It's common knowledge that orcas and great white sharks are two of the scariest and most vicious oceanic predators, both fairly evenly matched in terms of size, speed and ferocity.

What we don't always know is which one of the two savage predators would win in a fight, because depending on the circumstances it's pretty much a toss-up.

But a recent discovery on the shores of South Africa's Western Cape province proves once and for all why orcas would win- because they're smart and precise killers, like Jack the Rippers of the sea:

The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, is considered the most voracious apex predator in temperate marine ecosystems worldwide, playing a key role in controlling ecosystem dynamics.

As a result, it is difficult to imagine a great white as prey. And yet, earlier this year the carcasses of five great whites washed ashore along South Africa’s Western Cape province. Ranging in size from 2.7 metres (9ft) to 4.9 metres (16ft), the two females and three males all had one thing in common: holes puncturing the muscle wall between the pectoral fins. Strangest of all, their livers were missing.

The bite marks inflicted, together with confirmed sightings indicate that orcas, Orcinus orca, were responsible for this precisely-targeted predation.

The diet of orcas is often geographic or population specific. Those populations predating in South African waters have been documented targeting smaller shark species for their livers. Cow sharks, blues and makos caught on longlines have had their livers removed by orcas, alongside the brains of the billfish also caught. Cow shark carcasses without livers have also washed ashore near Cape Town, and again, this followed nearby orca sightings.

With no doubt that orcas are using highly specialised hunting strategies to target the liver; the real question is: why?

Read more about Orcas Vs. Great White Sharks at The Guardian

Look, it's another excuse to look at cat pictures! Academia Obscura is launching their annual search for great images in five CATegories: Academics and their Cats, Writing, Outreach, Teaching, and a bonus category, Academics Without Cats! (meaning other animals).

Just casually reading “Musicophilia” with my bestie #AcademicsWithCats pic.twitter.com/IsygznZAMf

— Anna Baglione (@AnnaBaglione) November 25, 2017

Read about the competition at Academia Obscura, and check out the submissions so far at Twitter under the hashtag #academicswithcats.

Not sure about my new grant writing assistant... #AcademicsWithCats pic.twitter.com/FJmftJ652q

— Nikki Botting (@NicolaBotting) November 25, 2017

The contest only launched today, so you'll need to check back between now and December 2, when submissions close. Winners will be announced the week of December 11. -via Metafilter

Tales of demon dogs and werewolves aren't the only supernatural beliefs about dogs. Our beloved pets have been imbued with benign or beneficial powers since they were first domesticated. And it makes sense- they have uncanny abilities to sense our moods, fulfill our desires, protect us, and make us feel better. Some of them are even considered a gift from the unknown.  

In Wales, for example, Pembroke Welsh corgis were once believed to have originated with the fairy folk. According to legend, a Welsh farmer’s children found two corgi puppies in a hollow. They were tailless with short legs, foxy faces, and gleaming golden coats with peculiar markings. Upon bringing them home, the children’s father recognized them at once for exactly what they were. In the 1997 book The Mythology of Dogs, Gerald and Loretta Hausman report that the farmer declared “surely, these are the gifts of the fairy folk.” He went on to explain to his children that corgis—also known as “fairy heelers”—were kept by the fairies in the manner of livestock and that the fairies:

    “Made them work the fairy cattle
    Made them pull the fairy coaches
    Made them steeds for fairy riders
    Made them fairy children’s playmates
    Kept them hidden in the mountains
    Kept them shadowed in the lee
    Lest the eye of mortal man see.”

According to folklore, dogs can also heal the sick, see ghosts, and great wishes. Read about these old tales at #FolkloreThursday.  -via Strange Company

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Many people like to go out the day after Thanksgiving and grab their Christmas tree, so they have a full month to enjoy it before unceremoniously chucking it in the trash the day after Christmas.

But the problem with having your tree up for that long is your pets have a full month to plot how they're going to climb, shred, pee on or otherwise ruin your beautiful tree, leaving you with a new project- protect the tree from your a-hole pets.

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Sometimes a simple fear-based deterrent will work, like surrounding your tree with vacuum cleaners (preferably ones that are plugged in and ready to go), but depending on the pet you may have to go to extremes to protect your tree.

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See 15+ Genius People Who Found A Way To Protect Their Christmas Trees From Cats And Dogs here

When a hungry bear sets his mind to stealing food from humans he doesn't give up until he gets it, a fact to which campers who have woken up to find their food supply devoured can attest.

Because bears are so keen to raid our coolers, freezers and trash cans companies now make products they claim are bear proof, but how do we know they'll actually live up to their claim?

Well, the makers of the bear-proof trash can featured in this footage shot by a homeowner in Monrovia, California can use the video to show their product in action- and prove even three bears working together can't crack it open!

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-Via BuzzAnything

At first glance, you'd think that these dogs recognize one of their own kind. Boy, will they be disappointed when he takes that mask off!

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But no, in this video from Sakon Nakhon, Thailand, the pack of dogs recognizes the man underneath. It's their owner, and they are giving him their customary enthusiastic greeting as he returns home from work. It's very possible, though, that they appreciate his attempts at fitting in with them. -via Tastefully Offensive

The following is an article from The Annals of Improbable Research, now in all-pdf form. Get a subscription now for only $25 a year!

