Archive for the ‘animals’ category
August 15, 2012
– – She’s a purple marsupial, has big doe-eyes, and almost resembles a muppet or Claymation creation…the Aussie Shampoo kangaroo, that is! Despite the name, Aussie Shampoo products are made in Cincinnati, Ohio by Proctor and Gamble. The manufacturing process for the floral-scented product includes use of the Australian Kangaroo Paw Flower extract.
Australian aboriginal legends have existed about a purple kangaroo since ancient times, and in 1924 a biologist named Le Souf made the claim to the amusement of the scientific community that he had found such a creature, even sending specimens to be studied that turned out to be run of the mill wallabies. In 2001 through DNA testing and photographic evidence a purple-necked rock wallaby was identified as a new species. It seems that these animals have a purple dye that they secret from glands in their skin around their neck and face. The dye quickly fades after death, a fact which made the animal hard to identify…
Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, cryptozoology, furry, furry commercials, television
Comments: 6 Comments
August 10, 2012
– – If you are an arachnophobe, this tale is not for you! It seems that a woman went to China’s Changsa Central Hospital complaining of itching in the left side of her face.–Well, it turned out that the source of her irritation was a spider which had been residing inside the woman’s ear canal for five days! It had probably set up housekeeping. The picture shows the actual spider before its removal…
Doctors used a saline solution to flush the spider out in order to avoid having it bite the woman, or burrow deeper into her ear! Fortunately, the flushing technique was successful. Speculation was that the spider crept into the woman’s ear as she slept, brought in while her house was undergoing renovations. Spiders can be quite the opportunists…
Spiders and insects are appearing in greater numbers this summer due to the warm weather and drought conditions across much of the United States. As cold-blooded creatures, insects develop faster in heat conditions, producing more generations in a shorter time. The Orkin folks and other exterminators ought to be able to get some memorable commercials out of this one! And you thought the giant talking ants were creepy…
Categories: animals, insects, Invertebrates, medical incredibles, strange happenings
Comments: 2 Comments
August 7, 2012
– – Talk about having a terrible, no good, really bad day! Wallace Weatherholt, a 63-year-old airboat captain in the Florida Everglades, was giving a tour of the area on June 12th to an Indiana family and hanging fish over the side of his boat when a nine-foot alligator sank its teeth into his wrist, severing his hand.
The mutilated captain drove the boat back to its dock with one hand, and was promptly taken to the hospital. His severed hand was found in the alligator’s stomach, but could not be reattached. Six weeks later, the airboat captain was charged with feeding an alligator, a second-degree misdemeanor. Arrested, Weatherholt faces a fine of up to $500 and a possible jail sentence. He posted $1,000 bail since his arrest, and will appear in court later in August.
The alligator was tracked down by officers of the Florida Wildlife Commission, and put to death shortly after the attack. Laws against feeding alligators are intended to protect both animals and humans, as alligators when fed lose their fear of humans…
Categories: animal behavior, animal occurrences, animals, body parts, controversial, environmental, scalies
Comments: 4 Comments
August 1, 2012
– – Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock was right; the birds are up to something! A United Airlines Boeing 737 struck a bird as it descended into Denver International airport Tuesday morning, leaving a gaping hole in the nose of the plane. An emergency was declared, and Flight 1475 was able to land safely.
Now airliner engines themselves have to be designed and demonstrated able to, err, ingest a four-pound bird without endangering people on the plane. No engine flying, however, is designed or built to survive ingestion of an eight-to 15-pound bird. The number of animal strikes has increased from 1,793 in 1990 to 9,622 in 2010, with 70% of those strikes occurring when aircraft are at less than an elevation of 500 feet.
The remains of this particular bird, recovered from the aircraft, will be analyzed by experts from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, who will help to identify the species…
Categories: animal occurrences, animals, feathered friends
Comments: 4 Comments
July 28, 2012
– – I’m sure that you’ll all be pleased as punch to learn that scientists in the U.S. have created a free-swimming artificial jellyfish! I, for one, know that when at the ocean, I can never have enough of them bumping against me in the tide or lying on the beach.
It gets stranger, too; the team members built the replica using silicone as a base on which to grow heart muscle cells that were harvested from rats. They then used an electric current to shock the created Medusoid into swimming with synchronised contractions that mimic those of a real jellyfish! I swear that I am not making this up…
The finding serves as proof of concept for reverse engineering a variety of muscular organs and simple life forms. As jellyfish use a muscle to pump their way through the water, the way that they function is similar on a basic level to that of a human heart. Such similarities reveal what you need to do to design a bio-inspired heart pump.
Synthetic life is an emerging field of science that until now focused on replicating life’s building blocks. Now instead of just building a cell, researchers at Caltech and Harvard University have built a beast!
Categories: animals, aquatic, cool things, Invertebrates, research, science
Comments: 2 Comments
July 22, 2012
– – Duke, the Golden Retriever mascot of the Bush’s Beans Company, got into the advertising business in an indirect way. The actual family pet was originally brought into the commercials to help ease the jitters of Jay Bush when the commercial line was launched in 1995, and the idea of Duke threatening to spill the secret family recipe emerged as a tongue in cheek marketing ploy which has proven wildly successful.
