor).

    I had hoped to be with the town halls myself today but could not make it. I am very happy to see that the bulk of the constituents at the meeting are almost as old as I am. Try telling us that we are paid protestors, you young pipsqueak.

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Trentrunner:

    So is Trump’s “You are the special people” on a secret recording gonna become his “47% percent”?

    No, not on its own, but it’s one more drip of water helping to erode the Trumpstone a few molecules at a time.

  9. 9.

    Fester Addams

    @Trentrunner: Of the cabinet… auditions, I guess, Big Cheeto says:

    “We’re doing a lot of interviews tomorrow— Generals, dictators, we have everything,”

    Anyone know which dictators yet? I really want to know.

  10. 10.

    lollipopguild

    @Trentrunner: I went and read the article at politico. Gee, there is nothing quite like running America in exactly the same way you run a private country club.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    @Fester Addams:

    “We’re doing a lot of interviews tomorrow— Generals, dictators, we have everything,”

    Here’s the full quote:

    Donald Trump: I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists.

  15. 15.

    dexwood

    I’m going to meet up with Balloon Juicer quinerly later today as she continues her love affair with New Mexico. There will be beer.

  16. 16.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: They’re cute now. Just wait until they weigh north of 300 lbs and have a temper. I came across a feral hog track a few months back in a glade near my house – very, very, very large.

  17. 17.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Greetings from OFA training in Chicago! No carnage observed yet; instead, a large, diverse group of people from all around the country gathered to learn how to train folks in grassroots organizing and community engagement. GLAD.

    ETA: It’s 60 degree weather in Chicago. In February. Thanks, China. /

  18. 18.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lollipopguild: Except, according to the news in West Palm Beach, the Secret Service have now closed Mar a Lago to paid members and guests when the President is on site. An exception was made for this evening as a charity function was already planned for the grand ballroom, but the attendees are limited to said ballroom. Members will not be allowed to use any of the resort’s facilities while the President is on site. This has pissed off the membership (100K, now 200K application fee and $15K per year membership fee) and will quickly cut into the resort’s bottom line pissing off the President. I do not feel sorry for anyone involved.

  23. 23.

    Adam L Silverman

    @schrodingers_cat: Now. Just wait until they weigh several hundred pounds. And if they’re crossed with Russian boar or razorback, their tusks come in.

    I can’t prove it, but I’m becoming convinced we’ve got a chimpanzee that’s gotten loose or someone abandoned now living in the scrub. I heard a lot of chittering and calls that didn’t sound like any of the bird calls we get late at night/early in the morning last night when I was out with the dogs. Coyote calls, but that’s normal. This was different, strange, clearly agitated, and sounded a lot like chimp vocalizations.

  29. 29.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I can’t prove it, but I’m becoming convinced we’ve got a chimpanzee that’s gotten loose or someone abandoned now living in the scrub.

    Might it be a shitgibbon? I hear that FL has an infestation.

  31. 31.

    Adam L Silverman

    @schrodingers_cat: There have been several chimps reported in the area over the past several years. I hope this was just some agitated bird making sounds that my pattern recognition wiring decided was chimp vocalizations. Because they can be very, very dangerous when they’ve been abandoned and gone feral.

    Also, gators – don’t forget the gators. And old people. Everywhere. In very large cars…

  35. 35.

    Eljai

    @XTPD: I clicked on the survey participants and I saw Cokie Robert’s name. Who let her in!? That may partially explain the bullshit Reagan ranking.

  36. 36.

    Baud

    @Eljai: Rankings involving any president within the past 40 years are bullshit. Need the passage of time to assess accurately.

  37. 37.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Omnes Omnibus: You know what’s scary, a group of langurs. They are big and scary and not at all afraid of human beings. One big langur stole snacks from my brother’s hand, he was about 10 then. We were eating batata vadas and drinking hot tea from a food cart, we were on a trip to Matheran. The monkey ate the snacks and threw the plate away. We were howling in laughter, and brother was crying. Poor thing. He is a big guy, but to this day he is scared of the monkeys!

  40. 40.

    cope

    Been watching your rain head my way all day, Betty. Should be here (and we need it) in an hour or so. It looks like it will hit Melbourne on or about 5:00 PM. Coincidence?

  41. 41.

    JosieJ (not Josie)

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Good! Maybe, now that he can’t preen and posture in front of his “peers”, he’ll stop going down there every weekend and racking up huge protection costs.

