Category:
Animals

Curry-Covered Seagulls

Mike in the UK gave us a heads up about a curious case of weird-news déjà vu.

A few weeks ago news outlets reported that a seagull had turned bright orange after apparently falling into a vat of curry. But rewind to 2016, and an almost identical incident occurred when a seagull turned bright orange after falling into a container of chicken tikka masala "while trying to scavenge a piece of meat from a food factory bin."

And I've managed to find a third incident, that also happened in 2016, involving a seagull in Newport, south Wales that fell into a vat of tandoori sauce.

So how often exactly do seagulls fall into vats of curry? Are there even more cases out there?

The 2016 incident

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 04, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Food

Bimbo Jr., the water-skiing elephant

Bimbo Jr. wasn't the only water-skiing elephant around, but in the early 1960s she gained some fame as the youngest water-skiing elephant. She was 5 at the time.

However, her career as a water-skiier eventually came to an unusual end. In 1969, a car collided with the trailer that was transporting her. She survived, but her owner, Ted De Wayne, claimed that the experience caused her to forget how to water-ski, so he sued the driver for $10,000. He was awarded $4,500.

It's been reported in various places that the case was heard by Judge Turtle. But this isn't true. The judge's actual name was Julius Title.

Bimbo water-skiing in San Diego - Mar 20, 1961.



Bimbo water-skiing in Santa Monica - Apr 28, 1962 (via LA Public Library)



Salem Capital Journal - Feb 26, 1972



Orlando Evening Star - Feb 25, 1972

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 01, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, 1960s

Bugs Bunny and the Pirate

Could you make an effective cartoon with sound only? See what you think.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jun 29, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Stupid Criminals, Cartoons, 1950s

Spikehorn Meyer, Friend to Bears

One of the forerunners of those folks who cuddle up to bears. Luckily, Spikehorn was never hurt.



Article here.

Find-a-grave site.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 21, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Cult Figures and Artifacts, Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Eccentrics, Regionalism, Twentieth Century

Calvin and the Colonel



From the Wikipedia entry:

"The series was an animated remake of Amos 'n' Andy... and featured the voices of Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll[1] from the radio series (in fact, several of the original radio scripts by Joe Connelly & Bob Mosher were adapted for this series). Using animals avoided the touchy racial issues which had led to the downfall of Amos 'n' Andy."

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 18, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Anthropomorphism, Racism, Stereotypes and Cliches, Television, Cartoons, 1960s

Roadkill Psychic

In the late 1990s, psychic Terrie Brill of Elk Grove, California made headlines by claiming that roadkill could be used to predict the future. Specifically:

Running over a cat is a sign you're about to have a spiritual crisis.

Running over a deer means you're about to hurt someone you love.

Crushing a crow with your car means you're not prepared for the future.

Rolling over a snake could mean you're about to have a heart attack or other serious accident.

If you run over a dog, expect your friendships to take a turn for the worse.

If a bee collides with your windshield, you need to make more time for yourself.

... mashed mosquitos have no effect whatsoever on your future.

Brill died in 2001, but her son maintains a Facebook page about her, promoting her posthumously published book The I-Factor. Unfortunately, the Facebook page doesn't seem to contain anything about the roadkill predictions.

Terrie Brill



Edmonton Journal - Sep 8, 1998

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 16, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Death, Predictions, 1990s

Koala Fingerprints

Odd trivia: the finger (and foot) prints of koalas are so similar to those of humans that not even a scanning electron microscope can detect the difference. They’re more human-like than even those of chimpanzees.

Sydney Morning Herald - Nov 6, 1996



Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 02, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals

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Who We Are
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.

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