Cat- and dog-centric research
compiled by Leslie Muchmore, Improbable Research staff

(Image credit: Claudio Matsuoka)

Cats and a String
“Domestic Cats (Felis catus) Do Not Show Causal Understanding in a String-Pulling Task,” Emma Whitt, Marie Douglas, Britta Osthaus, and Ian Hocking, Animal Cognition, vol. 12, no. 5, September 2009, pp. 739-743. The authors, at the University of Nottingham, UK, report:

This study explored how domestic cats perform in a horizontal string-pulling task to determine whether they understand this case of physical causality. Fifteen cats were tested on their ability to retrieve an unreachable food treat in three different set-ups: (a) a single baited string, (b) two parallel strings where only one was baited and (c) two crossed strings where only one was baited. All cats succeeded at pulling a single string to obtain a treat, but none consistently chose the correct string when two strings were parallel. When tested with two crossed strings one cat chose the wrong string consistently and all others performed at chance level. There was no evidence that cats understand the function of the strings or their physical causality.
 

Classify Dogs’ Facial Expressions from Photographs
“Classifying Dogs’ (Canis familiaris) Facial Expressions from Photographs,” Tina Bloom and Harris Friedman, Behavioural Processes, vol. 96, 2013, pp. 1-10. The authors, at the State Correctional Institute, Marienville, Pennsylvania and Walden University, Florida, report:

Have you ever wondered where your dog would go, and what they would do, if they were let off the leash for a day and allowed to roam freely around the city?

If you adopted a stray dog then your pooch probably knows the neighborhood around your property pretty well, since strays don't lose their drive to roam, but where exactly would they go?

A Japanese woman named Keiko from Shirahama prefecture wondered why her adopted dog Sacchan had become curiously fat, hearing reports from neighbors who'd seen Sacchan at the train station and the supermarket.

So she wrote a letter to a Japanese TV show asking them to help her solve the mystery of what Sacchan does all day, but their investigation hit quite a few snags since Sacchan was on to their little scheme.

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-Via Providr

We know you are crazy for cats, but have you ever considered designating a room in your home as a playroom for your kitties? Lots of people do this, especially folks who have more rooms than they currently need. And there is no shortage of vendors who will sell you amazing climbing, hiding, and chasing contraptions for your cat. Or you could custom-build them yourself. Check out a collection of 18 rooms designed for the pleasure of cats at I Can has Cheezburger. -Thanks, hearsetrax!  

Jayne, the proprietor of the Etsy shop likekittysville sells cat accessories like beds you can hang on a wall. She also was kind enough to post the instructions for making the marvelous climbable Christmas tree she designed a few years ago that will bring your cats joy for many holidays to come. Jayne talked about how the idea came about:

“For years I’ve missed using my vintage aluminum Christmas tree, but don’t miss the kitty havoc that was decimating the tree and its vintage ornaments. I wanted a tree that’s not just cat-proof but cat-inviting. This tree has a Jetsons space-age look but is quite practical. It can be climbed but not knocked over. It can hold gifts, which saves floor space. The ornaments are cheap and easily replaced.”

It's six feet tall, and folds flat for storage until next Christmas. -via a comment at Fark

Colin J. Carlson‏ is a biologist, but he's not an expert on foxes. Still, he decided to make a list of foxes and rate them with letter grades for their "weirdness" in a Twitter thread. As you go through it, you'll see that the grades are quite arbitrary, but the description of each fox is delightful, and so are the pictures. Shown above is a Blandford's fox, which has a tail that doesn't quit. Carlson posted about all the foxes he could think of, and then people started suggesting others. He was kind enough to continue the project to include them.

tibetan sand fox (vulpes ferrilata)
• cubism is alive and well
• these eyes see into your soul
• a truly weird and unnerving fox design
• grade: A pic.twitter.com/rZMyh8zdlI

— Colin J Carlson (@ColinJCarlson) November 12, 2017

See all the weird fox species at Thread Reader or in the original Twitter thread with all the replies. -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Eyal Bartov)

Photographer Hiroyuki Hisakata captures images of cats showing off their best ninja moves. They aren't even his cats, so how does he get them to model for him? Hisakata takes the time to make friends with colonies of stray cats away from threatening crowds.

Although he’s based in Kyushu, Hisakata keeps his locations top secret. He often shoots in the evening, and with his bag full of toys, plays with the cats while shooting them with his camera. The results are humorous and playful, and have been compiled into two different photobooks: one featuring adult cats and the other featuring kittens.

Get a cat (or two or a hundred) to trust you, and they'll let you have fun with them. See a collection of Hisakata's ninja cats at Spoon & Tamago, and follow him on Twitter for more.  -via Swiss Miss

Something gives me the idea that whoever owns this cockatiel is a Queen fan. MAY-cyan perches on the arm of a Freddie Mercury figurine while whistling "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Radio Gaga."

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YouTuber MrsStr1 has a couple of other videos of MAY-cyan singing Queen songs in his channel. We'll have to check in again to see if he learns to whistle "Bohemian Rhapsody." -via Laughing Squid

Baby animals are just like human babies in that they need plenty of attention and affection, and if they don't get it they let the nearest adult know at the top of their lungs, but most babies aren't as needy as Daisy the kitten.

Daisy may look like an ordinary orange tabby kitten but she's actually an attention seeking pet-aholic, and every time her owners stop holding her, petting her or playing with her she meows loudly, acting like a dramapuss.

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-Via Tastefully Offensive

Kitties get more wound up than a toddler hopped up on cola and pixie sticks, and they play in a much weirder way than most kids because they're bloodthirsty predators we've allowed to live in our homes.

Case in point- Cat Man Chris' frisky kitty Marmalade likes to let his hunting instincts run wild in the house whenever he spots a pair of Chris' shorts.

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Yep, just a video full of clips of Marmalade attacking shorts in an adorable way, what were you expecting?