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Here’s what’s worth reading today, Tuesday, September 17, 2019:
10-year-old dies from ‘brain-eating’ amoeba after swimming in Central Texas river: A 10-year-old girl died weeks after swimming in the Brazos River from a “brain-eating” amoeba. Lily Avant’s family said she was transferred to a Fort Worth hospital where doctors confirmed she contracted Naegleria Fowleri. Avant, who was from Whitney, had gone swimming over Labor Day and a week later got a fever. Naegleria Fowleri usually infects people when contaminated water enters the nose and travels to the brain, where a rare and deadly infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, can occur, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The amoeba is most common in soil and warm freshwaters, such as lakes, rivers and hot springs. The Texas Department of State Health Services said the amoeba is common, but infections are not.
U.S. officials warn of danger of feral hogs heading across the border from Canada: U.S. officials have warned that feral hogs heading across the border from Canada may pose a danger to the local environment. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that sightings of the feral animals on the U.S.-Canadian border have increased in recent years. At least eight of the wild animals have been sighted just north of Lincoln County, Montana, this summer, officials said. Several agencies, including Wildlife Services, the Montana Invasive Species Council, the National Feral Swine Program and the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks department fear the wild pigs could cause significant damage to the landscape.
Son accused of killing father on fishing trip sentenced to more than 9 years in prison: Casey Hickok was sentenced to 115 months in prison after investigators said he beat his father to death while out on a fishing trip in March. The Coast Guard responded to a distress call 66 miles off the coast of Marco Island on March 19 and found Robert Hickok, Casey’s father, dead. Crew members on the boat told investigators they saw Casey bludgeoning his father to death with a spare boat alternator.
Is the 6.5 Creedmoor overrated? Our shooting and hunting editors face off: Maybe you’ve noticed that not everyone sees eye-to-eye on the long-range craze’s darling cartridge. (You have seen the memes, right?) That includes our own shooting and hunting editors. So we told them to go ahead and have it out — but to try not to let things get too ugly. One of life’s great pleasures is talking up the virtues of the 6.5 Creedmoor, which I enjoy doing in no small part because it triggers such cross-eyed rage among the hordes of 6.5 haters. As I’ve come to learn, one thing that unifies these critics is a lack of meaningful experience with the cartridge. There’s no magic to what makes the Creedmoor special—in fact, it is all science. Boiled down, we’ve learned how to make cartridges that are inherently more accurate and yield better downrange performance than older ones. Plus, the Creedmoor has excellent barrel life and minimal recoil.
Massive 12-foot alligator seized in Louisiana, two men cited for hunting violations: Two men were cited for alligator hunting violations Sept. 10, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Agents cited Jerryd Tassin, 37, of Marksville, and Hilton Rushing, 37, of Denham Springs, for taking alligators during a closed season. Tassin was further cited for taking alligators from an unapproved area. Rushing was also cited for taking alligators without a license. A document from LDWF says the two engaged in an illegal alligator hunt Aug. 30 in Avoyelles Parish. Alligator hunting season for that part of the state didn’t open until Sept. 4. Investigators also learned that Tassin had one alligator tag for Calcasieu Parish and three tags for Avoyelles Parish, and that Rushing didn’t have a license, the document states. Tassin and Rushing took three alligators in Calcasieu Parish and used two Avoyelles Parish tags on two of the alligators. They used a Calcasieu Parish tag on the other alligator, however agents found out that the alligator was taken from an unapproved area, LDWF said.
Elk populations ‘above objective’ as hunting season heats up: Elk are plentiful in Wyoming as the state’s famed elk hunting season gets underway, according to Game and Fish Department estimates. The agency early this year estimated populations to be 29% above objective for those herds it counts, according to WyoFile calculations from agency data. The agency expects hunters will kill 25,955 wapiti this season. Officials anticipate 62,155 hunters will have a 41.8% chance of bagging an animal, according to a population summary presented to the Wyoming Game and Fish commission this year. All told, the agency estimated 110,300 elk live in the state following the 2018 hunting season. Since then, herds have raised another generation of wapiti.
Utah man organizes hunting program for those with physical disabilities: A Utah man who has been in a wheelchair for more than three decades has created a pheasant hunt for people like him who need help getting into the outdoors. Clint Robinson broke his neck after being thrown off a horse at a rodeo 32 years ago. He’s done his best to keep getting into the outdoors to hunt and fish. The event he calls “Wheelchairs in the Wild” pairs people that have physical disabilities with hunters who help them with whatever they need. Many go in off-road vehicles. “What we’re trying to do is get new injured, handicapped people back out into the field, trying to get them back out, enjoying the outdoors and wildlife that’s out there and show them that there’s other things that they can do besides sitting in the house doing nothing,” Robinson said.
Fisherman snags ‘alien’ fish that looks like something straight out of a horror movie: Earth’s oceans are home to an incredible number of interesting creatures, and sometimes certain species show up where you’d least expect them. That’s exactly what happened to a fisherman off the coast of Norway during a routine fishing trip that yielded a beast rarely seen near the surface. Oscar Lundahl, a 19-year-old fishing guide for Nordic Sea Angling, was hoping to catch some blue halibut in deep water off the coast. Instead, Lundahl snagged a ratfish, and if you didn’t know better, you might think it was something from another dimension. Lundahl was fishing at a depth of over 2,500 feet at the time, and in an interview he explained that it took him a full half-hour to reel the fish to the surface. Once he finally got a look at it, he was shocked. With two massive, bulging eyes and a bizarre, eel-like tail, it was like nothing he’d seen during his young career on the high seas.
Casting for Recovery holds fly fishing retreat for breast cancer survivors: Casting for Recovery is a healing program for breast cancer survivors that connects women with the outdoors through fly fishing retreats. This weekend, Casting for Recovery held a retreat in Big Sky, Montana. Just steps away from the Gallatin River. “When the program was started it was started by a reconstructive surgeon who thought the motions of fly fishing would be very therapeutic for women with breast cancer,” said Terri Hogan, the retreat leader for Casting for Recovery. Therapeutic — both physically and emotionally.
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