Animals
Japanese firm makes ultra-realistic dog costumes for clients
Now you, too, can be a dog… Image Credit: Facebook / Zeppet Workshop
Ever wanted to be a dog ? Japanese company Zeppet Workshop will turn you into one… for the right price.Taking the idea of roleplaying one step further than anyone thought possible, the company, which specializes in special effects and modeling, hit the headlines back in 2022 when it was revealed that it had created an ultra-realistic Collie costume for a customer who wanted to become a dog.
Footage of the client wearing the costume (see below), which reportedly cost around $15,000, quickly went viral.
More recently, Zeppet was tasked with creating something even more challenging – a wolf costume.
“Because of my love for animals since childhood and some realistic animal suits appearing on TV, I dreamed of being one someday,” the client was quoted as saying.
“At the final fitting, I was amazed at my transformed self in the mirror. It was a moment when my dream come true.”
The resulting outfit, which cost a whopping $23,000, was even more convincing than the last one, demonstrating, if nothing else, just how skilled the firm’s employees are at making costumes.
The process took around 50 days and involved carefully examining images of real wolves to get all the details right.
Other costume designs built by Zeppet over the years include a bear, a panda and various mascots.
Bear Found High on ‘Mad Honey’ in Turkey
A bear cub in Turkey needed a helping hand after it managed to get its paws on some hallucinogenic honey that left the creature wandering around a forest in a daze. The weird incident reportedly occurred on Thursday in the country’s Duzce province when the creature somehow found a reserve of what is known as ‘deli bal’ or ‘mad honey.’ The substance, which is largely only produced in this particular region of the world as well as in the Himalayas, is derived from the honey produced by bees that have pollinated indigenous rhododendrons which possess a neurotoxin known as grayanotoxin.
While something of a traditional medicinal treatment for a variety of ailments, just a small dose of ‘mad honey’ can produce hallucinations and a feeling of euphoria in mammals. In this particular instance, it is believed that the bear cub consumed a fairly significant amount of the substance as it was found barely able to walk and seemingly in distress. Fortunately, upon being discovered stumbling around the forest, the intoxicated creature was loaded into the back of a truck and taken to a nearby vet, where is subsequently ‘slept off’ its stupor. Authorities say that the bear cub should be released back into the wild soon with what one imagines is a monstrous hangover.
Kangaroo spotted wandering loose on Missouri road
This is a bit incongruous.
Dec. 22 (UPI) — Authorities in a Missouri county confirmed a kangaroo was recently spotted roaming loose around a road.
Jefferson County Services Director Eric Larson confirmed a kangaroo was spotted near a High Ridge road recently, although animal control was not contacted in the incident.
At least one local resident captured the animal on camera during its time on the loose.
Larson said the kangaroo is believed to have escaped from S and S Farms Exotic Petting Zoo in High Ridge.
Officials with the petting zoo confirmed the kangaroo seen on the loose is named Rueben and was safely returned to the facility after only a short time on the loose.
Hippo SWALLOWS a two-year-old boy whole… then spits him back out ALIVE
A two-year-old boy was swallowed and spat out by a hippo while playing near his home in Uganda.
Paul Iga was clenched in the mouth of the animal around 800 yards away from the edge of Lake Edward.
The hippo had grabbed the toddler from the head and swallowed half of his body when a local man noticed and started throwing stones at the animal.
The hippo seemed taken aback by the attack and vomited up the child — before trudging back to the water.
Paul Iga was clenched in the mouth of a hippo just a few hundred yards away from the edge of Lake Edward, Uganda
‘It took the bravery of one Chrispas Bagonza, who was nearby, to save the victim after he stoned the hippo and scared it, causing it to release the victim from its mouth,’ police added.
While Paul was injured and taken to a clinic for treatment, he miraculously survived.
It has been reported that the toddler was transferred to a hospital in Bwera but was sent home after taking a rabies vaccine.
In a statement, Ugandan Police said: ‘This is the first such kind of incident where a hippo strayed out of Lake Edward and attacked a young child.’
Police told residents of Katwe Kabatoro Town Council, which is located within Queen Elizabeth National Park on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to remain vigilant around hippos.
The hippopotamus is the world’s deadliest large land mammal, killing an estimated 500 people per year in Africa, according to the BBC.
They are aggressive creatures and have very sharp teeth.
At up to 2,750kg, the animals can easily crush a human to death.
Despite their primarily vegetarian diet, the hippopotamus is extremely aggressive and territorial.
The combination of sheer size, sharp teeth and mobility both in and out of water make for a deadly mammal.
They are agile and aggressive and kill large animals and sometimes humans.
A yawning hippo, although it might look cute, can be a sign of a threat.
Over the years hippos have been spotted eating impala, kudu, eland, wildebeest and buffalo.
They are very protective of their habitat, normally dwelling in rivers.
In Niger in 2014, 13 people drowned when hippos overturned their boat.
Daily Mail
Head to Head
Head on train collision at the California State Fair 1913.
Bigfoot sighting in Saskatchewan?
This is from 2014. It’s interesting in that Saskatchewan has very few Sasquatch sightings. This video was taken near the town of Craven. Craven is located just north of Regina in the middle of vast grain fields. Not a lot of woodland or forest in the area, land types the hairy Sasquatch beasts seem to prefer. But there is the Qu’appelle river valley. Much woodland along the river.
The river valley:
If this is a Bigfoot then is seems to have veered off the typical habitat they are most often spotted in. A lost Sasquatch.
