Big Bad Wolf?

Posted September 18, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, endangered species, environmental, furry
Tags: ,

– – Ah me…as if Sarah Palin shooting wolves from aircraft wasn’t enough, government agencies are seeking broad new authority to ramp up killings and removal of gray wolves in the northern Rockies and Great Lakes, despite two recent court actions that restored the animal’s endangered status in every state except Alaska and Minnesota…

Although once poisoned to near-extermination in the lower 48 states, wolves have made a major comeback in the last two decades under the protection of the Endangered Species Act.  A backlash has occurred, however, as wolf packs have developed a taste for livestock and big game herds coveted by hunters.

As wolf populations have expanded in numerous states, they tend to push into agricultural and residential areas where domestic animals offer an easy meal.  Various proposals would gas wolf pups in their dens, surgically sterilize adult wolves, and allow “conservation” or “research” hunts to drive down the predators’ numbers.

Wildlife advocates and animal rights groups contend, however, that the response to depredating wolves has become too heavy-handed, and that a string of court decisions in their favor underscores that the species remains at risk…


Comments: 2 Comments

Do Woodchucks Chuck Wood?

Posted September 16, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: absurdities, animals, anthropomorphic, cool things, furry, television
Tags: , ,

– – Geico has brilliantly re-invented classic lines and slogans, beginning with the little piggy who cried wee-wee-wee all the way home, and now posing the question of,  “Can Geico save you 15% or more on car insurance?–Do woodchucks chuck wood?”- Remember how kids love that old chestnut of a tongue-twister when they’re about ten?

Well, these anthropomorphic woodchucks certainly chuck wood, and they appear to have made an afternoon’s entertainment of it, taking turns heaving the wood into a pond accompanied by their own maniacal laughter, sorta like the Beavis and Butthead of the rodent world.- -Oops, watch out, here comes the farmer, and he’s mighty ticked, shouting “Hey you dang woodchucks, quit chucking my wood!” None too deterred by the farmer, the woodchucks continue chucking their wood…and do you blame them?– They’re woodchucks, for crying out loud, it’s what they do!

– -Catch this video airing on television or YouTube and elsewhere, sure to be a classic!

Comments: 2 Comments

– -Nessie’s Kin?

Posted September 15, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, cryptozoology, strange happenings, unexplained, unidentified
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– – In Lake Windermere,  England’s largest natural lake, may reside an unidentified creature estimated at 20 to 50 feet in length described as perhaps a “distant relative” to the legendary Loch Ness monster!

Called Bownessie because of the bow wave of about twenty feet in length that it produces, the creature has been described as a giant eel or sturgeon, although others claim that they have seen a creature with humps; the cryptid has also been called Windie after the lake.  The first publicly reported sighting of Bownessie occurred in Lake Windermere in 2006 and the number of people who claim to have seen something continues to grow.  The most recent sighting of the creature was in July of this year, when a local hotelier was hit by a three foot wave while swimming.  Another witness who claimed that the creature passed beneath him said that the movement in the water was so powerful that he though it was a submarine!  A total of seven sightings have been recorded in the past four years.

A recent video seems to support the existence of some kind of creature in the lake, with an unexplained bow wave of around 20 meters in length recorded.  A new investigation on the lake involving state of the art equipment and a specially chartered yacht has been launched.   A dark smudge reported to be a photograph of the creature follows for your perusal, with the photographer grabbing a pair of binoculars and describing the creature as having a head like a labrador dog only “…much, much bigger…”

Comments: 2 Comments

Biggest Moth!

Posted September 12, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal oddities, insects, Invertebrates
Tags:

– – It’s not Mothra, but the world’s largest real specimen is the Atlas moth, named after their map-like wing patterns.  Boasting 12-inch wings and breathtaking colors, the Atlas moth lives a mere two-week life span owing to the fact that they have no stomachs and their mouths don’t form properly, preventing them from eating anything!

Native to the rain forests of Southeast Asia, the Atlas moth lives its brief life off the fat it accumulated as a caterpillar, and spends its adult life breeding other moths…a short life but a merry one, eh?

Comments: 3 Comments

“Beast Legends” Is Upon Us!

Posted September 9, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: anthropomorphic, creature features, cryptozoology, furry, imaginary animals, mysteries, television, unexplained, unidentified, weird
Tags: ,

– – You gotta give the Syfy channel credit for trying to  please us, and Beast Legends starting September 9th at 10:00 in my area just might be the ticket!  Billed as an “investigative adventure series,” Legends features a team of a globetrotting animal doctor, a Harvard professor of evolutionary biology, a gifted illustrator, and a mythology maven as they explore the truth behind some of the world’s most renowned creatures.  Your payoff will be a life-like computer-generated model of the creature investigated depicted living in the real world at the end of each show, kinda like the mortal combat simulations shown at the end of Deadliest Warrior matchings.

The show will follow season four of Destination Truth, which could make Thursday night quite a draw on Syfy for our types!- –All hail the mighty Kraken!

