More reasons to run. 1892.

Over the weekend the Man decided the Hill needed mowing, so I finally relented and allowed him to sacrifice my flowers. There is always a point near xmas when I fold, allowing him to get up there and do a bit of clearing. Generally the fold occurs when the weather gets hotter and the lizards get bigger.

Usually we have lots of small skinks in the garden, as most Aussie gardens do, they live in our flowerbeds and along our driveways, and come out every time the sun peeks out. When it gets hotter the bigger lizards like Blue Tongues start coming out into the garden more.

When I see them it reminds me that where there are good conditions for big lizards the snakes will not be far behind. Long grass and sunny days are a scary combination at times, so after the first few lizard spottings the Man has no trouble when he starts making forays up the Hill with mower. Especially as that is when the kids want to run around up there in shorts.

I have had to save a few Blue Tongues from being monstered by our little Jack in the last week, so I knew the time had come.

Singleton Argus 14 Dec 1892 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82452155

When I found this article today it made me glad that the Man got the grass under control…

Imagine the speed with which these surveyors were running when they realized they were in the path of a fire on a mountain in Lorberry, Ohio, in 1892.

Now imagine their increased turn of speed once they saw the oncoming wave of fleeing snakes right behind them. I am not sure what would make me run faster, a looming bushfire or a sea of frightened snakes hot on my heels!

Of course our mower-shy neighbours might get a slithery visitor seeking sanctuary sometime soon as their unkempt grass grows right up to the house…. (insert evil laugh here).

Magic Grass. 1892.

This article is fantastic. I wonder what on earth was in the grass in New Zealand?

Northern Star 13 Feb 1892 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71737825

According to this article the grass was so potent in 1892 that the wethers on one farm started giving milk. Wethers are castrated male sheep, not really much need for milk there.

Another farm had to stop breeding as ‘their progeny were so precocious under the influence of the abundant feed’ that maiden ewes and wethers also gave milk years earlier.

If this amazing grass caused sterile males and unmated females for give milk, what do you think could have happened to the sheep that were supposed to give milk! Yikes!

Man eating plant. 1892.

I was sitting in my thinking spot yesterday, otherwise known as the Steps of Death to regular readers, and watching the Venus Fly Trap. You might remember that I moved some of my carnivorous plants out to the front verandah to feast on the wasps. Well, Flytrap has been having a high old time and many stripy stingers have fallen victim to its enticing jaws.

Watching it got me thinking, surely there must be articles about man-eating plants.

The Horsham Times 6 May 1892 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72853601

A search threw up this article about Devils Snare, a terrifying plant described by the naturalist Mr Dunstan as a kind of vegetable octopus. You might also know Devil’s Snare as a plant from the Harry Potter novels, I think both plants came from the same place….

What a great story. There was Mr Dunstan, out for a walk with his dog when he was attacked by a man-eating plant. He was walking in the jungles of Central America though, and in 1892 there would be no better setting in the world for a story like this. I wonder if the plant preferred human or dog?

This story is just wonderful. The details of the plant make it sound so menacing; bare interlacing stems of a dark nearly black hue, oozing with a thick viscid gum. Ick.

The twigs were like grabby tentacles, lined with little mouths or suckers that left skin red and blistered on contact. Ouch.

Even better, the last part of the article. Imagine a plant that has the presence of mind to grasp a piece of bloody meat and, once it sated its thirst, toss the drained flesh aside like yesterday’s sushi.

I just wish I had one of them on the steps of death. None of those annoying door-knockers would make it past ever again!

Electroplated Cat. 1892. Yeah, I know, unlikely……

Alexandra and Yea Standard, Gobur, Thornton and Acheron Express 15 Jan 1892 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57501887

I have had this one in my drafts for a little while and have been dying to share it with you. This article is everything I love about Forteana. Amazing, unusual, fantastical and totally unlikely. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I read all of these strange newspaper stories wishing they were true, but fully aware that many of the facts are either misreported or total inventions. I am willing to suspend my disbelief in order to enjoy them though. In this case, I could do little else but sigh and thank the gods of ridiculousness for allowing such a story to be published.

What do you think are the chances of a wall-mounted, silver-plated sword being struck by lightning, causing the silver plate to be magically transferred to a sleeping cat nearby?

Amazing how this unplanned electroplating was so selective in its target. It only coated the cat. Not the sofa the cat was sleeping on, nothing else in the room, just the cat.

I wonder if the reported ‘charred streak showing the path of the lightning’ was still hovering in the air, or did the ‘electric fluid’ travel politely around the wall without discharging until hitting its intended target?

Lastly, their expectation that the plating of the cat will prevent any decay is an interesting one. This shiny cat may well be installed among the Vandyck family’s collection of curiosities, but I suspect that they might find they are incorrect. I just hope the maid dusts it gently. Imagine what might be revealed if the thin veneer of silver is cracked….yick…..

Granted, I know very little about electroplating, and even less about electroplating a cat, but I still believe I can justifiably doubt the facts as stated in this article. If you know more about it than I do, or have practiced this alternative form of taxidermy yourself, please let me know how wrong I am. (I’m really hoping here that none of you have ever tried it though.)

Treasures in trees. 1892.

This article is a treasure in itself. Every single thing it refers to makes me want to hear the entire story, not just these interesting snippets!

I can only imagine what the ‘strangely shaped fossil trees’ might have been that were dug out of the quarry, and the ‘petrified-looking’ bodies along with them. A paleontologist would cry at the thought of the loss of this treasure. I wonder what happened to them? Are they in a deep drawer in a museum somewhere just waiting to be identified? Did they get taken home by the workers, only to be thrown out later accused of dust collecting?

Reports of toads or frogs in trees and rocks are not unusual, but still interesting. It would be interesting to know what type of beetle the reportedly enormous one found in the solid block of wood in the ships hold in Portsmouth was.

A stowaway snake being found in a ships load of wood is not strange. Depending on the finders attitude to slithering reptiles ‘terrifying’ might be a better word to describe its discovery.

The bat found inside the tree is very interesting. While bats can be red in color they aren’t usually described as ‘bright scarlet’ and if bright red bats were usual in the neighbourhood I doubt that the finder would have been quite so disturbed at its appearance. I know bats can fit into incredibly small spaces, (we have beautiful little mouse sized ones here and I have seen them fit into the tiniest of cracks) so I wonder if there was an opening that was missed?

The skeletal bird on the nest is a little weird. As they said, it is difficult to imagine how it became imprisoned. It came and went enough times to build a nest and then the door slammed behind it? I can only think that it died unexpectedly on the nest and the tree just grew around the opening.

The flat cat in the tree is the makings of a good kids story. (‘The cat on the mat is flat’ by Andy Griffiths is a favourite around here ) Judging by the bite, I am sure the cat didn’t find it very funny though. It sounds a bit like Old Man Willow, but without Tom Bombadil to come and save the cat before it was squeezed to death!

Aaah, the romance of the lock of hair and the unreadable note. Did the message say ‘keep your manky piece of hair, I am running off with your best friend’?

The child’s skull in the silver teapot is a sad story, if only they could have found out what the facts were. If the teapot was carefully hidden in a fork and the hiding place was then covered over by the growing tree, unless it was an exceptionally sturdy pot, you would think it would have been crushed. The condition of the pot is unspecified, though.

Finally, the hunters skeletal remains being found inside a tree. An amazing bit of preservation and, if their guess as to his end is accurate, a terribly undignified way to go. Sounds like Old Man Willow at it again……

The Mercury 15 Aug 1892 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13274507