Category:
Animals

Hendrik Coetzee

Kadoma_teaser from Ben Stookesberry on Vimeo.



Do African explorers still get eaten by crocodiles in the 21st century? It seems a highly Victorian fate.

But it happened to Hendrik Coetzee just a little over a year ago. And now there's a documentary about him, the trailer for which is above.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 04, 2012 - Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Death, Eccentrics, Documentaries, Africa

Sunglasses for Chickens

Invented in 1937 to control cannibalism among chickens. Apparently chickens have a natural instinct to peck each other, but the sight of blood intensifies this instinct. So much so that if one chicken has blood on its feathers, all the others in the flock will peck it to death. This was a real problem for farmers until these rose-colored chicken sunglasses came along, which made it hard for the chickens to see the sight of blood. Nowadays, farmers must have other solutions to the problem of chicken cannibalism, because these glasses are no longer manufactured and are considered collector's items. (National Band and Tag via Feathered Forager)

chicken glasses

Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 02, 2012 - Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Farming, Cannibalism, Fashion

Win Miniature Dog

I wonder what you actually got in the mail if you completed all the requirements for winning one of these things? Or was it impossible to ever complete the requirements?


(via jbcurio on flickr)

Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 30, 2012 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals

March 15: Space Bat Memorial Day

On March 15, 2009, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space Center without any issues, except one. From Wikipedia:

During the countdown a bat was seen to be resting on the external tank. What was originally believed to be a fruit bat was revealed to have been a free-tailed bat that clung onto the fuel tank during the launch. NASA observers had believed the bat would fly off once the shuttle started to launch, but it did not, and it was probably shaken off and incinerated by the rocket exhaust. A bat doctor, analyzing pictures, believed the bat had a broken wing which made it unable to fly off.


Posted By: Alex - Thu Mar 15, 2012 - Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy

Tentacle Grape

image

Old-hand WU-vies know all about the fascination of the Japanese for "tentacle sex." But did you know you could buy the matching soft drink?

One question remains: is the English-only pun with "tentacle rape" intentional or accidental?

Buy yours here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 12, 2012 - Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, Junk Food, Asia

Mystery Gadget 8

image

What is this gadget doing to the poor goat?

Find out here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 11, 2012 - Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Technology, 1930s

The Bat Bomb

A few weeks ago, Paul posted about a plan the U.S. military cooked up during WWII to destroy Japan by triggering volcanic explosions. The article below describes a similarly mad plan -- the Bat Bomb. The idea was to strap incendiary devices to bats, and then drop the bats on Japanese cities.

I scanned the article from the Atlantic Monthly, December 1946. I think this was one of the first public descriptions of the bat bomb.

bat bomb

Posted By: Alex - Thu Mar 08, 2012 - Comments (9)
Category: Animals, War, Weapons

Men Posing With A Chicken

Back in the Civil War era, going to a photographer's studio and getting your portrait taken wasn't cheap. People made sure they were dressed in their finest clothes and looked their best. So why did these men choose to pose with a chicken? It appears to be the same chicken in both shots. Was it a prize chicken? Or just a favorite pet? Unfortunately the backstory to these photos has been lost to time. (via Photo_History on Flickr)

Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 05, 2012 - Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Photography and Photographers

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Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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