Bloodthirsty pack of dogs take out 350-lb. llama - Yahoo! News

A pack of dogs have been killing animals in Washington state. The article quotes one sheriff who speculates that "four or five" of the dogs are pets, and become wild/feral at night, joining up with the pack.

I found it interesting that this news item has generated over 2,000 comments. Stories of wild dogs all over the U.S. -- discarded "pets," animals that have not been spayed or neutered, dogs that are allowed to stay off leash and run free, all contributing factors to these packs.

Bloodthirsty pack of dogs take out 350-lb. llama - Yahoo! News

Sacrifices and Blue Lobsters

 I found the juxtapositions on the Delish site interesting: a story about blue lobsters being saved from the cooking pot, amongst recipes for lobster.

Usually, when rare colored lobsters are found, like blue ones (yellow and multi-colored lobsters have also been found caught) the lobsters are given to aquariums and escape being dinner. I'm glad of this fact of course (I don't eat shellfish) but it is interesting that we humans do this. I think donating unusually colored lobsters is a type of rite that serves to acknowledge the sacrifices made. The sacrifice of the lobster, surely, for the lobster has no say. Living its life in its own habitat one moment, caught, trapped in a murky green tank with claws taped shut the next, until it ends up on someone's dinner plate. Sacrifice for some humans, since lobster trapping is hard work, and when things go bad, the livelihoods of fisherman are affected. Allowing a caught lobster, kidnapped from its home, to live in an aquarium is symbolic of giving gratitude. It'd be better -- certainly for the lobster -- if the blue or other wise colored lobster were released back into the ocean. (One of the lobsters mentioned in the Delish article will be returned to its home.) Instead, almost always, the lobster is given to an aquarium park of some kind. In captivity, the rare colored lobster is a symbol for others, reminding us of many things: our self- gratifications, the ways we earn our livings, gratitude, and simply wonder at things as beautiful as a blue lobster.

Of course, most of us aren't thinking of these things on a conscious level, and probably not kids who go to the aquarium to enjoy looking at cool stuff. But there is a gestalt in these offerings of blue lobsters that nonetheless operates around us while we go about our everyday lives.

Is Earless Rabbit Due to Japan's Nuclear Disaster?

Video and article about a mutant, earless rabbit born in Japan near one of the nuclear reactors. The article asks: was the deformed rabbit's appearance due to radiation, or something unrelated? Seems to me that us global citizens are treading a razor thin wire between facing full on the reality of what's happening on our planet, and avoiding what we glibly dismiss as alarmist paranoia.
Japan's Earless Rabbit Sparks Worries About Radiation, Mutation

Coleman Comments on Redfern: Cryptids Are Not Totally Elusive, Actually

At Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman comments on Nick Redfern's recent Monsters and Proof article on elusive cryptids:Cryptids Are Not Totally Elusive, Actually. Coleman doesn't think much of what Redfern has to say, not surprisingly. Comments that follow are interesting --- Redfern's thoughts have generated controversy.

I think Nick's views have been misunderstood. Coleman comes from a place where cryptids -- all cryptids -- are "real" in a flesh and blood sense. Like nuts and bolts UFO researchers, the idea of an "other" is not to be entertained. I'm not sure I agree 100% with Redfern, but I do think that some high strangeness events involving weird creatures do have a paranormal component. It is possible these entities are of both worlds, manifesting as physical beings one moment, behaving as phantoms the next.

Colemanm in his response, offers the standard definitions of cryptozoology and cryptids; maybe a new term should be offered so as not to offend the flesh and blood types who are stuck in their assertion that only "real" animals exist. The belief is that, while so far elusive, they are not in any way preternatural.

Nick responds to Coleman at Cryptomundo.
I found the following comment by Redfern very interesting:

One last point: some people (although certainly not you) seem at times to react with barely concealed hostility to my Tulpa-style views. But why? If Bigfoot exists, what does it matter if it’s some sort of ape, or something infinitely weirder that is connected to the human mind?

I think it's because (again making a connection to UFO studies)the idea there is more than just the concrete and tangible in our world conflicts with a worldview, a mindset, that doesn't allow for such "silliness." People are people, and our beliefs, including the pride some hold in stating they have no beliefs, color how we approach things. As to Bigfoot; those that think of Bigfoot as simply an animal (forgetting that we too are animals) places Bigfoot in the lesser than category. Bigfoot is a "giant ape," and so, still just a big dumb animal. Not as dumb as most, but still less than us. And since it's less than, we can do what we like with it. Bigfoot as a big old ape is familiar, we get it. It's something we can handle. Tulpas, shape shifters, aliens, fairies, Djinn, tricksters, are truly elusive and something we cannot get a hold of. It's gotten ahold of us, not the other way around. Much safer to deal with the flesh and blood thing we can grab onto, and possibly, control.

