Animals
Paved Deer
I've heard of road-line painting crews not bothering to move roadkill out of the way. But I hadn't heard before of a paving crew simply paving over a dead animal instead of moving it.For some pics of roadkill painted over see: improbable research
Allentown Morning Call - Aug 22, 1996
Allentown Morning Call - Sep 14, 1996
Posted By: Alex - Fri Sep 21, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Death, Highways, Roads, Streets and Traffic
Falling Sheep
Yesterday, Paul mentioned the threat posed by cows. It's worth remembering that sheep can be pretty dangerous too. As this hiker in Ireland recently found out when, out of the blue, he was hit by a falling sheep. Both the hiker and the sheep seem to have survived the incident.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 31, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Accidents, Animals
Gibbon Diet
In order to raise awareness and funds for the Gibbon Protection Society of Malaysia, Grace Watson is spending a month eating only what a gibbon would eat. From stuff.co.nz:Lunch is usually a variation of apples, bananas, mandarin, and edible insects, while dinner is limited to vegetable soups, salads or slaws of grated beetroot, carrot, apple, with a squeeze of lime and some seeds...
Although she would like to entirely commit to the animals' diet in order to draw attention to the endangered primates, she cannot consume leaves like they can. "I'm unable to do that as part of my diet because humans can't break down nutrients like gibbons do from leaves," Watson conceded.
While it seems like a fine cause, it seems to me like it's cheating just a bit to eat cooked food.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 30, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Food, Dieting and Weight Loss
Hero Dog of the Year
In 1954, Ken-L Ration Dog Food began awarding a prize to the "Hero Dog of the Year." Sponsorship switched to Kibbles 'n' Bits at some point.Here is a list of some winners.
The latest year I can find when the award was given was 2004.
The American Humane Society seems to have taken over, or rebooted the award.
In any case, the award gives us a chance here at WU to carry forward one of our earliest missions: proving that cows are the most evil and deadly creature on the planet.
Article behind NYT paywall, alas.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Aug 30, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Dogs, 1950s, 1980s
The Punt Gun
Wikipedia page.
Longer article.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Aug 23, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Guns, Nineteenth Century
Miniature horses allowed
Southwest Airlines has announced it's adopting new rules, beginning September 18, about the animals it will allow on-board its aircraft. From their website:They also have a list of the animals they won't allow on-board:
Personally I wouldn't care if someone brought their horse on-board. But I can't imagine where it would sit or stand during the flight.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 21, 2018 -
Comments (10)
Category: Animals, Air Travel and Airlines
President Truman and the Albino Kangaroo
Source.
The animal was spoken of at a press conference.
Source.
But according to LIFE, it came with a name.
Source.
BTW: what was meant by Truman being good at naming dinosaurs? I think this is the answer:
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 20, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Government, Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, 1950s, Australia, North America
Making a silk purse from a sow’s ear
Back in 1921, the chemist Arthur D. Little took it upon himself to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Or rather, he figured out a way to produce a silk-like thread out of sows' ears and wove a purse from this.Actually, he made two purses. The Smithsonian has one of them. MIT now has the other. (Little was an MIT grad).
The picture of the purse (below) looks nothing like the illustration of it. I wonder what happened. Did the dye fade, or something?
More info: MIT Museum, MIT Library
Pittsburgh Press - Dec 28, 1975
Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 19, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Science, 1920s
Buster, the Roller-Skating Rooster
He ice-skated also!
Davenport Daily Times - Aug 20, 1952
Baltimore Sun - Oct 12, 1952
Newark Advocate - Aug 21, 1952
Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 17, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Sports, 1950s
Chicken Diapers
Julie Baker, owner of Pampered Poultry, is cashing in on the recent fad for keeping chickens as pets. She's selling 500 to 1000 "chicken diapers" every month, for $18 a piece. More info at The Outline:
(Thanks to Gerald Sacks for the link!)
Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 10, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Farming, Fashion, Excrement
| 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. Contact Us |