REGINA – A recently-published video reportedly shot near Craven, Saskatchewan suggests that the legendary Bigfoot has been spotted in southern Saskatchewan.
The video was posted to YouTube this week and has since been featured on a number of websites dedicated to debating the existence of the fabled creature.
Title pages seen in the video explain that a family was out for a drive near Craven when they were shocked to see a “hair-covered biped” walking on a hill beside the road.
According to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Association there have been a total of seven bigfoot sightings in Saskatchewan – mostly in the northern part of the province.
A very very old Tortoise
The world’s oldest tortoise has lived through two world wars, witnessed the rise and fall of the British Empire, and has just turned 190 years old.
Jonathan the Seychelles Giant Tortoise hatched in the Georgian era and is the oldest known living land animal on Earth and the oldest chelonian ever recorded.
Jonathan the tortoise, who hatched in the Georgian era, is the oldest known living land animal on Earth (St Helena/PA)
Born in the early 1800s, Jonathan has lived on St Helena – an island situated in the midst of the South Atlantic Ocean – since 1882.
Jonathan’s age is an estimation but shell measurements documented from a photograph taken shortly after his arrival to St Helena show he was fully mature and at least 50 years old when he arrived from Seychelles in 1882 – although it is likely that he is even older.
Joe Hollins began caring for Jonathan when he worked as the St Helena’s vet and, although now retired, still helps look after the tortoise.
Mr Hollins said: “When you think, if he was hatched in 1832 – the Georgian era – my goodness, the changes in the world.
“The world wars, the rise and fall of the British Empire, the many governors, kings and queens that have passed, it’s quite extraordinary.
“And he’s just been here, enjoying himself.”
Joe Hollins began caring for Jonathan when he worked as the St Helena’s vet and still helps look after the tortoise (St Helena/PA)
At the start of 2022 Jonathan achieved the Guinness World Records title for the world’s oldest living land animal and this month, he has also been named as the oldest tortoise ever.
Jonathan has spent the majority of his life on the British Overseas Territory, one of the world’s most remote islands. He lives in the grounds of Plantation House alongside three much younger tortoises called David, Emma and Fred.
He has witnessed more than 35 governors come and go from Plantation House and has seen the island introduce radio, telephones, TVs, internet, cars and an airport.
Mr Hollins said it has been a “privilege” to look after the elderly animal, who he described as “magnificent”.
“I do think he’s fabulous actually, he’s a great animal,” he said.
“And as a vet – what greater privilege is there than to be looking after the oldest known living land animal in the world? I mean, how often does that happen?
“It is such a privilege to be able to care for this magnificent animal.”
To celebrate his 190th birthday, residents from across the island will be come together on Friday to honour Jonathan over three days at a birthday party at the Governor’s House.
Highlights will include a display of a range of posters celebrating Jonathan’s life, bearing pictures and messages from those who have visited him over the years.
Jonathan photographed with another tortoise in 1886 (St Helena/PA)
On Saturday, a series of activities honouring his birthday will include a chat with the Governor and his wife as they feed Jonathan his favourite vegetables.
The event will be live streamed online from Plantation House so anyone from across the world can join in with the celebrations.
An animated video and song dedicated to celebrating Jonathan’s life will premiere on Sunday, and he will be given a ‘birthday cake’ – made entirely out of his favourite healthy foods.
A special stamp will also be on sale alongside other memorabilia which islanders will be able to win during novelty tortoise-themed games.
Best Animal Photos of the Year
A large black bear leaves its den under a vacant home in South Lake Tahoe, California. As bear populations grow and humans expand into formerly undeveloped areas, more of the bruins are learning to live alongside people.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, people came to trade, sell, or watch birds at places like this in Havana, where onlookers gathered to watch a songbird take seeds from a handler’s tongue.
A young forest elephant trots along with its parents in Lopé National Park, Gabon, along one of many paths that generations of the animals have cut through the fruit-rich rainforest.
Leopards court in a flowering coral tree on a misty winter morning in southern India’s Nagarahole Tiger Reserve. Anti-poaching measures have helped increase prey populations in the park, which allows both big cat species to thrive.
Polar bears spend so much time in the water that many scientists consider them to be marine mammals. But when ice and snow are scant, they spend time inland—like this individual sleeping in a patch of fireweed near Churchill, Manitoba, in summertime.
After darting a baboon in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, researchers with the Amboseli Baboon Research Project took measurements and samples of the animal’s blood, fluid, and skin, then released it unharmed.
A two-spot wrasse and a cornetfish swim through a colony of garden eels about two-thirds the size of a football field on a sandy slope near Negros Island, Philippines. Social but shy, they vanish into their holes when disturbed.
In San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, raccoons stand upright following the arrival of a resident who regularly feeds them—despite laws against the practice. Raccoons that become reliant on human food are more likely to spread disease and get hit by cars.
A blacktip reef shark traverses a mangrove forest of Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, which serves as both a nursery and hunting ground for many marine species. The island hosts one of the healthiest inshore shark populations in the Indian Ocean.
A young lynx is photographed by camera trap at an abandoned farm. In 2002 fewer than a hundred of these animals survived in the wild. Since then, the population has grown tenfold, with at least 1,100 animals scattered across Spain and Portugal.
A man offers a baby three-toed sloth for sale to passersby on a highway in Altos de Polonia, in northwestern Colombia. The town is one of several hot spots in the region for the illegal sloth trade. (From “A notorious sloth cartel kingpin vanished—We tried to find him,” January 11, 2022.)
From National Geographic.
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