—Sarah Palin has resigned as governor of Alaska!–No more shooting wolves from aircraft!!!
(–does the fox Dance of Joy!)
Archive for the ‘animals’ category
Woo-Hoo!
July 5, 2009“Bubbles” Lives!
July 4, 2009
–-Michael Jackson is survived by a furry friend as well as his three children. Bubbles the chimp was part of Michael Jackson’s entourage in the 1980’s, and he and Michael often wore matching outfits (–does this surprise you?). Jackson adopted Bubbles at age 3 from a cancer research clinic in Texas. — Well, when Bubbles got too big and too hard to control (anger issues), he was kept by an animal trainer until 2005, at which time he was sent to an animal sanctuary, the Centre for Great Apes, in Florida. Bubbles currently resides there with 41 other chimpanzees and orangutans.
Shown in the picture during better times in 1987, Bubbles is now described as “huge and ugly,” but hey, who looks like they did 22 years ago? He likes painting and listening to flute and guitar music, and also spends much time sitting quietly in trees with his best friend Sam, a 40-year-old chimp. Bubbles will not be attending Jackson’s funeral, and could live to be 60 years of age. It is not known whether Jackson provided for Bubbles in his will…
Snake Kills Toddler
July 3, 2009
— A nine-foot long Burmese python recently killed a two-year-old child in Oxford, Florida when the reptile escaped from its terrarium. The snake when found had constricted around the child, and was stabbed until it relinquished its grip, although unfortunately it was by then too late for the toddler. The python had bitten and then squeezed to death the little girl. The owner of the snake may face criminal charges…
…unanswered is the question of why would anyone allow a predator in the same house as a young child…
“Agent P” Rocks!
July 2, 2009
— Disney stuff is usually too mainstream and white breadish for me, but I have to love Perry the Platypus, pet of the title characters in the Disney Channel show, Phineas and Ferb. Unknown to his owners, Perry (aka “Agent P”) lives a parallel life as a secret agent for The Agency, a government organization of animal spies. Pretending to be a mindless house pet, Perry is secretly a fedora-wearing secret agent who enjoys romance soap operas and potato chips.
While Perry’s exploits are secondary plots to those involving the human owners, it’s worth tuning in to see Perry thwart his evil nemesis, Dr. Doofenshmirtz. This is usually fairly easy for Perry to do as his archenemy doesn’t even recognize the platypus unless he is wearing his trademark fedora; another stereotypic scientist portrayed as lacking rudimentary common sense <sighs>.
How many other platypus ‘toon characters can you name? — And perhaps the notion of leading a parallel life is all too familiar to those of us who are furry…
…I wonder if The Agency is hiring?
The Last Dinosaur?
June 25, 2009
–A previous post here has looked at Mokele-mbembe, but now MonsterQuest has done a feature as well. Going into the West African jungle in search of a sauropod-like creature with a long neck and tail and a small head, Mokele-mbembe is a territorial, amphibious creature known to attack humans. It is active at night, browsing on leaves.
The first written accounts of the creature came from odd claw marks found in the Congo in 1776. Pygmies are familiar with the beast, but believe that they will surely die if they report it, which puts a bit of a damper on things.
An underwater sonar survey by MonsterQuest found crocodiles, snakes, and “unusual profiles,” some of which were likely tree branches…and the dark and murky waters of the African rivers weren’t conducive to sightings. The remote location of the investigation and the politically dangerous nature of the area also hampered the search…so once again, MonsterQuest came up empty.
Our imagination or not, humanity needs great mysteries. This is yet another one of them…
Curse of the Monkey Man!
June 11, 2009
– – Heh, you gotta love MonsterQuest for its theatrical episode titles, and this one sounds like a B-movie out of the 50’s! Anyhow, the Monkster is described as up to 8′ tall but nimble; he’d be a great b-ball player. Monkey Man also has black hair, a gorilla-like face, and makes strange sounds. It’s a complete package.
Indigenous to India, accounts of Monkey Man date back to 77 B.C., when he was described by Pliny. Supposed attacks of the creature reached a high in May 2001 in Delhi, with victims beaten and clawed by a powerful assailant; three people died while fleeing the creature, and dozens were hospitalized. The most recent attacks are attributed to Meghalaya, where 14-1/2″ footprints and broken branches were found. Natives in this part of India call the creature “the forest man.” Blood samples were taken from the walls of a dwelling where an encounter occurred, and hair samples were also found elsewhere.
