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Woolly Mammoth DNA Inserted into Elephant Cells - Yahoo News

It's called "de-extinction." Bringing back once extinct animals to the realm of the living. According to this Yahoo news item, scientists are now working on eventually bringing back the wooly mammoth -- sort of. They want to create a hybrid mammoth-elephant that will survive in "... in cold climates, where it should face fewer threats from humans." That sounds disingenuous as well as naive.

Woolly Mammoth DNA Inserted into Elephant Cells - Yahoo News: But woolly mammoths aren't the only candidates for de-extinction. In 2003, scientists briefly revived the Pyrenean ibex, which went extinct in 2000, by cloning a frozen tissue sample of the goat. However, after being born, the clone survived for just 7 minutes. (Yahoo News)

Article also mentions the attempts at bringing back the passenger pigeon and Tasmanian tiger, as well as the obvious ethical considerations. For example, the effect upon the habitat the newly created animal is brought into.

Bird Experts "Horrified" To Discover Meat-Eating Rainbow Lorikeets

From i09:

Bird Experts "Horrified" To Discover Meat-Eating Rainbow Lorikeets: It apparently got started in an Australian backyard when a property owner put out minced meat for magpies, currawongs, and kookaburras. He also put out seeds for vegetarian birds like galahs, king parrots, and rainbow lorikeets (who really shouldn't be eating seeds because they damage their delicate tongues). It's also worth pointing out that the property is located next to native trees and shrubs, so food supply is not a problem for the lorikeets.

But seven years ago, the property owner noticed the lorikeets eating the meat, and they've been eating it ever since. In fact, they have even started to chase other birds away in an effort to defend the meat.

10,000 Dead Sea Lions Wash Up In California, Officials Announce Crisis

From Newswire: 

10,000 Dead Sea Lions Wash Up In California, Officials Announce Crisis: 10,000 baby sea lions have washed up dead on a California island, with experts calling the unexplained deaths a “crisis” and “[Pups] are washing ashore at a rate so alarming, rescuers said Thursday, this year is the worst yet”.

A couple of weeks ago, approximately 2,000 geese fell from the sky in Idaho:

(CNN)Idaho wildlife officials have retrieved 2,000 dead snow geese that fell from the sky this week.
The birds, whose carcasses were collected over the weekend, appear to have died of avian cholera, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said Tuesday.
"The migratory birds were on the return leg of their migration from the southwestern United States and Mexico to their breeding grounds on the northern coast of Alaska," said Steve Schmidt, a regional supervisor. 

Whatever the reason (the official mainstream story is the least likely no doubt) these mass deaths are a clear signal something is very, very amiss.

Theories abound: military sound experiments, HAARP, chemtrails and so on. The paranoid mind, mine included, suspects intentional and insidious. But again, whatever the reasons for these two recent mass animal deaths, related or not, the signal is loud and obvious. Are we listening?

Oh, I wish I had a camera with me today! The field next to the playground -- full of geese. Hundreds of geese. They hang out there all the time. I see them flying over our house and know they're on their way to that field, -- a few fields really -- since it's only about four blocks away. Anyway, there the geese are, calmly standing around Kids playing on the playground alongside the field. Suddenly, the entire flock just rises up into the air, making these odd sounds, sort of like distress calls but not exactly, not really that. Never heard that sound before. I couldn't see anything that set them off -- any other bird, etc. The geese flew right above our heads on the playground --- and the kids! The children just ran and laughed and screamed and ran, while the geese circled low above us. Then the geese did this spiral kind of thing -- like a crop circle in the air. They just kept circling above us, then flew right back to where they were, and settled down like nothing had happened. Those geese have been there all winter, and are used to the children playing out there -- a fence divides the playground from the fields -- maybe the geese were just saying hello.

One thing that struck me as amazing was the reaction of the children. They were just so … there. Really in tune with the geese, enjoying every moment of this geese weirdness. More like wonderfulness. 

Rabbits: The Strange, the Satire, and the Synchronicity

Last night 's Ghost Adventures was about Tennessee’s Bell Witch. (As with most of their episodes, I wished they had used a psychic medium as part of their investigation.) Among the ghostly events surrounding the Bell Witch phenomenon, is the hybrid entity that appears at times to witnesses. A black creature with the head of a rabbit and body of a dog. 

