I remember watching a TV show about urban legends on TLC.
I can’t remember the name of the show.
The basic format is that they cover a few well-known urban legends, and at the end reveal if there is any truth to them at all.
Well, 9 times out of 10 the story is a complete fabrication.
However, on one episode they covered a rather strange urban legend about a man who was boating on a river in the Amazon. The man somehow ended up falling overboard and was bitten many times by something he couldn’t see in the water. The man died soon after.
It turns out he was bitten by these venomous, miniature hippos. By miniature I mean roughly the length of the average thumb, no joke! It was mentioned that this was something of a common occurance in the Amazon.
Okay, so after watching that, my friends and I definitely decided that this urban legend was DEFINITELY a hoax and couldn’t possibly have any basis in truth.
Well, you should have seen the looks on our faces when it was revealed that it could possibly be true. Apparently they’ve found the remains of miniature hippos, but there is debate regarding the authenticity of the remains.
Not that I claim to know everything, but miniature cannibal hippotami is just one of those items that tend to set off my ‘Useless Weird Shit To Know’ radar.
Since the hippopotamus is an African animal and the Amazon is a South American river, the story (if aired as you recounted it) is patently false. Sounds like a mutation of the legend about the poisonous water elephants of Thailand.
I’m 'ccusing 'em critters of cannibalism. Be a real gyp if we went through all the trouble of making up the damn things and they turned out they weren’t.
First time one of my rants resulted in a band name. I’m not sure if I should feel touched, but I’m convinced you must be. (Infectious smirk)
Yes! I was Elephants not Hippos, I was mistaken!
They supposedly found corpses of these critters that are obviously fake, but done very well.
Thank you Sternvogel!
