# Mr. Ed the Zebra? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 1999, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112 "1999-11-08T19:02:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/1 "1999-11-09T06:59:00Z")
On [http://www.snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com), they purport that Mr. Ed, the talking horse was in fact a zebra. From their page: > [@](#): > > Mr. Ed was always referred to as a “horse,” and since the series was filmed in black and white, the viewing audience didn’t notice the difference anyway. WTF!? A black & white (B/W) animal filmed with a b/w camera is gonna look b/w! There’s no magic cancelling effect! Is [Snopes.com](http://Snopes.com) trying to pull a fast one? Debunking ULs on one hand and starting more with the other? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 1999, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/2 "1999-11-08T19:02:00Z")
This question has come up on this board before a number of times. It’s one of the “lost” legends, under “The Repository of Lost Legends,” or “TROLL” for short. The whole “TROLL archives” are similarly silly stuff. So, yep, it’s a joke. (BTW, _I_ fell for it, too.) ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 1999, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/3 "1999-11-08T19:21:00Z")
Owah! Tagu! Siam! (repeat until you slap your forehead) # Another story in their TROLL section was about Mississippi removing fractions and decimals from their schools’ curriculums. Their reference is the “Yoknapatawpha County Register”. But of course, there is no Yoknapatawpha County anywhere in the US. This story sounded exactly like the style of writing used in “The Onion”, but I couldn’t find the article in their archives. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. - M. Scott ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 1999, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/4 "1999-11-08T20:25:00Z")
Wow- we should form a support group. I posted something here a while back too (tried searching for the OP but it doesn’t show up in a search). I thought that it wasn’t possible either and had found the page through a search, not going through the front page and the TROLL link. If you come across that page via a search, there’s nothing on it letting you know its a fake. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 1999, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/5 "1999-11-08T22:40:00Z")
[soapbox] You know, everytime this comes up on this board, I am reminded of the newspapers that do “April Fool’s Day” editions with phoney stories. Yeah, it’s funny to see people get sucked in, but on the other hand, if snopes want to be the respected arbiter of urban legends, I think they ought to cut out this nonesense. It undermines their credibility; if everytime I get refered to there site, I have to look at the bottom of the page to see if there is a “code” as to whether or not this is a joke, I will probably have more confidence in another site, like [The Urban Legends Archive](http://www.urbanlegends.com/). [/soapbox] * * * TT “Believe those who seek the truth. Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 1999, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/6 "1999-11-08T23:17:00Z")
Nice site. Thanks, TT. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/7 "1999-11-09T01:07:00Z")
::kicking ThufferinThuccotash’s Thoap Box:: Not that snopes needs me to defend him, but there is reason behind the Lost Legends. Every week or so, someone on their message board says “I’ve got a great idea… lets start a new UL… here’s my idea \<\\>… I’ve just sent this to everyone I know.” All the regulars groan and we never see it again. The Lost Legends are several things: 1) Fun, 2) Funny, 3) REALLY easy to debunk, and 4) Actually a way to see how these absurd stories get picked up and spread. In studying UL’s, several gain momentum when a credible source publishes something that says “Butt monkeys are a hoax.” It almost always morphs into “I read at (credible source) about butt monkeys… it must be true.” I’ve seen the “Mr. Ed is a Zebra” about 5 times here, “KFC because Kentucky is copyrighted” 6 or 7 times (sometimes sarcastically to make a point), and my favorite “Sing a Song of Six Pence is Pirate Code” (it was my idea) 1 time. Each time they were quickly knocked down by the logical thinkers here. Consider it an exercise in logical thinking and “don’t trust everything you read.” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/8 "1999-11-09T02:15:00Z")
> [@](#): > > when a credible source publishes something that says “Butt monkeys are a hoax.” Hadn’t heard that one; what are “butt monkeys” supposed to be? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/9 "1999-11-09T13:56:00Z")
They fly out of your butt. As per “Wayne’s World”. ---
**Author:** ![CatInHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CatInHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatInHat)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/10 "1999-11-09T19:15:00Z")
“Yoknapatawpha County” was the fictional setting of most of William Faulkner’s books and stories. I never could figure out how to pronounce it. * * * Never attribute to malice anything that can be attributed to stupidity. – Unknown ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 1999, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/11 "1999-11-10T02:47:00Z")
> [@](#): > > What are “butt monkeys” supposed to be? A made up nonsense example… sorry for any confusion. ---
**Author:** ![PUNdit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@PUNdit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PUNdit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 1999, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/12 "1999-11-10T02:59:00Z")
Man, I thought this was going to be another attack on Mr. Zotti. PUN [wonder] There is that stuff about butt monkeys [/wonder] ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 1999, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/13 "1999-11-10T04:06:00Z")
Yoknapatawpha **YOK na pa TAW fa** (or **YOK na** , **pa TAW fa** with a slight pause at the comma) ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 1999, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/14 "1999-11-10T22:39:00Z")
If you look up _Mister Ed_ over at [www.imdb.com](http://www.imdb.com) , you’ll find a link to that [snopes.com](http://snopes.com) page. I hope this doesn’t mean that anyone at IMDB actually _believes_ that cockamamie story. * * * Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to relive it. Georges Santayana ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 1999, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/15 "1999-11-11T17:00:00Z")
_jab1: If you look up Mister Ed over at [www.imdb.com](http://www.imdb.com) , you’ll find a link to that [snopes.com](http://snopes.com) page. I hope this doesn’t mean that anyone at IMDB actually believes that cockamamie story._ That’s where I saw the link originally. Without going from the top of Snopes, you don’t get the clue that The Repository of Lost Legends are “April Fool”-type stories. The page even looks like all their other valid UL pages. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/16 "2000-01-11T20:12:00Z")
I told IMDb two months ago that their Snopes link about Mr. Ed was a troll story. The link still exists. _sigh_ * * * The Canadians. They walk among us. William Shatner. Michael J. Fox. Monty Hall. Mike Meyers. Alex Trebek. All of them Canadians. All of them here. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/17 "2000-01-11T21:55:00Z")
If you look at the bottom of each of the “Lost Legends” you’ll see a disclaimer in small type. In the case of the Mr Ed page, it says “Warning: Listen to Mr Ed”. Granted, that’s a little obscure, but all you have to do is listen to the theme song… (I personally fell for the KFC one when I first read it, too) ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2000, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/18 "2000-01-12T02:00:00Z")
This one _is_ approaching the status of “Can you park a third gry in the driveway if you drive it there on a…” ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2000, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/19 "2000-01-12T03:00:00Z")
**Mojo** writes: > [@](#): > > I thought that it wasn’t possible either and had found the page through a search, not going through the front page and the TROLL link. If you come across that page via a search, there’s nothing on it letting you know its a fake. Yes, well, this may indicate that whilst not going via a front page may not as deserving of being illegal as, ay, money laundering, it’s probably _still_ not a good idea. (Note: this post contains sarcasm, hopefully trenchant. The poster doesn’t feel one bit of remorse.) * * * “Kings die, and leave their crowns to their sons. Shmuel HaKatan took all the treasures in the world, and went away.” ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2000, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112/20 "2000-01-12T04:40:00Z")
I heard that zebras are actually highly viscous liquids and that over hundreds of years they flow downward slowly and become thicker at the bottom. Is this true? * * * I’m not perky. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-ed-the-zebra/6112.md?page=2)