Latest news with #Doc
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Meet Doc Holliday: The blue heeler starring in the Army's 250th anniversary parade
As the nation gets ready for a big military parade on June 14, held to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, there is one unexpected guest star of the parade — a 2-year-old blue heeler named Doc Holliday. Named after a character in the movie Tombstone, the dog is a cherished member of the Horse Cavalry Detachment, an equestrian military unit posted at Fort Cavazos, Texas. The Horse Cavalry Detachment was activated in 1972 and is a subordinate unit of the 1st Cavalry Division. Doc joined the detachment as a young puppy more than two years ago, according to Army Col. Kamil Sztalkoper, a spokesman for the III Armored Corps. The unit, mostly used to support public relations and recruiting efforts, includes a wagon pulled by two mules, per ABC News. Sztalkoper said Doc is a playful dog, but he 'knows his place very well when it's time for the parade.' From the back of the unit's wagon, Doc has participated in several ceremonies and parades. In fact, Doc has participated twice in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. This is not the first time Doc has been included in a big parade lineup. He traveled to Washington, D.C., to be in the inaugural parade this past January, but when the inauguration moved indoors, Doc missed his chance, per The Washington Post. But this time around, Doc is set to take the spotlight as Army officials said the parade is a 'rain-or-shine event,' the Post reported. Doc will be marching alongside 6,700 soldiers, 28 M1 Abrams, 28 Stryker vehicles, a World War II-era B-25 bomber, 34 horses, six Paladin self-propelled howitzers and two mules, per The New York Times. The parade is set for June 14, which not only marks the Army's 250th anniversary but also Flag Day and President Donald Trump's 79th birthday. Even though it's been two years in the making, it wasn't until after Trump's inauguration that officials began to explore options to make the event bigger with a parade. Army spokesman Steve Warren said they want it to be a national, global, and 'even interstellar' event, as Army Col. Anne McClain, now serving on the International Space Station, will be phoning in, per The New York Times. Designed to tell the history of the Army from the Revolutionary era to World War II, as well as to showcase uniforms from every past U.S. conflict, the parade will go for about a mile from Constitution Avenue to the Washington Monument. At the end of the parade, the Army's Golden Knight parachutists will descend near the Ellipse and present Trump with a folded flag. Additionally, the president will enlist and reenlist 250 recruits and soldiers. The last big military parade, the National Victory Celebration parade, was held in the U.S. capital to celebrate the conclusion of the Gulf War in 1991. According to The Washington Post, that parade cost $8 million, or almost $19 million in today's money. Trump's parade is set to cost between $25 million to $45 million, according to Army officials. Army officials expect about 200,000 attendees. People can request free tickets, two per person.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Moose on the LOOSE?
Two alleged sightings of the elusive moose in Fiordland have begged the age-old question — is it still out there? Mary Williams speaks to the yay-sayers, nay-sayers and maybe-sayers. It is a question of what we hold deer. Two Fiordland moose sightings, both this year, by groups of Canadian and United States trampers on the Kepler track, were treated as a yeah-nah by the Department of Conservation (Doc). Te Anau Doc manager John Lucas said he had to check that one sighting, which landed on his desk on April Fool's Day, wasn't a prank. They were most likely "deer or possibly a red/wapiti cross that has been mistaken for moose." But this is not a hunt for the proverbial Big Foot. Ten Canadian moose were released at Dusky Sound in 1910, after a tortuous journey from their colder homeland. They bred but by all accounts never got much of a hoof-hold and, "it is believed they are now extinct", Mr Lucas said. Belief and extinct are dangerous words to bandy around in Fiordland. Te Anau residents celebrate Dr Geoffrey Orbell, the man who tracked the "extinct" flightless takahe in 1948 and found a few of the surviving birds in the mountains immediately opposite the township. Four years later, the last definitive Fiordland moose photos were taken, so anyone claiming they are still out there in the 21st century must steel themselves for a storm of scorn from social media and some deer hunters. At the eye of the storm is the affable, long-married, Te Anau couple Ken and Marg Tustin, who have spent years — yes, years, often in month-long stints — living under canvas in a remote corner of Fiordland National Park, looking for moose. They have used scientific approaches, have a hopeful, fun-loving attitude as well as some compelling evidence, and are convinced that a remnant moose population is still, probably, a yeah-nah-yeah. Mr Tustin — a trained biologist, helicopter pilot and now in his 80th year — is riled at Doc's recent negative reactions. "It is absolutely astounding," he says. He is responding by inviting people to report their sightings or other evidence to him and has set up an initiative called Moose Log NZ to help people do just that. "It amazes me that they [Doc] were so disrespectful, dismissing the sightings so out-of-hand, telling them 'what they saw'. "We are talking about Fiordland megafauna here, not stick insects." Camera shy If a moose walks through the forest, but there is no-one there to snap its photo, is it still a moose? According to Doc's Mr Lucas, no. He demands "photographic proof". Mr Tustin, who has been looking for moose since the 1970s, points out that Fiordland is 1.25million hectares. Moose are huge, look different from deer but the chance of snapping a photo is slim. Only a few may be left, and if they are out there, they are solitary and likely on the move, looking for a limited supply of edible leaves. They don't hang out in clearings because, unlike deer, they are neither grass-grazers nor are they sun-seekers. They are meant to have a different diet in a colder clime. However, the two recent sightings by two groups — certain about their ability to ID moose, including a vet, and not colluding — have a ring of truth. Antoine Beauchamp, from Quebec, explains why his group of three didn't snap a pic. Their phones were in their backpacks because they were on their final day trudging the track and focused on making it to the carpark not nature photography. There is an argument that NZ deer hunters only see deer — not moose — because they are wired for that. Did Mr Beauchamp only see moose because he is Canadian and wired to see moose? "I don't think so. I have seen hundreds of deer in my life and only a couple of moose, and I know what a moose looks like." "Everyone wants to see something with their eyes but even then might call it false. We have seen the comments on Facebook saying 'Why didn't they take a picture?' but our phones were not in our hands. We noticed the animal, started talking about it, it crossed the track so we got a good look, then it disappeared into the forest." He admits there is always a chance they could be wrong but "it is important, first, to be kind and understanding, especially in a situation like this. I understand the takahe's story so it is only fair to be open to the possibility of moose." Mr Beauchamp then rattled off the moose characteristics they saw — wide flat antlers, wide nose, very long legs, brown body. If it looks like a moose, it's a moose, he thinks. Matches During 1951-52 three moose were shot by hunters, one of them at a small lake called Moose Lake. It is a wild, forested, moody spot fed by Herrick Creek and emptying into the southern edge of Wet Jacket Arm, not very far from the 1910 moose release site. Moose Lake is named thanks to Mr Tustin. He persuaded the NZ Geographic Board to name it because two moose had been shot there, the other in 1934. In 1952, a moose was also photographed standing in the lake. The area around Herrick Creek and Moose Lake has been the primary focus for much of the studies by the Tustins and Mr Tustin describes his time there with Mrs Tustin as "demanding, primeval but we thrived on it — lucky us!" They concluded that "browse sites" — where bush and tree stems have been broken and munched higher than a deer or wapiti could likely reach — demonstrated seasonal moose movements. They installed self-triggering cameras, that snapped 1500 red deer and, in 1995, "one probable female moose", captured on a blotchy picture, taken from a video frame. Max Quinn, 75, is a natural history film-maker and was making a film about the Tustins at the time. "We saw social groups of deer but the time we filmed that solitary, dark animal was the only time we saw it — a one-off, indicative of moose. "They can climb a mountain, go down a valley, swim a fiord and never be captured again." In 2000, two hunters found large hoof prints and some unusually-long, snagged animal hair at Shark Cove in Dusky Sound. It was sent to Invermay Agricultural Centre for mitochondrial DNA testing and came back 98% moose. Jamie Ward works at Otago Fish and Game now, but was a lab technician at Invermay. It was "dumb luck", he says, that the sample was less than a few days old and therefore still testable. Mr Ward is aware humans share 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees, but the hair follicles came back with lower matches for deer or wapiti that "weren't even close". "If not a moose, it was a moose hybrid and its mother was a moose, and if it was a moose hybrid that would be even more remarkable than finding a moose in New Zealand." Cross-contamination was unlikely, he says. "There had never been a moose in the lab and it was hard to believe that anyone had moose meat in the freezer". He joined forces with Mr Tustin to co-author a paper, still available on ResearchGate. In 2002, the Tustins also found a hair clump, on the northern coast of Wet Jacket Arm opposite Oke Island, and sent it to a forensic lab at Trent University in Ontario. It came back moose positive. Other samples they sent were found, predictably, to be deer. Mr