Official World Tapir Day Website

A little late, but congratulations to the tapirs of earth:Official World Tapir Day Website

Game of Thrones 2nd Episode: Dire Wolf

Episode 2 of Game of Thrones was just as great as the first episode, and this time, we had more Dire Wolf goodness. I love the dire wolves; beautiful animals. Of course, they're not really dire wolves, but dogs. I've read on-line that they were huskies, yet, while they look husky like, they don't seem to be true huskies. Then I thought they might be husky-wolf hybrids, or something like that, but according to this Yahoo's Answers at Yahoo.com  about the show's dire wolves, the animals are actually a breed called Northern Inuit, from the UK. An Associated Content article has more information. The breed has only been around since the 1980s. And here's more on the Game of Thrones Winter Is Coming.net.

SPOILER!

The wolves were more present in last night's episode. A definite supernatural vibe to these creatures: special magical/spiritual bond between human "owner" and wolf, telepathic bond or communication, protection, loyalty, connections between the "tribe" as a whole, human and wolf alike.

In a very moving and upsetting segment, one of the wolves is ordered killed,in a moment of spite to presumably avenge the mistreatment of the spoiled Prince. Very hard to watch, very sad. A supernatural moment at her death however; the other wolves, separated by distance, responded to the murder of their sister. And the child who had lain still in bed for a month due to a botched attempt on his life (by the very same evil Queen who had the wolf killed) awoke at that moment. Is the dire wolf spirit now within him? The wolf, sacrificed to appease the need for power, control, and blood lust, may return in human form.

Readers of the book series by know what happened, but as I said in my first post about the wolves, I hadn't even heard of the books before the HBO series. So I'm a newbie. I don't know how the television adaptation compares to the books, but, I am loving Game of Thrones!

Albino Raccoon

Clip of albino raccoon, on a leash, which disturbed me but the blurb under the clip on YouTube informs us that "it's not a pet, it's at an animal rescue center." I'm glad they explained that, it's always sad when wild animals are kept captive as someone's "pet." And a bit of surreal business at the end with a tall ... well, you'll see.

Octopus Confessional: Two Recent Die-offs off California Coast

Brief post and links to two recent fish die-offs off the California coast on my blog Octopus Confessional:

Octopus Confessional: Two Recent Die-offs off California Coast

Think twice before giving a pet as an Easter gift | KVAL CBS 13 - News, Weather and Sports - Eugene, OR - Eugene, Oregon | Consumer

Obvious, but some people need reminding:

Think twice before giving a pet as an Easter gift | KVAL CBS 13 - News, Weather and Sports - Eugene, OR - Eugene, Oregon | Consumer

'We couldn’t believe wolverine wouldn’t be here' | KVAL CBS 13 - News, Weather and Sports - Eugene, OR - Eugene, Oregon | Local & Regional News

I've heard stories of wolverines in Oregon for many years from people who insisted they saw the tracks, the effects, etc. Not news to a lot of people except the authorities; as one woman told me some time ago it was impossible to be taken seriously by anyone from Fish and Game, etc.

'We couldn’t believe wolverine wouldn’t be here' | KVAL CBS 13 - News, Weather and Sports - Eugene, OR - Eugene, Oregon | Local & Regional News

Hundreds of dead fish found in Ventura Harbor | abc7.com

Hundreds of dead fish found in Ventura Harbor | abc7.com

The News About the Gulf and BP, Then There's The News About the Gulf and BP . . .

There's this:
A year on from BP oil disaster scientists say Gulf of Mexico is almost back to pre-spill health levels...so why are a huge number of dolphins and turtles still washing up dead? | Mail Online

At the same time, we're getting this:

BP Oil Spill: How Bad Is Damage to Gulf One Year Later?

Yet nearly a year after the spill began, it seems clear that the worst-case scenario never came true. It's not that the oil spill had no lasting effects - far from it - but the ecological doomsday many predicted clearly hasn't taken place. There is recovery where once there was only fear. "A lot of questions remain, but where we are now is ahead of where people thought we'd be," Safina says. "Most people expected it would be much worse."

Take the oil itself: scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated last August that much of the oil had remained in the Gulf, where it had dispersed or dissolved. Many environmentalists attacked the report for underplaying the threat of large underwater oil plumes still active in the Gulf, yet later independent scientific studies indeed found that oil had largely disappeared from the water. Turns out we can thank bacteria. Scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; University of California, Santa Barbara; and Texas A&M University traveled to the site of the blown well and found that microbes had digested much of the oil and methane that remained in the water. By autumn, the levels were back to normal. "It's very surprising it happened so fast," John Kessler, an oceanographer with Texas A&M, told me earlier this year. "It looks like natural systems can handle an event like this somewhat on their own."

So much more, these are only two examples of the mainstream media's back page treatment of BP, our government's complicity with environmental issues and drilling, and the reality of the situation. And have we mentioned the stories of so many sick, very very sick, residents in the area?

Already so many have fallen asleep; believing that all is now well in the Gulf.

Iran: Dog Ownership to Be Outlawed Under Lawmakers' Plan - Yahoo! News

Lawmakers in Tehran have recently proposed a bill in parliament that would criminalize dog ownership, formally enshrining its punishment within the country's Islamic penal code. The bill warns that that in addition to posing public health hazards, the popularity of dog ownership "also poses a cultural problem, a blind imitation of the vulgar culture of the West." The proposed legislation for the first time outlines specific punishments for "the walking and keeping" of "impure and dangerous animals," a definition that could feasibly include cats but for the time being seems targeted at dogs. The law would see the offending animal confiscated, the leveling of a $100-to-$500 fine on the owner, but leaves the fate of confiscated dogs uncertain. "Considering the several thousand dogs [that are kept] in Tehran alone, the problem arises as to what is going to happen to these animals," Hooman Malekpour, a veterinarian in Tehran, said to the BBC's Persian service. If passed, the law would ultimately energize police and volunteer militias to enforce the ban systematically.

