The Lizardman…

Posted February 10, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: anomalies, scalies, things humans do
Tags: ,

– – In the realm of body art and bodily modification, there are those who kind of press the envelope, and move in the direction of more radical transformations. One such person is Lizardman Erik Sprague…

Lizardman is quite intelligent, and at one time was a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy. He currently boasts approximately 700 hours of tattoo work dating back to 1994, leaving him with a disconcerting green, reptilian-skinned appearance. Additional bodily modifications include a split, bifurcated tongue and teeth filed to a point. For all of that, Erik, currently age 37, considers his startling transformation only about 80 percent complete.

A self-proclaimed “professional freak,” Sprague is a permanent performer whose repertoire includes sword swallowing, fire-eating, and other dangerous stunts.  He generates additional income through appearances at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museums and other events. The Lizardman has also recently penned Once More Through the Modified Looking Glass, and is a sane, rational, and thoughtful individual…

Comments: 2 Comments

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Dogs

Posted February 7, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, anomalies, medical, science
Tags: , ,

– – Not only Good Time Charlie gets the blues; canines do, too!–Well, at least they seem to be capable of obsessive-compulsive disorder…

…the January issue of Molecular Psychiatry reports that scientists have located a gene for obsessive-compulsive disorder among certain canine breeds, especially Dobermans and bull terriers.  Up to 70% of some litters have OCD tendencies, compared to only 2% in the human population.  In canines this might be behaviorally manifested by such things as chasing their own tail or sucking on their own body parts.

Dogs with such behaviors are more likely to express a CDH2 gene.  Located on chromosome 7, that gene mediates communication between neurons in the brain.  The gene is located in the hippocampus in both humans and dogs.

So why should you care?–Well, the canine-human link could lead to preventive medicine and better treatment for obsessive disorders in both species.  The CDH2 gene may also be implicated in autism spectrum disorder as well.  The National Institute of Mental Health is conducting its own study, looking for the CDH2 gene in blood samples of human OCD patients; this would be the first confirmed psychiatric gene in humans, possibly with others to follow.

Neuropsychiatry promises to be a real growth field in the future, or so this fox thinks, and I’m crazy like one…


Comments: 2 Comments

“Giant Killer Bees” on MonsterQuest…

Posted February 5, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: insects, Invertebrates, television
Tags:

– – Whenever I hear of killer bees, I think of that wonderful old Saturday Night Live sketch with the original cast and their tacky but hilarious get-ups…bobbing antennae and all!

I’m less fond of the more mundane MonsterQuest episodes featuring such things as feral dogs, underground rats, and yes, killer bees.  It strikes me that the series is stretching for material on such episodes, expanding and sensationalizing what they have.  Killer bees are a rather old saw at this point, and only the beekeeping forums were buzzing about this one.

Don’t get me wrong; bees are awesome insects, kinda nature’s Borg collective.  Like the pythons featured in the previous episode, they’re expanding their range, and can adapt to colder northern environments by doing things like “clustering,” grouping together in the central core of their hives to conserve and share heat.

The episode just lacked the shock and awe factor of the cryptid episodes, and is more like something I’d expect on National Geographic than The Quest…

Comments: 3 Comments

“Gothic Kitties” Merchant Faces Trial

Posted February 3, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal rights, animals, deplorable practices, furry
Tags: ,

– – A Wilkes-Barre  dog groomer who pierced the ears and necks of kittens to market them on eBay as “Gothic kittens” for hundreds of dollars will soon be facing trial on animal cruelty charges…

Prosecutors say she inflicted pain on the felines to make money, while attorneys for the woman said she didn’t act maliciously. The woman contends that she used sterilized needles, made sure the kittens were healing properly, and didn’t intend to hurt them…

…I hope they throw the book at her!

Comments: 2 Comments

SETI Faces More Difficult Task

Posted February 1, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: aliens, science, space
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– – The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence may have gotten more difficult as communications technology improves, and the Earth becomes “quieter” as a result…

…Earth used to churn out a loud mess of radio waves, television signals, and other radiation, but more communications traffic is now relayed by satellite and fiber optic cables, which  tends to limit the “leakage” of such signals into space.   The recent switch from analogue to digital television also uses a far weaker signal.  If similar processes are taking place in other technologically-advanced societies, they too are presumably becoming quieter and would be more difficult to find.   Additionally, alien cultures might have a bad impression of us from exposure to shows sent their way such as Gilligan’s Island.

A new avenue for contacting ET might be to use lasers to send ultra-bright flashes of light into space for mere fractions of a second.  Such pulses could theoretically be seen by advanced civilizations up to 1,000 light years away, with infrared versions of such devices capable of sending beams even further.

This of course presupposes that alien civilizations would want to get in touch with us to begin with!

