May 29, 2008

• paging caution live frogs! Interesting. Way bizarre. Mother Nature is weird.
• Huh?
• *cackles, falls over*
• "Their true function as defensive weapons only became clear when naturalists first described actually picking up and handling live animals. Doing so is a mistake, and anyone who makes it is punished with a series of deep, bleeding wounds inflicted by the struggling animal as it kicks out violently with its claws. The ability is well known to the people of Cameroon, who only ever hunt the frogs with machetes or spears." This speaks to a failure of communication between naturalists and the people of Cameroon. "In the X-Men movie, Wolverine, when asked if it hurts to pops his claws, answers, "Every time." One can't help but think that the same is true for the frogs." Or, since those claws are naturally a part of the frog, perhaps that part of the skin has fewer nerve endings or something.
• Ribbit, Bub.
• That's freakin' cool. I worked with African clawed frogs (Xenopus) but they just had little pointy toes. None of this "I slice you!" extendable retractable toe stuff. Now I just work with rodents. No retractable claws, but they do bite. At least the mice don't usually break the skin, but rats can definitely leave you with a puncture wound.
• I was bitten by a wild mouse once and it most certainly broke the skin.
• Well that right there is your problem. Wild mice. You have to work with the tame domesticated ones. The ones that are so sedate you almost feel bad for them, thinking "resist, damn it, show some spine!" Critters I did my dissertation work with are not much bigger than a mouse, but were only a few generations removed from wild-caught rodents. Those bastards could gnaw your fingers off in two seconds if you weren't wary.
• Well, don't boast about how tough you are in the face of these wussified lab mice, then! I've been bitten by *real* rodents. A warrior's rodent! I'm working up the scale, next week I'll be trying out getting bit by a whistlepig.
• Wild Mice?
• MonkeyFilter: Those bastards could gnaw your fingers off in two seconds And smile when they do it!
• “Hey, can I ask you something? Why do human children dissect us?”
• Frog All Lit Up by Swallowed Christmas Light
• Rib-Popping Newt is the Amphibious Answer to Wolverine
• Tree frogs shake their bums to send threatening vibes
• I have a frog in my throat What do you call a group of frogs? An army. No, seriously. A gaggle of ducks, a giggle of schoolgirls, and an army of frogs. Frog marching.
• Frogs have armies. French have the leggies. Sorry oh, so so sorry...
• I had to read that three times before I finally got it. And I want that 1.25 seconds back!!
• It's frogs all the way down...
• Caution: Fanged Frogs
• Wanna-be Wolverine accused of aggravated assault
• Back the FUCK up
• 
• One banana, two banana, three banana, done.
• The Wisdom of the Ancients
• Caution: Necrophiliac Frogs
• Caution: Fornicating Frogs
• Why 18th Century Biologists Made Copulating Frogs Wear Tiny Pants
• Somehow I have a great desire to go into a large public space and yell, "Fornicating Frog Pants!"