Animals
Playing Music With Animals
Here is one track from this album (tracklist below). If you wish to listen to the rest, visit the Internet Archive and choose the Spotify option.The human's Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 26, 2022 -
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Category: Animals, Music, 1980s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
Goat-mobile
Not only bucks, but bleats! The inventor's predilection for a goat figure definitely NOT Satanic!Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 22, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Bicycles and Other Human-powered Vehicles, Inventions, Patents, Toys, Nineteenth Century
GI Joe Trouble Shooter
The video is a hoot, what with a deranged bird and the famous "Kung Fu Grip." But I am also intrigued by the descriptions of the control panel buttons. Did the set come with labels so you could change the button names? I suspect not. So..."Washington" is a given. Stay in touch with HQ. "Code X7" is suitably mysterious. But "Jungle" and "Arctic" are ultra-generic, whereas "Burma" and "Tibet" are ultra-specific. Why those two countries anyhow? Commie (Cobra) hotspots?A page devoted to the toy.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 24, 2022 -
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Category: Animals, Military, Motor Vehicles, Toys, 1970s
Dead Bird Decoy Holder
When a wooden or plastic decoy just won't do!Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 12, 2022 -
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Category: Animals, Hunting, Trapping and Other Wilderness Activities, Imitations, Forgeries, Rip-offs and Faux, Patents, 1910s
Bees told of Queen Elizabeth’s Death
Royal housekeeper John Chapple has carried out the duty of telling the bees kept at Buckingham Palace and Clarence House that Queen Elizabeth has died, and that King Charles is their new master."You knock on each hive and say, 'The mistress is dead, but don't you go. Your master will be a good master to you.'"
This was in accordance with the ancient British custom of "telling the bees," which we described in a post back in 2012.
More info: geo.tv
Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 11, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Customs, Death, Royalty, Superstition
5000 Hedgehogs Needed
I do not believe this mystery has ever been definitively solved.Source of first clipping: The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) 07 Oct 1935, Mon Page 7
Source of second clipping: The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) 09 Oct 1935, Wed Page 9
Source of third clipping: Western Morning News (Plymouth, Devon, England) 05 Jan 1937, Tue Page 4
Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 09, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Unsolved Mysteries, 1930s, United Kingdom
Death by Swan
I had always heard that swans could be vicious, but not to the point of murdering a human. And yet from the 1938 report to the present day, it happens.1938 article source: The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee) 15 May 1938, Sun Page 41
A second example from the same article.
Full article associated with pic below.
Source of clip below.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 07, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Death, Lakes, Ponds, Rivers, Streams, Swamps and Other Bodies of Fresh Water
Miss Rat Tail?
Two news stories, published over 20 years apart (1955 and 1976), described beauty contests in the Philippines that were combined with rat-extermination campaigns.The 1976 story makes it sound like the contestants themselves were expected to do the rat-catching. I assume that's a mistake, though it would be interesting to see rat catching included in the talent section of the Miss America competition.
Pasadena Independent - July 27, 1955
Miami News - Feb 18, 1976
Update: Some more digging into the newspaper archive has yielded plenty of other stories on this topic. The practice seems to get reported in western newspapers about once a decade. Apparently using rat tails to vote in beauty contests is a long-established Filipino custom.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 01, 2022 -
Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests
Unintended consequence of hymn singing
Weird Fact: hymn singing can cause mink to kill and eat their young.
Vancouver Sun - Dec 8, 1959
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 30, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Religion, 1950s
Sgt. Reckless
With thanks to reader Sherry Mowbray.
The Wikipedia page.
Staff Sergeant Reckless (c. 1948 – May 13, 1968), a decorated war horse who held official rank in the United States military,[2] was a mare of Mongolian horse breeding. Out of a race horse dam, she was purchased in October 1952 for $250 from a Korean stableboy at the Seoul racetrack who needed money to buy an artificial leg for his sister.[3] Reckless was bought by members of the United States Marine Corps and trained to be a pack horse for the Recoilless Rifle Platoon, Anti-Tank Company, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.[2] She quickly became part of the unit and was allowed to roam freely through camp, entering the Marines' tents, where she would sleep on cold nights, and was known for her willingness to eat nearly anything, including scrambled eggs, beer, Coca-Cola and, once, about $30 worth of poker chips.
She served in numerous combat actions during the Korean War, carrying supplies and ammunition, and was also used to evacuate wounded. Learning each supply route after only a couple of trips, she often traveled to deliver supplies to the troops on her own, without benefit of a handler. The highlight of her nine-month military career came in late March 1953 during the Battle for Outpost Vegas when, in a single day, she made 51 solo trips to resupply multiple front line units. She was wounded in combat twice and was given the battlefield rank of corporal in 1953 and then a battlefield promotion to sergeant in 1954, several months after the war ended. She also became the first horse in the Marine Corps known to have participated in an amphibious landing, and following the war was awarded two Purple Hearts, a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, inclusion in her unit's Presidential Unit Citations from two countries, and other military honors.
The home page.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jun 26, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, War, Reader Recommendation, Twentieth Century, Courage, Bravery, Heroism and Valor
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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 |