Comments: 3 Comments

Giant Pythons in America!

Posted January 31, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal occurrences, animals, environmental, scalies, strange happenings, television
Tags: ,

– – Ah me…as if Florida didn’t have enough to worry about, now it appears that the population of foreign snakes is increasing there!  The burmese python has been  found in Florida, and its an adaptable species that could range much further northward, at least as far to the north as Washington, D.C.

Reptiles in Washington!– -Well, we’ve heard that for some time!  Anyhow, such snakes can survive in temperatures as low as 40 degrees by wintering underground, and environmental conditions could support them northward.  MonsterQuest in their “python” episode found food for snakes in Central Park,  NYC, and a nine foot boa constrictor has been found in Central Park, presumably a pet that was released.   Snakes have come to the edge of population centers by the Florida Everglades, and elsewhere an African green mamba bit a cable TV installer !- -Watch out, Larry the Cable Guy!

King cobras  are also potentially loose in southern Florida.  Where it gets really freaky is over such snakes interbreeding, and producing a monster hybrid with all kinds of interesting capabilities; sounds like a bad Syfy Channel original movie!

MonsterQuest’s conclusion was that exotic snakes in northern areas are going to increase…snake phobics, be advised!


Comments: 2 Comments

“Wolf Moon” Tonight!

Posted January 30, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: cool things, furry, furry spirits, Furry-named, science
Tags:

– – The full moon on the night of January 29th will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year.  It is also known as The Wolf Moon, a name dating back to Native American culture and the notion that hungry wolves howled at the moon on cold winter nights!  What a beautiful image…except for the wolves being hungry, of course!

Tonight, the moon will appear 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than lesser full moons of the year, which is caused by a full moon coinciding with the moon reaching its perigee, or closest point to us...

…so have yourselves a howling good time!

Comments: 5 Comments

Robotic Groundhog?

Posted January 28, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, furry, furry heroes, strange happenings
Tags: , ,

– – Groundhog Day is coming soon, and it brings a slew of visitors to an annual festival in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in what may best be described as high silliness.  Each year on February 2nd, otherwise sensible men in high formal dress including top hats rouse Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog from his heated burrow and bring the rascal out to determine whether or not he’ll see his shadow, which in turn supposedly determines whether or not we’ll have an early spring or another six weeks of winter.

Now People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are contending that it’s unfair to keep the famous groundhog in captivity, and subject him annually to the the huge crowds, noise, and bright lights that accompany the appearance of thousands of people on Groundhog Day in the tiny borough 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.  PETA is suggesting that Phil be replaced with an animatronic model groundhog…that’s right, a fake Phil!

I’m usually a friend of PETA, but a robotic groundhog somehow just wouldn’t be the same…Phil is kept in a climate-controlled environment, and annually is inspected by the state Department of Agriculture.  The President of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club says that the animal is “being treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania.”   At least he is less likely to appear dead along the roadside, where I see most of his cousins.– – Besides, who ‘ya wanna listen to?–The genuine article, or some fugitive from Disney?   😉

Comments: 4 Comments

Sears Optical Raccoon…

Posted January 27, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, Brilliant but twisted, furry perspectives, humor, television
Tags: ,

– – The lady inviting the “Kitty” into her house to snuggle with her in bed needs her eyes checked badly, ’cause what she’s really inviting in is a rather large raccoon, who roams right in, and makes himself at home!   The commercial ends with the raccoon blissfully reclining on the woman’s bed.

The woman in this hilarious and brilliant Sears Optical commercial needs to be more careful, ’cause raccoons don’t have the best of reputations…  😉

Comments: 1 Comment

The Ins and Outs of McDonald’s Pigs…

Posted January 26, 2010 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, furry, furry perspectives, strange happenings
Tags: ,

– – McDonald’s recently introduced a series of cartoon character miniatures in Singapore depicting the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar; think Happy Meal-type toys. Not wishing to offend Muslims, however, McDonald’s replaced the pig with a character of the love god Cupid, which turned out to be stupid…

If you’re gonna do something, do it right and do it correctly, which doesn’t mean catering to political correctness to an extent that defeats the purpose of what you’re doing.- –Well, Mickey D’s didn’t anticipate a backlash by the 75% Chinese population in Singapore, who understandably complained that they would not have a chance to buy the complete set or for those involved, the animal character representing their birth year.

McDonald’s then backpedaled, re-instituting the pig character and apologizing all over themselves to the Chinese community. The Pig as one of the Chinese zodiac characters is part of Chinese culture and customs, and is not representing food offensive to Muslims…and for crying out loud, it was in this case  just a little stuffed toy!

It’s nice to occasionally see political correctness lose out to common sense!

Comments: 2 Comments

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