And what, you may ask, did MonsterQuest find?–Interestingly enough, the bites that were found on supposed victims were of a different nature than those inflicted by a monkey or another animal. Hairs that were found and subjected to microscopic analysis were found to be similar to those of the red panda; blood samples were human. Police investigations in Delhi were negative, and experts suggest a mass hysteria/psychosis phenomenon.
A Hindu deity also has simian features, but he is noted to be a benign type, not really into the biting, scratching, and clawing thing…
Cat’s Cradle
June 9, 2009
– – Experts originally thought that the Egyptians were the first to domesticate the cat about 3,600 years ago, but recent genetic and archaeological discoveries indicate that cats were being tamed nearly 10,000 years ago in the Mediterranean.
In 2004, a 9,500-year-old burial site of an adult human and a cat was discovered on the island of Cyprus, where cats are not native. Cats were accordingly thought to have been brought there by boat, long before the Egyptians began keeping them as pets…
…and they’ve owned us ever since!
Jellyfish Crop Circle!
June 7, 2009
– – Crop circles have long appeared in a variety of designs, mostly geometric. A recent one to appear in England is most unusual in that it has the shape of a jellyfish, and is the only known jellyfish crop circle to have been seen in the world...
…this crop circle is additionally unusual for being three times as large as the “average” crop circle; a real monster!
…Perhaps E.T. is an invertebrate?–Is this part of the “Killer Jellyfish Invasion” which was the subject of one MonsterQuest episode?!
The truth is out there… (Theme from The X-Files plays)
Flying Monsters!
June 4, 2009
– – Do pterosaurs still exist in the 21st century?- -Perhaps in Papua, New Guinea, suggests MonsterQuest. Called the Demon Flyer or Ropens by natives, stories exist concerning the creatures going back to the 16th century. The creature is said to have killed men and scavenged graves, and may boast wingspans of over 30 feet. It is largely nocturnal, and most strangely is in some accounts said to be bioluminescent.
Now the smart money says that pterosaurs survived to the end of the Cretaceous Period, becoming extinct about 65 million years ago. Sightings of pterosaurs may be misidentified frigate birds or a new bat species. Known species such as the greater flying fox (gotta love that one!) may have a wingspan of six feet.
Not to be discouraged, MonsterQuest deployed a thermal camera and a 300 square foot bat net. The thermal camera yielded images of two campfires, and the bat net caught a blossom bat. More intriguing was a 2006 video showing two lights thought to be the bioluminescence from some creatures; analysis of the video showed that the lights were not flashlights, fires, or meteors.
While the MonsterQuest inventigation failed to yield a video of a glowing pterosaur, New Guinea is rightfully noted to be a remote island boasting amazing biodiversity and many uncatalogued species, some of which may be surprising…
All God’s Kitties Got Wings?
June 3, 2009
– – Not wishing to alarm you, valued readers, but you may wish to know that a cat has been born in Chongqing, China with wing-like growths on their back…moreover, other cats with this feature were noted in Sichuan province in China in August of 2008 (pictured).
“…and why not?,” you may ask. “Don’t the Chinese manufacture everything else these days?”
The point is well-taken. It is to be stressed that these are only wing-like growths, not true wings, even though there is bone in them. The growths are non-functional at present, and do not seem to be causing the kitties any discomfort or emotional distress. The speculation is that the growths resulted from exposure to chemicals in utero, or may be a genetic defect.- -The wings may even be the remnants of a cojoined twin!
All of this poses some interesting questions:
…if cats can fly, will pigs be far behind?
…are you in danger from aerial hairballs?
…wouldn’t “Skycat” be a great new Japanese anime character?
…would wings give “Sylvester” an unfair advantage over “Tweety?”
…would wings improve “Scratchy’s” odds against “Itchy?”
…wouldn’t “Catwoman” be even more awesome if she could fly?
(Directions: Break into small groups to discuss the above. Alternative activity: sketch “Skycat”)
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– -Clearly, what is now needed is a cat with a set of wings that work… and I ask you, why isn’t MonsterQuest on top of this story?! 😉
FOXSYLVANIA 
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