The consolidation of businesses continues, apparently unabated. Today, we're carrying the latest acquisition- Burris Company's acquisition of Steiner -Optik of Germany. The consolidation story doesn't end there, however. Beretta Holdings owns Burris, and through the acquisition, now adds Steiner-Optik to the portfolio.

And in a separate optics deal also announced in today's edition, Bushnell has licensed it's patented RainGuard process to Carl Zeiss of Germany. It appears there are other collaborative arrangements pending around the industry, but sources say they are still in the "final stages" of negotiation.

And in the publishing industry, another casualty as quarterly magazine "Under Wild Skies" has suspended publication. A purchaser is being sought, but there's no encouraging news to report at this time. Advertisers re-channeling their advertising to other media is the reason we're hearing most given for the closure of extreme niche publications.

Yesterday's column elicited some comments from readers, most especially the few paragraphs dealing with Senator McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sara Palin as his running mate. A couple of the comments were from readers who felt I was unfairly criticizing the Democratic party when I characterized them as hypocritical for accusing Governor Palin of being inexperienced. Let me clarify what I wrote - there is no reason to accuse Palin of being inexperienced - it has been stipulated by all parties.

The fact she's not a Washington-insider is what has political knickers knotted -and there lies the rub. Neither party in the coming presidential election has much room to go chucking rocks when it comes to either inexperience or hidebound traditionalism. That was what I called hypocritical, and I stand by that observation - as well as the characterization of hypocrisy as "politics".

From the frozen North (actually from our contacts in the Canadian Parliament), word of a study about wolves that says they prefer fishing to hunting. The study, published in the BMC Ecology journal says that British Columbian wolves actually stop hunting deer and elk during the salmon spawn.

British Columbia biologist and study author Chris Dairmont says it's not surprising that the wolves would go for the salmon because injuries suffered hunting deer and elk can be "horrific" for the wolves. The salmon, on the other hand, are far less dangerous prey.

According to Dairmont's study, wolves simply wait in shallow spawning creeks for a salmon. When a salmon enters the shallows, they rush it, grab the hump on its back, drag it ashore, then rip the head off and eat the rest. The practice was observed in wolves from the northern tip of Vancouver Island all the way to southern Alaska.

The research used 4,000 grey wolf dropping collected over four years, along with clumps of grey wolf hair. The droppings contained seasonal salmon remains and the hair carried distinctive forms of carbon and nitrogen than a diet of anything found on land. The wolves were, in fact, carrying carbon and nitrogen markers from the ocean.

Canadian scientists have also made a study of how the salmon influences inland areas. The research shows decaying salmon bodies help fertilize soil in river valleys, but they also appear to be carrying Pacific pollutants into the inland lakes.

And finally, congratulations to our technical editor, Clark Wachsmuth for a very special edition that arrived on August 31, only 12 days late.

Amelia Rosemary Wachsmuth arrived at 5:12 p.m. on August 31- well past her theoretical "due date". She checked in at healthy 8 pounds, 4 ounces and is doing just fine. Amelia, mom (Mary) and Clark arrived home yesterday evening, and we wish them the best.

As always, we'll keep you posted.