Swine Ebola - No Joke!

As if "swine flu" wasn't bad enough, Scientific American is reporting that the Ebola virus has been detected in domestic pigs in the Philippines. The particular strain of the virus, Reston ebolavirus, is not known to cause fatal haemorrhagic fever in humans, but is still rated a class 4 pathogen by the US Center for Disease Control (it's highest rating) because of the extreme fatality rate and absence of effective treatment of the disease caused by other Ebola viruses. One farmhand who worked with the pigs has also tested positive for R.ebolavirus, but is asymptomatic.

In this case it seems like most likely that the pigs caught the disease from the human rather than the other way round. However that pigs can catch and potentially pass on the organism to humans is an unexpected, and worrying, development. Michael McIntosh of the Department of Agriculture expressed concern not only that the Reston strain might mutate into something more deadly in its new host, but that the other disease-causing strains might also be using pigs as a reservoir. "What is the level of risk?" said McIntosh, "We really don't know" (Scientific American Article) (Paper in Science).

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Sat Jul 11, 2009 - Comments (8)
Category: Agriculture, Animals, Armageddon and Apocalypses, Food, Health, Disease

Weird Wildlife

It's a law of nature that when you've got to go, you've got to go. So if you happen to be a penguin out on the antarctic ice, well, that's where you've got to go. Which turns out to be an extremely useful fact for scientists, who have used piles of penguin poo identified on satellite images to locate where penguin colonies form. Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey hope to use the new technique to follow the penguins over many seasons and determine how much impact global warming is having on the species (Telegraph).

Meanwhile British beekeepers must be cursing that not all animals can be tracked by satellite so easily after an outbreak of bee-rustling has swept the coutryside. The spate of thefts has been provoked by rises in the price of honey combined with a shortage of bees brought about by disease. In the largest bee-heist so far, 18 hives containing over a million bees were stolen from a strawberry field they had been pollinating. According to John Howat of the Bee Farmers Association, pulling off such an audacious crime would require "inside knowledge" (BBC News).

And it's not just beekeepers who are missing their wildlife. A UK radio station that has broadcast nothing but a repeating loop of birdsong for 18 months as "filler" has finally shut down to make way for a new commercial station, and raised howls of protest from many of its half a million regular listeners. The twenty year-old recording, made in a wiltshire garden and used by the radio station free-of-charge, became a massive hit with people from all over Britain, including author Terry Pratchett, who found it a relaxing alternative to the usual radio fare. The replacement broadcast, Amazing Radio, plays music by unsigned bands uploaded to amazingtunes.com (Pocket Lint).

Finally, here's one story that almost missed the boat (ark?), swimming with stingrays may be harmful... for the stingrays. Scientists monitoring the sealife around the Camen islands have found that tourist excursions to pet the wildlife around the islands is leading to weaker immune systems and poorer health in the animals. Christina Semeniuk, an ecologist at Simon Fraser University in Canada, cited collisions with boats, overcrowding and hand-fed squid forming an greater part of their diet as the main suspects. She pointed to other studies on bears, penguins, dolphins, and apes which also showed increased stress and illness due to wildlife tourism (Guardian).

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Tue Jun 02, 2009 - Comments (7)
Category: Agriculture, Animals, Crime, Science

Mysterious Worms Invade China

What do you do when your normally green and lush grazing pastures become over-run with mysterious worms? For the fifty herdsmen in northwest China, there is no answer but to move. The worms are one inch long, green, with thorns and black stripes, and are packed up to 3,000 per square meter. Samples of the worms have been sent to Xinjiang Agricultural University for identification, but so far the usual methods of dealing with such an invasion (chickens, ducks and other birds) has not been successful. The Story.

Posted By: Nethie - Sun May 17, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Agriculture, Animals, Nature, Science

Sunflower Carnival

What is weirder? The fact that our ancestors dedicated a festival to the humble sunflower, or the fact that we don't?

In any case, here are some shots from the 1899 Sunflower Carnival Parade, Colorado Springs, Colorado, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

As always, click to enlarge.

Posted By: Paul - Tue May 12, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Agriculture, Parades and Festivals, Political Correctness, Regionalism, Nineteenth Century

Co-ed Pig Wrestling

As Mr. Skip Peterson tells us: "This is an annual fund raiser held in Buffalo, Wyoming, for a local gymnastics team. Contestants have one minute to get the greased hog, butt first into the barrel. The coed team must also dip their hands into a bucket of Crisco before the game begins. The winning time this year was 7.45 seconds. Every team had a freash pig and each pig was only allowed to participate one time. Enjoy!"


2008 Coed Pig Wrestling Championships from skip peterson on Vimeo.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 08, 2009 - Comments (15)
Category: Agriculture, Animals, Education, Entertainment, Exercise and Fitness, Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Sports, Men, Women

Super-sized Elephant Ear Plant

I want to see a Weird Universe reader grow this as a houseplant. Order your seedling here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 19, 2009 - Comments (7)
Category: Agriculture, Asia, Natural Wonders

From the Ground Up

Are you getting enough alfalfa in your diet?

Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 06, 2008 - Comments (0)
Category: Agriculture, Business, Products, Nutrition, Documentaries, 1950s

Pumpkin Drop

The incredible Sandy Pearlman delivers us this gem.

Happy Halloween!

Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 25, 2008 - Comments (0)
Category: Agriculture, Customs, Destruction, Holidays, Cars

Pig Farms

Still on the bacon thread!

Sure, we all love bacon! But who wants to live next to a pig farm? Not these folks in Massachusetts, who, according to today's Boston Globe (registration required), suffer smells like those "at the bottom of a dumpster." But this new Congressional report finds the EPA ready to relax their rules for such farms.

Here's an article about a manure lagoon spill in 2005 that released 3 million gallons of pig poop!

Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 24, 2008 - Comments (12)
Category: Agriculture, Animals, Bathrooms, Disasters, Food, Scatology, Lawsuits, Excrement

Real Horse That Looks Like Stuffed Toy

Here at WU Central, the proprietors believe in training up the next generation to be observant and appreciative of all things weird. Hence the photo you see here.

This image was taken by my tweener niece, Becky Fuller, at the farm my brother Frank and his wife Beverly own in Medford, Oregon. It depicts a curious beast Becky calls "the curly horse."

Becky is enrolled in 4-H, and they've plainly been conducting secret experiments to hybridize sheep and horses. How else to explain the odd woolly fur of this anomalous quadruped, its mullet-like mane, or the unnaturally symmetrical appearance of its brown "stockings"?

Be afraid--be very afraid!

Posted By: Paul - Thu Aug 14, 2008 - Comments (6)
Category: Agriculture, Animals, Domestic, Family, Photography and Photographers