Daily rambles, stumbles and travels

Tuesday 7 October 2008

On the search for zoology knowledge

A little known fact about me, I love spending my evenings updating my knowledge about the animal kingdom, not only of the factual but also of the cryptic kind. Call me too influenced by 'The X-Files' or a gal who has too much time on her hands, but I do this on a frequent basis.

A few intriguing and sometimes weird things I've comes across on my internet travels today are as follows:

- People who use golden eagles to hunt wolves.
Supposedly Kirghiz tribesmen of central Asia use eagles to hunt for them. Even game that can be as big as wolves, pronghorns and foxes. I didn't really believe the article i was ready at the time until I found photographic evidence.
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- Chinese cats that are bred with "wings".
I was firstly informed of this odd creation by my dear sibling Ham, who saw an article in ' Fourteen TV', a magazine that features articles about the oddities of the natural and supernatural. My jaw was at the floor as she told me, immediately thinking it was related to some strange lab experiment, but it turns out that humans have had no part in the creation of the kitties with wings.
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Supposedly the wings don't effect the movement of the animal and don't harm it in any way, seemingly unaware of the disfigurement that grows from their shoulder blades. The "wings" are not just fluff, but actually contain some kind of cartiledge, although some cases have been proven to be simply nothing but matted fur. I think what may appear odd is that China are beginning to breed them as actual pets.

I can't agree with this, even if I am told in various articles that it does not effect the feline's health.

See a "winged kitty" in motion via the wonders of youtube:


- Australia's new mega feral cats.
You may have heard in the newspapers about the giant black cats that roam England's highlands, but of course there is usually NO evidence to back up the flim flam that floats around. But now there is hardcore and growing evidence (video and photographic) that giant feral black "leopard sized" felines are roaming Australia's outlands.
Main article here: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/03/australias_new_feral_mega_cats.php
I was doubtful at first, watching a documentary and hearing the usual locals of a peaceful country town explaining their stories to the camera; when there it was, ACTUAL footage, not just a blurry mass spedding by the camera either. Atleast five minutes worth of not one, but two black cats interacting in the wild.



Yes, I'm a sucker for varients of programmes like this, but I loooove hearing about new creatures and speices being found.

So yesh, here is a little look into how I spend my nights on the
internet. THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.