The Rochester, Ind., city council just approved issuing hunting permits for the Round Barn Golf Club, after years of complaints about Canada Geese invading the course every winter. Five hunters a day will take out as many geese as they can.

Police Chief Jodi Miller said it wouldn't be any problem finding enough hunters. "The problem's going to be deciding who gets to do it. We'll have to draw straws or something," she said.

It's not just the geese themselves disrupting things. Each goose can make 1.5 lbs. of poop a day, a number matched only by John Daly. And said poop "creates a play hazard for golfers, especially on the green where 'you want your ball to roll freely.'"

Unfortunately the course will be closed during hunts, depriving the world of gun golf, which I really think could inject some much-needed life into Versus's lineup.

Golf Course Goose Hunts OK'd [Rochester Sentinel]

Maybe, maybe not ... but the beast's name was Fred. He wasn't so wild, as it turns out. No, he grew up under the care of Phil and Rhonda Blissitt in Fruithurst, Alabama. Phil bought Rhonda the pig as a Christmas gift (lucky woman), and they eventually sold Fred to the Lost Creek Plantation, where he was kept in a 150-acre fenced-in area. Four days later, the kid plugged Fred.

Oh well. Even if this truly wasn't a "man vs. nature" type of thing, and it wasn't truly killed in the wild, it's still a hell of an accomplishment for the shooter. That's something I'd like to achieve someday. Maybe later this afternoon, I'll go buy a gun and head to the zoo.

Pig Was a Monster, but He Wasn't Wild [Comcast]
Hog Kid Gets Swiftboated ... We Suppose It Was Inevitable [Deadspin]
Of Hogs And Men [Deadspin]
Kevin Kolb Is Going To Be So Jealous [Deadspin]

The legend of Hogzilla II ... was it all a hoax? Did 11-year-old Jamison Stone really down a 1,000-pound feral pig in the Alabama woods, or was he home watching The Andy Griffith Show that day? As a couple of commenters pointed out yesterday, the size of said pig may have been via Photoshop. And in the finest tradition of blogs digging for the real story where the corporate media fears to tread, stinkyjournalism.org is making the same claim: That the giant pig photo we've all been marveling at over the past couple of days could end up being a fake.

At Art Science Research Lab, we are responsible for the publication of several media ethics blogs, checkyourfacts.org and stinkyjournalism.org. Earlier today, we published our analysis of this story and photograph, which ran on the AP, Fox News, ABC, CBS, and CNN. These photos are obvious fakes, as our in-house photo experts and an NYU physicist attest. The boy and his father were scheduled to appear on NBC's Today Show today, until we exposed the hoax and presented our evidence to NBC. For the full story, check out www.stinkyjournalism.org

We haven't been able to get onto the stinkyjournalism site so far this morning, by the way; the above came from a message board. Hmm, maybe the stinkyjournalism site is the fake, and the hog is real. As with all giant pig stories, the real answers remain shrouded in mystery. The folks at Monster Pig have posted their response to the Stinky Journalism "expose." At this point, what matters what is real? The kid still can bag himself some pork.

Photo Of Monster Hog Called Into Question; Web Site Claims It Was Doctored [Fox News]
The Monster Hog: Too Glorious To Be True, Says Hoax-Seekers [Media Bistro]
Of Hogs And Men [Deadspin]

And since the lad has put up his own web site and is sharing the negative mail with the world, we see no problem in highlighting a couple of the best (worst?) ones.

What the f### is your f###ing problem you fat a## b####. You f###ing killed a f###ing innocent little pig. Does it make your fat a## feel good to kill such an innocent creature. Wow congratuf###inglations you fat a## f###ing c###. I hope the boars babies come back alive and eat your sausage link penis you, fat piece of s###. F###ing fat redneck. I hope demons come and haunt your fat a## for the rest of your life. Do you think your hot s### for this b####? Well your not fat a##. Burn in hell you rotten piece of s###. F### YOU!!!!! F###ING FAT A## REDNECK PIECE OF S###!!!!

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I have to congratulate you because I didn't think it was possible for an 11 yr old as large as yourself to chase a pig for three hours in hilly terrain. Well done, fat boy! ...

