Category:
Animals
Animals
Herbivorize Predators
The Herbivorize Predators organization was founded "with the goal of discovering how to safely transform carnivorous species into herbivorous ones." Its members believe that this will promote the well-being of all sentient beings and prevent the suffering and untimely deaths of prey animals.They acknowledge that their mission is controversial but feel that "now is the time to conduct research on potential ways of herbivorizing."
It's certainly an ambitious goal. I think they'll have their hands full just trying to herbivorize humans.
Another critique from the Ecology for the Masses blog:
its also easy to forget that herbivores can be just as big of a source of stress for other herbivores as the threat of predation... To put it simply there is always going to be something causing an individual some type of stress out there (even from their own species).
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 19, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Food, Vegetarians and Vegans
Follies of the Madmen #570
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 12, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Anthropomorphism, Advertising, Air Travel and Airlines, 1970s
Aleck the deluded gander
Details from Life magazine (May 18, 1953):Seven years ago Aleck and his mate were walking down a country road when an auto came speeding along. Aleck escaped but his wife didn't. Their owner picked up the wife's carcass and, with Aleck looking on, put it in an empty oil drum where he cremated it. From that sad day to this Aleck has stuck by that oil drum in the yard, apparently thinking his wife is still inside. He defends the drum against all intruders with vigorous honks, beating of wings and sharp nips of his blunt bill.
I haven't been able to find any info about what became of Aleck after the Life article made him famous. How long did he live? According to google, geese in captivity can sometimes live for as long as 40 years. So Aleck might have been standing guard by that oil drum for many years.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 05, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Husbands, Marriage, 1950s
Rodeo Sweetheart
The earliest reference I find to a "Rodeo Sweetheart" is 1929. And the tradition is still flourishing today.To get in the mood for appreciating this longtime contest, you can listen to the classic Byrds album.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 03, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, Twentieth Century, Twenty-first Century, Circuses, Carnivals, and Other Traveling Shows
Struck by falling sheep
We've previously reported about people accidentally struck by suicide jumpers (See Death at the Cathedral). But being struck by an apparently suicidal sheep leaping from a bridge is a novel twist on the phenomenon.
London Daily Telegraph - July 30, 2001
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 19, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Accidents, Animals, 2000s
Kicked To Death By A Camel
According to the article "Camel-Related Deaths" in The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology:Deaths associated with camels involve kicking, stomping, kneeling or sitting on a victim, or biting and shaking and throwing. Lethal mechanisms include hemorrhage from vascular injuries and internal organ disruption, crush asphyxia, and blunt craniospinal injuries. Death may also follow falls from camels or vehicle collisions.
Some searching for examples of camel-related deaths led me to discover a book with the oddball title, Kicked To Death By A Camel, published in 1973.
The author, Clarence J.L. Jackson, was a pseudonym for Richard W. Bulliet, a history professor at Harvard (and later Columbia University). On his Amazon page he writes:
My first novel, Kicked to Death by a Camel, was nominated for an Edgar in the category of Best First Mystery. Some readers have maintained that the best thing about it was the title. Neither Kicked to Death nor any of my subsequent novels, most recently Chakra and The One-Donkey Solution, met much commercial success, but they enabled me to make stories out of my personal experiences, mostly during travels to the Middle East.
Sounds like it could be a fun read. If you're interested, you can either buy a used copy or check it out via archive.org.
Shreveport Times - Sep 23, 1973
Posted By: Alex - Mon May 22, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Death, Books, 1970s
Follies of the Madmen #562
New kind of carpet is immune to elephant manure. Don't ask where that elephant's trunk goes in the final scene.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 20, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Domestic, Advertising, Public Indecency
Sydna Yokley, Rodeo Prodigy
Sydna--seen here in a 1939 LIFE magazine feature--debuted on the rodeo circuit at age 12. She had an outstanding career (see her FIND A GRAVE obit) but died young--under the hooves of her favorite horse.
A nice write-up of her life here.
A 1977 retrospective feature here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 13, 2023 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Regionalism, Sports, North America, Twentieth Century
Dead Opossum Design
Reported in the Los Angeles Times (June 3, 1980). Sounds like an urban legend to me. But maybe there really was a lady in Riverside who was matching her home furnishings to her dead opossum.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 08, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Telephones, Interior Decorating
Sparkie Williams, famous budgie
Sparkie Williams is apparently one of the most famous birds of all time, but I just found out about him.
Sparkie Williams (stuffed)
Some details about him from Animal Facts and Feats by Gerald Wood:
More details from Wikipedia:
Sparkie was courted by bird seed sellers and fronted the advertisement campaign for Capern's bird seed for two years. He was recorded talking with budgie expert Philip Marsden on BBC radio, and appeared on the BBC Tonight programme with Cliff Michelmore. When Sparkie died on Tuesday 4 December 1962, Mattie Williams had him stuffed and mounted on a wooden perch at the renowned taxidermy establishment, Rowland Ward Ltd. of Piccadilly, London. He was then taken on a tour of Britain in an exhibition of his life and work, before coming back to the Hancock Museum in 1996.[1] Sparkie Williams is acclaimed as the world's most outstanding talking bird in the Guinness Book of Records.
The BBC's archive on Facebook has a video of an interview with Sparkie's owner, with stuffied Sparkie beside her.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 01, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals
| 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 |