The real Duke, however, is actually a bit camera shy, not fond of traveling, and becomes nervous when given excess attention. The dog who is portraying the family pet in commercials is accordingly a canine stand-in and stunt double who can handle the pressures of celebrity and life on the road. The actual family pet goes by the name of Duffy “Duke” of Castlebury. Duke in the commercials is voiced by Robert Cait, a Canadian comedian and voice actor…
Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, furry, furry commercials, television
Tags: "Duke" of Bush's Beans
Comments: 2 Comments
July 19, 2012
– – The furry movement is sweeping Mexico…well, perhaps not sweeping, and I don’t mean cleaning the streets, but at least gaining followers. While certainly not every fan is a fursuiter, one Mexican notes that “When I have the suit on I feel like I can do things I otherwise wouldn’t. I can be friendlier, more affectionate. I think people think its more acceptable like this than if I didn’t have the costume on.”
We note this here because the furry fandom boasts an international following that may conservatively be estimated to be in the thousands. While this blog is not exclusively furry, it does aspire to draw furries, as well as those interested in animal influences in popular culture and scientific or speculative information related to animals. Something that always awes me in examining the demographics of this blog is that we draw readers from around the world! While the majority of our readers do hail from the United States, we regularly draw viewers as well from the United Kingdom, India, Canada, Poland…fully 14 countries other than the U.S. as of yesterday!- –Yay! We must be serving some interests and purpose here, and when I figure out what it is, I’ll pass the information on.
Anyways, the presence of each and every one of you is welcome and appreciated! <group hug>
Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, furries, furry, furry fandom, furry perspectives
Tags: International furries
Comments: 4 Comments
July 12, 2012
– – Mr. Peanut has underwent a significant evolution over the years. In days of yore, he would basically be shown wearing a top hat, monocle, and spats. He might perhaps tip his top hat at you, but was certainly no action hero; heck, he even carried a cane! Mr. Peanut rather came across as kind of a legume Mr. Monopoly whose image suggested Richie Rich rather than Secret Agent Man. That all has changed, however, in a recent re-imaging that suggests more of The A-Team than the idle rich.
In a recent very manly commercial that plays like an action movie, Mr. Peanut teamed with (-what else?) an almond and a pistachio is shown performing spectacular stunts. Now every good guy combats arch-villains, so we are shown the nutty trio in a near parody of a James Bond pursuit skiing just ahead of an avalanche, hotly pursued by a squirrel! Not to worry, however…the pistachio wheels around and brings weaponry to bear on the squirrel. We are shown a startled look on the squirrel’s face as he realizes that he’s taken on more than he can chew…
Other scenes in the same commercial show the nuts performing a Rocky-style exercise regimen, and Mr. Peanut getting cozy with a female bee…is he going to pollinate? Yes, this is one tough and funky snack mix, merchandised with men in mind…
Categories: animals, Brilliant but twisted, furry, furry commercials, television
Tags: Mr. Peanut
Comments: 4 Comments
July 10, 2012
– – You could practically hear the theme from Jaws playing, and a kayaker almost wound up as shark kibble in a real life drama that played out off of Nauset Beach near Cape Cod, Massachusetts recently.
One wonders what thoughts ran through the head of first-time kayaker Walter Szulc about 100-150 yards out in the water when he turned to see a shark’s fin closing on him about ten feet away. A surfer was first to point out the shark, and hundreds of helpful people on the beach were yelling, “Paddle, paddle, paddle!” Ironically, Szulc had teased his young daughter a short time before about being afraid to go into the water due to fear of sharks, assuring her that the risk of such was very low.–Well, paddle was what he did, “like no tomorrow,” and Szulc’s escape from the 12-to 14-foot long great white shark was successful.
This was the third great white sighting in Cape Cod in the past couple of weeks. Experts feel that sharks are being drawn to the area because of a spike in the gray seal population, which has grown from 10,000 to more than 300,000 due to protections being put in place.
Categories: animal occurrences, animals, aquatic, environmental, furry
Tags: shark pursues kayak
Comments: 4 Comments
July 7, 2012
– – In case you are ever assaulted by a flesh-biting raccoon, you may want to have a bottle of Hannah Montana perfume spray with you! A recent video going viral on YouTube shows a kind of redneck Santa Claus, a white-bearded and shirtless man with a pet raccoon by his side that has an annoying habit of biting him painfully on the upper arm and back, which we see happening.–Well, the mountain man resourcefully snatches up a spray bottle of a Hannah Montana branded product, spritzes himself with it, and viola! The ‘coon wants nothing more to do with him, and is held at bay!–Problem solved!
This is American ingenuity at its finest! One wonders, however, if the same effect might have been achieved if the gentleman had begun singing Hannah Montana songs…and might this spray be a viable alternative to Mace and the Taser? (“Sir, calm down and comply or I’ll have to Hannah Montana spray you!”)
Categories: animals, Brilliant but twisted, furry, strange, weird
Tags: Hannah Montanna raccoon repellent
Comments: 4 Comments
FOXSYLVANIA 
You must be logged in to post a comment.