ANIMAL FORTEANA


In the beginning of things men were animals and animals men. ~ Algonquin saying

"For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much — the wheel, New York, wars and so on — whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons." ~ The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Monday, May 31, 2010

The Cockroach That Wouldn't Die

 This was first posted on my Orange Orb  blog May 1st. . .


Barf Stew picks up on Jason Offutt's post about a giant bug, which I commented on the other day. The story reminded me of an urban legend I heard when I was in my late teens, early twenties. I was living in L.A. The story was told to me with all seriousness, most of us believed it at the time, including me! The story:

Scientists at UCLA were studying pesticides. Cockroaches taking over L.A. was a concern. So they had a cockroach the literal size of a poodle; kept in a glass cage. Success! Now they could breed the giant cockroaches to test their cockroach killing inventions. But no matter how much of the stuff they sprayed this poodle sized bug with, it wouldn't die. Finally, worried that the cockroach would escape, the scientists had to resort to shooting the thing with a gun.

1 comment:

  1. Several decades ago, I wrote NASA to enquire about the first animals sent to space -- not the dog you feature, but, if i am not mistaken, and i may be (any one who trusts his or her memory is insane), cockroaches deserve the honor. I wondered if the sacrificed bugs got a plaque or anything to commemorate the trip. Never got a reply or maybe i did and it failed to mention the roaches. How about some investigative reporting to reveal what happened? Rise, Ye Sea Slugs! -- Flying Tofu

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