Archive for November 2009

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–Diver Dan!

November 30, 2009

– – Kid’s shows used to have special effects that weren’t terribly special.  Take, for example, Diver Dan, a cheesy black and white show from the early 1960’s that was shot through a large fish tank with the human cast simply on the other side of the tank acting out their scenes! Diver Dan wore a clunky old-style deep sea diving suit, and talked to anthropomorphic fish-marionettes that floated by.- -Here, Diver Dan is shown with the affable Finley.

Some of the fish characters were a hoot, however, and included the evil Baron Barracuda with his sidekick, Trigger Fish, who was usually shown smoking a cigarette!  Don’t ask me how he managed to get it to stay lit underwater…they were innocent and politically incorrect times, anyhow…  

Categories: animals, scalies, television
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Camel Chaos!

November 29, 2009

– – And you thought that Joe Camel was bad?- -About 6.000 feral camels are rampaging through a remote Australian town, causing chaos and terrifying the 330 or so locals! The community of Docker River is said by the Northern Territory government to be “under siege!”  Apparently the surreal situation began about four weeks ago with 25 or 30 camels, but more and more continued to arrive, looking for water.  On a number of occasions, the camels have barged into people’s homes, tearing up bathrooms and ripping apart water pipes!   At least Joe Camel only peddled carcinogens.

The camels are part of a wild herd of over a million camels which roam the central Australian desert.  They are the descendants of camels introduced to the country in the 19th century when white settlers built roads and rail across the Outback, and used camels for transportation.   They were set free afterwards, and have been breeding and multiplying ever since.  With few natural predators and abundant land in which to roam, the camel population has soared, putting pressure on  native species by reducing food resources, destroying habitat, and spreading disease.

Sadly, the camels will be culled, rounded up to be taken out of town and shot.   It is said that the camel population needs to be reduced by about two-thirds to reduce catastrophic damage…a sad testimonial to what can happen when humans introduce non-native species to a fragile ecosystem…

Categories: animal occurrences, animal oddities, animals, environmental, strange happenings
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Comments: 2 Comments

Bizarre Calf Mutilations!

November 28, 2009

– -A creepy string of calf mutilations in southern Colorado has a rancher and sheriff’s officials mystified.  Four calves were found dead in a pasture just north of the New Mexico state line in recent weeks; the dead calves had their skins peeled back and organs cleared from the rib cage.  One even had its tongue removed…

There were no signs of human attackers, such as footprints or ATV tracks.  Additionally, there were no signs of an animal attack by a coyote or mountain lion, which usually leave pools of blood or drag marks from carrying off their prey.

There have been other unexplained calf mutilations in the area, including three last March.  One of the other calves, found dead on a ranch near Trinidad, had its ears removed…

…some,  of course, believe that the mutilations are the work of aliens, and a UFO chaser has been to the Costilla County pasture to investigate.  The truth is out there!

Categories: animal occurrences, animals, mysteries, strange happenings, unexplained
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Comments: 4 Comments

Turkeys and T-Rex…

November 27, 2009

– – Dinosaurs, like turkeys, had a wishbone, called a furcula.–I love that name so much I wish I had one, too…fur-cula! It was really the fusion of two collarbones at the sternum, where a bird’s flying muscles link up.  It’s elastic and great for flying.

Turns out that T-Rex and the Velociraptor had wishbones, too.  While they of course didn’t fly*, this discovery is one of the many bits of evidence that shows birds evolved from dinosaurs!

(*Wouldn’t a flying Velociraptor be extremely cool, though?)

– –Happy Thanksgiving from Foxsylvania, BTW!

Categories: animals, cool things, evolution, science
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Comments: 4 Comments

Animal Sacrifice…

November 26, 2009

– – Note: This is a potentially upsetting topic not for young viewers. Animal sacrifice is sadly not just an Old Testament thing…it continues to exist in the 21st century.

–Where?–In places like Nepal, where over 200,000 buffalo, goats, chickens, and pigeons were to be sacrificed earlier this week in a ritual to honor Gadhimai, a Hindu goddess of power.  The festival is held every five years, and while criticized by animal rights groups, the festival is defended as a centuries-old tradition.  Animal rights groups carry little power in Nepal…

Animal sacrifice, in contrast,  has a long history in Nepal and parts of neighboring India…

Categories: animal rights, animals, deplorable practices, things humans do
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Comments: 5 Comments

Anniversary of Evolutionary Theory

November 25, 2009

– – It was 150 years ago (1859) that Charles Darwin released his theory of evolution, a cornerstone of the sciences…

…and yet, evolution remains controversial in some circles 150 years later…

Categories: evolution, science
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Hopping Mad!

