–Snake eyes remain permanently open behind a clear covering called the spectacle, creating an unblinking stare. This stare may account for many of the fears and superstitutions these animals have inspired throughout the ages…
Archive for the ‘science’ category
Snake Eyes
July 14, 2008Hippopotamus
July 13, 2008 
— The stomach of the hippopotamus is over 10 feet in length–so large that it can hold 400 or 500 pounds of food!–More that Oprah and Liz Taylor together!
— Know that extremely annoying Xmas song, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Xmas?”–Well, now it will be running in your head for the rest of the day!–Hah!
Dragons?
July 12, 2008 
— The dragons in many European myths are thought to be based on the Nile Crocodile, and a few churches in France and Switzerland actually feature stuffed crocodiles as dragon remains! The world was smaller then, and full of wonder, unsubstantiated belief, and superstition.
Then in China of an earlier time and elsewhere, discovery of fossilized dinosaur bones was seen as proof of dragons, creatures found historically in the mythologies of many major cultures throughout the world…
The Black Beast of Exmoor!
July 9, 2008
–The Black Beast of Exmoor is a large, wild, cat-like creature held responsible for the killing of many farm animals in Devonshire, England. Report of the predator began in the early 1970’s. In the spring of 1983, one farmer lost over 100 sheep over 2-1/2 months of time. The slain animals were not killed in the fashion of a dog or fox (I didn’t do it!), having their throats ripped out. In 1987, the Beast was blamed for killing over 200 farm animals. More recent attacks occurred in August of 1995 and January of 2001. The Black Beast looks like a large panther, measuring almost 8 feet long from its nose to its tail. Some say that witnesses have exaggerated the size of a domestic or feral cat, or that the big feline escaped from a zoo and bred others. Still others contend that the Beast is from an alternative dimension, and can phase in and out of ours, thereby eluding hunters and capture!
Anyhow, what’s the big deal about The Black Beast of Exmoor? — I roam the countryside and mutilate livestock…alright, maybe I just rough them up real good…would you believe that I give them a good Dutch rub and wedgies…oh alright, I annoy them to tears!
Jumbo Rats?
July 5, 2008
–A recent episode of Monster Quest concerned giant rats, and there has been considerable commentary on the same in other blogs. The Gambian Pouched Rat is known to extend upwards of three feet from nose to tail. As in their previous giant hogs episode, Monster Quest failed to produce video images of huge rats despite a “rat cam.” I did like an incident reported of rats who acted in concert to attack a woman. It’s easy to produce a few souls who have claimed to have seen rats as big as cats, however, and rats of this size probably do exist. Stephen King had a memorable short story in which the biggest rat was the size of a calf.
‘Ya know what makes most people abhor rats?–Their tails! The hairless tails of rats tap into an instinctual snake aversion. Remove the tails or make them hairy, and people don’t mind them nearly as much…consider the gerbil! One must respect rats; they’ve even survived nuclear testing at the Bikini Islands!
Mighty Muskrat!
June 29, 2008
–There was a muskrat on the Deputy Dog cartoon series of yore, and muskrats celebrated in the…ugh…Captain and Tennille song, “Muskrat Love.” But now one of these furry rodents has dug a hole through an earthen levee in Winfield, Missouri allowing the Mississippi River to penetrate the floodwall, which failed Friday.
National Guardsmen and hundreds of townspeople were unable to thwart the efforts of a furry rodent weighing no more than five pounds. The muskrat is thought to have either been seeking food or building a den when it dug the hole that brought the levee down.
Such is the power of the Fur!
The Grassman Cometh…
June 24, 2008
—Bigfoot is known by many names dependent on the region; Sasquatch, Yeti, even the Skunk Ape. In Ohio, MonsterQuest reports that he is known as The Grassman. No, he isn’t a pot smoker, and he does show some variations from the usual Bigfoot traits, such as a habit of building “nests” on the forest floor. These nests are crafted so well that two researchers trying to duplicate one could make only a pitiful simulation. Other Bigfoot traits seem almost universally reported; e.g., the bad odor and the abundant hair.
I profess a weakness for the JackLinks “Messing With Sasquatch” commercial series in which Bigfoot is portrayed sympathetically as more sinned against than sinning, and gets his revenge on his tormentors!
Monster Hogs!
May 29, 2008
— I found the season premier of Monster Quest rather disappointing. It was about monster hogs, giant pigs supposedly a growing problem in certain southern states like Texas. Investigative techniques were used like attaching a camera to a wild pig and releasing it in the hopes that it would lead to these giant pigs…that’s right, a hog cam! Despite amusing close-ups of pig bristles and bouncing countryside, no giant hogs were found.
And what about the people who investigate and capture wild hogs, the so-called hog wranglers? Would you like a job like that, or would you eventually get boared?
(This blogger not responsible for mental anguish caused by atrocious puns…)
Meat Without Animals?
May 5, 2008
— Now this is strange… it may someday be possible to generate meat artificially using cloning technology without hacking it from an animal. This would be done in the same fashion that cells and organs might be generated from stem cells; muscle tissue would be generated without it having come from a once-living, intact creature. Rewards have been offered by some animal-rights groups towards this end, with chicken flesh the most likely to be initially created. Ethical questions and divisive, organization-splitting differences of opinion abound as this new territory begins to be explored…
Giant Squid Found
May 3, 2008
— A giant squid currently being thawed out and examined in New Zealand has the world’s largest eye with a lens the size of an orange; the eye itself in total is about the size of a dinner plate. The squid measured about 26 feet long when caught accidentally by fishermen off Antarctica last February; it weighs in excess of 1,000 pounds!
Giant squids are mollusks, cephalopods to be more specific that are related to the octopus. Specimens larger than this one are regarded to exist in the ocean depths!
FOXSYLVANIA 
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