Archive for the ‘animals’ category

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The Feline-Human Bond…

March 2, 2011

– – Cats are often given a bad rep by those who don’t share life with them; they’re reputed to be cold and aloof, wanting only food from their owners.–Well, in research to be published in the journal Behavioral Processes, scientists observed the interactions between 41 felines and their human families during lengthy four-part periods. Researchers also observed all behaviors of both cats and humans, and assessed their personalities as well as their influence over one another.

 

What was seen was a mutual social interaction in which both both cats and humans signaled to one another when they wanted to socially interact by petting or being petted.  Reciprocity was also in evidence, with the cats more likely to respond to owner-initiated contact if the owners had previously responded to theirs…they accordingly remember and respond to kindness, and are not cold fish (so to speak)…

Categories: animal behavior, animals, furry, science
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Scotland Invaded!

February 26, 2011

– – Scotland has been overrun by vicious invaders, and their goal is to kill them all!  Once the invaders are driven out of Scotland, plans are to drive them out of the whole of Britain.

Now this isn’t a William Wallace thing and Mel Gibson is nowhere to be seen,  but it’s rather a campaign against American minks brought to Britain in the 1950’s to be farmed for fur coats.  Now running wild by the tens of thousands, the minks are wrecking havoc on other native species, including birds, fish, frogs, and the beloved water vole!   About 95% of the water voles are gone, thanks in large measure to the minks.   Scottish novelist Kenneth Grahame used a water vole named Ratty as a main character in his children’s book, The Wind in the Willows.

Considered an invasive species, the minks are usually trapped and then shot.  While this sounds cruel, the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says the process is humane and necessary in order to protect Scotland’s ecosystem.  To quote Ratty the water vole, “It’s my world.  I don’t want any other.”



Categories: animal occurrences, animals, environmental, furry
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The Domestic Fox…

February 24, 2011

– – I always try to advise people that foxes make lousy pets; we sleep in too late, eat entirely too much junk food, and lounge around in our underwear, scratching.  Besides that, foxes are wild animals, as anyone who has seen us at conventions can testify!

That having been said, however, there have been a few rare cases when people have successfully made pets of foxes, although we would prefer to think that we have made pets of the humans;  you won’t catch me cleaning up after them, no sir-ee-bob!   As a case in point let me introduce you to Miss Snooks, a comely vixen in East Sussex, England who was taken in seven years ago as an abandoned cub by a couple.  She lives in her own one bedroom flat above the couple’s pet shop,

Reared by hand and used to people, Miss Snooks dozes on a sofa, plays hide-and-seek in a den of blankets, goes for evening walks, and enjoys her favorite meals of roast chicken cooked in honey.  Her custodians describe Miss Snooks as beautiful and very affectionate…but again, her case is an unusual one and a violation of the natural order.

Categories: animals, furry, strange happenings
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Biting Humor?

February 20, 2011

– – I like dark humor and black comedy, but they’re not everyone’s cup of tea.  For this reason, the recent Snickers great white shark commercial has rubbed some shark conservationists and shark attack victims and their families the wrong way, plus done little to dispel the erroneous notion that humans are the preferred food source for sharks.

In the commercial, a group of well-animated and voiced-over CG great white sharks are participating in a focus group where they are questioned about a “blind taste test” of people that they have just eaten.  The preferred victim is revealed to have eaten Snickers Peanut Butter Squared, while the less tasty victim had consumed peanut butter cups.

Now the commercial is intended to be comical, harmless, and light-hearted rather than educational and sensitive, and is a vehicle intended to entertain and linger in the mind so as to sell more Snickers products.  Some contend, however, that the ad was released too close on the heels of actual shark attacks in Egypt and elsewhere, and has accordingly gone too far.- -Sick or slick?  You decide!

Categories: animals, aquatic, Brilliant but twisted, controversial, humor, television
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Mice for Airport Security?

February 16, 2011

– – We had earlier mentioned the possible use of genetically-modified plants to detect explosives in passenger screenings at airports.  Two Israeli scientists have advanced,  however, that mice may also suffice.

