Saturday, February 19, 2011
News from the Animal Kingdom
Okay, here's the question of the day. Would you rather . . .
A. Provide a nightly feast for malaria-carrying mosquitoes?
or . . .
B. Live in a house that reeks of smelly socks--and share those quarters with the beast shown above?
Believe it or not, this may soon be a question that millions of people will be answering. Scientists have discovered that the mosquito-eating East-African jumping spider (above) is attracted by the odor of stinky socks. People who invite a few of these lovely arachnids into their homes may run a lower risk of contracting malaria. (I'm gonna have to think about this one. I have a real problem with spiders.) Read more here.
Next up . . . Australians are being warned to be on the look-out for cassowaries--giant (six foot tall) birds that can kill a person with a single kick. Their habitat was destroyed by a cyclone, and now the birds are wandering into human territory. Yikes! You Australians have really had a tough time of it lately!
One more question. Would you rather . . .
A. Have your home swallowed by a voracious vine?
or . . .
B. Have it invaded by stinky bugs?
If you live in the Southeastern US, you might not have a choice in the matter. More here. Come to think of it, another kind of stink bug has invaded Brooklyn. What's going on here?!?
And finally, I give you blanket octopus!!! This rarely-seen creature was snapped off the coast of Florida recently. Beautiful--and kind of terrifying.
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9 comments:
Stink bugs.. Their presence still haunts us now...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TVPYf9Rlhw
AMAZING CLIP of the blanket octopus. Just beautifuk
Back in the 1980's I was hearing from people who'd been in Papua New Guinea that Cassowary birds sound silly, but they're genuine feathered killers.
Robert in San Diego
Right, now how do I work a blanket octapus into a 250 word long romance?
Robert in San Diego
Blanket Octopus???? the hey??? Where are they eyes, even??
Wow, blanket octopi are cool. I just wonder how they're immune to the jellyfish and if research of that can help humans somehow... As for the spiders, thank you for sharing that. If I ever go to East Africa, I know to take my brother wth me.
Ok. Let's see.
1) Definitely catch malaria. Anything over spiders.
2) Cassowaries creep me out. Alot. But thankfully, I haven't seen one outside of the zoo. But that's still bizarre. Thank god i don't live in Queensland.
3) Easily have my home swallowed by a vine. I hate bugs. Alot.
4) And lastly, that octopus is so cool!!! I wish I could see one. Behind a glass wall, of course XD
I like giant squids better ;D
cool animals!
The animal world is awesome
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