7/03/11 FINE WEATHER, A GOAT'S BEARD, AND BEAR HUNTERS BEWARE

FINE WEATHER

GREAT SAILING

GOAT'S BEARD IN BLOOM

Sunday, 7:00 AM.  61 degrees, wind WNW, calm.  The sky is blue, the waters calm, and the barometer is down slightly.  A fine Forth of July weekend.
    Goat’s beard, Aruncus dioica, in the rose family and closely related to spireas and the false spirea, is a shrub native to the southeastern Midwest.  It is hard to say whether most plants in the nursery trade are truly “natives,” as there is an eastern European Aruncus variety also often sold and there are hybrids of these various plants available as well.  From a practical landscaping standpoint it probably makes little difference, as these shade to semi-shade tolerant plants are quite beautiful and useful, hardy, and actually not used that much. To my knowledge they are not considered invasive. The late spring and summer blooms are rather showy and unusual, and the fall leaf color an eye-catching gold.
    Late yesterday afternoon we saw a yearling bear and a cute, furry little cub no bigger than a small dog, ambling across Hwy  K west of the Rez.  Which leads to the following excerpt, which appeared in the Saturday, July 2nd, 2011 Ashland Daily Press, and my commentary.
     Changes in bear hunting take effect this weekend. “The Class B bear license authority has been expanded to allow the holder of the license and anyone age 10-15 to shoot a bear …in one specific situation. If a bear has been shot, but not killed, by a Class A bear license holder, and the killing of the bear is necessary to protect human safety, a Class B bear license holder may shoot to kill the bear.  Both the Class A and Class B license holders must be a member of the same hunting party and both present at the point of kill.  A bear license holder must ensure the Class A bear license holder immediately attach their validated bear carcass tag to the bear.”
    O.K., I guess the bear hunters will have to “lawyer up,” as they say, before the hunt or on the way to the hospital or the morgue.  My only question is, what regulations does the bear have to follow?