Animals
Goats Need to Climb
Goats are extremely curious animals and great climbers, known for their ability to climb and hold their balance in the most precarious places. Moroccan goats climb the Argan trees to eat argo nuts and Alpine ibex cling to a near-vertical rock face of a northern Italian dam to lick salts. When Charles Back brought goats to his Fairview Cheese and Wine Farm at Fairview in South Africa, he feared that the goats would miss the vertical aspect of their natural habitat in the flat yard of his farm house. So he decided to build a tower for the goats.
The goat tower is basically a multi-story tower built out of brick and mortar with a spiral wooden ramp on the outside leading up to the top. The tower includes windows with shallow floors so the animals can shelter inside in their own ‘rooms’. Since its creation in 1981 the tower has become the most identifiable symbol of Fairview Wine and Cheese.
The first goat tower was built by Fernando Guedes da Silva da Fonseca (1871-1946) at Aveleda, one of the oldest and most famous wineries in the Vinho Verde region of Portugal. The one at Fairview is the second, and now copies of the original have started appearing elsewhere around the world. There are now known goat towers at Ekeby Farm in Moss Norway, at a bar in Memphis, Tennessee called “Silky O’Sullivan”, and the “Tower of Baaa” in Findlay, Illinois.
The “Tower of Baaa”, built in 1998, is reportedly the highest goat tower in existence with a height of 9.5 meters and diameter of about 2.1 meters. Its 276 spiral shaped concrete steps allow the goats to climb up and down with ease passing each other on the ramp.
From Kaushik
Australian Wild Pig Drinks 18 Beers, Gets in Fight with Cow
A feral pig ransacked a campsite and drank at least 18 cans cans of beer before getting into an altercation with a cow in Australia.
The incident, which happened in a remote area of Western Australia at the DeGray River rest area, prompted officials to warn campers to keep their food and alcohol secure.
The wild pig was seen around the campsite for several days last week, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported, citing officials who said the animal got into multiple six-packs of beer over the course of a few days.
Fionna Findley, from the government highway division Main Roads, told ABC that the people camping overnight at the rest area said that “the pig stole their beers, drank them and then afterwards proceeded to tear apart the bin liners.”
“We just want to remind everyone when you do pull over, make sure [your food and alcohol] is securely stored because there are a lot of animals out there that are keen for a free feed.”
One camper who reportedly spoke with the affected campers told ABC that the pig got into 18 beers, ransacked the campsite’s garbage bins and got into a fight with a cow.
The camper, who was only identified as Merida, said “there was some other people camped right on the river and they saw him running around their vehicle being chased by a cow.
“It was going around and around and then it went into the river and swam across to the middle of the river.”
Findley told ABC that that her crews are not equipped to deal with wild pigs, especially if they are drunk.
The pig was last seen lying beneath a tree, potentially nursing a hangover.
Natureworldnews.com
Impatient Dogs Honking Horns
Master, what the hell is taking you so long? I’m hungry.
This one is honking and howling at the same time.
Those Darn Cats
Happy Family
The Flying Rays
Mobula is a genus of ray in the family Myliobatidae (eagle rays). Their appearance is similar to that of manta rays, which are in the same family. Species of this genera are often collectively referred to as “flying mobula” or simply “flying rays”, due to their propensity for breaching, sometimes in a spectacular manner. The devil fish can attain a disc width of up to 5.2 m (17 ft) and can probably weigh over a ton, second only to the Manta species in size. Despite their size, little is known about this genus, much of it being from anecdotal accounts.
Top Secret movie ”cow/bull scenes”
Top Secret is a relatively unknown comedy film made in 1984. It stars Val Kilmer in his first feature role. In my humble opinion it is one of the funniest movies I have ever watched. The film was made by the ZAZ trio, David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker. These fellows made Airplane and the Naked Gun series.
The humour in Top Secret is very much the same as in those other movies. Cornball jokes, misinterpretation amongst characters and cockamamie situations. But there is one scene in Top Secret that should go down as one of the greatest humour sequences in film. The “Cow Scene.”
A Real Battle of the Planet of the Apes
Wild monkeys have overrun a region of India and frustrated residents are taking to the streets demanding that the government put an end to the simian invasion.
Once quiet communities have been transformed into veritable warzones worthy of the Planet of the Apes films due to mobs of monkeys that are becoming increasingly brazen in their quest for food and territory.
The Indian city of Almora and an astounding 24 surrounding villages have been enveloped by the monkey menace in recent weeks, leading to mass protests about the problem.
“Monkeys have made our lives hell,” one exasperated protestor told the Hindustan Times, claiming that people cannot leave anything of value outside their home lest it be taken by the sticky-fingered simians.
Irate residents also say that their houses are being swarmed by the creatures, children are afraid to walk down the street alone, and people are staying inside their homes during the daytime to avoid running into the marauding monkeys.
While some may suspect that the furor over the monkeys is overblown, the stunning number of alleged attacks by the creatures suggest that is far from the case.
Organizers of the protest alleged that an area hospital has been treating a staggering ten people per day for monkey bites and that a similar number of daily incidents simply go unreported.
And so, with nowhere else to turn, over two hundred residents have committed to a two-week-long protest that they say will amplify into a hunger strike if the Indian government does not help them stop the monkeys.
Fortunately, there may be an unlikely solution in sight as the area has seen a recent uptick in leopard attacks which wildlife officials are also being asked to thwart.
Should the leopards set their sights on the simian surplus, the Almora area could finally find themselves free from their nightmare, although they’d eventually have to find a way to fend off the ferocious felines once they’re done feasting on monkeys.
Hindustan Times
The MarkoZen Blog 