[thenightwriterblog] The Night Writer: They're animals!

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Posted by The Night Writer:
They're animals!
http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1173383962.shtml


   I don't follow the animal kingdom news quite the way [1]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:
   [2]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.
   [3]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
   their 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.

References

   1. http://www.thefarwright.blogspot.com/
   2. http://www.startribune.com/484/story/1040523.html
   3. http://www.startribune.com/484/story/1041121.html