I find that aspect fascinating, as I do most cryptid type sightings. Ghostly or otherwise, if it involves animal or animal like beings, I’m there. For whatever reason, rabbits seem to intrigue me. They’re cute of course, but at the same time, I’ve always felt an aura of something else going on behind that assumed innocence and cuteness. I wouldn’t say I’m afraid of rabbits -- I’m not -- or find them sad and sleazy, like clowns. Just...something. Maybe it’s the history of folklore and trickster mythos surrounding rabbits that lingers.

Of course, the Bell Witch rabbit-dog is on the sinister side. 

This morning brought with it rabbit synchronicity. First, this item in Eugene’s Register Guard about a man frustrated with a feral rabbit invasion: Voracious Rabbits Plague Culver Man.   (Personally, he sounds like a grumpy old man. $150 damage in flowers, frustrating sure but come on. Complaining about gas money to relocate the rabbits, where he can then legally either shoot them and eat them, or, turn them over to an animal sanctuary. No matter what alternatives are offered by the city he's not satisfied.)

Then on my Facebook page, this New Yorker cartoon:

And this, which I don't quite get, but there it is:

Lindagodfrey's Blog | Author & Investigator of Strange Creatures

Listening to Arcane Radio (hosts Lon Strickler and Sean Forker) right now; interview with cryptic and paranormal author Linda Godfrey. Fascinating topics, including were wolf like creatures and giant birds. Lindagodfrey's Blog | Author & Investigator of Strange Creatures 

Birds Ignite in California Skies

This is sad:

(NEWSER) – A cutting-edge solar technology in California's Mojave Desert may have a bit too much cut. Wildlife officials say they've counted one bird being scorched to death every two minutes by intensely focused rays of light at the BrightSource Energy plant, considered the largest solar thermal power plant of its kind in the world. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System uses more than 300,000 mirrors the size of garage doors to focus the sun's power toward "power towers" as many as 40 stories tall, and can power as many as 140,000 homes. Google is one of three owners of the plant at Ivanpah Dry Lake, near the Nevada border. (Source here)

Bizarre Zoology: Previously Undocumented Oregon Coast 'Sea Serpent' Report

From Bizarre Zoology: Previously Undocumented Oregon Coast 'Sea Serpent' Report.



Who knew -- I didn't -- that one of my favorite places on the Oregon coast, (Yachats) is home to sea monsters? Next time I'm out there I'll have to take a much closer look.

source: Bizarre Zoology blog

Giant Salamander sighted in Kyoto, Japan | The Daily Grail

image: public domain

Love this news from Japan, of the Giant Salamander, one of which decided to take a walk upon the pavement. They can get to be five feet in length! They are not dangerous, and in fact, are celebrated, which is very nice. "Happiness is the giant salamander festival!" Thank you to The Daily Grail for this item, which has links and pics.

Giant Salamander sighted in Kyoto, Japan | The Daily Grail: While the residents of Kyoto may have been shocked to see a Giant Salamander out for a stroll (especially since, unlike other salamanders, they can't actually breathe out of water, so I hope he/she headed back into the river soon after), some 200km (125 miles) East in the Okayama mountains there is an annual festival held in celebration of the creature.

The village of Yubara Onsen has held its Hanzaki Festival for almost fifty years now. Hanzaki is the local name for the Giant Salamander which refers to the ancient belief that if the creature were cut in two, both halves would live and grow into a whole.

A procession takes place through the village every 8th of August. Two floats with gigantic models of Giant Salamanders - a black male and a red/brown female - are followed by singers and dancers.

Oregon Cows Are Tough - Black Bear Loses

I didn't know bears would attack cows -- this bear looks pretty young. Odd item from Eastern Oregon, by way of Rense.com:

Oregon Cows Are Tough - Black Bear Loses: A couple of evenings ago, an Eastern Oregon rancher went out to check his beef herd. He saw a very strange sight -- and was able to photograph an unusual battle between a black bear and some brave cows. The bear began to attack a cow and then the herd came to her aid. One cow in particular got especially aggressive and head-butted the bear right off its feet. Then, two cows sandwiched the bear between their heads. After that, the bear decided to flee and limped back into the woods.

Bigfoot Hunting Preserve - America's ONLY Bigfoot-Sasquatch Hunting

Looking for something different? Try Bigfoot Hunting Preserve - America's ONLY Bigfoot-Sasquatch Hunting



From their FAQ:

Q: What type of ammunition do I need? --A: We only use high-velocity jacketed because soft, expanding rounds were bouncing off their thick skulls leaving the Sasquatch holding his head while he runs through the woods screaming in agony.

It's a joke, a spoof, and not "real" but it just isn't funny. Sigh.

