From The Frog Bag: Yes, There Really is Such a Thing as a Blobfish

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't explored several sites that tell us yes, there is such a thing: The Frog Bag: Yes, There Really is Such a Thing as a Blobfish, and here.

Lobsters, Giant and Strangely Colored

Lobster items in the news. Another giant lobster spared story, this one from New England, about a 21 lb. lobster that was caught in the waters of Cape Cod:21-pound lobster released to New England Aquarium (UPDATE) | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News A woman won a lobster raffle who said she had planned to spare the lobster's life all along:

My plan was always to donate the lobster to the Aquarium was to generate awareness and allow people to see the creature, and of course, to keep the lobster from being trapped again and, this time, ending up on someone's dinner table," she told Yahoo! News. "The only thing I requested from the Aquarium was a chance to see the lobster when I visit Boston on August 6th and they were kind enough to grant my request."

Another lobster item in the news today. A shipment of lobster's received by a Massachusetts restaurant contained several orange lobsters. This AP item appeared in the "Lighter Side" section of our local paper. Among others, The Huffington Post published the item. This designation frustrates me. The following is not a cutesy feel good item about a child's lost puppy now found safe, but an increase in unusual colorations in lobsters. The reason for these coloration are potentially disturbing reasons: global warming/climate changes, signals of things going wrong in our oceans due to pollution, etc. But the item in the local paper, concluded with comments from Michael Thusty, who is the director of research at the New England Aquarium at Boston: "Right now you can make a lot of explanations, but the actual data to find them out out just isn't there." One possible explanation for this increase in colorful lobsters was the "active Twitter sphere" and "people get [getting] excited about colorful lobsters." Another possible reason: increase in lobster harvests; more lobster hauling, more lobsters, chances increase for oddly colored lobsters. (Blue, orange, bi-colored, yellow...)

TheRecord - Bear necessities produce hybrid beast

Now they have a name for it: "grolars" or, alternately, "pizzly": TheRecord - Bear necessities produce hybrid beast

'The rare bear bunch! Rare white� black beast captured on camera is not a polar bear'

Beautiful photographs of the "spirit bear": The rare bear bunch! Rare white black beast captured on camera is not a polar bear | Mail Online

sisu: "We haven't seen any purple baby squirrels yet"

Recent news of a purple squirrel had me trying to remember an item I blogged about a couple of years ago about a purple squirrel. I can't find the blog item, but did find this article from 2009:sisu: "We haven't seen any purple baby squirrels yet" Here's another from January of 2009. There have been albino and white squirrels, which are natural characteristics. Not so sure about the purple squirrels. I just had a horrid thought: that purple squirreling will become a sport.

Here's the current story of a purple squirrel found in Jersey shore, PA.

Cyclops Shark & Other Cryptic Creatures Make October Creepy - Yahoo! News

Sad, creepy, crypto:Cyclops Shark and Other Cryptic Creatures Make October Creepy - Yahoo! News

On Binnall of America: White Haired Guardian, Animal Ally

My new Trickster's Realm column is now available at Tim Binnall's site:White Haired Guardian, Animal Ally.

Baptizing the Animals

The other night elements in the dream shifted a bit. I’m on a hill and decide to shoot at a bottle on top of a tree stump that’s sticking up out of the river. I aim a rifle, shoot, and hit it right off the first time. I’m pretty surprised I hit it, and even more surprised I wanted to in the first place. I kind of wonder, what am I doing with this gun? I don’t like guns! Then I see a man enter the water and hold down what at first I think is a cat, but becomes a black panther. Beautiful animal, but silent and moving so gracefully. I worry it’s dead, or drowning, yet the man’s intent doesn’t seem to be of harm. More like he’s performing some kind of ritual. Then the black panther turns into a large black and brown dog. Again, very very beautiful, and large, and I worry about it’s safety but the man doesn’t seem to be about harm. It’s some kind of message; some sort of ritual.

Minnesota: Mystery Roadkill Prompts DNR Investigation | KSAX.com

Comments in clip include speculation it's a human created experiment, a wolf, and, yes, a chupacabra:Mystery Roadkill Prompts DNR Investigation | KSAX.com

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Naked in the Artic: Exploiting Belugas

This is an incredible story, almost seems like a tabloid item or Onion piece. Beautiful photographs, and amazing story in so many ways. But it's very sad as well, for the Beluga whales are being "tamed" and kept in holding pens in the ocean until such time they're considered acclimated enough to be sent to aquairiums or "dolphinariums" around the world. A horrible thing; something that should be illegal. Such beauty and witness to how we can control our bodies to communicate with other creatures, and all for greedy and self-gratifying reasons that exploit others. Article, with photos, here:Naked female scientist tries to tame beluga whales in the arctic | Mail Online

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.