[Mike]

from rocky

by Mitch Battros (ECTV)

I have received a couple emails for ECTV members I thought worth sharing. Although the Wyoming Game and Fish Department would like to shut the door on the 300 mysterious elk deaths, I would have to say ‘it’s just beginning’.

From Pat Ross:

Dear Mitch,

Well, here I am again. Once upon a time I was an animal biology major who wanted to go into research, but I digress.

Here’s the problem: Usnic acid, found in many “lichens” including the parmelia molliuscula, doesn’t have an ill effect on muscle tissue. Any toxicity from it would be derived IN THE LIVER from large, concentrated doses ingested by animals. It’s suspected, though not confirmed, that toxicity in the liver can build up in as little as 2 weeks — 3 months. Incidentally, usnic acid as derived from various lichens has been successfully used as a component in many herbal & alternative remedies for thousands of years.

It’s also been used in topical veterinary medicine compounds to fight infections of the skin. Oh, and it’s used in toothpaste, mouthwash, creams, deodorants, and sunscreens, among other things. Usnea is claimed to be effective against bacteria like staphylococcus and streptococcus. And research is being done on it as effective against tuberculosis. It also has antiviral, antiprotozoal, antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. “Ecological effects, such as antigrowth, antiherbivore (Herbicide) and anti-insect properties, have also been demonstrated. ”

It’s received some bad press lately because of its use in dieting compounds (so the subconscious association would be “ah, yes, it breaks down muscle tissue” just like Fish and Game said), but in fact, in those cases it’s suspected to cause/contribute to LIVER failure.

So, first, something stinks to high heaven here. If the elk actually ate the lichen, it’s possible that they ingested it in an effort to stem an already existent infection or something their instinctive brains said was “sickness.” The University of California lists poisonous deaths to sheep and cattle from the parmelia molliscula as “infrequent” and to editorialize for a moment here, sheep are not known for their IQs. Elk are known to be extremely intelligent. Second, even if the elk did eat the massive quantities required, it wouldn’t cause the symptoms they had. By the way, these lichens have an extremely bitter taste. Another factor to consider is that in some areas, lichens are endangered because they are common forage. So if it was killing animals, there would have been massive die-offs before.

I don’t have any conclusions. There are too many potential scenarios. This is just to confirm that in lichen poisoning the elk reported as being “healthy” (bright eyed, etc) when they went down would not have been the scenario. Liver failure causes coma, then death — not paralysis with alertness. Here are some usnic acid links that back up my contention and raise more questions, as well as two links about CWD (which, btw, does talk about elk staggering, etc…so maybe this is about CWD news suppression?):

http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/slaughter6102.cfm
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3594?opendocument

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jan01/lichen0101.htm (herbicidal link)
http://abstracts.aspb.org/aspp2001/public/P43/0768.html
http://wric.ucdavis.edu/information/poisonous.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12453567&dopt=Abstract
http://www.itmonline.org/arts/usnea.htm
http://www.drugintel.com/drugs/lipokinetix.htm
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From John Hogue:

Dear Mitch,
The volcanic venting theory is interesting to me, as it was my intuition on your show that what is happening in Yellowstone with dying animals is volcanic activity. I’m feeling more and more now that a major eruption there is on the way. Perhaps in our lifetime (a short time in geological terms) or maybe it will come in the next two years, during the transit of Saturn through Cancer.

Regards, John Hogue – http://www.hogueprophecy.com

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From George:

Hello Mitch,

Been monitoring your Wyoming elk deaths posts. Mr. Tom Reed is spouting misinformation concerning elk eating lichens…as a cause of death to 300 elk. The bison deaths also appear unnatural in that the bison have lived and eaten in those same areas for generations, and “old faithful” has still spouted on schedule probably since before the white men came here.

Having worked at the Nevada Test Site for nearly 9 years during nuclear testing in the 80’s and early 90’s, I worked in all areas , above and below ground concerning nuclear testing. I worked and traveled miles in those underground tunnels (30-40 foot) in diameter bored through miles of mountains. An often repeated story was about the “missing boring machines” which had disappeared from the tunnels, never seen again in the areas of the test site where active nuclear testing was ongoing. I do know that the “Yucca Mountain Project” must have used a boring machine to create the tunnels seen in the nuclear waste disposal workup films. I’ve heard stories from the full time “tunnel miners” about a secret vast underground tunnel network, which might be linked between defense or government underground bases.

Another oddity is the way the mosquito borne viruses have spread from the southeast to the midwest, to Colorado, and now to the west coast. In any event, I believe that independent or outside investigators / researchers would provide unbiased findings if they were on hand to investigate and had quick access to the fatality sites, which is highly unlikely. A volcanic eruption, on the other hand, could definitely disperse poisonous gases which would affect wildlife. George

Mitch Battros
Producer – Earth Changes TV
http://www.earthchangestv.com n