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

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Supernatural flock of birds mourn dead North Korean despot Kim Jong-Il

With video clip. Despite the snarky tone of this short item, interesting bird news:

Supernatural flock of birds mourn dead North Korean despot Kim Jong-Il: North Korean state news is now reporting that divinely anointed flocks of magpies have been flocking to a monument of Kim Jong-Il's father, Kim Il-sung. On December 18, a few dozen magpies landed near a memorial statue in Unsan county and just would not leave.

According to The Telegraph, "Locals claimed the magpies would not fly away even when the villagers approached them or shone torches into the trees."

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Rare Asian bird takes "wrong turn," lands in Tennessee - Yahoo! News

NASHVILLE (Reuters) - A rare Asian hooded crane, normally seen only in Southeast Asia, China and Japan, apparently "took a wrong turn" and has joined sandhill cranes wintering at the Hiwassee Refuge in southeast Tennessee, bird experts say, drawing flocks of curious birdwatchers along with it.

"It's a great thrill," said Melinda Welton, conservation chair for the Tennessee Ornithological Society and a bird migration researcher. "People are coming in from all over the country to see this bird."

Welton said local birdwatcher Charles Murray has been keeping a log of visitors to the town of Birchwood, near the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency refuge.

"He has had more than 700 people come and visit from all over the country to see this bird," she said. "People have come from 26 states and from two countries, including Russia."



Rest here: Rare Asian Bird Takes "Wrong Turn"

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Another Mass Bird Death Event

Over 30 Birds Mysteriously Die on Montgomery Co. Road | LEX18.com | Lexington, Kentucky
There's a bizarre scene in Montgomery County where dozens of birds are dead.
More than 30 birds are lying dead on Indian Mound Drive at the intersection of Grassy Lick Road in Mt. Sterling.
All the birds appear to be the same species, and seem to have died and landed at this spot all at once.
No word yet about what caused their death.
The strange sight was first spotted on Christmas morning by people who live nearby.
And on the 15th of this month, this mass bird death event in Utah. As I commented in that post, it was close to this time last year we saw many mass bird falls; are we about to witness more of these in the next month or so?

Monday, December 26, 2011

USDA found to be poisoning bird populations, causing mass die-offs involving millions of birds

Natural News brings us their top ten censored stories of 2011, including this one about the government's intentional eradication of birds and other animals: USDA found to be poisoning bird populations, causing mass die-offs involving millions of birds.

After hundreds of starlings were found dead in the Yankton Riverside Park, concerned citizens began to investigate. Before long, a USDA official called the local police and admitted they had poisoned the birds. "They say that they had poisoned the birds about ten miles south of Yankton and they were surprised they came to Yankton like they did and died in our park," says Yankton Animal Control Officer Lisa Brasel, as reported by KTIV (http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.as...).

Giant shrimp raises big concern as it invades the Gulf - Houston Chronicle


The Gulf will never be the same; and the invasion of giant shrimp adds to the problems in the area: Giant shrimp raises big concern as it invades the Gulf - Houston Chronicle
Though no one is sure what the ecological impact will be, scientists fear a tiger prawn takeover could knock nature's balance out of whack and turn a healthy, diverse marine habitat into one dominated by a single invasive species.
"It has the potential to be real ugly," said Leslie Hartman, Matagorda Bay ecoystem leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. "But we just do not know."

Sunday, December 25, 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Wolves in Oregon and the Journey of 'Oregon-7'

The wolf (which happens to be my totem and clan, and an animal I have a great affinity for, having come to me in dreams many times. Usually Wolf comes to me as very large, and snow white...) has made a "come back" into Oregon, and this is either beautiful news for some, and very bad news for others. Ranchers in particular see the return of the wolf as bad news.

One wolf has become a symbol; a symbolic animal hero, almost mystical in its journey. The wolf, so far unnamed save for the clinical label of "Oregon-7" wears a GPS collar. His journey is tracked. Oregon-7 is, hopefully and probably, looking for a mate:
if this wolf can locate a mate, it could help wolf recovery. All on his own, Oregon-7 is a biological dead end.
"We’re out here trying to find out which way it’s going to go," Stephenson says.
In September, the 2½ year old male left the Wallowa mountains in search of a new territory and company, a process called dispersal. The GPS collar recorded the wolf’s location every three hours. Oregon-7 traveled more than 700 miles.
This article: Field Notes: In Oregon’s Cascades, A Lone Wolf details Oregon-7's latest movements, as well as giving background and context to why "Oregon-7's" journey is important.

There was a time in Oregon when bounties were paid for wolf kills. Now, in Oregon, it is illegal to kill wolves, which are listed as an endangered species. This law is being contested however; ranchers, cattlemen, etc. are working very hard to change that law. This story from October, 2010 gives an account of an illegal wolf kill (a wolf that had a GPS collar and was being tracked by wildlife authorities) in Northeastern Oregon. About the wolf that was killed in 2010:
“It’s infuriating when any animal is senselessly and illegally killed, but the facts in this case are especially egregious,” says Wally Sykes of Northeast Oregon Ecosystems of Joseph, Oregon. “The biologists had just fitted this endangered wolf with a hard-to-miss collar and sent out photos printed in newspapers and websites across the state. Whoever shot this wolf knew what they were doing and just didn’t care that it was illegal.”

The irony is that the Wenaha wolf pack hasn’t been a problem for Northeast Oregon ranchers. The pack keeps to itself in the high country and has never attacked livestock. The Imnaha pack, on the other hand, killed at least six or seven calves this year in Wallowa County.

