August 2002
Pet prarie dogs might carry rare disease
Posted by MelSkunk on Fri 9 Aug 2002 - 09:38Baby prarie dogs have become increasingly common in the last year or two in pet stores as the latest exotic pet. Though some are raised in captivity, many are still removed from the wild to meet the demand and also to help turn PD-ridden fields into profit.
The Center for Disease Control is concerned that an outbreak of the rare but potentially fatal if untreated tularemia, or 'rabbit fever' could be spread through the animals after the deaths of wild caught animals at a Texas facility were traced to tularemia.
Prarie dogs from that distributor have been sent across the United States and overseas, so the CDC cautions anyone handling sick or dead prarie dogs in the last few weeks contact their local health department to determine if treatment is nessisary. Tularemia is very rare in the US and is usually caught by people handling wild rabbits. It is not trasmitted from humans to humans.
Rat-morph stars in new noir animated series
Posted by Teko on Mon 12 Aug 2002 - 06:01Based on their comic book, the Huja Bros. are developing a stylish, detective-noir series for Touchstone and UPN called Rat Bastard. A clip can be seen here. Their next project: an animated Pam Anderson as "Stripperella", produced by Stan Lee, who says, "If they can make a rat look good, just think what they can do to Pam!"
FurNation is under heavy construction!
Posted by SYSTEM on Tue 13 Aug 2002 - 14:16The FurNation system is undergoing a change and upgrade right now. The front end is complete and now we are working on the backend engines that will provide all the new services we will offer.
We just added a newsfeed from Flayrah.com to the front page. Pretty cool! I couldn't be more happy that Flayrah exists, as it is one of the best sources of furry related news in the universe!
Pittsfurgh Fall Fur-b-que! 10/12-13/02
Posted by Anon on Tue 13 Aug 2002 - 14:17Hello everyfur!
Well, here in Pittsfurgh we furs like to howl in the Summer and howl it out in the Autumn with a bi-annual furry meet at the Foxes' Den in Aspinwall, PA!
This year is no different and the Fall Fur-b-que will be held Columbus Day weekend October 12th & 13th.
Rabbits make archaeological discovery
Posted by MelSkunk on Tue 13 Aug 2002 - 16:33A bunch of renovating bunnies in the UK have been cleaning house in their warren, and in the process have kicked out pieces of a 14th century manor house window. The original manor was demolished in the 15th century when the owners built a new house and found the old one blocked the view. Protecting the artifacts for the future could mean the rabbits might be out of house and home.
What is your favorite furry-related website?
Posted by Anon on Tue 13 Aug 2002 - 18:20Zebra joins California commute
Posted by Feren on Tue 13 Aug 2002 - 23:07According to this article on a California TV station's website, a zebra helped make rush hour in San Luis Obispo, CA just a little bit stranger on Tuesday. A link is provided within the article to a video of the rogue zebra on the freeways.
He probably beat most people on the roads to their destinations, too.
Burned Fur website is no more
Posted by Feren on Tue 13 Aug 2002 - 23:07With the apparent disbanding of Burned Fur, the registration of the domain "burnedfur.com" was allowed to lapse. The domain was snapped up on August 7th by one of the numerous cybersquatting companies out on the 'net and turned into a site peddling the usual pornography seen in other such cases.
If you've got a link to www.burnedfur.com on your site you probably will want to remove it at this point. Nothing to see here, move along, move along...
How to upstage an awards ceremony in three easy steps...
Posted by Feren on Tue 13 Aug 2002 - 23:071)Attend ceremony
2)Become overwhelmed by cute lobsters
3)Grab them from the pot before they're boiled and run down the driveway shouting "I'm saving the lobsters, I'm saving the lobsters!"
Buy Huzzah! (and other titles) direct...
Posted by Feren on Tue 13 Aug 2002 - 23:08Taken from alt.fan.furry....
From: Dwight J. Dutton ([email protected])
Subject: You can buy Huzzah! direct from us again
Newsgroups: alt.fan.furry
Since Roz & I will not be represented at another convention for almost a
half a year, we finally set up the "e-commerce" site.
Edible crayons might be new market for soy
Posted by MelSkunk on Wed 14 Aug 2002 - 07:05There's a lot of soy in the world. So besides creating adhesives, heavy metal filters and biofuel, we can enjoy a future of edible crayons. No, just because you ate them when you were four doesn't make the old wax ones edible. The perfect tool for the starving artist!
Chimps in Uganda take up arms - The Wife Beaters of Kibale
Posted by Anon on Wed 14 Aug 2002 - 08:01From Time.com: "Until now, devising tools to inflict pain and death seemed to be something only humans did. To be sure, lots of animals use tools. Sea otters employ rocks to crack open shellfish. Crows in New Caledonia extract insects from foliage with twigs—or even bent wire—held in their beaks. Chimps will use sticks and stones for all sorts of purposes, including flailing and throwing them to impress rivals. But for all the theatrics of these so-called threat displays, no one before now had ever seen an ape use a stick to beat another ape."
"There are sound evolutionary reasons for this. Predators don't need weapons; they are weapons. During internecine wars, chimps will rip one another apart with their teeth and hands. Indeed, a good deal of evolutionary ingenuity has gone into the development of greeting and submission rituals to ward off lethal aggression."