Killer Chimps in America!

Posted August 13, 2009 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal occurrences, animals, furry, television, unexplained

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killer chimp— Killer Chimps in America was a recent MonsterQuest episode that did not pertain to Mojo Jojo, simian nemesis of (-ugh!) The Powerpuff  Girls. Rather, it concerned the possibility of wild chimpanzees loose in the swamps of Florida and possibly in California.   It was not the best MonsterQuest episode, dragging at times and appearing pieced together…but it was not the worst episode, either.

The intrepid MonsterQuest team searched for chimps in the Green Swamp in central Florida, a mere 40 miles away from Orlando, where great merchandising beasts are loose.  The team used camera traps including thermal units as well as gyroplane aircraft, one of which I must add to my Xmas list!  Anyhow, the camera traps detected bobcats, whitetail deer, wild turkey, owl, boar, and even a red wolf but (–surprise!)  no chimpanzees.

Now immature chimps have long been paraded on TV as cute and lovable creatures who can be dressed in clothes and otherwise embarrassed by training them to perform human-like behaviors.  The problem is that sexual maturity causes chimps to become stronger and more aggressive.  This is why the late Michael Jackson sent Bubbles the Chimp to a Florida simian sanctuary after palling around with him in the 1980’s.  As the Travis the Chimp mauling demonstrated so horrendously in recent months, a chimp possesses several times human strength, and can readily take a person apart with nothing other than their hands and teeth.   In the Travis attack, the lady targeted lost her nose, eyes, lips, and hands.  MonsterQuest profiled another man who together with his wife suffered a chimp attack, and his injuries were also horrendous.  Primates often target the face, by the way…and while chimps in nature often build up to a frenzied stage before an actual attack, domestically-raised chimps can attack instantaneously without telegraphing behaviorally their intentions.

…Now roadside carnivals and zoos in the 1920’s through 1940’s often exhibited chimps in Florida, with P.T. Barnum himself exhibiting chimps there as early as 1896.  Sadly, such road shows had been known to simply set the chimps free after they were done exhibiting them.  This would lend some credibility to the assertion that wild chimp populations were out there.  A cartographic comparison by MonsterQuest of the Green Swamp with Mali, Africa revealed that the areas had minimal differences despite variances in vegetation and elevation.

Despite many eyewitness sightings, physical proof of a wild chimp population in Florida remains elusive, however, and resources are not judged sufficient to maintain such a population.  It is also deemed unlikely that an escaped chimp could survive undetected in Central Florida; he would inevitably gravitate to Disney World, and probably attempt to butt in line at the attractions.

An underlying issue presented in the episode was that 13 states don’t regulate ownership of exotic animals that would include chimpanzees, and chimps are near the top of the list of animals that make bad pets for home ownership…


“Quiky” the Nesquik Bunny

Posted August 12, 2009 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, cartoons, furry, television

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Nesquik Rabbit— Having already considered the Trix Rabbit, it is only fair that we also consider the Nesquik Bunny, wondering perhaps which one might win in a Deadliest Warrior deathmatch…

…now Nesquik is a milk flavoring mix developed in the U.S. in 1948, and introduced there as Nestle Quik. The name was changed to the worldwide brand Nesquik in 1999.  In 1973, the Quik Bunny, an anthropomorphic rabbit, was introduced as the product mascot, originally sporting a large red “Q” on him which was changed to an “N” in 1998 when the brand name changed.  The nickname of said rabbit is Quiky, and he has endured as the product mascot for over 35 years.

I guess I somewhat prefer the Trix Rabbit as he is slightly pitiful and pathetic, seldom getting the cereal that he yearns for whereas the Quik Bunny always gets his chocolate milk fix.  Quiky seems to be somewhat more metaphysical, lately urging consumers to “come to your happy place.” –and just where might that be, hmmm?    😉

Woman Killed by Bear

Posted August 11, 2009 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal occurrences, animals, furry

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Yogi bear— It’s not a good idea to feed the bears.  They might become extremely annoying, like Yogi Bear and Boo Boo…or they might kill you!

This just happened to a Denver woman in her 70’s suspected of feeding bears on her property for over a decade despite repeated warnings; the woman reportedly had up to fourteen bears on her land at the same time.  An autopsy revealed that she bled to death quickly from deep slashes to her head and neck. It’s an offense to feed bears in Colorado, with the first offense drawing a $100 fine, the second $500, and the third $1,000.

black bear — Bears are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders that primarily forage for berries, nuts, and insects.   They will, however, also consume human food, carrion, and small animals…feeding a bear alters their behavior, potentially with catastrophic results...

The Trix Rabbit Turns 50!