Ward has views about negative reactions to the recent sighting claims. "With all the vitriol handed out, I felt, you guys, you don't know what you are talking about. Ken is one of New Zealand's foremost ungular researchers who has sat up on a mountainside for months on the dark side, from dawn to dusk, and you are none of those things so you don't really have the right to a strong opinion." In 2011, the clothing retailer Hallenstein Brothers offered a bounty of $100,000 for a photo, saying it was time to "help Ken Tustin out" but ended the offer six weeks later. Since the DNA results, there has been nothing so helpful to prove moose, but in 2020, Ben Young, a young helicopter pilot at Southern Lakes Helicopters, said he saw one from the sky. He has worked as a hunting guide in northern Canada and said he was sure. The moose waggled its big ears at him. The Tustins think there may have been other sightings not reported to Doc, because people fear ridicule. Poo possibility? In a few weeks, there is another chance of moose news. The Tustins will be studying pictures from cameras they have placed in the Seaforth Valley, which leads from Dusky Sound towards the northeast, in the direction of the Kepler track. Last year, Mr Tustin collected faeces from the valley in a place that he says was moose-browsed. He sent it to be DNA tested by Massey University but, sadly, it had degraded too much. Dr Nick Sneddon, who did the checks, explains that only the mucus on faeces can be tested and it degrades fast. Moose-seekers should "carry a clean bag, grab and bag the poo without touching it, and get it tested as soon as possible." Meanwhile, the hunting community are variably likely to start collecting poo or holding cellphones at the ready. David Veitch, experienced hunter and president of the Southern Lakes Deer Stalkers Association, is an ardent nay-sayer and uses an age-old argument. He has walked "thousands of kilometres" through Fiordland bush and never seen one with his own eyes. "It is people not identifying what they are looking at, simple as that." Owner of Te Anau hunting shop Fiordland Frontier Stephen Dobson is less damning. He would love to be proven wrong about moose extinction but preferably not with a carcass as evidence. "Nobody wants to be that person who proves it by shooting the last one." Roy Sloan, spokesman for the Wapiti Foundation, which is calling for wapiti to be protected as a Herd of Special Interest, is also up for good news and ready to rename his organisation the Wapiti and Moose Foundation — just as soon as he sees a photo. "Ken is very honest and not out for a story. If the DNA evidence wasn't moose, what else could it be?" Meanwhile, Mr Tustin is still smiling broadly at the recent sightings and a lifetime of fun in the forest with a woman he loves. He also cherishes the friendships made along the way. "It means the world that smart, observant people have been so lucky to have their tracks crossed by this rare, rare animal and recognise the importance and want to share it. We are thrilled for them and ourselves." "They have brought the project back to life, just when we've been struggling to do the fieldwork, and when moose numbers are at their likely lowest ebb." "It's something to celebrate in this mean old world of ours. A flash of bright light. I love it that when man believes he knows everything, then here comes moose, unheralded, the size of a horse, outwitting — or out-moosing? — us all for years. What does that tell us about ourselves and the quality of Fiordland wilderness? Moose 1, humans 0." — To register a sighting with Ken, email mooselognz@
West Australian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Molly Parker: House of Cards actress stars in US drama Doc which has just aired in Australia
Molly Parker has a newfound respect for doctors after starring as one in Doc, the US's biggest medical drama, which has finally hit screens in Australia. The Canadian actress plays Amy Larsen, the chief of Internal Medicine at Westside Hospital in Minneapolis, who sustains a brain injury and loses the last eight years of her life. Dr Larsen is forced to navigate an unfamiliar world — while still practising medicine, she has no recollection of patients she's treated, colleagues she's encountered, the man she loves, or the tragedy that caused her to push everyone away. She can rely only on her estranged 17-year-old daughter, whom she remembers as a nine-year-old, and a few devoted friends, as she struggles after losing nearly a decade of knowledge and experience. It is based on an Italian series of the same name inspired by true events. Parker, best-known for her roles in House of Cards and Lost in Space, said while stepping into scrubs had been a challenge, she discovered a greater respect for medical professionals. 'The first couple of episodes are quite emotional for Amy, and so just that, in and of itself, is quite difficult,' she told The Sunday Times. 'It's given me a whole new appreciation for actors who play medical professionals, but also for medical professionals. It is such hard work and just so important. It's given me a whole a whole new respect.' With many days of intense and emotional filming, Parker said she uses knitting, a hobby she took up a few years ago, to cope. 