Dowbrigade

A FROG that constantly changes colour is being worshipped as a GOD in India.
Hundreds of curious followers flock to Reji Kumar’s home every day to pray and ask for miracles.

Now one of the country’s top zoologists plans to study the rainbow frog. But Reji, 35, who keeps the creature in a glass bottle after finding it while out watering plants, is afraid it might CROAK first.

He said: “My one problem is that this frog does not appear to eat. I keep trying to feed it but it doesn’t eat anything. I don’t know what else to give it.”

The frog was a dazzling WHITE colour when Reji, from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, first spotted it.

Then it changed to YELLOW and had gone GREY by the time he got it home.

Lift worker Reji added: “By night the frog was dark yellow, and then it became transparent so you could see its internal organs.

“It seemed like a miracle to me that this frog had so many different coats. So now people come to see him and pray to him.”

Professor Oommen V. Oommen from India’s Kerala University, said it was not uncommon for animals to change colour.

He explained: “Frogs do change colour to scare away predators.

“But from what I have heard, the frog at Kumar’s place changes colour so frequently it is a bit unusual. I will collect it for study.”

From the Sun (London) June 8, 2009

Boy, that Professor Oommen V. Oommen sounds like quite the card, or a Melvillian divorce proceeding. We hope he never finds the Dowbrigade “a bit unusual”. On the topic of worshiping frogs, we seem to remember spending time among a tribe in the Upper Rio Napo region of the Ecuadorian Amazon that did just that, although their frogs only changed color after being licked…..

Rib of Rocky Raccoon

To many the raccoon is the “cutest” of the backyard
critters.  But to anyone who’s received a rabies shot after
being bitten by one, or to anyone who’s woken up to discover a
week’s worth or trash, dirty diapers and all, strewn about the
driveway, a little smile will spread across your face when the little
masked trash-burglar hits the grill.  Gideon’s Bible
can’t save the little @$$hole now.  See the squirrel section
on how to skin and clean the raccoon, again being very careful to
remove the musk glands without damaging them.  Feel free to wear
the skin as a hat while cooking the meat.

Cut the meat into serving pieces.  Place in a large pan with:

1 cup red wine
2 onions, sliced
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 cloves garlic, sliced

Add water and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 1
hour.  Now the meat is tender and delicious, ready to be painted
with your favorite bbq sauce and tossed on the fire.  Who’s
laughing now you garbage-eating $%&! disturber?

from “Highest Five” Men’s magazine

These days, it’s hard to tell if articles like this are serious. We remember reading one Popular Mechanics -type story about how to make an in-engine cooking chamber which uses the “natural” heat generated by your vehicle’s motor to cook the roadkill you have conscientiously stopped to scrape off the asphalt and onto your dinner table while you drive…..