  43. 43.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: I cannot tell you how often I’ve almost been killed trying to walk from my car into the grocery store or other store or restaurant as a result. Stop signs appear to be optional. As do people in crosswalks. A couple of weeks ago I was almost t-boned by someone who rolled through a three way stop while looking at their phone. Fortunately I was paying attention. About 10 minutes and 6 miles later some guy wanted to pull out of a parking lot and across three lanes of traffic to get to the two dedicated left turn lanes. He did not have space in the inner lane or the two turn lanes – all he was going to do was block me in the middle lane and the person in the right most lane who was going to let him in. He also had his car pointed directly at mine as he tried to edge out. Had I not honked, he would have hit me. He was very upset when I wouldn’t let him into the space I’d left between me and the car in front of me as we waited for the light to change.

  44. 44.

    Mathguy

    @Baud: Case in point: Reagan above LBJ. It will be interesting to see where St. Ronnie Raygun stacks up after all the fanboys die off.

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    @WereBear: There isn’t. Like I said, there have been several reported in the area over the past several years. One attacked a woman if I’m remembering correctly. I’ll check in with a friend who is in law enforcement to see if any reports have come in. And you are correct: if it is one, there will be trouble.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    @Mathguy: That’s tough because of Vietnam though. As bad as Reagan’s policies were, he managed to avoid a major clusterfuck during his administration (although not scandal).

    ETA:. Fuck LBJ.

  56. 56.

    John Revolta

    Not that I’d be interested, but are you allowed to hunt those porkers? ‘Cause I don’t get how they can run around down there in Gun Land and not end up on somebody’s grill.

  57. 57.

    Adam L Silverman

    @John Revolta: You can.
    http://myfwc.com/hunting/by-species/wild-hog/

    The wild pig (Sus scrofa), also called the wild hog, wild boar or feral pig, is not a Florida native and may have been introduced by Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto as early as 1539.
    They occur in all of Florida’s 67 counties within a wide variety of habitats, but prefer oak-cabbage palm hammocks, freshwater marshes and sloughs and pine flatwoods. Wild pigs can reach weights of more than 150 pounds and be 5-6 feet long. They usually travel in small family groups or alone.
    wild hog damaged fieldWild pigs are omnivorous (eating all kinds of foods, both plants and animals) and feed by rooting with their broad snouts. They may cause disturbance of the soil and ground cover vegetation and leave the area looking like a plowed field.
    Trying to prevent wild pigs from coming onto your property is usually futile, but adequate fencing can keep them out of small yards and gardens. On private property, nuisance pigs may be trapped using pens with trap doors and baited with acorns or old corn. Trapped animals may not be released on public land, and can only be released on private property with landowner permission. See the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Regulations for Trapping and Transporting Feral Swine External Website.
    Hunting
    Wild pigs are legally defined as wildlife and are the second-most popular, large animal hunted in Florida (second only to the white-tailed deer).
    On private property with landowner permission, wild pigs may be trapped and hunted year round using any legal to own rifle, shotgun, crossbow, bow or pistol. There is no size or bag limit, and you may harvest either sex. Also, no hunting license is required. A gun and light at night permit is not required to take wild hogs with a gun and light on private lands with landowner permission.
    Florida’s Limited Entry/Quota Hunt Programs offer quality public hunting opportunities and prevent overcrowding, while controlling the harvest of game on wildlife management areas.
    On wildlife management areas (WMAs) Not a Mobile-Enabled Link, hogs may be taken during most hunting seasons, except spring turkey. But, if it’s during archery season, you must use a bow – during muzzleloading gun season, you can only use a muzzleloader. You need a management area permit and any other necessary permits to hunt wild pigs during particular seasons on WMAs – where on some, daily bag limits on wild pigs do apply, and on a few, there’s even a minimum size limit on what you can take. On wildlife management areas, you may not use a gun and light at night.
    Best Hog Hunting WMAs
    Northwest Region – Aucilla, Blackwater Hutton Unit, portions of Blackwater, Apalachicola Bradwell Unit, Choctawhatchee River and portions of Joe Budd
    North Central Region – Andrews, Flying Eagle, Big Bend Hickory Mound Unit, Big Bend Snipe Island Unit, Big Bend Tide Swamp Unit, Mallory Swamp, Steinhatchee Springs and Devil’s Hammock
    Northeast Region – Tosohatchee is the best hog area where hunters get to use dogs. In terms of sheer numbers of hogs taken, Three Lakes typically is tops, followed by Tosohatchee, Triple N Ranch, Guana River, Bull Creek, Three Lakes Prairie Lakes Unit and Fort Drum.
    Southwest Region – Green Swamp has the largest harvest each year, followed by Green Swamp West, Babcock/Webb, Chassahowitzka and Myakka State Forest.
    South Region – Dinner Island Ranch, J.W. Corbett, Dupuis, Okaloacoochee Slough, Allapattah Flats and Hungryland

    Additional Information
    University of Florida IFAS External Website
    Intrastate Movement of Feral Swine – Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services External Website
    Health Advisory – Swine Brucellosis
    Spring and summer hog hunting opportunities

  58. 58.