Posted August 9, 2009 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, cartoons, furry, television

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Trix rabbit— His 50th birthday has quietly come and gone, and I’ll bet that you didn’t buy him anything, either, what with famous people dropping like flies lately and hogging the spotlight…he’s the Trix Rabbit,  an anthropomorphic cartoon rabbit and the oldest commercial mascot to continue to exist on television!  Now Trix cereal by General Mills has been on the market since 1954, but the Trix Rabbit was created on August 4th, 1959 by Joe Harris. The original commercial featuring him was of course in black and white, back in the dark ages before luscious color!  Dinosaurs roamed the earth then…

The Trix Rabbit had a kind of existential dilemma, eternally craving Trix cereal which he could rarely procure, ’cause as we all know, Trix is for kids! The poor rabbit was typically forced to resort to rather transparent trickery to entice children to yield the cereal to him, and his efforts were usually for naught.  Now on a few rare occasions, the rabbit did manage to get a spoonful of the cereal, which I suppose gives us all reason for hope…

The Trix Rabbit has been referenced twice on Family Guy, and I’ve always found him strangely sensuous…Happy Birthday, Big Guy!!! And may all of us someday get our personal Trix cereal, or at least be brave in the effort…Silly Rabbit!–You are US!!! 😉

Siberian Bigfoot!

Posted August 7, 2009 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, cryptozoology, unexplained, unidentified

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bigfoot— Something is snatching up the wild leek crop that is a staple of the diet of the local Shor people of Kemero Region in Siberia!

The onion-loving creature leaves behind abundant large footprints with clearly-defined toes…

…well, even Bigfoot needs to take a leek now and then!

I Was A Second Grade Chicken!

Posted August 5, 2009 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, furry

Tags: ,

chicken— It’s a little-known secret that I played a chicken (specifically, a rooster) in my second grade class play!

My elementary school had a tradition that once a year, each class would have to present a play to the rest of the school.  During my second grade year, my class presented some kind of cutesy barnyard drama in which most of us played animals; this left me…strangely excited, possibly the earliest stirrings of the furry that I would someday become!  Now I didn’t really want to play a chicken, and would have much preferred to play a horse or one of the cooler animals.   This wasn’t even a mutant chicken or a Big Buckin’ Chicken like in the Burger King commercials a while back.  I didn’t even  get to wear a fursuit; the costume was largely comprised of a woman’s nylon over my head to which were attached construction paper eyes, a beak, and a chicken’s comb.  Then as now elementary schools didn’t have big budgets…but hey, it was a gig, right?

…of course, years of therapy were required to deal with the issues raised by the nylon over my head, but at least I didn’t grow up to be a bank robber!  And in sixth grade, I got to play a ghost, a role indicated by chains I had to wear around my neck that trailed down each shoulder, a la Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol.   This may have led to my long-time interest in the paranormal.

Today, of course, school plays don’t dare include ghostly characters as some in the community would interpret that as promoting occultism or who knows what else…but what did we know back then?  <sighs>




Bob Barker, Superstar!

Posted August 2, 2009 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal rights, animals, environmental

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Bob Barker– – You’re probably well aware that Bob Barker hosted The Price is Right game show for many years, and is a long time animal rights activist as well, having ended his shows with an admonition to “get your pets spayed or neutered.” The Robot Chicken show on Adult Swim did a cute bit with Barker going about following his retirement, and personally carrying out this mission, even using hedge clippers!  <shudders>

But did you know that Barker was part Native American, and grew up on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota?  Well, Barker recently made a personal appeal to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina to stop exhibiting bears in pit-like enclosures at three local zoos.  Barker called the bears’ conditions inhumane and asked that they be turned over to a sanctuary in California…

Unidentified Flying Humanoids!

Posted July 30, 2009 by vulpesffb
Categories: anomalies, unexplained, unidentified

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Unidentified— Look!–Up in the sky!–Is it a bird?–Is it a plane?–Is Sarah Palin killing wolves from aircraft?–No, it’s an unidentified flying humanoid, and they’ve been reported since the days of the early indigenous people of Mexico thousands of years ago.  Ancient petroglyphs from Mexico indicate having seen an aerial presence, although the stylized nature of the petroglyphs makes identification difficult.   Today, witnesses in North America tell of human-like creatures that float or hover in the skies and at times descend to attack; one cop shared such an attack experience.

