In regards to wolf people http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_046.html I have a hard time buying the explanation of Amala and Kamala–assuming the facts are true.
If one was 8 and the other was 18months, then if they arrived in the woods at the same time, then the longest the 8 yr old could have been there was 18 months. (that’s giving the 18 mo lots of survival credit) How could she adapted to wolf in just 18 months. And if they didn’t meet their wilderness fate at the same time, who’s throwing all these baby’s in the woods?
[[ Note: I have edited metro’s post so that the link now works (I hope). – CKDH ]]
[Note: This message has been edited by CKDextHavn]
Just so you know, metroshane: Your link is broken. I don’t remember the column, but I have read about these girls elsewhere. I’m ashamed to admit that I never thought about the age difference, although I’m usually pretty good at spotting that type of problem.
Among the least-noted work in this field was that done in the 1940s by C. Lawrence Talbot, Curtis Siodmak professor of lycanthropy and phenylketoneurics at England’s Birmingham University. His research, however, took a different tack. He studied two rare cases from the 19th Century in which young wolves were found cohabiting with families who were part of the very cream of the country’s landed gentry.
In the first instance, the assimilation progressed from the beast literally ‘wolfing’ down its victuals to wearing tweeds, taking part in fox hunts and enjoying afternoon tea by the fire in the library while pawing volumes of Yeats.
The other case was even more remarkable, as the once-feral animal, with the aid of deeply caring tutor, made his academic mark at Eton. Several years thereafter he was called by the locals to stand for parliament before a tragic accident in which the unfortunate creature choked to death on a raisin scone.