Category:
Nature

Irv Teibel’s Environments

Irv Teibel pioneered recording environmental sounds (thunder storms, waterfalls, and the like). His "Environments" albums sold millions of copies.

The interview below, posted on YouTube by his daughter, took place sometime in the early 1980s. In it he describes how he recorded the thunderstorm album by sticking a microphone out his bathroom window.

More info: wikipedia



Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 18, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Nature, Weather, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings

The Swamp in June



Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 13, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Boredom, Nature, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings, 1960s

Nature’s Butts

They've been coming out with versions of this calendar for a couple of years, but I just heard about it now.

The 2025 calendar is now available.





Posted By: Alex - Wed Sep 04, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Nature, Natural Wonders, Photography and Photographers

The Outdoors Girl of Canada

The earliest reference I find is the one below, from 1955. The latest is from 1989. A respectable 40-year run. But too few pictures of the winners!






Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 02, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Nature, Day Camps, Away Camps, Outdoor Activities and Recreational Retreats, 1950s, 1980s, North America

Occupational Hazards of Being a Florist


Posted By: Paul - Sun Feb 25, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Death, Jobs and Occupations, Nature, 1960s

Female mate avoidance behaviors in the European common frog

We posted recently about "misdirected amplexus," which is the phenomenon of male frogs attempting to mate with inappropriate objects (different species, fish, inanimate objects, etc.).

Turns out that the weird frog sex behaviors don't end there. Male frogs, in their excitement, will occasionally form "mating balls" — "several male frogs cling to a single female – often killing her in the process."

Some German researchers have now found that female frogs, in turn, have developed defense strategies to protect themselves from over-excited males. They rotate to try to escape the male's grasp; they emit "release calls"; and if those strategies fail to work, they play dead:

to protect themselves against swarms of sexually aroused male frogs, the female frogs stiffly extend their arms and legs away from the body, keeping incredibly still until the male releases them from its grasp.

More info: "Drop dead! Female mate avoidance in an explosively breeding frog"technologynetworks.com

(Thanks to Gerald Sacks)

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 13, 2023 - Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Nature, Science, Sex

Ultrasonic Postejaculatory Song of the Male Rat

We posted recently about some odd sexual behavior demonstrated by frogs (their frequent attempts to mate with inappropriate objects). Male rats also display an odd behavior. When they need to rest from mating, they sing an ultrasonic "leave me alone" song.

More info: PubMed

New Scientist - July 6, 1972

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 07, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Nature, Science, Sex

Misdirected amplexus

"Misdirected amplexus" is the scientific term for the curious phenomenon of male frogs attempting to mate with inappropriate objects. Details from the New Scientist

Mating frogs may have been occasionally getting it wrong for hundreds of millions of years. We know that males today will sometimes select an inappropriate partner during the breeding season – a frog from a different species, a turtle, a fish or even an inanimate object. Now there is evidence that these mistaken attachments could be an ancient feature of frog reproduction, arising early in the amphibians’ evolution.

Frog mating is often hard to miss. In most species it involves a process called amplexus, in which males grip onto a female tightly for hours or days at a time until the eggs are fertilised. But there are plenty of records of male frogs grappling an unpromising target such as a frog from a different species or a dead individual. One explanation is that such mistakes are more likely to happen in species that breed in large numbers with a low ratio of females to males, and where multiple species occupy the same breeding pond.

I briefly discussed the subject of misdirected mating in the animal kingdom in my book Elephants on Acid. Here's the relevant text:

Konrad Lorenz once observed a Shell Parakeet who grew amorous with a small celluloid ball. And many other animals exhibit mating behavior toward what researchers refer to as "biologically inappropriate objects." Bulls will treat almost any restrained animal as a receptive cow. Their general rule in life seems to be, "if it doesn't move away and can be mounted, mount it!"

During the early 1950s, researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center surgically damaged the amygdala (a region of the brain) in a number of male cats. These cats became "hypersexual," attempting to mate with a dog, a female rhesus monkey, and an old hen. Four of these hypersexual cats, placed together, promptly mounted one another.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 26, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Nature, Science, Sex

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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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