Animals
Things That Bite People
According to data from the NYC Dept. of Health, in 1985, the top offenders were dogs and other people, in that order. I'm surprised that spiders weren't much higher on the list. Perhaps most spider bites in NYC were mild enough to go unreported.
Syracuse Post-Standard - July 23, 1986
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 15, 2025 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, 1980s, Teeth
Hi Yo, Camel
The record's page at Discogs.
Posted By: Paul - Sat May 10, 2025 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Music, Ridiculousness, Foolishness, Public Ridicule, Silliness, Goofiness and Dumb-looking, 1960s
Larry the Lamb
Science Digest - Mar 1968
Posted By: Alex - Wed May 07, 2025 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Farming, 1960s
Percy the Pigeon-Eating Pelican
Sault Star - May 20, 1989
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 01, 2025 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Birds, 1980s
When Sheep Fly
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 28, 2025 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Death, Destruction, Highways, Roads, Streets and Traffic, Australia, Twenty-first Century
Rat wine connoisseurs
Researchers successfully trained rats to distinguish between two varieties of wine: Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc.More info: "Rats can distinguish (and generalize) among two white wine varieties" in Animal Cognition (Feb 2025)
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 27, 2025 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Inebriation and Intoxicants, Experiments
Walking 53 miles dressed as a curlew
Matt Trevelyan, a farming officer for Nidderdale National Landscape, began the two-day challenge on Saturday and has been walking along the Nidderdale Way.
He crafted the 10ft-long (3m) costume of a Eurasian curlew - Europe's largest wading bird - out of polystyrene and bamboo.
More info: BBC.com
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 24, 2025 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Birds, Costumes and Masks, World Records, Fur, Hides, Pelts, Scales, Feathers and Other Bodily Coverings
Miss Omak Stampede
I was unaware until just now that some Western rodeo-style events are called "stampedes." It seems like bad karma to name your event after a disaster. But in any case, The Omak Stampede has elected a queen since 1935. They also conduct the "Suicide Race."From Wikipedia:
The Omak Stampede, which operates the Suicide Race, has been hosted at a local rodeo facility, the Stampede Arena—renovated in 2009[102]—since 1933.[103][104] The Omak Stampede occurs annually on the second weekend of August. During the event, the city has an estimated population of approximately 30,000 people.[105][106] As part of the Suicide Race, horses and riders run down Suicide Hill—a 62-degree slope that runs for 225 feet (69 m) to the Okanogan River.[107] Horses must pass a veterinarian examination to ensure they are physically healthy, and a swim test to ensure they can cross the river, to demonstrate their ability to run the race and navigate the river.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 11, 2025 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Parades and Festivals, Regionalism, Twentieth Century, Twenty-first Century
Freakish Accidents No. 3
Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 15, 2025 -
Comments (0)
Category: Agriculture, Animals, Freaks, Oddities, Quirks of Nature, 1950s
Heidi Fleiss Macaw Sanctuary
Recently, after spending a day taking in the sights at Death Valley National Park, my wife and I spent a night in Pahrump, Nevada... Pahrump being the closest place where we could find reasonably priced accommodation. While there, I was looking at Google Maps, trying to find somewhere to eat dinner, when I noticed that our rental was only a few blocks away from the Heidi Fleiss Macaw Sanctuary.I wondered if that was the same Heidi Fleiss who gained fame/infamy in the 1990s as the "Hollywood Madam." Some googling revealed that it was. Fleiss now describes herself as "a retired Hollywood Madam turned active Macaw patroness."
image source: google maps
Google maps showed opening hours for the macaw sanctuary, which led me to believe that it must be open to the public. So the next morning we drove over to check it out.
Turns out it's definitely not open to the public. As you drive up you're greeted by several very large "KEEP OUT" signs, so we turned around and drove away. Though we were able to see a macaw on the property, sitting on top of a trellis.
I'm guessing that Fleiss must initially have intended to make her macaw sanctuary open to the public, but after several of her macaws were shot, she's decided to keep it private.
More info: wikipedia, Daily Mail ("an intimate glimpse inside her remote $1 MILLION 'bird house' in the Nevada desert")
Posted By: Alex - Sat Mar 08, 2025 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Birds, Celebrities
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| 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. Contact Us |