The Chile Pepper Institute of New Mexico State University has made it official: the bhut jolokia, or “ghost pepper” from Assam state in India is the world’s hottest chile pepper. The spiciness of a chile pepper is measured by its capsaicin content, expressed in Scoville units. For example, your average jalapeno measures in the range …
OvoControl P
Reid spotted this one at LAT: Hollywood turns to birth control to clean up its (pigeons’) act. Francisco Vara-Orta writes, “Eager to reduce the neighborhood pigeon population and the mess that comes with it, Hollywood residents appear ready to try a new birth control method on their wild birds. “Beginning within the next couple of …
Endless act of transference
Thanks both to Mary and Reid for forwarding this NYT editorial by Verlyn Klinkenborg, Should Most Pet Owners Be Required to Neuter Their Animals? (subtitled: “When it comes to pets, Americans are lost in a seemingly endless act of transference.”) “…the opponents of mandatory neutering make it sound as though the problem can be solved …
Breeding Like Rabbits?
Trivia: China claims to have cloned the first rabbit from fetal cells (evidently the French cloned a rabbit earlier from adult cells). It should be noted that this is NOT the easiest way to breed rabbits. I was warming up for a tirade on the evils of cloning. My point was not to be that …
Jumbo Squid Invade California
Jumbo squid that can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 110 pounds are invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations. I think we should look on the bright side – calamari anyone?
‘Roos
The result of a lawsuit brought by an animals rights group against athletic shoe maker Adidas, has been the confirmation by the California Supreme Court of a state law that bans the use of kangaroo hide for shoe manufacture. Kangaroo leather is apparently favored by soccer players for their shoes. Australians are puzzled by this. …
Another Significant Cultural Event
A Miraculous Birth
Today’s Denver Post tells us of an unusual event that took place on a ranch near Colbran in western Colorado. Kate, a “molly” or female mule, has given birth to a healthy female foal. Mules are officially sterile hybrids from the mating of a female horse and a male donkey. But very rarely they do …
Brave Dog
The Denver Post tells us that a five-pound Chihuahua in Masonville, Colorado fought off a rattlesnake to keep a one year-old toddler from being bitten. Zoey the Chihuahua sustained bites herself, but survived. What’s that old saying – it’s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in …
Some Soviet Planes
I mentioned in an earlier post that for some years I had worked in jobs in aerospace and aviation. In one of those positions I worked at a flight test facility at the Mojave Airport in southern California. My employer manufactured jet engines. Engines that needed to be tested for FAA certification were shipped out …