I don’t follow the animal kingdom news quite the way KingDavid does but a couple of stories have caught my eye. I’ve really been pressed for time the last couple of days but here are some quick takes:
Mmmm, tastes like…chicken
A farmer in India has discovered that the mysterious predator eating his chickens was one of his very own cows. This may be a breakthrough in bovine cuisine. I’ve sometimes wondered who the first person was to eat an oyster, and how much trial and error went into that process (shell on or shell off, I can’t fathom what would make someone think of putting these in his mouth.) This carnivorous cow may be opening up new food frontiers for its kind; perhaps no cow has ever looked up from her clover and thistles before and thought, “I’d like a drumstick!” We’ll probably never know the reason for this sudden change in diet (maybe this cow is the reincarnation of Col. Sanders?), but what really puzzles me is how the cow caught its prey in the first place.
Chickens are quick and agile; does the cow run down its prey like a cheetah, or is it an “ambush” predator like a crocodile? Either one conjures some images my mind isn’t quite ready for.
Coyote union protesting unsafe conditions?
Coyotes have been causing problems at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, diverting flights by running out onto the runways. It’s not a recent phenomenon either, as the FAA says planes have hit coyotes at Illinois airports 26 times since 1990. I’ve never pictured Abraham Lincoln or Richard Daly bedding down for the night to the mournful sound of coyotes howling at the moon, but I’m not shocked to learn there are coyotes in Chicago. Anyone who has traveled knows it’s next to impossible to get across the midwest without getting sucked into O’Hare. Given that it’s Chicago, what would surprise me is if these coyotes weren’t already unionized. Perhaps these incidents aren’t about animals randomly running out on the tarmac, but a picket line? I also think it might warrant a closer look at the voter-registration rolls over the past ten years.
Update:
Ooops! I see that KingDavid is already on these stories. Oh well, warped great minds think alike.
I have to admit; the thought about how the cow catches them never crossed my mind–that is an interesting thought. My guess is that the cow would put himself into a yoga position and simply hold it, maybe it looked like Buddha. Then, an unsuspecting chicken would just wander by, not noticing the cow in it’s statue-like state, and wham, the cow would strike with the ferocity of a cobra. Either that or they just have really slow chickens in India.