Archive for the ‘furry’ category

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…

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!)


Coyotes Near New York City!

July 2, 2010

– – Well, foxes are infringing on Detroit, bears are in many suburbs, and now coyotes are causing problems about 25 miles northeast of midtown Manhattan!- -Can the revolution be far behind?


In the New York City suburb of Rye, N.Y., two coyote attacks on little girls have police officers shooting at them, and parents keeping their kids inside on summer evenings.  A six-year-old and a three-year-old have been injured in separate attacks, with both girls being treated for rabies as a precaution.  The state Department of Environmental Conservation has given Rye permission to shoot coyotes on sight and to kill any that are trapped, according to a wildlife biologist for the department.

Coyote attacks are rare, with news media reporting only 142 coyote attacks on people in the U.S. and Canada between 1960 and 2006.   The only known fatality of a coyote attack involved a California toddler in the 1980’s.  The natural prey of coyotes includes rabbits, birds, and rodents but in suburbia easy food sources include garbage and pet food left out.  Some people even unwisely feed coyotes.  One coyote necropsy showed that the animal had eaten pork chops!

I prefer my coyotes to be the frustrated genius types who buy a lot of Acme products and fruitlessly pursue road runners…

Adopt a Simian Celebrity?

June 30, 2010

– – We’ve referred here before to Bubbles the Chimp, pet of the late Michael Jackson who in the 1980’s tripped the light fantastic, going to parties at Elizabeth Taylor’s house, having tea with the mayor of Osaka, Japan, and even sharing matching outfits with Michael.  Then Bubbles got too big to be kept as a pet, and he went to the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida.

Now age 26 and currently weighing in at around 180 lbs., Bubbles is part of a group of seven chimps that spend their time climbing, playing, grooming and tickling one another, and sharing food.  His best bud is a 19-year-old male chimp.  As it costs $15,000 a year to maintain Bubbles,  the animal sanctuary where he resides is asking people to adopt Bubbles for $150 a year.   Although chimps live to be about 60 years of age, they usually only work in animal entertainment until the age of six, after which time they become too large and strong to be safely maintained in human company.   Zoos characteristically don’t take animals like Bubbles, who was raised by humans and doesn’t know chimpanzee rules…

Doggie Dreams…

June 28, 2010

– – Those of us who share life with dogs and cats commonly observe their paws twitching as they slumber; other clues of pet dreams include whisker movement,  irregular breathing, and yelping in canines.  Just as humans recall experiences while dreaming, pets are thought to do the same things due to structural similarities in the mammalian hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in memory. Pets also go through multiple sleep stages, from slow wave sleep to rapid eye movement stages, where most dreaming occurs.   Electrodes have documented REM episodes even in sleeping rats.

Growing evidence and documentation that animals dream challenges the notion that animals are reflex machines operating by instinct alone.  Darwin contended that if you can prove that an animal dreams, then you can prove that consciousness exists there as a dream is a conscious image.

All of which is something many of us have known for a long time!

Really Bad Luck…

June 26, 2010

– – If not for bad luck, some people wouldn’t have any luck at all.  Consider the case of a guy in Raleigh, North Carolina who earlier this month was mauled by a black bear in his front yard, ending up with a deep gouge in his wrist…

…bad luck, right?–But as a topper, the same guy was struck by lightning  four years ago!  Now the odds of being attacked by a bear and surviving in any given year are one in 28 million, while the odds of being struck by lightning in a year and surviving are one in 1.213 million.  The odds of being both struck by lightning and mauled by a bear and surviving both in a four year span of time are 1 in 372 trillion!  Now some would say that such a person is either doomed to suffer more or is due for good luck, but such belief is what is called a gambler’s fallacy, and has no place in statistics;  one event has no bearing on the other.

And did I forget to  mention?- -The gentleman afflicted by both events is a minister, who may be seen as extremely unlucky or cursed for what happened to him, or lucky and perhaps blessed because he survived both.   It’s all a matter of perspective, really…



Ferret Legging…

June 16, 2010

– – We have learned from comedian Steve Martin about a sport called cat juggling, but did you know of another obscure but real sport called ferret legging?

Not for those who do not tolerate claws and sharp teeth near their, err, private parts, ferret legging involves having male-only contestants put live ferrets inside their trousers.  The winner is the one who is the last to release the animals.- – I swear that I am not making this up!  By the way, the world record for the event is an astonishing  five hours and thirty minutes!

It is speculated that the sport may have originated during a time when only the relatively wealthy in England were allowed to keep animals used for hunting, forcing poachers to hide their illicit ferrets in their trousers.  In the sport, competitors can’t be drunk or drugged, nor can the ferrets be sedated, muzzled,  or lacking a full set of teeth.   Trousers are tied at the ankles and belts are securely  fastened at the waist to prevent the ferrets from escaping; contestants do not wear protective devices or even underwear!  Two ferrets are then placed inside, and the competitor then stands in front of the judges for as long as they can…competitors can attempt to dislodge the ferrets from the groin area from outside of their trousers, although this can be difficult…and  yes, competitors are bitten and bloodied…one champion took to wearing white trousers so as to better manifest the blood!  Most males reading of this for the first time are by now probably either incredulous or squirming uncomfortably!

The sport has been practiced for centuries, but enjoyed a brief resurgence in the 1970’s.  Although described as a “dying sport” (we need not explain why), a national ferret legging event has been held in Richmond, Virginia every year since 2003…and participants can honestly respond in the affirmative when asked if they have a ferret in their pants!

(shudders)- – A sport I’ll never compete in, thank you!

Buffaloed!

June 12, 2010

– -True Story! A man in the Florida Keys had to call 911 when a stuffed water buffalo’s head mounted on a wall fell on him and pinned him as he slept in a reclining chair!  The man had apparently woken up when the buffalo head fell on his lap.  Although the head was too heavy for him to lift, the man was able to reach for his cell phone and call for help.  The man could only yell his address and tell operators that he had been trapped.

(- -I love to see mounted animal heads take their revenge, don’t you?!)

The Spirituality of Animals

June 10, 2010

– – I’ve posted previously on artist Franz Marc, who refused to incorporate the human figure in his work because he believed that animals were more spiritual than humans.  For Franz, the positive qualities of “purity, truth, and beauty” that humans manifested during infancy were forgotten in adulthood but were maintained intact in wild beasts.   According to the painter, instinct made him depart from his solidarity with humanity and guided him to unity with animals as symbols of greater purity…


Fox Attack!

June 9, 2010

– – In a rare but tragic event, a fox crept into a house in east London this past weekend, and attacked nine-month-old twins in their nursery.  One of the sisters received injuries to her arm, while the other received facial wounds.  A fox caught near the family home was destroyed, although it is not known if it was the same animal that attacked the infants.

Parliament banned fox hunting with hounds in 2004, and the incident has caused some to seek a reversal of this ban; others have called for a cull of foxes.  Some even wish for Roald Dahl’s book Fantastic Mr. Fox to be banned in schools, saying that it gives children the wrong idea about foxes!   It should be pointed out that in England alone, some 225,000 people annually receive treatment for dog bites alone, while people aren’t calling for dogs to be culled.

So why did a lone fox turn to the dark side?- -First, he had opportunity, as a door to the house where the incident occurred was left open.  Some have speculated that the attack on the girls was carried out by a confused 3-to 4-month old cub, who may have been lured to the nursery by the smell of diapers, which urban foxes have learned to associate with food as they’re often found aside edibles in household trash;  urban foxes are scavengers.

While the incident was likely an unfortunate freak occurrence, this is not to say that we of the vulpine persuasion wouldn’t try to take over the world if given the opportunity…