Ted Nugent : Sleaze bag

Nugent is a disgusting person, but we've known that for some time. The reason I'm posting this here is because, among his many sleaze-laden ideas and acts, listed in this article by Stephen D. Foster: Ted Nugent Calls For Punishing The Poor, Claims They Make Poor Decisions To End Up In Poverty is the simply tragic fact that Nugent runs a "canned hunt" operation:
Nugent owns a ranch in Michigan that offers canned hunts. A canned hunt is a hunt in which the animals cannot escape because they are trapped by high fences. I live in Missouri, and I enjoy a being out in the woods myself, and I hunt on occasion as well. What Nugent does is NOT hunting. He might as well cage the animal and shoot it point blank, because that’s pretty much what a canned hunt boils down to. A true has more respect for animals then that. It’s not fair if you gun down an animal that can’t actually get away. It’s unsportsmanlike.

Just makes me so fucking damn sad.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Cryptomundo:"New Species Being Raided For Private Pet Trade"

Not quite food porn, since it's not for gratuitously satisfying our gastronomical needs that's the issue here, but "pet" porn. Shameless exploitation in the pet trade. I'm glad Loren Coleman finds this pretty disgusting; he has a post about the raiding of habitat for the newly discovered horned viper in Tanzania:
Cryptomundo New Species Being Raided For Private Pet Trade: There is breaking news on December 15th of a new species of a uniquely-colored horned viper measuring over two feet long (643 millimeters) being discovered. But where exactly it lives in Tanzania is not being discussed.

But the shocking revelation that has been paired with this announcement is that past news of this kind has resulted in large scale raiding operations in the locations described. New species apparently have been targeted by pet collectors to supply a large-scale underground in exciting new animals for private collections. For example, due to this fact, the new viper’s location is “a closely-guarded secret,” say the discoverers.
I didn't know that the illegal pet trade was so lucrative. According to the Wildlife Conversation Society, which Coleman quotes, it's only "...second in the world" with illegal drug trafficking being number one.

Friday, December 16, 2011

P.J.Harvey: Horses in my Dreams

Jenna Marbles: "How to Talk to Animals"

Jenna Marbles is very funny. She has several clips at YouTube; here are her tips on "how to talk to animals."


Thursday, December 15, 2011

Thousands of birds make crash landing in Utah - Yahoo! News

Thousands of birds make crash landing in Utah - Yahoo! News

Thousands of grebes, flying in the Utah skies, fell to their deaths yesterday. Official explanation: the birds confused snow covered parking lots for water.

That may be. But the timing of this tragic event is odd, just about two weeks shy of the first of several mass bird falls- from-the-skies from last year. Hopefully this isn't the first in a series of bird falls.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Ravenous Mice Eating Livestock in South Australia | Buzzesque

Mice are swarming cattle and pigs in Australia, eating them alive. Gruesome to be sure:Ravenous Mice Eating Livestock in South Australia | Buzzesque

The article doesn't give much in the way of the theories as to why. Though one can infer that there are too many mice and not enough food for them to consume, therefore, they're seeking other food sources.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Micah Hanks: Conspiracy Calls… | MOTHMAN FLUTTERINGS

Micah Hanks: Conspiracy Calls… | MOTHMAN FLUTTERINGS

UFO Disclosure Countdown Clock: MUFON Reports Becoming Jaw Dropping - This Batch Includes A Dog Abduction

Elk, cows and now dogs, abducted by aliens: UFO Disclosure Countdown Clock: MUFON Reports Becoming Jaw Dropping - This Batch Includes A Dog Abduction
Of course, that's a big huge supposedly.

Thanks to Lesley at The Debris Field for the link. Visit her blog as well and read the comments left on her post about this latest from MUFON. An organization who, while once a good thing, has just utterly lost it as an institution and I'm afraid, will never get it back.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Women Of Esoterica: Lesley: "Cult of Pet Haters!"

Lesley Gunter's new Grey Matters column is now available at Binnall of America. She comments on what Billy Meier's ETs have to say about animals and pets: Women Of Esoterica: Lesley: "Cult of Pet Haters!"

As Lesley wrote, why is this all right with his followers? Let's pretend that the ETs visiting Meier are real; so what? If their message is this screwed up, why follow them? Simply because the gods come down from the stars doesn't mean we have to listen. (Remind anyone of anything? Like, oh say, religion?)

Horses on Mars

Thread at Above Top Secret:Mars Concepcion' Crater - A Martian Horse "Statue", page 1 No, I don't think it's horse but there's no doubt in my mind Mars contains many mysterious objects and structures...

Friday, December 2, 2011

And a bit of food porn: "World’s largest insect discovered in New Zealand"

World’s largest insect discovered in New Zealand | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News

I'm not a fan of bugs. Don't much like them, and even while, sometimes, appreciating their beauty and diversity I still don't like them. Even so, I try my best to take insects out of the house and release them outdoors, when possible. I suppose we all have our boundaries; I'll kill wasps, for example, if they're in my house. But overall, I certainly don't go out of my way to kill a bug. I don't understand those - and in fact, find it creepy and telling about a person's character -- who stomp on bugs outdoors as they're casually walking along, talking with you about mundane matters, and WHAM! BUG STOMP! in mid sentence. Whatever is that poor bug doing to you on the pebbled path that you have to take the energy to step on it for no apparent reason other than it's there?

I digress, a bit. This article is both wonderfully interesting and unnerving, about the Giant Weta, a really big bug in New Zealand. What really got my attention however was this comment:
And yes, the man in the video actually eats one of the bugs (and no, bug preservationists need not be alarmed--the smaller Weta is not endangered):
With video clip, which I didn't watch, because I didn't want to add energy to a completely gratuitous act of "food porn." Because it's there, one has the right to kill it, seems to be the message. Underscoring that sentiment is the justification that it's okay, because the bug "... is not endangered."