# Odd Animal News **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2008, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528 "2008-08-28T08:33:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/61 "2009-02-03T04:35:57Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The mystery of why locusts swarm has been solved and can be seen [here](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/solved-the-mystery-of-why-locusts-swarm-1520409.html). Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard that on NPR. Brain chemicals. Nothing about Commies persecuting bird watchers on NPR, though. Maybe Saturday on _Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me._ ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/62 "2009-02-03T04:37:34Z")
> [@AllWalker](#): > > [How not to smuggle birds.](http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5297272) I guess it’s true what they say: A bird in the hand is worth two in the, er, bush. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/63 "2009-02-03T04:39:15Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard that on NPR. Brain chemicals. Nothing about Commies persecuting bird watchers on NPR, though. Maybe Saturday on _Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me._ Maybe they were just birds of a different feather? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/64 "2009-02-06T05:12:35Z")
Some more good stuff: They’ve found an “immortal” creature, a type of jellyfish. See it [here](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5594539.ece). [Here](http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-sci-snake5-2009feb05,0,6550292.story) they’ve found the fossil of 43-foot super-snake in Colombia. And stretching the definition of “animal news,” [here](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5526238.ece) we see Nasa may have found some powerful evidence of present-day life on Mars: Lots of methane. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/65 "2009-02-06T07:31:19Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And stretching the definition of “animal news,” [here](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5526238.ece) we see Nasa may have found some powerful evidence of present-day life on Mars: Lots of methane. Meh. Every Wednesday in the cafeteria: Enchilada day. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/66 "2009-02-21T01:45:13Z")
A couple of good ones. [Extinct Bird Found, Photographed and Eaten](http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/turnix-worcesteri/). [Giant Rat Caught in China](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4688453/Giant-rat-caught-in-China.html). Complete with photo. Six pounds with a 12-inch tail. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/67 "2009-02-21T01:57:16Z")
[Giant lobster](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/4210995/140-year-old-lobster-freed.html) set free. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/68 "2009-02-21T02:15:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Extinct Bird Found, Photographed and Eaten](http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/turnix-worcesteri/). > > [Giant Rat Caught in China](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4688453/Giant-rat-caught-in-China.html). Complete with photo. Six pounds with a 12-inch tail. Aw, _man!_ Eat the damn rat. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/69 "2009-02-21T07:34:54Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Giant Rat Caught in China](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4688453/Giant-rat-caught-in-China.html). Complete with photo. Six pounds with a 12-inch tail. I bet it tastes like chicken. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/70 "2009-02-21T13:15:26Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Giant Rat Caught in China](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4688453/Giant-rat-caught-in-China.html). Complete with photo. Six pounds with a 12-inch tail. I like how the guy writing the article realizes after about three sentences that there’s no real story to go with the picture; so he just finishes up with a random, unrelated collection of various giant rodent factoids. > [@](#): > > Mr Xian is believed to still be in possession of the animal, after stuffing into a bag and departing the scene. Poor bastard. Now his name and photo are all over the internet. Every pharmacist in China will have a contract out on him. Traditional Chinese medicine probably uses giant rat bones to cure syphillis or something. This story could be the basis for a hilarious Hong Kong action-comedy. A humble ratcatcher stumbles across the biggest score of his career; then has to somehow unload the goods while being pursued by every herbalist in southeast Asia. One man and his giant rat, on a madcap journey of discovery, together. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/71 "2009-02-24T20:55:56Z")
[Rescue Plan for Rare Siamese Crocs](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7881184.stm) [Fish with Transparent Head, “Barrel Eyes”](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/photogalleries/fish-transparent-head-barreleye-picture/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/72 "2009-02-25T04:47:15Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Fish with Transparent Head, “Barrel Eyes”](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/photogalleries/fish-transparent-head-barreleye-picture/index.html) You find some doozies, **Sam**. The video below the article is great. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/73 "2009-02-25T14:50:49Z")
I was just wondering - would the immortal jellyfish have any consequences for the traditional eastern view of reincarnation ie would it disprove the theory entirely? As I understand it creatures pass through various animal stages gradually ascending up to human and onward but this thing has never been anything else and will never be anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/74 "2009-02-25T19:08:20Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > I was just wondering - > > would the immortal jellyfish have any consequences for the traditional eastern view of reincarnation ie would it disprove the theory entirely? > > As I understand it creatures pass through various animal stages gradually ascending up to human and onward but this thing has never been anything else and will never be anything else. Let’s kill it and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/75 "2009-02-25T20:45:11Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Let’s kill it and see what happens. I’m in. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/76 "2009-02-26T04:12:53Z")
One from Thailand: [British Angler Lands Monster Stingray in Thailand](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/24/stingray-catch-thailand-fishing). He pulled it out of the Mekong River, a 350-kilogram (770 pounds) stingray that may be the largest freshwater fish ever caught by rod and line. Check out that photo! Excerpt: “He said: ‘It dragged me across the boat and would have pulled me in had my colleague not grabbed my trousers – it was like the whole earth had just moved. I knew it was going to a big one’.” ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/77 "2009-02-26T07:43:07Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > One from Thailand: [British Angler Lands Monster Stingray in Thailand](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/24/stingray-catch-thailand-fishing). Would that thing have a poisonous barb? If so, why the hell land it? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/78 "2009-02-26T15:16:46Z")
The article says that they were tagging stingrays for some sort of program, and that they wrapped the tail up. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/79 "2009-03-10T14:08:08Z")
[New leg for mine blast elephant](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7934419.stm) > [@](#): > > An elephant in Thailand has been fitted with a new false leg, after outgrowing her original prosthetic. Mosha, 3, lost part of her right front leg as a seven-month-old when she stepped on a landmine. > > She was taken to an elephant orphanage where staff initially thought she might die, but an amputation expert fitted her first leg and she recovered well. Now eating 90kg (200lb) of food a day, Mosha was doing so well she needed the upgrade, and may live for many years. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528/80 "2009-03-10T20:52:53Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > [New leg for mine blast elephant](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7934419.stm) Amazing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-animal-news/461528.md?page=5)