Blinky the Friendly Hen

April 27, 1978: Artist Jeffrey Vallance bought a frozen chicken (a Foster Farms fryer) at a supermarket and then buried it at the Los Angeles Pet Cemetery, following a brief memorial service. He also installed a grave marker for the frozen bird, naming it "Blinky the Friendly Hen." He came to think of Blinky's grave as being like the grave of the Unknown Chicken, representing "all the millions of chickens who are slaughtered and sold as food."

According to kcet.org, "Ten years later, he would have the body exhumed so an autopsy could be performed by UCLA's head of pathology. The tenth anniversary exhibit on the life of Blinky, at the Rosamund Felsen Gallery in Los Angeles, featured a 'shroud of Blinky,' and a recreation of the cemetery's viewing room, with a rubber chicken lying in state. Blinky was later reburied at the cemetery."

It seems that there were also an event to mark the 30th anniversary of Blinky's funeral. The 40th anniversary is coming up next year, so perhaps there'll be another event in Blinky's honor.

Vallance also wrote a book commemmorating Blinky.

More info: Black Acrylic blog

Bridgewater Courier-News - Nov 3, 1983

Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 03, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Art, Death, 1970s

Chicken Shaming

I hadn't realized that chickens were capable of deviant behavior of this kind. I mean, an entire mouse? Chickens eat mice?

More at Chicken Hugs.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 01, 2017 - Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Farming

Live Burros By Mail!

I want these at the Spencer's Gifts location in my local mall!

From THE ELKS MAGAZINE for October 1954.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 24, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Retailing, 1950s

Chicken’s Symphony

Not bad, for a chicken.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 11, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Farming, Music

Alice White and Bunnies

I am not sure why 1930s actress Alice White was made to pose with bunnies so often, but she certainly looked fetching with them.


Source of third foto.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 12, 2017 - Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Anthropomorphism, Movies, Publicity Stunts, 1930s

Perky the Duck

It seems like 2016 was a year marked by an unusually high number of celebrity deaths. And among those who passed away was Perky, the duck who wouldn't die, who did, in fact, finally kick the bucket.

Perky was a one-pound, female, ring-neck duck who gained international fame in January 2007 after she survived being shot three times by a hunter, retrieved by a dog, and then stored in the hunter's refrigerator for two days.

By chance, the hunter's wife happened to open the refrigerator (she reportedly rarely looked in it because it was the spare fridge her husband used to store game), at which point Perky lifted her head to say hello. The wife took compassion on Perky and rushed her to a vet.

That wasn't the end of Perky's brush with death. During the surgery to repair the gunshot damage Perky stopped breathing, but the surgeon was able to revive her.

Once she had regained her health, Perky was given a home at the Tallahassee Museum, where she lived for nine years before dying of old age in May 2016.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 03, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Death, Obituaries

Mary Krupa, the Squirrel Whisperer

Over the years there have been quite a few trained squirrels that have won fame. For instance, there's Sugar Bush Squirrel, Twiggy the Waterskiing Squirrel, and Tommy Tucker Squirrel.

What makes Mary Krupa and her squirrels slightly different is that during her time as a student at Penn State she's managed to make the wild squirrels on the campus act like tame squirrels — wearing hats, holding props, posing for photos, etc. This has earned her the title of "Squirrel Whisperer" as well as "Squirrel Girl."

I'm quite impressed by what she's been able to achieve since I can't even get my cat to wear a collar, let alone a hat.

More about Mary and her squirrels at ABC News.





Thanks to Hotsauce!

Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 18, 2016 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals

Goat coughs up diamond ring

And the only thing my cat coughs up is hairballs...

The White Plains Journal News - June 9, 1984

There's a few more details about the diamond-coughing goat here.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 01, 2016 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Jewelry, 1980s

Compu-Chick

A mid-1980s alternative to Compuserve.



It was actually an interactive exhibit at the I.Q. Zoo, the famous animal training facility and tourist attraction in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Founded in 1955 by Marian and Keller Breland (students of the psychologist B.F. Skinner), it stayed open until 1990.

Apparently you typed in questions, and the chicken would type a response. From the "official online home of the IQ-Zoo":



I'm not sure, but maybe Google's "PigeonRank" technology, which the company revealed on April 1, 2002 to be the secret behind their search results, could have been inspired by Compu-Chick.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 29, 2016 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, 1980s

Illicit Abbatoir

• Two goats' heads
• Dried hides from reindeer and deer
• Dried trachea, tendons, ears and tails
• 100-200 dried bulls' penises
• 700 litres of bones
• 500 litres of lard

These were among the items recently discovered by Swedish police when they raided the home of a property owner in Hudiksvall municipality. The man was suspected of running an illegal, unlicensed abattoir from his home. The article notes, "Dried bull penises are often used to make bully sticks for dogs (a fact that completely passes by a surprising number of dog owners)." [TheLocal.se]

Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 26, 2016 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals