Weekly Weird News for 25 November 2022
Weird things washed ashore
It was a week where I found a lot of stories about odd discoveries in and around water. But before we get to those, the first item is one I’ve been watching since last week. As it continued into this week, more potential explanations emerged but a mystery remains.
Circling sheep
A video accompanied a story of sheep in a pen in Mongolia that have been walking in a circle for over a week. No one had seen this type of behavior before and the rampant speculation began to explain why they were doing this. The news came from just a tweet from the People’s Daily news source from China. “Hundreds of sheep walk in a circle for over 10 days… The sheep are healthy and the reason for the weird behavior is still a mystery”. The story didn’t appear on the People’s Daily news page, though. It does not look like “hundreds” of sheep. It’s more like 80-100 from my count. There was no accompanying detail of the sheep were doing this nonstop, if they were eating, if any had died, etc. The video received over 12 million views and spawned some memes about blindly following and getting nowhere. Potential reasons for the behavior include normal herding behavior to follow, circling to protect animals inside the circle, pathological pacing from being a small pen, and listeriosis disease that causes disorientation and walking in circles. The listeriosis option was preferred by some but that disease is fatal in a few days. We have no additional info from the farm. As with any weird animal incident, there will be those who suggest more outlandish explanations such as aliens, supernatural entities, or a coming apocalypse. I think the only result we got from all this is that we don’t know sheep. https://indianexpress.com/article/world/explanation-sheep-walking-in-circle-china-8284421/ and https://www.sciencealert.com/eerie-video-of-bizarre-sheep-phenomenon-has-the-world-running-in-circles
Sea pig?
A headless carcass from an Irish beach went viral on the web this past week. And it stinks. Once again, a wave of what I call “mass opinionation” by people who know nothing about animals or nature who make a sport out of suggesting uninformed answers as to the origin of the carcass. Most people will assert it’s a monster, a hybrid, an alien, or an animal unknown to science. Most often it’s a very common animal, native to the area, but rarely seen up close and in a state of decomposition. Pictures of a pink carcass spurred people to share and guess. The media promoted the idea that it was a pig. With little effort, it was discovered that it was a dead seal. The gray skin and shape made this obvious. But asking someone who knows is almost always not the point of these stories. Even when the answer is stated, people ignore it or reject it because they insist that it can’t be so obvious. They prefer the mystery. https://www.news18.com/buzz/mysterious-pig-like-creature-washes-up-on-beach-in-ireland-leaves-locals-bewildered-6453193.html
Alien hand
In a similar story, that follows the exact same template, a couple in Long Island found the remains of a bony limb. The headlines proclaimed “alien hand”! This phenomenon of exaggerating the weirdness and significance of animal remains is made worse by social media when people want to feel like they discovered something special. Instead, it reveals how detached we are from nature. The “hand” was identified as that of a dolphin or other cetacean. You can bet the real answer gets buried or left out as the weird pic gets passed around. https://nypost.com/2022/11/24/shocked-couple-discovers-alien-hand-on-beach-looks-like-e-t-s-bones/
Drought reveals rare lion fossil
More interesting finds due to drought. Long lost remains have been popping up all over the world where there are extreme drought conditions causing low water levels. The Mississippi River is experiencing very low levels. This led to the exposure of a sandy area where a fossil tooth from a prehistoric American lion (Panthera atrox) was discovered. Remains of this huge animal are very rare. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/drought-reveals-rare-american-lion-fossil-in-dried-up-mississippi-river-180981166/
New discoveries in deep seas
When researchers explore ocean depths, they often discover very strange looking creatures, some of which are new species. Scientists studying the Indian Ocean around the Cocos Islands discovered extraordinary animals displaying strange features that are adaptations to deep water. The animal samples will be catalogued. Several new species are expected to be identified. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/14/glassy-fangs-and-glowing-fins-amazing-deep-sea-animals-found-near-cocos-islands
This was my favorite:
Giant goldfish
Never dump goldfish. I think I’ve said this before when huge goldfish have been caught in local lakes. A carp-koi “goldfish” named Carrot was released into a lake in Champagne, France 20 years ago and just kept growing. A man from England caught the fish. After taking pics, he released the fish. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/nov/21/angler-lands-giant-goldfish-in-french-lake
The luggage that never broke
An interesting old steamer trunk, called a “Neverbreak” trunk, from the 1930s washed up on a St. Augustine Florida beach. It’s a mystery where it came from, how long it was in the water, and why it showed up now. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/11/22/Neverbreak-Trunks-St-Augustine-Florida-beach/8381669142160/
Spirit of the water
An Ontario photographer captured stunning wind-swept waves on frigid Lake Erie. One of the waves resembled a face. It’s pretty cool pareidolia - a coincidental resemblance to a face that is readily recognized by the human brain. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-photographer-captures-massive-wave-that-looks-like-the-perfect-face-1.6165947
Missing pheasant sighted
In some happy news for wildlife, the black-naped pheasant-pigeon, last seen 140 years ago in Papua New Guinea was recently spotted alive by researchers. Locals said they had seen the bird recently so the researcher set up cameras and eventually captured an image of the bird walking right past the camera. It was unmistakable. Some will say this is cryptozoology at work, but it’s not. It’s normal zoology. Cryptozoology focuses on legendary mystery animals that people say are out there but aren’t easily found. When you find the animal using proven techniques, that’s just good work, not solving a mystery. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63672501
Deer mystery hat
A trail cam photo of a par of deer is causing a stir in Maine. One deer appears to have something on its head but the resolution is too fuzzy. People are speculating that the deer may have a unicorn horn. But if the “horn” is really an ear, what’s that thing on top of its head? Wildlife biologists think it might be a saw-whet owl hitching a ride. https://www.bangordailynews.com/2022/11/24/outdoors/deer-head-mystery-rider-guesses-joam40zk0w/
Thanks for reading! Please share this post on social media. I’m no longer interacting on Twitter but you can find me on Mastodon @idoubtit@mstdn.social. I would love to see more weird news stories there. Sometimes I share the links there in an early sneak peak of what’s coming in this newsletter.
Note: On the "alien hand" story, a knowledgable correspondent notes that it's not yet clear if the hand is from a cetacean.
Going in circles: one day our dog was suddenly unable to walk in a straight line. When she tried, she would just go around and around in a tight circle, counterclockwise iirc. I immediately suspected a stroke, and took her to the vet with great fear in my heart. The vet was unconcerned. "It's a common problem," she said, "caused by an inner ear infection. It will clear up in a day or so." And sure enough, it did. The circles got larger and larger and then we were back to normal. One lesson to take away: we're always going around in circles, it's just that the radius is often very large.