Blog Find: "Suicide Food'

Those creepy vintage ads, -- like the one shown here -- of animals delighting in the joys of sacrifice for our self-gratification and absolution, reminded me of the excellent blog Suicide Food.

Nick Redfern: "Monsters and Proof"

On Lair of the Beasts, Nick Redfern writes about the fact cryptids (Bigfoot, chupacabras, etc.) are elusive:Lair of the Beasts: Monsters and Proof - Mania.com:

"It is issues like this that, probably 15 or more years ago now, made me utterly give up on the idea that the monsters of our world are simply animals that science has yet to identify, classify, and confirm in terms of their existence. The stark reality of the situation is that there is something very strange about all the sundry strange beasts out there. Their elusiveness is taken to ridiculous levels."

An excellent article. And one that takes a surprising turn. I'm not sure what to think of the direction Redfern goes, but it's interesting, possible (anything's possible) and food for thought. In fact, if Redfern is correct, that's damn amazing. You'll know what I mean when you read the article -- can we be capable of such things? My personal experience tells me we can. And yet there are problems for me with this theory; if true, why can't we manifest other things?

The NutriSmart system would put RFIDs into your food for enhanced information

Chips (not corn or potato, but RFID) in your food that will give all kinds of info; and the article ends with:

"No word yet about what happens to the tags when you are finished with them."

The NutriSmart system would put RFIDs into your food for enhanced information

Game of Thrones: Dragon Eggs

Besides the cool and no doubt preternatural Dire Wolves in HBO's Game of Thrones, we also get dragon eggs. Given as a wedding gift to Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke), recently married to the Dothraki King, the petrified dragon eggs sit interestingly in an opened chest in Daenerys' room. Considered valuable because they're so unusual, the eggs are just that: a curiosity, since dragons have been extinct for centuries.  Ah, but we know better... the eggs come in threes, a magickal number always, in tales like these, and just because it's said that the "...dragons no longer ride..." doesn't mean it's so. As I've commented on this blog in here, and here, I haven't read any of the books in the Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin, so I don't know what's coming, or how closely the TV series follows the books. But following the classic trail of lore, as well as the hints in the show (such as traveling the seas, which the Dothraki have avoided) I think it's a good guess to say those dragon eggs are going to hatch, and the dragons shall be ridden. No doubt with Daenerys Targaryen in the lead. The eggs have already been curiously warm to the touch, a sign of things to come.

Mystery disease kills 300 sheep within an hour - Emirates 24/7

A Saudi farmer who went into his barn to take his 300 sheep on their daily pasturing was shocked when he found them all dead, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom said on Saturday.

The farm said he checked the sheep an hour earlier and they were all alive in their barn at his far in the western town of Qunfudha.

Mystery disease kills 300 sheep within an hour - Emirates 24/7

From Colin Andrews: These Carpenter Bees were not normal: Strange Story of a sphere

Fascinating and very weird account of scanner-bees:
These Carpenter Bees were not normal: Strange Story of a sphere

On The 'C' Influence: When a Creature's Not a Creature

Excellent piece by Erich Kuersten on science, cryptids, the way we perceive and why we think we see what we see -- or don't see, and so much more.

"I'm not advocating cryptozoologists would be happier taking LSD than hunting for skunk apes, but it might be a start."

The 'C' Influence: When a Creature's Not a Creature

Newest From Nick Redfern: Crypto and the MIB

Looking foward to this one! Read more on Nick's blog There's Something in the Woods. More to come when my copy arrives!
Nick Redfern's "There's Something in the Woods...": Crypto and the MIB

Bigfoot From (Outer) Space! Newsletter

My first newsletter: Bigfoot From Space.
BF newsletterApr2011

FBI Files: 8,000 Cow Mutes in '70s

The FBI has declassified documents concerning UFOs (and why, one asks) and among them, the following on cattle mutilations:
(hat tip to Lesley at The Debris Field for link)
UFOs & Extraterrestrials FBI Files Say 8,000 Cows Mutilated During the '70s

Navy Seal Dogs and their Titanium Teeth

More sickness and what we do to animals, using propaganda to justify these actions. One tactic is the making of heroes out of the animals to assuage our own guilt. The reason for the removal is mainly to instill fear in the enemy, and the implantation of the teeth doesn't seem to be successful:

The teeth of the K-9 combater have been extracted and replaced with titanium choppers. Using titanium, the dog is able to attack without fear of breaking teeth. The one drawback is that many of the dental sets have fallen out when the dog is chomping on the enemy.
The main reason for the metallic smile is the fear factor of the fangs. When a hundred pound pooch with metal teeth is aimed for attack, the sight can be quite frightening. The bite from the jugular with titanium also tears the flesh with more force.

