Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Tragic (and Near-Tragic) Animal Tales

Rex Turner asks a weird question in today's Morning Sentinel: What if animals had folklore and oral histories?

He gives an example from his own family of an ancestor said to have died by drowning in a puddle, then tells of a dead squirrel he once found "floating in one of my sap buckets." There must have been a good story attached to that tragic event.

Or how about this:
Could moose take time out from munching aquatic plants to share an ice storm tale? I recall hearing that during the Ice Storm of '98, a limb broke and the sharp end fell on an adult moose, impaling the unlucky fella. I can't say I recall the source or that the story is true. I don't even know if the incident could happen. But if it did, would that be the type of over-the-top death to be remembered?
And what would the kitten rescued Monday from an Auburn storm grate have to tell its children?
Officials believe the kitten had been stuck with its head exposed on the roadway on the top of the grate and its body dangling below for several hours Monday morning.

The kitten somehow managed to avoid being crushed by cars and trucks, but it remained stuck after police officers carefully lifted the 150-pound grate.

Firefighter Doug Ball said rescuers tried less drastic methods, including soap. But it took electric saws and the Jaws of Life to free the critter. The kitten is now at the local human society awaiting a new home. [Source]

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