Reaction of lions to a man in a motorized cage

I'm not quite sure what's going on here. This photo (sourced to AP Wirephoto) ran in various papers (such as here) on June 26, 1963. It had the following caption:


And that's it. I've been unable to find out anything else about this strange experiment. But I'd like to know why exactly the zoo was curious about how lions would react to a guy driving around in a motorized cage?

Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 13, 2016 - Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Experiments, 1960s

Hindu Ceremonial Animal Marriages

1932 report here.

The practice of having a human marry an animal for various mystical reasons has been a part of Hindu religion for who-knows-how-long, and continues to the present.




Full article here.

And then of course there is marrying a tree as well.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 10, 2016 - Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Anthropomorphism, Religion, Husbands, Wives, 1930s, Asia

Turtle Clapping

The only source that I can find for this supposedly ancient and semi-legendary practice is a single article in FIELD AND STREAM.

Was the reporter getting his leg pulled? Did the practice exist, then die off? Inquiring minds want to know!

Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 29, 2016 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Regionalism, 1960s

Adolph Heilborn’s Theories on Women

I can learn little personally about Adolf Heilborn (1873-1941). But his book THE OPPOSITE SEXES caused a bit of a stir when it appeared in 1927, given that he described the female human as the missing link between ape and male human. Naturally, there was, um, a little pushback.






Original article here.


Here is the bio of his opponent.



But maybe it was all a joke! If this bookplate belongs to the same fellow, we can see he had a sense of humor.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 26, 2016 - Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Eccentrics, Feminism, Forgotten Figures and Where Are They Now?, Science, Anthropology, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1920s, Men, Women

Cow Triplets

Cows are a definite WU theme. But in all these years, I do not believe we have ever commented on the rare instance of triplet calves. The odds of a successful gestation and delivery are "one in eight million."

Yet there was such a birth in April of 2016. And here was another from 1972.

Of course, with 1.5 billion cattle (half male? fewer than half male?) as of 2013, that could still be a lot of triplets per year.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 22, 2016 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Babies, Natural Wonders

Da-Dum… Da-Dum… Da-Dum

Researchers at UC San Diego (my grad school alma mater) have published research documenting that the "ominous background music that often accompanies shark footage" can cause people to view sharks in a negative light, whereas the same footage set to "uplifting background music" doesn't have this effect.

They note that their study is the first "to demonstrate empirically that the connotative attributes of background music accompanying shark footage affect viewers’ attitudes toward sharks."

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 17, 2016 - Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Fish, Documentaries

Alligators Climb Trees!

Gators can climb trees, who knew?!?

Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 14, 2016 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, More Things To Worry About

The Bears of Clark’s Trading Post

I would not have necessarily said that a trained bear act would still flourish in today's world, but apparently the one at Clark's Trading Post is still going strong.

I wonder if they had a hand in training Lulubelle back in 1957?





Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Aug 13, 2016 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Anthropomorphism, Authorities and Experts, Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, 1950s

Churks

In 1960, scientists with the poultry research branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that they had successfully created a chicken-turkey hybrid. They called the new bird a "churk." It was the first time such a cross had ever successfully been achieved — one of the obstacles being that chickens have six pairs of chromosomes, and turkeys have nine pairs. Churks ended up having 15 chromosomes.

The scientists created three male churks. These three were not only the first, but also apparently the last of their kind.

Some features of the churk:

• They suffered from mental retardation, having only half the intelligence of either chickens or turkeys.
• They were mostly silent, only letting out a feeble chirp if disturbed.
• They had the long neck, legs, and white skin of a turkey, but the general size and coloring of a chicken.
• Their feathers grew twisted.
• All three churks had some defects, such as crooked legs or beaks.
• They had to be kept in a separate pen from the chickens and turkeys, to prevent them from being pecked to death.

More info: Science News (Nov 22, 2011)

The Pittsburgh Press - Oct 27, 1960

Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 04, 2016 - Comments (12)
Category: Animals, 1960s

Adelaide, the hen who laid banana-shaped eggs

Adelaide the Hen (aka Adelaide Benteggs) lived on the farm of Wilfred Waterman in Poole, England. She first came to the attention of the press in 1957, when she began laying banana-shaped eggs. Farmer Waterman put her in solitary confinement, worried that whatever was causing her to lay such eggs "might be catching."

Experts from the British Ministry of Agriculture subsequently x-rayed and otherwise examined Adelaide, but couldn't find anything obviously wrong with her that was causing her to lay the banana-shaped eggs.

Adelaide, however, kept laying the odd eggs — hundreds of them — and as a result became a celebrity hen. She appeared on TV and helped raise over £1000 for charity.

When she died, on August 11, 1961, it made international news. It was reported that she died quietly, sitting on her nest, after laying another curved egg. Officials from the British Museum expressed an interest in performing an autopsy on her, but before they could do so Farmer Waterman had her cremated. He kept the ashes in an urn on his sideboard.

Despite her fame, I've been unable to find a single picture anywhere of either Adelaide or one of her curved eggs, which I find puzzling. I would have thought that press photographers would have loved to document such an oddity.

Spokane Daily Chronicle - Mar 1, 1957

The Decatur Herald - Aug 12, 1961

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 17, 2016 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Eggs, 1950s, Bananas