'For me, in between setups or in between scenes, I need to be doing something with my hands, but it can't be something that takes me emotionally into another place,' she said. 'Like a big part of the job as an actor is to manage your emotional reality over the course of a day of working and knitting kind of is meditative. 'My husband's daughter just had a baby, so we have a little three-month-old granddaughter, and she's like the cutest thing ever. So I'm making little outfits. She also has a mini dachshund, Birdie, whom she takes on walks. While the series has aired in Australia for the first time, Parker admitted she hasn't spent a lot of time in the country. 'It's so embarrassing. And actually, I have an aunt from Melbourne, although she hasn't lived there in many, many years,' she said. 'I grew up on the west coast of Canada, and I just sort of always thought work would take me there. Like for a long time, all the travel I did was only for work, and I've sort of only recently really started travelling for myself, and somehow I just have not gotten a job in Australia.' Doc has been renewed for a second season of 22 episodes — double that of the first season — but Parker couldn't spill the beans as she 'doesn't know very much'. 'I expect that everything you can think of is gonna happen in this second season. But for me, that's part of what is really exciting about this dynamic, (Larsen's) amnesia gives space where almost anything can exist in that void,' she said. 'All secrets and surprises are going to show up for Amy. And I guess the big question is, Is she going to get any of her memory back? If she does, what will it be? And will it be an end?' Stream new episodes of Doc on 7plus every Tuesday.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Popular US medical drama finally airs in Australia
Molly Parker has a newfound respect for doctors after starring as one in Doc, the US's biggest medical drama, which has finally hit screens in Australia. The Canadian actress plays Amy Larsen, the chief of Internal Medicine at Westside Hospital in Minneapolis, who sustains a brain injury and loses the last eight years of her life. Dr Larsen is forced to navigate an unfamiliar world — while still practising medicine, she has no recollection of patients she's treated, colleagues she's encountered, the man she loves, or the tragedy that caused her to push everyone away. She can rely only on her estranged 17-year-old daughter, whom she remembers as a nine-year-old, and a few devoted friends, as she struggles after losing nearly a decade of knowledge and experience. It is based on an Italian series of the same name inspired by true events. Parker, best-known for her roles in House of Cards and Lost in Space, said while stepping into scrubs had been a challenge, she discovered a greater respect for medical professionals. 'The first couple of episodes are quite emotional for Amy, and so just that, in and of itself, is quite difficult,' she told The Sunday Times. 'It's given me a whole new appreciation for actors who play medical professionals, but also for medical professionals. It is such hard work and just so important. It's given me a whole a whole new respect.' Molly Parker in Doc. Credit: Sony Pictures Television With many days of intense and emotional filming, Parker said she uses knitting, a hobby she took up a few years ago, to cope. 'For me, in between setups or in between scenes, I need to be doing something with my hands, but it can't be something that takes me emotionally into another place,' she said. 'Like a big part of the job as an actor is to manage your emotional reality over the course of a day of working and knitting kind of is meditative. 'My husband's daughter just had a baby, so we have a little three-month-old granddaughter, and she's like the cutest thing ever. So I'm making little outfits. She also has a mini dachshund, Birdie, whom she takes on walks. While the series has aired in Australia for the first time, Parker admitted she hasn't spent a lot of time in the country. 'It's so embarrassing. And actually, I have an aunt from Melbourne, although she hasn't lived there in many, many years,' she said. 'I grew up on the west coast of Canada, and I just sort of always thought work would take me there. Like for a long time, all the travel I did was only for work, and I've sort of only recently really started travelling for myself, and somehow I just have not gotten a job in Australia.' Doc has been renewed for a second season of 22 episodes — double that of the first season — but Parker couldn't spill the beans as she 'doesn't know very much'. 'I expect that everything you can think of is gonna happen in this second season. But for me, that's part of what is really exciting about this dynamic, (Larsen's) amnesia gives space where almost anything can exist in that void,' she said. 'All secrets and surprises are going to show up for Amy. And I guess the big question is, Is she going to get any of her memory back? If she does, what will it be? And will it be an end?' Stream new episodes of Doc on 7plus every Tuesday.
