UPDATE: Snowmachiner faces assault, criminal mischief charges after striking dogs(Iditarod)

ktuu.com ^ | March 12, 2016 | Kyle Hopkins and Tulsi Patil / KTUU

[Morgana]

UPDATE:

A 26-year-old Nulato man says he was returning home from Koyukuk after a night of drinking when he struck Aliy Zirkle and Jeff King's teams in the early hours of Saturday with his snowmachine.

Arnold Demoski told Channel 2 News that when he woke up this morning and heard what happened to the mushers, he checked his snowmachine and knew he'd done it. The 2016 Ski-Doo was missing a cowling, or hood. Fresh, rust-colored stains marked the siding.

Demoski says he does not remember the collisions, which the Iditarod described as apparently intentional attacks. He also says he did not return to harass Zirkle later on the trail but says he wanted to check to make sure she was okay. He didn't have the courage to approach her and feared people would learn he had been drinking and driving, he said.

[Texan5]

I have my 3 cats, but I don’t have a human companion, either...

[Salamander]

We can take turns.

[Salamander]

The accursed Lacey Act.

My Boas dodged it *for now* but a lot of my friends were hit by new species restrictions.

[Monkey Face]

I don’t have a cat. :o[

That’s not even any fun at all.

[Texan5]

I’m glad your snakes escaped-here, if you bought an animal that was bred in captivity as just a pet and therefore not able to survive in the wild, you are off the hook for a huge fine and can keep your pet-they really want to get the breeders, not the customers.

When I first moved out here, a neighbor saw me on the hiking trail by the river with Husky girl-somehow convinced my dog was one of the forbidden hybrids-Huskies are not common here-she ran to the game warden, who was doing a raptor nest count upriver, and he came over to see what kind of dog I was walking. I invited him to come by the property and see her AKC papers, but he said that’s okay-I can see that she is a perfectly ordinary Siberian Husky-and that was that-the idiot neighbor didn’t even apologize...

[Texan5]

Do you like cats? I find dogs and cats to be better company and less fuss than most guys are...

[Salamander]

Your neighbor is a complete POS, pardon me for saying.

The current hysteria tactic is "global warming will someday enable boas and pythons to live in the northeast".

This is their "map"

Now bear in mind that I *must* keep my snake enclosures at a constant mid-80s ambient temp with a hot spot of 90-92 degrees, *just* to keep my snakes from getting respiratory infections and stomatitis *and* ensure that they are able to properly digest their food.

Even the "dread Burms" in the Everglades, when captured, are often found to be suffering from the above issues, simply because the Everglades are *not* really conducive to them thriving.

Unlike our native snake species, they are unable to brumate in cold weather...they simply slow down and then die.

When storms knock out power in the winter, here, [or the summer, for that matter] you should see us hustling to get the generator going so that they are not sickened by a chill.

[berdie]

I’m sure that is true.

But since I live in the middle of Nowhere East Texas...it wasn’t (isn’t) enforced.

[Texan5]

That nonsense is just another reason we need to get rid of the whole EPA except for what is devoted to simple and realistic conservation and a healthy balance to let the natural world work like it is supposed to-and that means ditch the climate change hysteria in all its forms-just think of the money that will be saved for stuff that really makes sense...

That neighbor moved to another county last year-I never spoke to the bitch after that day on the hiking trail-out here in redneck country, you either mind your own business or you will wish you had when no one lifts a finger to help you with stuff...

[Texan5]

Out here the threat paid most attention to is packs of feral dogs, because of all the livestock-not people’s pets that are always confined or leashed...

[DivineMomentsOfTruth]

I’m very sorry for your loss.. She was a lucky girl having you as an owner.

[Texan5]

Thank you-I was lucky to have had such a loving, courageous pet and companion, as well.