Archive for the ‘animals’ category

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Scary Wabbits?

July 23, 2010

– – Rabbits generally aren’t perceived as scary, with the possible exception of the wonderful specimen shown here from the movie, Donnie Darko.   Now granted that my killer dust bunnies are at least annoying and Bugs Bunny is a master of psychological warfare, but usually most people don’t find rabbits fear-arousing…

Now every rule has its exceptions (including this one), and a 60-year-old geography teacher in Germany had a paralyzing fear of rabbits! It then became possible for a 16-year-old student to get her teacher’s goat (so to speak) by drawing pictures of rabbits on the blackboard and spreading stories about her teacher’s rabbit phobia; kids are remarkably resourceful for seeking out and detecting such Achilles heels!   In 2008 the teacher took a different student to court and reached a settlement that prevented the student from ever speaking about the teacher’s fear of rabbits to anyone else.

This time, however, the presiding judge dismissed the case without explaining the verdict.  The lagomorph loather has a month to appeal the decision…

…and maybe Elmer Fudd had some kind of fear and loathing thing going on with Bugs…and wouldn’t Rabbits of Doom be great antiheroes?!

Categories: animals, anomalies, furry, strange happenings
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Furry Face Paint

July 21, 2010

– – An animal rights protester with his face painted as a tiger protested the exhibition of animals in zoos during a demonstration in Mexico City this past Saturday…a reminder that make-up can provide a simple and cost-effective alternative to the fursuit while providing considerably more freedom to the wearer…

Categories: animal rights, animals, furry, furry causes
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Seeing Double…

July 17, 2010

– – Two-headed calves have been staples at sideshow exhibitions for ages, some legitimate specimens and others shameless patch jobs.  Most of the genuine items, however, were preserved animals that didn’t live long.  Two-headed animals who live can become a valuable commodity.

A two-headed calf born this month in Egypt is the real deal, having two heads each with its own set of eyes and a mouth; it is expected to live.  Similar specimens may command thousands of dollars, depending on the bidding war over them.

Categories: animal oddities, animals, anomalies
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Chupacabra, Once More…

July 15, 2010

– – Once again a supposed chupacabra has reared his ugly head, again in Texas.  In Hood County, an animal control officer shot and killed in an old barn an unsightly creature described as having deer-like ears, big teeth, and pinkish skin that was unlike anything he had seen before. A few days later and within ten miles, a rancher also shot and killed another of the bizarre creatures, leading some to speculate that there were a pack of them.

Hood County Animal Control has sent one of the deceased creatures to Texas A&M for DNA testing, but don’t bet the rent on it being a chupacabra.   Until test results are in, doctors have only said that it’s some kind of coyote hybrid…very possibly with mange, I might add…

Categories: animals, anomalies, cryptozoology, furry, unexplained, unidentified, weird
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Getting Bugged Lately?

July 14, 2010

– – Some people would say that you’re probably not eating enough bugs.  Now a word to the wise is sufficient, and if you’re eating a nice snack or are phobic towards insects, you may want to opt out of this post for now, but please come back for another!   That being said, let’s continue with entomophagy…eating insects as food!   You have been duly warned…

Now the idea of eating insects doesn’t fly well in the U.S.A. (- -heh heh!), but insects are commonly consumed in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.  Insects are not usually eaten in the European nations, the U.S., and Canada, where a psychological barrier exists to their consumption.  Insects are excellent sources of protein, but shouldn’t be eaten raw as some contain viruses, bacteria, or toxins used for defensive purposes.  For that matter, one shouldn’t eat chicken raw!

Western society tends to be removed from its food sources, and is reliant on “center of the animal” foods.  Insects additionally are not raised commercially in most western countries except as pet food or fish bait, and suffer the stigma of being considered “vermin.”

And I, too, will pass on the insect plate, at least while there’s pizza to be had!