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Yes while it is true that you definitely commited an act of terrorism, much like our president does each day upon arising, Its not you. Its your father and your fathers father and soon. They were probably slave owners way back when and even earlier on performed acts of terror on the original land owners of America, The Native Americans, who would kill only what they needed to survive. Its a sad,sad thing that has been taught to innocent children like yourself.

This is nothing, of course. Somewhere, Dee Mirich is at the keyboard ...

Monsterpig.com [via Fark]
Kevin Kolb Is Going To Be So Jealous [Deadspin]

It took 9 shots and 3 hours (that had to be pleasant for the animal), but the end result is a sense of pride for an 11-year-old and a truckload of pork. Young Jamison Stone killed a 9-foot, 1051 pound wild hog in Alabama.

"It feels really good," Jamison said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It's a good accomplishment. I probably won't ever kill anything else that big."

You sure, junior? You might wake up tomorrow and decide to start hunting ... I don't know, Cadillacs or national monuments.

It tops the previous gigantic hog record of 8 feet and 800 pounds (of course, these numbers are disputed) for a hog killed in Georgia. Eventually, one of the massive beasts is going to get proactive and bag a record 11-year-old.

Boar Hunting is a Sport [With Leather]
Monster Pig Is No More [Foul Balls]
Kevin Kolb Will Cut You [Deadspin]

The small buck had run underneath his truck, Lisko said. When he got out to look at the deer he noticed three- to four-inch appendages growing from the rear legs and later found a smaller appendage growing from one of the front legs. "It's a pretty weird deer. It kind of gives you the creeps when you look at it," said Lisko, who described the extra legs as looking like "crab pinchers."

"I have never seen anything like that in all the years that I've been working as a game warden and being a hunter myself," Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Warden Doug Bilgo said. "It wasn't anything grotesque or ugly or anything. It was just unusual that it would have those little appendages growing out like that."

Here's the best part of the story: "And by the way, I did eat it," Lisko said. "It was tasty." Yeah!

Seven-Legged Deer Killed Near Waucousta [Fond du Lac Reporter]

(We apologize for constantly taking stories from the Fond du Lac Reporter, by the way. We just can't resist sometimes.)

What a lot of people are objecting to, however, is not so much the fact that Cheney mistook an attorney in an orange vest for a small game bird. It's that the incident occurred during a stock hunt — in other words, Cheney was stalking quail that had been raised in captivity and released from a net moments before the hunting party came upon them. Or, as Ed Helms of The Daily Show described it:

Cheney slowly approaches in his SUV, gets out, and trains his 28-gauge shotgun on the slow-moving birds which are three feet away — and then, the hunt is on. These are pen-raised, witless quail with no wings; quite a challenge for the Vice President.

That, say many, is bad form, and perhaps even a metaphor for previous actions of the administration. (If you're into the whole "politics" thing.) And it gives us an excuse, as suggested by a commenter, to run a picture from "Duck Hunt."

Oh, by the way, just because we've decided to ruin your work day, here's where you can play "Duck Hunt" all day. Look out for lawyers, and enjoy the ride.

Cheney's Shot a Real Metaphor [Real History Blog]
Ready, Fire, Aim! [The Daily Show With Jon Stewart]
Top Ten Dick Cheney Excuses [Late Show With David Letterman]
Official Texas Fish and Wildlife Hunting Accident and Incident Report [The Smoking Gun]
Duck Hunt [Flash Games]

The Daily Kos:

"Rove's report: 'Quail began returning fire and Whittington selflessly threw himself in from of VP Cheney to defend his life.'" — caribon

"Be vewy quiet, I'm hunting wobbyists." — Green917

"Exactly how many people were shot on Dick's rampage? We only know about the sole survivor." — Cache

"Worst Veep since Aaron Burr? He IS Aaron Burr! Republican. Selected by the Supreme Court. Shot a man." — suzq.

Democratic Underground:

"Come to think of it: thank God he did not enlist." — rumpel

"Most dangerous place in politics — between Cheney and a game bird." — GreatCaesar'sGhost

"Harry Whittington, author of these memorable volumes?" — Friday's Child.

Dave Barry:

"A word to the wise, do not mess with Dick Cheney, lest he mistake you for a quail."

Also it should be pointed out that, in the original article on the New York Times web site, Cheney was described as "an accomplished hunter." A few a hours later, that phrase was changed to "an avid hunter."

VP Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter [ESPN Outdoors]