In 1764 something began hunting and killing humans in the Gevaudan, now the department of Lozere.  There were an estimated 210 attacks, with 113 dead and about 49 injured.  One will note the ratio of dead to wounded.  About 98 of those killed were eaten.  This statue of Marie-Jeanne Valet by Philip Kaeppelin sums up the whole thing quite nicely. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/marie-jeanne-valet-vs-the-beast-of-gevaudan It did not look like this. Or this. And it sure did not look like this terrifying image from the movie Brotherhood of the Wolf, which was most enjoyable, entertaining, and historically accurate with the general look of the whole thing. Some of the pictures drawn at the time do resemble this thing. See what I mean? This is what the beast looked like.  No, perhaps not.  It is now thought that the beast was a lion, which would explain a lot.  It could have esc...

Mother is so strict. Me,.. .I wouldn't harm a fly.

Moonrabbits are a curse upon the world.  These vicious and solitary killers are the only carnivorous lagomorphs known.  A single moonrabbit would terrorize an entire county in the pre-firearm age, and they delight in combat and bloodletting.   Moonrabbits are nocturnal and have a marked sensitivity to light.  They avoid each other and only associate with their own kind to mate.  They are very advanced technically and have been known to fashion steel weapons.  It is believed that some are literate. Attempts have been made to lure them into military service, but the certainty of them killing their fellow soldiers has made this a futile effort.  Because of their nightime activities they are also known as dream rabbits, bloodfurs, and nosbunniculu. A moonrabbit will almost never ignore a challenge and many have been eliminated by ambush in this manner.  A common trapping method uses the ancient technique of tarbaby provoca...

  Imray achieved the impossible. Without warning, for no conceivable motive, in his youth, at the threshold of his career he chose to disappear from the world---which is to say, the little Indian station where he lived. Upon a day he was alive, well, happy, and in great evidence among the billiard-tables at his Club. Upon a morning, he was not, and no manner of search could make sure where he might be. He had stepped out of his place; he had not appeared at his office at the proper time, and his dogcart was not upon the public roads. For these reasons, and because he was hampering, in a microscopical degree, the administration of the Indian Empire, that Empire paused for one microscopical moment to make inquiry into the fate of Imray. Ponds were dragged, wells were plumbed, telegrams were despatched down the lines of railways and to the nearest seaport town-twelve hundred miles away; but Imray was not at the end of the drag-ropes nor the telegraph wires. He was gone, and his place ...

The cymbals crash, And the dancers walk, With long white stockings And arms of chalk, Butterfly skirts, And white breasts bare, And shadows of dead men Watching ’em there. Shadows of dead men Stand by the wall, Watching the fun Of the Victory Ball. They do not reproach, Because they know, If they’re forgotten It’s better so. Under the dancing Feet are the graves Dazzle and motley, In long white waves, Brushed by the palm-fronds Grapple and whirl Ox-eyed matron, And slim white girl. Fat wet bodies Go waddling by, Girdled with satin, Though God knows why: Gripped by satyrs In white and black. With a fat wet hand On the fat wet back. See, there’s one child Fresh from school, Learning the ropes As the old hands rule. God! how the dead men Chuckle again, As she begs for a dose Of the best cocaine. What do you think We should find”, said the shade, “When the last shot echoed And peace was made?” “Christ” laughed the Fleshless jaws of his friend, “I thought they’d be Praying for worlds to men...

 In April, 1958, a kid's book was published that caused some trouble in the State of Alabama.  The book was 'The Rabbit's Wedding', by the noted illustrator and one of the best artists ever Garth Williams.  (Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, The Rescuers). The alert reader will notice the black rabbit is black and the white one white.  Well, the state of Alabama noticed this also. The White Citizen's Council, led by State Senator E. O. Eddins, declared that the book encouraged miscegenation and wanted it removed from the shelves and burned. Picking on a kid's book sure was reaching. "This book and many others should be taken off the shelves and burned". Senator Eddins of Demopolis, Alabama.  Demopolis translates as village-citystate.  Eddins was a racist who had fought in France with the Marines in the Great War, so he was no coward.  I'm sure he was beloved by his constituency.  If anyone thinks that I am singli...

Saturday morning I watched this dolphin swim about in the bay in front of the house.  He's alone, they usually are seen pairs.  A Great Blue is in the foreground, wildly unconcerned.