Categories: animals, insects, Invertebrates, science
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Stuffed Celebrity Animals

July 12, 2010

– – In times long past, kids actually had cowboys as heroes!  They had no superpowers,  but could shoot a gun out of a bad guy’s hand, or win in a fistfight without getting their hats knocked off.  People when they got shot didn’t even bleed or lose body parts!

“How lame!,” declares one present-day kid.

“Totally gay!,” agrees another.

–No, it’s true!  I swear! – -There were cowboy heroes like the Lone Ranger, Sky King. and Roy Rogers!   Said cowboy heroes had their animal sidekicks, especially their horses and occasionally a dog.- -Well, when Roy Rogers’ famous horse Trigger died, he had the deceased equine preserved, as in stuffed.  Once featured at the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Mo., Trigger is now going on the auction block at Christie’s in Manhattan, and is expected to fetch between $100,000 and $200,000!  Also being sold are the preserved remains of Roy Rogers’ dog, Bullet.

– –Happy Trails to You, famous old furries!

Categories: animals, furry, furry heroes
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Paul the Psychic Octopus…

July 10, 2010

– – We’ve talked before here on Foxsylvania about how the octopus is a smarter creature than many realize, being capable of such behaviors as learning how to open jars.–Well, some would dare say that an octopus called Paul is kind of a cephalopod Nostradamus, performing such feats as predicting the winner of the World’s Cup!

Paul the octopus resides in the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany.  His predictions are made by observing which of two clear boxes marked with a national flag he decides to eat a mussel from, and he has correctly forecast the outcome of every match in which his native German home team has played as of July 8th.

With a very respectable hit rate to date in past predictions, only a sucker would bet against this octopus! – – And wouldn’t psychic cephalopod be a great name for a band?!



Categories: animal oddities, animals, Invertebrates
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What’s In YOUR Backyard?

July 8, 2010

– – Just  when you think that everything’s been discovered, someone digs up something that’s new…and we’re not talking about mob hit victims!

A guy excavating for a swimming pool in his Brighton, Tenn. backyard unearthed the fossilized jawbone of a prehistoric mammal, possibly a trilophodon, part of the mastodon family who were in turn the extinct relatives of today’s elephants.  The remains later uncovered were estimated to belong to an adult who stood up to eight feet tall and weighed up to two tons.  This would be the first time that such a species has been found in the mid-American south.

…and why can’t I dig up anything good in my backyard?!


Categories: animals, evolution, extinct species, furry, strange happenings
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Animal Aphrodisiacs

July 6, 2010

– – Believe it or not, rhino horns sell for big bucks on the black market as an aphrodisiac, with a single horn selling for as much as $40,000!  Why, you might then ask, does the rhino enjoy such a great sexual reputation?–Well, the rhino’s mating time is not less than 45 minutes, quite higher than that of any other other animal (although foxes are no slackers in that department, ahem)! Rhino horns are then considered a kind of natural Viagra, and foolish humans believe that they can achieve the same kind of sexual power with the help of rhino horns.

Traditional Chinese medicine also uses rhino horns as a cure for fever and stomach ailments.  This is all in spite of the fact that the horns are simply compacted masses of agglutinated hair that rhinos use as defense against other animals…

Categories: animals, deplorable practices, furry, things humans do
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The Devil’s Endangered!

July 4, 2010

– – When you think of large carnivorous marsupials, you probably just naturally think of the Tasmanian devil, best known as the spinning tornado of destruction Taz in the Looney Tunes cartoons.- -Well, the genuine article’s in danger, and not from being outwitted by Bugs Bunny…

…60 percent of the wild devils in Tasmania have been claimed in a single decade by a cancer known as devil facial tumor disease.  By some estimates, the animals could be extinct within 25 years.  One colony in northwestern Tasmania has shown immunity to the disease, for which there is currently no treatment.  As this may not be enough to save the species,  zoos are critical to devil conservation, and 14 zoos are endeavoring to breed 1,500 disease-free animals.  Trouble is, only 24 devil joeys have been bred since the program began in 2008…

(…so obviously, we need more horny devils!)


Categories: animals, endangered species, furry
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