Fun stuff -- word related or not, ramblings, junk, whatever.

[bionicflutist]

Did you hear about the midget psychic who escaped from prison?
He was a small medium at large.


Energizer Bunny arrested. Charged with battery.


What do you call a fish with no eyes?
Fsh.

[BoredInTheCar]

An old joke for word lovers: Did you hear the one about the insomniac dyslexic agnostic?

He lay awake at night, wondering if there really is a dog.

[floppers]

We have so much stuff that could kill you...I added a (very) lil bit of rabies out of patriotism (?). I included the (very) big squirrel, so Russ felt better about his centipede/chipmunk size issues. We don't have chipmunks, squirrels, or bears (or rabies for that matter, even at low percentages), or skunks either.

Sometimes people get possums down their chimneys (there is an earlier thread discussing the difference between possums and opussums), and sooty possums inside houses are (very) not good.

[JedMedGrey]

I opened this thread to share fun stuff, like meeting new & interesting people at a potluck, watching the 3-yr-old daughter of a friend learning to play cornhole, seeing the first monarch butterfly of the season, laughing and joking with friends as we process LOTS of vegetables to freeze and pickle for a local co-op, but I could not pass up squirrels getting blamed for carrying rabies.

[JedMedGrey]

hmm - squirrels and other rodents typically do not get rabies. In fact, of 21,977 squirrels submitted and tested for rabies in the USA from 1995 - 2010, only 9 (0.04%) were positive. It is so rare that CDC and state public health departments do not routinely recommend getting anti-rabies treatment if you are bitten or scratched by a small rodent, even in areas that routinely have rabies in other species (raccoons, skunks, foxes). In the mid-Atlantic states, where raccoon rabies has been present since 1970s and at high levels for much of that time, less than 2% of the cases in the 1990s occurred in rodents, and woodchucks account for 93% of those. The trend remains the same today. In 2019, for example, of 4690 cases in both domestic animals and wildlife, only 40 cases were founds in rodents, and 38 of those were in woodchucks (eastern U.S. from northeast Georgia to Maine); the other two were in a beaver (in Virginia where, of 385 cases in wildlife, 6 were in woodchucks) and a squirrel (Louisiana, in an area with skunk rabies). This makes some sense, as woodchucks are fairly large and will defend their burrows from a rabid raccoon or skunk that is seeking shelter. A squirrel will just climb a tree. (My best friend used to be a wildlife epidemiologist and knows far too many arcane statistics and how to find information.)

So, if you live in an area that has high levels of raccoon or skunk rabies, and has woodchucks, you probably should consider treatment if bitten or scratched by a woodchuck. Otherwise, don't worry about the squirrel or chipmunk or deer mouse your cat turns loose in the house. When ours turns a chipmunk loose in the house, we shut the dog in the bedroom, block the hallway with a baby gate and open both the front and back doors. They usually find their way out within an hour. Mice - - - that is a different story. By the way - the earliest dated reference to the bear/bird feeder photo I have found is 2005, in Western Hunter, where it is said to be from Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

[floppers]

Chipmunks! Like Chip'n Dale! do they have rabies like squirrels?

[RussDNails]

Believe it or not the midwest--Ohio to be exact...........didn't know we had Discovery channel-sized insects out here!

I coulda put a leash on this sucker but figured I should probably squish it quick. Made quite the mess, will likely be telling this to a therapist soon.


We have a pretty good sized chipmunk colony in our yard/under the house and occasionally one makes its way inside--I thought the centipede was a chipmunk at first, it was that big and I'm like "here we go again". Nothing like trying to get a chipmunk out of your living room. They're like little lightning bolts......

[floppers]

I'm sitting here at 4am playing Wordtwist and a centipede the size of a small cat just ran right under my feet. I swear to god my heart stopped for a few seconds, I'm like "what the hell was that"......ran it down and mashed it good........

where in goodness gracious do you live, that you have centipedes that big????

I have a lovely knee scar from flying over the top of a thoroughbred ex-racer, named Ben, who pigrooted when a rat the size of a largeish cat ran across the trail...but a centipede? that's freaky...

[RussDNails]

I'm sitting here at 4am playing Wordtwist and a centipede the size of a small cat just ran right under my feet. I swear to god my heart stopped for a few seconds, I'm like "what the hell was that"......ran it down and mashed it good........

[bwt1213]

When I was a kid, there was something called "Tom Swifties". Some examples will give you the idea:
"That shark took off both arms below the elbow," Tom said, off-handedly.
"The turtle beat the hare," Tom said, slowly.
"Sugar, honey, or treacle?" Tom asked, sweetly.
"The 747 has crashed," Tom explained.
"Throw the letters away," Tom said dismissively.

Come on. You have more and better. And if you want to talk about the kids or the volume of weeds in your yard or the heat and humidity, this is the place. And don't forget the bugs.