Iran: Dog Ownership to Be Outlawed Under Lawmakers' Plan - Yahoo! News

The White Dire Wolf and Game of Thrones

Well, I got myself hooked on HBO's Game of Thrones, of which the first episode aired tonight. The series is based on the series by George R. R. Martin. I'm not familiar with the books, and have no idea how the television version compares, so no comment there.

A Game of Thrones is the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on 6 August 1996. The novel won the 1997 Locus Award,^[1] and was nominated for both the 1998 Nebula Award^[2] and the 1997^[1] World Fantasy Award. The novella Blood of the Dragon, comprising the Daenerys Targaryen chapters from the novel, won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella. (Wikipedia)

SPOILER!

A scene in the first episode includes the discovery of "direwolf" cubs by Lord Eddard Stark, leader of the House Stark. The mother dire wolf had been killed by a stag and the pups are about to be killed as well by the humans who find them. At the last minute, the cubs are saved, adopted by the would be killers, for, as one of the characters says, (paraphrasing) "The wolves were meant for us to find," since the dire wolf is the House Stark's totem.

image source here

After gathering up the five cubs, they are about to walk away, when one of the characters notices a sixth cub. Picking up the wolf, the others laugh at him, for this one is a runt. They comment that it figures he'd get the runt, since he himself is the bastard child of the group. An outsider, like the runt cub, which is all white. The bastard son's name is Jon Snow; the last name symbolically underscoring the symbolism of the white cub. Jon Snow has always been an outsider because he's the bastard son; his cub is also an outsider: white, a runt, and mute.

I suspect that the fact the bastard of the group found the runt of the litter -- and a white animal -- will reveal something along the lines of this character's heritage. A surprise, a link to royalty (magickal or otherwise), power. The white animal will also become something quite powerful; a protector, a fierce and wise guardian... both outsiders, both carrying power, magick, keepers of a legacy, or secret, a lonely quest, the hero's journey.

For those who know all about Game of Thrones, this might seem obvious, silly, or exasperating ("boy, will she be surprised when it turns out that... ha ha") but for me, it's all new, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series, including the fate of the direwolves.

Direwolf - Game of Thrones Wiki

Sasquatch Classics: The Creature

This is a great find: Jan Klement's The Creature at Sasquatch Classics. Thanks to Steven Streufert at Bigfoot's Blog for link. Speaking of Streufert, he has a lot of very interesting items over there, including updates on Jim Dodge's Conversations with Bigfoot.

Released FBI Files:'8,000 cow abductions reported in southern U.S. sent White House into a panic

U.K.'s Mail Online brings up their recap of released FBI documents on cattle mutilations in the USA, complete with color photo of an alien autopsy ("fake or fact") and throwing in Hitler, Jimi Hendrix and Groucho Marx, among others, in a strange tabloid exploitation of data. Oh, and the side-bar on the FBI's explorations into x-ray vision for its agents.

8,000 cow abductions reported in southern U.S. sent White House into a panic | Mail Online

ASPCA | Empire State Building Glows Orange for Animals

Yay! Looks groovy too.
ASPCA | Empire State Building Glows Orange for Animals

MonsterTracker.com

UFO Digest publisher Dirk Vander Ploeg has a new site dedicated to cryptos, cryptids, monsters and beasties at MonsterTracker.com. 

From Weekly World News: Glowing Blue Pork!

With photo of the glowing blue meat . . .

GLOWING BLUE PORK

From the Texas Cryptid Hunter: 104 Pound Wolf Killed in Missouri

Texas Cryptid Hunter: 104 Pound Wolf Killed in Missouri

Last December a report came out of Missouri that a huge coyote weighing in excess of 100 lbs. was shot and killed in Carroll County. This just did not seem possible to many as coyotes (Canis latrans) typically weigh 25-40 lbs. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) questioned this identification as well and ordered DNA testing.

(link at Texas Cryptid Hunter to OP and more on story)

Get Ready to Be Creeped Out for Five Seconds by the 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Ape - MOVIE TALK on Yahoo! Movies

The classic film redone, with an "updated" take on the apes:

Get Ready to Be Creeped Out for Five Seconds by the 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Ape - MOVIE TALK on Yahoo! Movies

After The Rapture Pet Care

Heard Ian Punnett mention this on C2C last night; is it a joke, or real? The site insists it's real, and they have a FAQ page.

After The Rapture Pet Care

"A wee thudding" of worms

Worms fell from the skies of Scotland earlier this month:

"We started hearing this wee thudding noise on the ground.

"There were about 20 worms already on the ground at this point. Then they just kept coming down.

"The kids were laughing but some were covering their heads and others were running for cover for a while.

"The just scattered to get out of the way."

The teacher scooped up handfuls of the worms that had fallen from the sky as proof they had landed on his class.

Mr Crichton said he and his colleagues eventually found about 120 worms after checking the artificial football pitch and tennis courts.

Never mind cats and dogs - school hit by worm rain - Scotsman.com News

Fish Police

I loved this show; so sad it didn't last long. Here's the Wikipedia link for some background:

Fish Police is the name of a comic book series by cartoonist Steven Moncuse. The plot centers on law and crime in a fictional underwater metropolis with the protagonist, Inspector Gill, trying to solve various, often Mafia-related, crimes while avoiding being seduced by the extremely well-endowed Angel. The comic featured several marine species as its characters, while the plots and dialogue were reminiscent of film noir.

Genetically modified cows produce 'human' milk - Telegraph

It's official: it's the end times. . .

Genetically modified cows produce 'human' milk - Telegraph