Specially-trained mice have been found capable of detecting faint traces of explosive residues.  When canisters of trained mice are placed in a device and exposed to such scents, they flee to a secondary compartment, setting off an alarm.  Mice actually have more scent-receptor genes than canines, and don’t require constant human interaction.   A rat-down is accordingly a viable alternative to a pat-down.

A mouse-employing scanner manufactured by BioExplorers is less invasive than full body scanners, but requires maintenance of the mice as well as cleaning of their cages…

 

Categories: animal behavior, animals, science
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GE’s “The Electric Cattle!”

February 11, 2011

– – In one of several GE commercials for their Ecomagination campaign, we are shown “cows in concert,” touting the company’s use of Biogas Technology using, err, waste from cows and landfills to generate energy.  These cows are the rock stars at a concert that they are powering, and we are shown their hooves working a bass drum pedal, hitting a cowbell (–what else?) with a drumstick, and working a mixing panel slider.

At the end of the clip, one of the bovines even takes to trying a little crowd surfing…very mooving!

Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, furry, television
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Magnificent Mentos Spider!

February 9, 2011

– – Short of Peter Parker, you aren’t going to find an arachnid as breathtaking as the Mentos Rainbow pack spider! The commercial introduces us to a young couple sitting in their living room when suddenly the female goes ballistic, shrieking and recoiling on their couch.  The view shifts to the carpet, where we are shown…a spider!- –What is it with chicks and spiders, anyhow?!

Anyways, the guy responds by dutifully going to deal with the spider, extending a finger, possibly to crush the inoffensive creature.  The extended digit is all our eight-legged hero needs, however, to demonstrate his profound mastery of Jujutsu or perhaps Aikido, grasping the human’s finger and throwing him like a rag doll across the room no less than three times! A shelving unit and coffee table are splintered in the fracas!  The wrath of the spider is awesome, and the human is hopelessly outclassed!

In the closing images, we see the grounded human’s body dragged forcefully across the floor presumably by the amazing arachnid as the announcer intones, “It’s better to know what’s coming next!” It’s not revealed what fate awaits the human female, but I doubt things will go well for her, either…

…Bravo, I say!  Long may this arachnid martial arts master live and prosper!


Categories: animals, Brilliant but twisted, cool things, insects, Invertebrates, television
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Year of the Rabbit

February 7, 2011

– – According to the Chinese zodiac cycle, we are now into the Year of the Rabbit, a fact which has booted sales of rabbits in Asia and elsewhere.   Animal rights group PETA is urging consumers to forgo adopting rabbits as household companions on a whim, however, warning that the animals are often abandoned once their novelty wears off.

Rabbits aren’t just cute and fluffy, you see, but are high maintenance animals which require significant resources, equipment, attention, and veterinary care.  The group also points out that rabbits have fragile bones, require lots of exercise, and tend to gnaw on everything on sight, making them less than ideal pets for all but the most patient of owners.

Categories: animal behavior, animals, furry
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Wrecking Bunny Ad…

February 4, 2011

We all know that it’s important to use the right tool for the right job, and H&R Block illustrates this fact in a recent commercial by showing us a demolition crew trying to take  down a brick building with a 16-foot-tall pink and white bunny…predictably, it doesn’t go too well.  Clearly, a plush bunny is not good for demolition, even a really big one.

In the “wrecking bunny” ad, people gathered at a demolition site “ooh” and “ahh” as the bunny is raised by a crane and swung toward the building.  There’s a muffled thump as the bunny impacts with the unyielding brick, crews wince, and spectators plod away with dejected looks on their faces as they realize that the plushy is not going to take the building out.

It’s an absurdist type thing, but I wind up feeling vaguely sorry for the bunny, wondering if they’re going to keep bashing him into the wall until his poor stuffing pops out; the plushy doesn’t seem to mind, however, and maintains his slight smile…what a trooper!- -Is this abuse of a plushy?- -Can’t someone rescue him?!  He just needs a good, loving home, admittedly one with a lot of space.

Perhaps in the future we’ll see other inappropriate tools used on the wall, like an enormous marshmallow or a gigantic cream-filled donut!

Categories: absurdities, animals, furry, plushies, strange, strange happenings
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Fur Wars…

January 29, 2011

– – Even the Dark Lord of the Sith is no match for the Power of the Fur!


Categories: absurdities, animals, movies
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