    Mnemosyne

    Getting ready to take Annie to the vet for a follow-up on her ear mites, and then to get my hair cut and colored. My roots are pretty straggly, but luckily I have a very talented colorist, so they’re not super obvious.

  62. 62.

    sukabi

    @Adam L Silverman: besides not being able to adequately secure the area / screen access to pres., Drumpfs penchant for treating the presidency as a reality show is putting classified info / Nat security at risk… Don’t know if it’s true or not, but read a report that he invited folks at maralago to sit in on his interviews with potential cabinet picks…

  68. 68.

    Adam L Silverman

    @John Revolta: They are. They reproduce very quickly and eat a ton. As you can see from the rules, with property owners consent they can be taken/harvested/hunted at any time without the need for a permit and with no limit because once they’re established in an area they can become a nuisance, and often a violent nuisance, very quickly.

  69. 69.

    hovercraft

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I am more than willing to take him at his literal word.

    Spokes cobra KAC said that you cannot take him at his literal words, you maust take him at what is in his heart.

  71. 71.

    Adam L Silverman

    @hovercraft: He misspoke and referred to Obamacare as Obamaca at his press conference. That’s when you pay your premium for one month, but get eight months of health insurance.

  76. 76.

    schrodingers_cat

    @SiubhanDuinne: They are the monkey of myth in India. A troupe of vanars helped Ram to build a bridge between India and Lanka in the epic Ramayana. Plus Hanuman, the son of Vayu (wind) was a vanar*, holds an important place in the Hindu pantheon.
    *Another name for langur.

  80. 80.

    pluky

    @Adam L Silverman: Bravo! If I recall, the Secret Service has almost unlimited discretion when it comes to security of the President. Even Trump himself can’t overrule them. (Hee-hee).

  82. 82.

    NotMax

    @pluky

    Trivia: Abraham Lincoln signed the bill creating the Secret Service the morning of the same day on which he was assassinated.

    (Secret Service was not charged with presidential protection, rather with investigating counterfeiting. But still one of those odd confluences of history.)

  85. 85.

    Jay Noble

    @Adam L Silverman: smh Of course there are chimps! Don’t you remember that documentary with Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt back in ’87 of how they helped a group of them escape that horrible Projet X thing? These are probably their grandkids ;-)

  86. 86.

    J R in WV

    @Adam L Silverman:

    My brother shot and killed a 750+ pound boar hog in TX a few years ago, with a Ruger 44 magnum pistol. When they went to load it into the truck, the little crane on the back of the truck bent, and it was all the 5 guys could do helping the crane to get it into the truck. Sausage and a trophy.

    ETA: Feral hogs would be another reason to carry a big weapon, glad they are scarce and in deep woods here.

  87. 87.

    J R in WV

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Long ago I saw video of some “soldiers” in Africa who gave a chimp an AK-47 that was locked and loaded. They were all happy, smiling, laughing, until the chimp figured out how the trigger worked, which took about 20 seconds. Those guys vanished in seconds after the first shots were fired.

  89. 89.

    J R in WV

    @XTPD: Not the first time I’ve been suckered by professional video. Did you see that Deathstar Attack?!~?!? Wowsa!

    The giant feral boar hog was real, I’ve seen the skull! Photos of the bending crane too, but photos, photoshop, right? Steve Bannon is actually a handsome guy, right?

  90. 90.

    PaulW

    It rained at Bartow SyFy around 3:00 pm, so we packed up the Friends of Bartow Library canopy when it let up around 4:00 pm.

    Before all that, we had a thousand people walking up and down Main Street for much of the early afternoon, and we had 56 dollars in sale of used and donated books for our Friends group!

    I will, sadly, have to hang up the Jedi cosplay outfit I have, it’s started to wear out. I’ll need to find a replacement Jedi uniform… I’m thinking about getting a Clone Wars version that has armor plating instead of the Jidaigeki style.

  91. 91.

    Regine Touchon

    I will not listen to the shit gibbon live. Had a wonderful evening with friends. One couple have written lyrics vis a vis Steve Martin’s “King Tut”. Too funny: “King trump “. Resist!

  92. 92.

    Jack the Cold Warrior

    @Baud:

    You forget the Marine Barracks bombing in Lebanon. Change from on high had the USS New Jersey firing in support of Marionst Christian Militias. Until then, the Marines were considered neutral peacekeepers. That’s when the Muslim militias started sniping them, followed by the truck bombing.

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