November 24, 2009

– – Let sleeping kangaroos lie!–Such might be the advice of a 49-year-old Australian walking his dog who startled a sleeping ‘roo Sunday morning in Arthur’s Creek northeast of Melbourne.

The man’s dog chased the ‘roo into a pond, and that’s when clobberin’ time began!  The kangaroo turned at that point and pinned the dog underwater!  When the man tried to pull his pet free, the ‘roo took on all comers, using his powerful hind legs to tear a deep gash into the guy’s abdomen and face.

The guy had to throw an elbow to the five-foot kangaroo’s throat to get him to end the attack.  His dog, Rocky, was “half-drowned.”

–That was one mighty marsupial!

Categories: animal occurrences, animals, furry, strange happenings
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–Fear the Asian Carp!

November 22, 2009

– – The man is the picture loves fishing…I mean, really loves it!  I will not speculate about what a human-Asian carp hybrid would look like.  I’m afraid enough  of the Asian carp…

These fish can exceed four feet in length, and 100 pounds in weight.  They can eat 40% of their body weight each day. And of course being Asian, they excel at math…

…just kidding about that last attribute, of course!   But these carp are crafty…they may have already penetrated an electronic barrier meant to keep them out of the Great Lakes, a barrier which cost nine million!

“We’re going to keep throwing everything we can at them to keep them out,” said the senior Great Lakes advisor to the EPA.   This reminds me of a Godzilla-vintage Japanese horror movie…

…“We must stop Mega-carp!–We will throw everything that we have at it!” (footage shown of tanks shelling an enormous fish, all to no avail.)  “Quickly!–Deploy the Super-X!”

…’scuse me, I lost my mind for a minute.–Anyhow, Asian carp escaped from southern fish farms into the Mississippi River during 1990’s flooding, and have been migrating northward since.  They decimate species prized by anglers and commercial fishers, and are known to leap from the water at the sound of passing motors and sometimes collide with boaters!   A worst-case scenario envisions them spreading “like a cancer cell.”

I dunno about you, but I’m sleeping with a light on, and an image of Mrs. Paul or maybe the Gordon fish guy in the room to protect me!

Categories: animal occurrences, animal oddities, animals, strange happenings
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Comments: 4 Comments

–Is Dem Chickens Crazy?

November 20, 2009

– – “Their bones and muscles waste away and they go insane.” So says a spokesman for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals about chickens raised in the so-called “battery cages” which measure 24 inches wide by 25-1/2 inches deep, and are shared by up to nine hens from the day that they are born to the day that their egg-laying days end 18 to 24 months later.  About 96% of the eggs sold in the United States come from chickens raised in such conditions.

Although the chickens can’t fully extend their wings in such cages, producers claim caged hens are healthier and satisfied with the only lives that they’ve ever known.  Producers contend that the chickens are not stuffed in so tightly that they can’t move around the cage, and that accordingly these conditions don’t constitute animal cruelty.

Public opinion appears to side with those who oppose the cages, and voters in California approved a proposition that bans cramped cages for hens.   Michigan’s governor signed legislation last month requiring confined animals to have enough room to turn around and fully extend their limbs.

A three-year study is being funded by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture on the issue.  I know what  Foghorn Leghorn thinks about the matter, but can’t quote what he said in a blog not rated for mature content…  😉

Categories: animal rights, animals, deplorable practices
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Comments: 8 Comments

Snarly Dudes Rule “Twilight, New Moon!”

November 19, 2009

– – I’m not into the Twilight saga, ’cause it’s geared in large measure for teenaged girls; romance just ain’t my thing, especially when the romantic leads spend much of their time staring intensely, pining away,  and brooding.  The fact that werewolves appear in the movie, however, rouses my furry interest. Vampires are OK, especially if they’re cool and classy like Dracula, Lestat, or Angel, but bring in even a mundane werewolf, and you’ve got me hooked!

So let’s talk werewolves, which is where it’s at– – this movie deviates from the usual trend of showing a nice, slow, and usually agonizing werewolf transformation.  In my opinion, slow and agonizing is the way to go, so the fans can appreciate it as well as the significance of what’s going on. The lycanthropes of New Moon, however, explode mid-leap into a fully-transformed state, with shreds of clothing flying off them. To their credit, the New Moon weres are impressively large, and are not cookie-cutter interchangeable clones; they are distinguishable by size and fur color, with alpha male Sam being the largest and having black fur.  Other weres are russet-hued, silvery, dark brown, and dark grey.  They also use the personalized eyes of the actors in the digital wolves, which are otherwise as realistic as possible. An additional plus is that the actors are mostly of Native American descent.

So paws up for the wild things, even though this shallow romance has been rated with only  **1/2 out of four stars…

Categories: animals, cool things, furries, furry, movies
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