Forteania: 19th Century Chupacabras

From a favorite blog of mine, Tony Morrill's Fortenia:  

     Forteania: 19th Century Chupacabras: While thumbing through one    of my paranormal books the other night, I came across a familiar story. A group of sheep farmers were upset because something was attacking and killing their livestock. The creature was not, however, eating the sheep. According to witnesses, it was biting their jugulars and, apparently, draining them of blood. If this sounds familiar to you, hold your assumptions for just a second. The above the story comes not from Puerto Rico in 1995, instead Charle Fort relates the account in his book Lo! (which I of course read in The Book of the Damned) written in 1931. Fort tells readers:

     In the month of May, 1810, something appeared at Ennerdale, near the border of England and Scotland, and killed sheep, not devouring them, sometimes seven or eight of them in a night, but biting into the jugular vein and sucking the blood. (Fortenia)

Fortean (and UFO) events -- just when you think they're isolated, specific to a decade or era or location, you find they are not. As Morrill and other Fortean researchers have long pointed out, these events pop up in Fortean history, upsetting our ideas about why and how such anomalous episodes occur.

(1) KRIS 6 News - Chupacabra Found Alive in South Texas?

More "jump the shark" chupacabra legend: from spiny backed bipedal red eyed creature to .. . hairless dog like (usually) animals. And the gun happy people that shoot at these animals for fear the "chupacabra" has invaded their lands. Very sad all around.
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(1) KRIS 6 News - Chupacabra Found Alive in South Texas?:

Post by KRIS 6 News.

School District Seizes Lunches From 40 Elementary Students in Debt

Disgusting. I wonder at the staff who performed the action of literally taking a child's lunch from him or her and throwing it in the trash. I would have refused. Do these people have children? Do they want someone doing that to their kids?

School District Seizes Lunches From 40 Elementary Students in Debt: As many as 40 students at Uintah Elementary in Salt Lake City had their lunches—which they'd already received from the cafeteria—seized and trashed by school authorities because their parents were behind on payments.

According to Jason Olsen, a Salt Lake City District spokesman, the child-nutrition department realized some students' families had outstanding balances on Monday, but the department's manager wasn't able to notify the school until after lunch had been served on Tuesday. So the department did what any humane, understanding person would do: they snatched the meals from the children and threw them in the trash.

School Teacher Arrested; Up To 400 Pythons In His Home

Very sad for the snakes. And I don't know why but the fact the snake owner is an elementary school teacher makes this not only tragic for the animals but creepy as well.

William Fredrick Buchman Arrested After Police Find Up To 400 Pythons In His Home: A California elementary school teacher was arrested Wednesday after police discovered an estimated 300 to 400 pythons --both alive and dead -- in his Santa Ana home.

"Some [were] in boxes, some in crates and some crawling around," Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said, according to ABC Los Angeles.

Zombie Bees Found in Eastern US : Environment : Nature World News

Yes, that is correct: zombie bees. Zombie Bees Found in Eastern US : Environment : Nature World News

So Not Mothman

     Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, the saying goes, and so I do occasionally check out Bigfoot Evidence, despite their snarky and gratuitous postings of animals that have nothing to do with Bigfoot, and everything to do with the thrills those with blood lust achieve when looking at images of animals eating other other animals, or that have died tortuous deaths, or the gleeful glow of hunters posing with their kill.  Anyway, on to Mothman. Not. This is certainly a very odd looking bird, and yes, it does really exist:Bigfoot Evidence: Creepy, Strange Bird found in Venezuela: Mothman? However, to consider that this bird is the explanation for Mothman is stupid. Of course, I suspect we all know that and as the saying goes, often attributed to P.T. Barnum, there is no such thing as bad publicity. As long as you follow the link, there you go.
     Here's more on this bird from the excellent Shuker Nature blog. Interesting background on this bird and related types, including a link to the bird's call. 

Bigfoot Synchronicity

Bigfoot synchronicity. Even though I don't watch this show, due to the fact it's silly, I know, haven't seen it, how can I say that? Still, the idea of a bounty for Bigfoot does offend. Anyway, the synchronicity part: my mother's name is Natalia, and my name is Regan. Okay, so it's not Reagan, and it's probably pronounced REE-GEN and not REG-AN but still. Bigfoot News | Bigfoot Lunch Club: Who is Natalia Reagan from Spike TV's Bigfoot Bounty

UFO-Mary: Doves released in the Vatican are immediately attacked by seagull and crow | Mail Online

Doves attacked at the Vatican!UFO-Mary: Doves released in the Vatican are immediately attacked by seagull and crow | Mail Online