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Planned Rakiura 1080 drop criticised
The planned 1080 poison drop over Stewart Island is an "ecological disaster that's waiting to happen", a tour operator says. Last year, the Department of Conservation (Doc) announced plans to drop 1080 cereal bait to reduce the feral cat population endangering the southern New Zealand dotterel. The bird population has declined in the past four years, despite trapping and other efforts to reduce cat numbers. Now there are about 105 birds left. The bait will kill rats and possums which the cats will feed on. The first phase is a trial to gain understanding for Predator Free Rakiura, and will take place in 7000ha area inside the 43,000ha area where the second phase of the bait drop will happen. About 108 tonnes of cereal bait containing 162kg of 1080 will be dropped. The bait pellets contain cereal, cinnamon or orange lure, sugar, green dye and small amounts of 1080 (0.15% per pellet). It will be spread at a rate equivalent to about four to eight pellets in a tennis-court-sized area. Ruggedy Range Wilderness Experience owner Furnah Ahmad has been a tour operator on Stewart Island for the past 25 years. Ms Ahmad said 1080 was "harmful to everything that breathes air", and would adversely affect the island. "It is harmful to our wildlife and environment, it's harmful to human beings and it will have an impact on the livelihood and wellbeing of people in our community." New Zealand was known for its clean green image and attracted many visitors who did not want to walk "through a national park full of dead carcasses", unable to drink the groundwater and seeing animals sick or dying because of "horrendous poison", she said. Paterson Inlet was part marine reserve, a food gathering source and contained salmon and mussel farms that could be poisoned with 1080 that flowed down the waterways to it, Ms Ahmad said. The manufacturers of the poison recommended that all animals poisoned with 1080 should be buried, but this would not happen on the island. Doc director national programmes Ben Reddiex said Stewart Island was the last breeding site for pukunui, and the bird could be lost without urgent intervention. Aerial 1080 was the most effective tool to control predators including rats, possums, and feral cats over large areas and in rugged terrain, Mr Reddiex said. Research showed biodegradable 1080 was safe and the Environmental Protection Agency approved the use of 1080. In 2011, the independent Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment conducted a review of the use of 1080 and recommended it should be used more. Studies showed that 1080 has no detectable impact on invertebrate populations and did not affect native fish, including eels/tuna, or introduced trout, and freshwater crayfish/kōura. The poison broke down more slowly in dry and cold environments, but conditions on Stewart Island were like Fiordland where aerial 1080 was successfully used, he said. Doc staff would monitor the results of the bait drop to determine when no residue remained in carcasses and it was safe to resume activities in the area. Rakiura National Park, including bookable hunting blocks, will remain open during the operation. Doc would ensure people were well-informed about how to keep safe. In March a trial was held to test bait laced with deer repellent, and bait with deer repellent will be used within bookable hunting blocks only. New Zealand Deerstalkers Association president Callum Sheridan said the group opposed the aerial dropping of 1080 as it indiscriminately killed not just game animals and impacted the environment. Even though 1080 was said to break down fast, recently he had seen undissolved pellets in snow grass near Murchison that had been dropped more than three months ago. The dosage in the pellets was not enough to kill a deer immediately. "It takes days for them to die and they are basically exploding from the inside out — it's quite a horrible way to go." He would not be keen to eat meat shot in an area where 1080 had been dropped, he said. He estimated the Stewart Island bait drop would cost about $80 million. The money might be better spent employing people to monitor bait stations and trap pests, he said.
