Animals
Evidence that birds can read
Professor Katsufumi Sato thinks the signs work because people see the signs then look up into the sky for the birds, and when the crows realize they're being observed they fly away. More info: asahi.com
Or maybe the birds can read. I happen to have had in my files an example from 1960 of seagulls in San Diego who obeyed signs ordering them to stop dropping clams on the pavement.
The Lock Haven Express - Apr 7, 1960
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 24, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals
Follies of the Madmen #318
I don't get it. Is "nimble as an ox" good or bad, the before or after status of fueling up with their gas?
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 20, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Business, Advertising, Products, 1950s, Cars
Recipes for Cooking Muskrat
How the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came to publish a muskrat meat cookbook:
The Escanaba Daily Press - Mar 22, 1949
The recipes include Wine-fried Muskrat, Muskrat a la Terrapin, Maryland Shredded Muskrat, Muskrat Salad, Muskrat Pie, Pickled Muskrat, and Stewed Muskrat Liver. However, it doesn't include Cream of Muskrat Casserole, a delicacy that we posted about back in 2013.
You can read or download the full booklet at archive.org.
A muskrat - via wikipedia
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 15, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Food, Cookbooks
Mayor Max
In 2012, the residents of Idyllwild, California elected Max as their mayor. He was a golden retriever. Tragically he died of cancer a year later, but the people of Idyllwild agreed that Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller II, aka Mayor Max II, could complete his term of office. The new Max was subsequently granted a perpetual term as mayor. So he's still in charge there.Check out the official Mayor Max website.
Mayor Max I
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 12, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Politics
ME Pearl and her Opossum
She's been posting videos to YouTube for the last six years featuring her opossum and sometimes a squirrel. Her two most viewed videos are below. You can also check out her website.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 11, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Video
Refrigerated Camels
Instead of using refrigerated trucks to deliver medical supplies to people who live in the deserts of Africa, inventors have built solar-powered refrigerators that can be carried by camels, and so the medicines are delivered via refrigerated camel.Apparently it wasn't that easy to build a camel-carried refrigerator. It had to be lightweight, but also sturdy enough to survive the motion of being on the camel as well as the extreme desert conditions.
More info: ABC News, inhabitat.com
Posted By: Alex - Wed May 31, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Inventions, Medicine, Transportation, Africa
A Brief History of Westernized Snake Dances
Choose your favorite.I believe that "Janik and Amaut" are really Harold and Lola Leibman, as seen in the final clip. More about their eccentric careers here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 30, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Sex Symbols, Dance
Drug-Carrying Pigeons
Same method, 95 years apart.
The Pittsburgh Press - Mar 8, 1922
Pigeon caught with backpack of drugs
BBC News - May 25, 2017
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 26, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Drugs
Long arm saves dolphin
February 1978: A dolphin named Dr. Spock who lived at Marine-World swallowed a 3-inch bolt. The animal doctors there didn't have any instruments long enough to reach into the dolphin's stomach and remove the bolt. So, hoping to avoid surgery, they called up basketball player Clifford Ray of the Golden State Warriors and asked him if he would be willing to use one of his four-foot long arms to reach into Dr. Spock's stomach. Ray hurried over, removed the bolt, and saved Dr. Spock's life. Ray said that Dr. Spock later always recognized him when he visited Marine World and would come over to say hello.More info: SFGate, NY Times
Muncie Star Press - Feb 25, 1978
Ray shows off the bolt to his teammates
Hattiesburg American Sun - Feb 26, 1978
Posted By: Alex - Tue May 16, 2017 -
Comments (7)
Category: Animals, 1970s
Frontier Circus
In 1962, variations on the popular Western genre reached new and unlikely permutations.
Wikipedia entry here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat May 13, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Clowns, Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Regionalism, Television, 1960s
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |