Photo via Duo de Hale [Flickr]
A man in Kenya found his dog hadI'm somehow doubting the landlord will buy the old "my dog ate my rent money" story.
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Photo via Duo de Hale [Flickr]
A man in Kenya found his dog hadLast week, CNN took a trip through Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. In one of their clips, there seems to be a strange shadowy figure crossing the screen. While I'm reserving my judgment, I couldn't help but think you readers might have your own opinions on the subject. So, is it a ghost or merely an optical illusion?
Link Via News Bizarre
This is one well-trained pug puppy. Who needs a nanny when you can just have your baby and dog go out on a walk together?
Link Via I Has A Hot Dog
Image Via Timmy Toucan [Flickr]
But they used to be confused with them by early settlers. In fact, quite a few places named with the word ‘badger’ were actually supposed to be named for wombats. A few examples include Badger Creek, Victoria and Badger Corner Tasmania.Image Via Timmy Toucan [Flickr]
No, I’m not talking Sir Mix-a-Lot style, of course, he still might like the furry critters. But wombats really do have a big, strong butt. In fact, it’s their main form of defense. In the wild, both dingoes and Tasmanian devils prey on the creatures. Most of a wombat’s behind is made of cartilage, making it hard for the predator to bite through when attacking from the rear.Image Via Feverblue [Flickr]
When held in captivity, the creatures can be made somewhat tame and even may allow park and zoo visitors to pet or hold them. On the downside, this lack of fear makes them more aggressive than their wild counterparts. As a result, a lot of people have been attacked, bit and knocked over by scared or angry wombats. One naturalist, Harry Frauca, was bitten in the leg while wearing rubber boots, trousers and thick wool socks. Despite all this protection, the wombat’s strong jaws and sharp teeth managed to leave him with a wound 2 centimeters deep.Image Via Shami Chatterjee [Flickr]
Other than the whole attacking people for no reason thing, they seem to love being in zoos and parks. In the wild, these guys only have a life expectancy of five years. However, as captive animals, they have been known to live past 25. That’s five times as long of a life! It's surely partially due to a lack of predators, but they also live a lot more stress-free this way, which seems to have a big effect on the little guys. We should take a tip from them.You might know beans are delicious. You may even remember all the words of the schoolyard rhyme about them, but what else do you know about the fruit? Most people take beans for granted because they seem to be such a simple side dish, but there's a whole lot more to beans than you probably realized.
A Bean By Any Other Name
Because beans are grown all throughout the world, it’s common for certain species to have multiple names. In fact, at least 11 types of beans have four names or more and certain species like the fava bean and navy bean have over 10 names. Other names for the fava bean include broad bean, butter bean, Windsor bean, horse bean, English bean, fool, foul, ful, feve, faba, haba and habas. The navy bean is also known as Yankee bean, white pea bean, pearl haricot, Boston bean, Boston navy bean, pea bean, haricot blanc bean, small white bean, haricot bean and fagioli. You may have thought you never tried a type of bean and actually just heard one of its alternate names. Source
Beans Kick It Old School These fruits are one of the longest plants to be cultivated by humans. Broad beans have been planted and grown since at least ancient Egypt and common beans were harvested over six thousand years ago in the Americas. Most of the beans we eat fresh come from the Americas and were first discovered by Christopher Columbus. Source
They Really Are Somewhat Magical
Or at least, magical enough to be involved in folklore. There are multiple folk tales that involve magical beans growing all the way into the clouds –the most famous of these is, of course, Jack and The Beanstalk. There is also a Grimm’s fairytale that describes a bean that laughs at the failure of others so hard that its sides actually split open. Source
They’re Often Considered Lucky Multiple cultures associate eating or planting beans on certain days with good luck. Certain areas of Europe consider it to be lucky to plant beans on Good Friday. In Nicaragua, newly weds eat a bowl of beans for good luck. New Year’s Day involves a number of superstitions, in the Southern U.S., Malta, Brazil and Italy eating beans or lentils is considered to bring increased prosperity in the next year. Source
Attack of the Killer Beans
Certain beans, especially those that are red in color, contain harmful toxins that can only be removed through cooking. Strangely, eating these beans when they are undercooked may be more toxic than eating the beans raw. Sometimes the undercooked beans will still taste and smell fine though. The toxicity will usually not result in death, but in severe nausea and diarrhea. Source
Ever Wonder What Makes Them So ‘Musical?’ It’s widely known that beans and cabbage can make you fart. The reason is that many beans have the same sugar molecules found in cabbage. Because a certain enzyme that humans don’t have in their body is needed to digest these molecules, bacteria in the large intestine digest the sugar. This digestion produces increased gases as a byproduct. Soaking the beans in water for a few hours can help reduce this problem, so will the induction of certain other enzymes, like those found in Beano. Source
Hold the Beans Please
The followers of Pythagoras had a lot of dietary restrictions, on top of being vegetarian, they also refused to eat beans. The reason is unclear, but many people believe it was due to flatulence, while others believe it was because they look like female genitalia. The most commonly accepted reason though is that the beans and humans were said to be created from the same material. Source
What do you think this little guy is dreaming about? Feilds of food and fluffy bedding? Whatever it is, it certainly seems to be delicious and fun.
Link Via Cute Overload
For those of you who love animals in costumes, WebEcoist has a collection of 20 great pet cosumes. There's bunnies, kitties, doggies and more. I personally perfer the Harry Potter cat above. What's your favorite?