MonsterQuest examined a shaky, poor resolution video taken in June 2005 of something seen over Mexico City; a law enforcement video analyst found that the video hadn’t been faked, and couldn’t be explained.  A 2004 video taken in Santa Monica, California suggested a flying humanoid about 7 feet in height and 3 to 4 feet wide.  It was described as being bulky and slate gray in color.  Speculations were that some sightings could be misidentified balloon clusters, although balloons  tend to sway or bob.  Eerily, witnesses described a feeling that the flying humanoids seemed aware of their presence!  A justifiable criticism of the episode is that MonsterQuest completely ignored the most likely explanation for the “flying humanoids;” namely, that they were indeed humans wearing  jet packs, an existing technology that has been around now for decades.–Remember the old black-and-white Rocketman serials?!

Humanoid corpseMore intriguing was the corpse of a immature creature (left) captured in 2007 and now mummified, but reported to have been alive and aggressive when captured; the connection was that perhaps this was an infantile form of a flying humanoid, some kind of previously-unknown species. Described as appearing between a rat and a monkey, this small corpse was at first thought to have been that of a skinned monkey, although it was later found to have rudimentary skin, fangs, and semi-human features including a double arch which is thought to have given the creature the capacity to stand.  Large eye orbits in the remains suggest that the beast had good vision.  A piece of the creature’s tail was taken for DNA analysis, and it was found to contain no identifiable material! In other words, they’re not sure what it is!   The creature appeared primate-like in appearance.

This Terror from the Sky episode was at least an improvement over the rather dreary and mundane wild dogs or rats episodes that MonsterQuest has aired in recent times…

The Nose Knows!

Posted July 30, 2009 by vulpesffb
Categories: body parts, strange happenings

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michael-jacksons-nose-missing-when-he-died— There is a matter of considerable importance of which you must be made aware:  Michael Jackson’s nose is MISSING!!!

Or so reports The Rolling Stone. You’re probably aware that decades of plastic surgery had destroyed Michael Jackson’s nose; he had to wear a prosthesis instead, with claims of a false nose supported by a former housekeeper to Jackson.  A witness who supposedly saw Michael’s body as it lay on the autopsy table in the morgue reportedly noted that said prosthetic nose was missing from the singer’s surgically mangled face, leaving behind a small, dark hole surrounded by bits of cartilage…Ewww!– As if removal of part of his brain hadn’t been enough…

The Michael Jackson saga keeps on getting more bizarre just as his doctor is the target of a manslaughter probe into the singer’s death.  The question remains of the nose’s whereabouts. — Someone out there knows of the nose! I would suggest that we round up the usual suspects. — Let’s visit underworld bars and begin hurting people!  One of them must know something…

What Cats Know…

Posted July 29, 2009 by vulpesffb
Categories: Brilliant but twisted, cool things, furry spirits

Tags: , ,

Rorschach

If you like complex comic book heroes and dark story lines, you just might enjoy Watchmen, now available for purchase or rental.  Set in an alternate reality circa 1985 that’s teetering on the brink of nuclear war, Watchmen covers the exploits of half a dozen flawed superheroes as they investigate the murder of one of their number and uncover a sinister plot threatening the world.

While the avian-themed Nite Owl appears to be the only quasi-furry character in the movie, for me the heart and soul of the flick is Rorschach. Looking like some 1940’s gumshoe detective in a trench coat and a fedora, Rorschach also sports an enigmatic mask on which play constantly-changing inkblot images that give the character his name.  Rorschach also has the best dialogue in the flick, lines like:

“Felt dark planet turn under my feet and know what cats know that makes them scream like babies in night.”

(…from the journal of Rorschach as seen in the movie, Watchmen…)

While a sociopath as “crazy as a snake’s armpit,” Rorschach makes disturbing sense at times,  has a kind of tragic nobility to him, and is exceedingly tough and cool.  When locked up in a prison with fifty or so criminals he placed there, Rorschach re-frames the situation to consider the cons as locked up with him, not he with them…he is the alpha predator there, and he proves it!

Watchmen also features Ozymandias, the world’s smartest human, with his intriguing animal companion, lynx. There is also the blue-skinned Dr. Manhattan, yet another physicist given awesome powers to manipulate matter as a result of a terrible accident.   Nearly-omnipotent, Dr. Manhattan  spends much of the movie fully-exposed in the nude…(when you’re omnipotent, you can dress pretty much any darn way you want!)

The movie also has a wonderful historical perspective, going back to 1940 or so to chronicle the early history of these superheroes and their parents; you’ll even catch glimpses of President Kennedy and the legendary second gunman who assassinated him, and view Watchmen fighting on the American side in Vietnam.  There’s a Mothman in this group as well, but he’s not the cryptid and winds up in an asylum, possibly due to a cheesy costume.

You’ll probably either love or hate Watchmen, but I fell into the former group…guess I’m learning what cats know…