Comments: 3 Comments

“Alien” Prequel Coming…

Posted September 8, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: aliens, creature features, movies, space
Tags: ,

– – The Alien franchise has operated with mixed success since 1979, with in my opinion Alien and Aliens being the best of the lot.- -Well, a prequel and perhaps even two are supposedly coming in 2011 or 2012 (hopefully before Dec. 21st), with Ridley Scott at the helm and the film(s) likely to be shot in 3D.- -We’ll even find out what happened with the “Space Jockey,” that poor alien devil found on Zeta Reticuli!

The prequel will be set in 2085, about 30 years before Sigourney Weaver made her first memorable appearance as Ellen Ripley with the Nostromo, and will in the words of Scott be “…really tough, really nasty.”

…and that’s just how it should be!- –Count me in!

Comments: 2 Comments

Sufferin’ Shellfish!

Posted September 6, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal rights, animals, Invertebrates, science
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– – I realize that it’s hard to form an emotional attachment with a crustacean.   I also know that Klingons eat some of their food raw and wiggling.  I am glad, however, that a restaurant in Sacramento, California will no longer serve a cruel dish that’s often called “dancing shrimp” or “dancing prawns.”  The dish’s name is a reference, you see, to the writhing that the animals engage in when their protective shells are ripped off and acidic lemon juice is squeezed onto their raw flesh before they are eaten alive...

Scientific research has demonstrated that prawns feel pain, just as other animals do.  A 2007 Queen’s University Belfast study found that when prawns have acid dabbed onto one of their antennae, they respond by grooming the affected area and rubbing it against the side of the tank, just as a dog might lick an injured paw.  When given painkillers, the prawns felt no need to groom or rub their acid-dabbed antennae.  The researchers concluded that these results are consistent with the idea that these crustaceans can experience pain.

When PETA presented their findings and numerous complaints about the practice of serving “dancing shrimp” as cruel, the restaurant agreed to stop serving live shrimp…

Comments: 3 Comments

Katz the Cat!

Posted September 3, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, cartoons, furry, furry art, television
Tags: ,

— Cats kind of tolerate us because we are useful to them; one can see this orientation in Katz, villain of Courage the Cowardly Dog. Now Courage has faced many enemies, often anthropomorphic, including my personal fave The Cajun Fox, who treats even his rivals with friendliness and can drive a car and pilot a plane!

Not as relaxed and laid-back as the Cajun Fox, Katz is a red, lanky anthropomorphic cat with purplish stripes who specializes in scam businesses, such as a vacation resort and motel, always with the intent of killing the patrons when he has no further need of them.  Katz’s catchphrase is, “I wish you hadn’t done that,” usually uttered after he gets injured.  Katz enjoys a “little spot of sport” with Courage, as all of his battles with the dog are games, such as a staring contest.

Springboarding off our previous post featuring spiders, an episode called A Night At The Katz Motel was indebted to Hitchcock’s Psycho, and featured Katz trying to kill Courage’s masters by using giant, horrifying spiders to eat them.  Katz is a smooth and wonderfully sadistic feline who has a vaguely British accent and his own sinister background music, and lovingly maintains a spider collection.

As Katz did say,  “Yes, set a plan; cunning, elaborate, over the top!”- –This is a furry villain you’ve got to love! 


Comments: 2 Comments

The Spider Dies Hard

Posted September 2, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, insects, strange happenings, things humans do
Tags: ,

– – Most spiders are beneficial creatures, but so many try to kill them, at times to their regret.  So was the case for one guy in Essex, England when summoned by his wife to deal with a spider she had seen scuttling behind their toilet bowl.- – Well, unable to reach the spider, the man attempted to spray it with an aerosol can, after which point he struck up his cigarette lighter to determine if he had been successful as the bathroom light had blown out.  You probably can see where this is going by now…

Yuppers, the lighter ignited the fumes and caused an explosion so strong that it lifted the man off his feet, threw him into his hallway, and lifted the loft door off of its hinges!  The man suffered flash burns to his head, legs, and torso and was rushed to the hospital.

The spider?–Well, there was no sign of it at the scene afterwards, so it may well have gotten away, probably with a great story to tell to its innumerable offspring…

Comments: 2 Comments

Lizardman Waxed!

Posted August 31, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, Brilliant but twisted, cool things, scalies
Tags: ,

– – Lizardman, aka Erik Sprague, walks the walk of physical transformation into his species; he’s got implants in his head, a forked tongue and fangs, and has had his body inked about 70% green, representing about 700 hours of tattoo work!

Despite his startling appearance, Erik is intelligent and highly personable, and is soon to have a wax likeness of himself displayed at Orlando’s Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! museum.  More figures of Lizardman may be made for other Ripley’s museums in the future.

Erik has been transforming himself for ten years, and in addition to multiple appearances on television and sideshow performances, he does stand-up comedy and plays in a metal band called (–what else) Lizard Skynard.

He’s remarkable and one of the few so extensively transformed, but I think I’ll be sticking to a few  tattoos, thank you!

Comments: 1 Comment

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