IDAHO
Here’s some (hard-to-digest) food for thought. Idaho Republican Rep. Heather Scott introduced legislation to expand the parameters of a pre-existing anti-cannibalism law, ktvb.com reported. Apparently, the current Idaho law, made official in 1990 and establishing Idaho as the only state where cannibalism is officially illegal, failed to satisfy the anthropophagist-fearing Scott and her supporters, notwithstanding the fact that it clearly outlaws “willfully (ingesting) the flesh or blood of a human being.” House Bill 522, complete with Scott’s additions — which are rather too gruesome to repeat here and, yes, you’re welcome — was introduced back in February and passed in early March. Scott had begun to worry that the green burial business, aka “human composting,” might contaminate the food supply — or something — perhaps encouraging the proliferation of “bags of compost with human bone fragments.” She’d seen an online spoof of a cooking show that joked about ingesting human flesh, and, not realizing it was a prank, took it as gospel — or something. Still, just in case, now might be a good time to go vegan.
COLORADO
Boulder’s Naropa University — motto: “Putting the high into higher education” — is famous for its countercultural emphasis and non-traditional educational approach. So it shouldn’t be surprising that the university has introduced an undergraduate minor in psychedelic studies; the only surprise, really, is that it hasn’t happened sooner. The course will help train and support novices and professionals as the demand for psychedelic therapies grows, the Denver Post reports. Joe Harrison, who has been the executive director of Naropa’s Center for Psychedelic Studies since it was established in 2022, said, “We really created this pathway for students, for people who want to become psychedelic practitioners to get education, training and real-world experience.” The center already certifies and trains facilitators to monitor folks under the influence and is now planning to build a clinic. The proposed curriculum will include herbal medicine, decolonial psychology, the poetry of psychedelics and more … infinitely more … like, you know, the whole Cosmos … like, well, look at those colors! Wow. …
MONTANA
Speaking of psychedelics, some Butte locals might have questioned their relationship with reality upon seeing a perky pachyderm prancing along downtown streets. The critter in question was identified as Viola, a 58-year-old Asian elephant, who escaped from her handlers at the World Jordan Circus, which was performing at the Butte Civic Center. Montana Public Radio reported that Viola was getting a bath in the venue’s parking lot when a passing truck backfired and caused her to flee, swinging her trunk through downtown traffic and stomping past startled vehicles. Onlookers had their cameras ready and were quick to upload the footage to social media. Viola was swiftly recovered, montanarightnow.com reported, and nobody, including Viola, was harmed, though People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a statement criticizing the circus and its failure to protect the elephant.
According to Jim Harmon of the Missoula Current, this wasn’t the first time a “performing pachyderm has bolted for freedom in southwest Montana.” In 1935, the Tom Mix Circus was traveling the highway near Three Forks, Montana, enroute to Bozeman from Butte, when the truck carrying its elephant, Sahara, collided with a cow on the highway. The Associated Press reported the incident in colorful detail. The entire truck, including the driver and a few other prized animals, plunged into the Jefferson River, but Sahara only briefly evaded her keepers, and that afternoon’s performance proceeded on schedule. The show must go on.
WASHINGTON
If elephants running loose in Butte, Montana, didn’t have you exclaiming, “What the fresh Jumanji is going on?” this next story will. The Seattle Times reported that four zebras escaped near North Bend, about 30 miles east of Seattle, on April 28. The zebras’ keeper, Kristine Keltgen, was transporting them from Lewis County to Anaconda, Montana, where she operates a petting zoo. She’d pulled over to adjust something in the trailer, and somehow the zebras got out. Fortunately, some good Samaritans, including a rodeo bullfighter and a horse-trainer couple, helped corral three of them. The fourth, however, a mare named Shug, leaped over a fence and took to the woods. For six days, Shug remained free, doing whatever it is free zebras do, while social media entertained the public with memes, our favorite being one showing the elusive Bigfoot riding the equally elusive equine, thereby revealing the cryptic cryptid’s unexpected zebra-whispering talents. But finally, on May 3, abcnews.go.com reported, the striped animal was, um, spotted, and safely recaptured.
Tiffany Midge is a citizen of the Standing Rock Nation and was raised by wolves in the Pacific Northwest. Her book, Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s (Bison Books, 2019), was a Washington State Book Award nominee. She resides in north-central Idaho near the Columbia River Plateau, homeland of the Nimiipuu.
Tips of Western oddities are appreciated and often shared in this column. Write heard@hcn.org, or submit a letter to the editor.
This article appeared in the June 2024 print edition of the magazine with the headline “Heard around the West.”
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