Animals
Town Founded by a Jackass
It was Noah Kellogg's donkey that alerted the prospector to a mountain outcropping of galena, a lead ore often containing silver. This miraculous moment would attract a rough-and-tumble-type crowd to dig up and refine the resources below. What this visually stunning Silver Valley town is today — through mining ups and downs, population decline and industry changes — is just as the town motto cheekily states: "Founded by a jackass and inhabited by his descendants."
Article on the current state of the place.
Their Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 15, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Government, Humor, Regionalism, Mining
The Contents of an Ostrich’s Stomach
Frederick William Bond took the photo below at the London Zoo showing the items found in an ostrich's stomach following an autopsy: a lace handkerchief, a buttoned glove, a length of rope, a plain handkerchief, copper coins, metal tacks, staples, hooks, and a four-inch nail. The nail had killed it.The photo is undated, but I'm guessing it was taken sometime in the 1930s. (Update: the Flickr source says it was taken circa 1930.)
Image source: National Science and Media Museum on Flickr
Along similar lines is this story from 1972 about items found in the stomach of an ostrich at a private French zoo: coins, telephone tokens, and stones. What wasn't found was the diamond watch it had snatched off a spectator the previous year.
Miami News - Jun 12, 1972
Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 12, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Food, Stomach
First Pig To Fly
In 1909, a pig (subsequently named Icarus) became the first pig to fly in an airplane.However, as far as I know a pig has never gone beyond the atmosphere into space. I know this because I once briefly had the idea of writing a book titled Pigs in Space about the history of animals in space. But I abandoned the idea when I couldn't find any record of pigs in space. The closest I found was when, in 2005, the Chinese sent some pig sperm into space. I didn't think Pig Sperm in Space would work as a title.
More info about the flying pig: londonist.com
image source: waymarking.com
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix - Nov 25, 1909
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 29, 2022 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Air Travel and Airlines, 1900s
Amagami Ham Ham and Qoobo
The Amagami Ham Ham website.
The Qoobo website.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 06, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Chindogu, AI, Robots and Other Automatons, Asia
Sex on an Animal Hide Rug
The subtext in the ad is obvious. Fur rugs, fake or real, are for making love on. It's the staple of a thousand PLAYBOY cartoons.But where did the trope originate? Most likely with writer Elinor Glyn. Her novel THREE WEEKS (read it here) featured such a scene that became so notorious, it inspired some doggerel.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 02, 2022 -
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Category: Animals, Domestic, Books, 1900s, 1970s, Sex
Sustainable Inuit Fashions
The website is here.Designer's Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 29, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Ethnic Groupings, Fashion, Regionalism
Burberry Hero—man/horse duality
AdWeek named this as the weirdest fragrance ad of 2021. I'd have to agree.From YouTube:
A new masculine spirit exploring the house codes of duality and the power of the animal kingdom.
A man in search of transformation and metamorphosis as a new modern heroism.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 28, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Advertising, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents
Captain Santa Claus and His Reindeer Space Patrol
Never heard this one till yesterday.The singer's Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 17, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Fads, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Television, 1950s, Christmas
Urohidrosis
Back in the 1960s, while observing wood storks in Florida, biologist M. Philip Kahl, Jr. noted that on hot days the storks "have the unusual habit of frequently excreting on their legs."He eventually concluded that, since storks don't sweat, they were doing this to cool themselves down "by means of evaporative cooling of the blood supply to the legs and feet." He named this phenomenon 'urohidrosis'.
His hypothesis is now accepted as true, and it's not only storks that cool themselves by pooping on their legs. Turkey vultures do it too.
Reference: Kahl, P.M., Jr. 1963. Thermoregulation in the Wood Stork, with special reference to the role of the legs. Physiol. Zool., 36: 141-151.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 14, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Science, Excrement
Odd Showers
Read it here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 14, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal, Weird Facts, Weird Studies and Guides, Books, Natural Wonders, Nineteenth Century
| 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 |