There isn't much more to the story at the link here:Navy Seal Dogs and their Titanium Teeth which is just a puff piece.

Leopard attacks child at Sedgwick County Zoo | Wichita Eagle

Another sad story about a child being mauled by an animal in captivity. My first thought reading this was: "Where were the adults??!!" Scarier that this happened on a school outing. Somehow the child, a 1st grader, climbed over a railing estimated to be "...four to five..." feet, then "...crossed an eight-foot gap..." and stood beside the leopard's enclosed area, trying to touch the animal. Apparently the child wanted "... a closer look" at the cat. How did they know that; did some adult tell the child it was okay? Wasn't he being watched? Wasn't there any pre-teaching involved before leaving for the zoo? Fortunately, as terrifying as it was for the child, the article implies he'll be okay, and, also fortunately, the zoo will not euthanize the leopard.
Leopard attacks child at Sedgwick County Zoo | Wichita Eagle

Sacrifice and Legend: The Dog That Killed Osama bin Laden

The (alleged) assassination/murder/killing of Osama bin Laden became mythic the moment the news stream broke the story. Amidst the lore (burial at sea, grisly photos, the compound, what the neighbors thought, ...) is the story of the dog that was brought along during the raid in Abbottabad. The story goes, according to various news sources such as the one cited here (Yahoo! News) a "military dog" took part in the raid:

a military dog (not pictured) was strapped onto one of the assault team members as he was lowered out of a Black Hawk helicopter and began the operation that killed the notorious terrorist on Monday.

Why a dog would be on the mission isn't revealed. Instead, the dog is presented to us as a hero, for the dog died during the course of the attack. If the dog was, indeed, there in the first place. The Pentagon won't confirm or deny if there was a dog used in the operation or not. Theories as to why a dog would be used: bomb detection, cameras (attached to the dogs), people finder.

The news seems to think that this dog -- so far unconfirmed to its reality-- was killed during the raid, which means the dog is a war hero. Other dogs, used during war and sacrificing their lives in the name of freedom and all that's right and holy have been given post-humus awards:

...there is some precedent for war dogs receiving military honors. The Navy awarded a Silver Star in 2009 to a dog named Remco who gave his life charging "an insurgent's hide-out in Afghanistan," Harris writes. According to Foreign Policy, another dog named Eli fiercely guarded his Marine, Private First Class Carlton Rusk, after he was shot by Taliban sniper fire in Afghanistan. Rusk's bomb-sniffing dog would not even let fellow Marines approach the wounded Rusk, who did not survive the attack. Eli now lives with Rusk's family.

It doesn't matter if this story is true or not. The meme's been released (sort of like The Kraken); once it's out, it's done it's job. Most everyone loves dogs. Our heartstrings are tugged. Apple pie and dogs, who can fight those? The Evil One is dead, justice has been served, vengeance performed, deaths avenged. And if anyone dares to question the anomalous aspects of 9/11, our complicity in affairs of the world, and certainly the operation itself, bring in the dogs. This dog story symbolizes bravery and patriotism. It's a both a symbolic distraction and a legend in the making (the "tale of the dog that killed Osama bin Laden") that seals the deal. This dog story also underscores the dichotomy between loving animals and caring for them, and using them as we see fit. This folk hero story of a brave dog mitigates any guilt over the fact we use animals in war for our own means.

It's a feel good story, full of the hackneyed effects Americans love: bravery, sacrifice, war, death during heroic acts.

Intense interest surrounds dog who may have participated in bin Laden raid - Yahoo! News

MOTHMAN FLUTTERINGS

A few recent links on my blog Mothman Flutterings:

MOTHMAN FLUTTERINGS

55 Feet Long Unknown Fish Species Found in China [PHOTO] - International Business Times

It is hard to tell from the photo, but as The Anomalist points out, "isn't it just a whale?"
55 Feet Long Unknown Fish Species Found in China [PHOTO] - International Business Times

Official World Tapir Day Website

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