Overheard at the AC&C

My submission finally made it onto Overheard in the Office! (though they got the location wrong–I overheard the conversation at the city’s Animal Care and Control in Manhattan, not the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

Those Venomous Australians

I was looking for information on platypuses (platypi?) when I stumbled across the following abstract (emphasis added):

The platypus (ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a furry duck-billed mammal that inhabits the waterways of eastern Australia. The male may reach 60 cm in length with a 20 cm beaver-like tail. We report the case of an American naturalist stung whilst trying to study the male in the wild. This resulted in an intense local reaction. Warning signs should therefore be erected at air and sea ports warning tourists of the dangers of these venomous Australians.

Odds and Ends Pt. 3

One gorgeous afternoon, walked down Minetta Lane, quiet winding street like nothing out of New York. I recalled something a classmate had seen when doing a photo essay on the street. And there it was, just as he had described — a rainbow macaw in a courtyard, several yards away from a locked gate that led onto the street. Perched on the railing next to a second-floor back door. It bobbed its head, walked back and forth on the railing and then — zip! Though not as quickly as the word might imply, though in one smooth motion, the parrot slid down the railing to the bottom of the staircase. Bobbed its head. Then turned, walked up the railing, claws grasping metal.

In a less poignant moment, I tripped and fell while walking in the East Village this evening. I’m not a clumsy person, at least I don’t think I am. I happened to be looking up at the back of a residential building, wondering at how dingy it looked, when my foot hit a slab of concrete sidewalk jutting about an inch out of the ground. I caught it in just the right way. Next thing I knew, I was falling, not in slow motion but violently. I just managed to catch myself on my hands and knees. Thank God I didn’t hit my head or crash onto my face, but my palms are still numb from the impact — I couldn’t believe how such a common … blunder … could hurt so much.

Munchkins

I’ve wondered before why one doesn’t see the amount of physical variation in domestic cats that one sees in dogs. Although domestic cats can have different kinds of coats and face shapes among other things, all the cats I’ve seen, in particular the domestic shorthair cats that dominate shelters, are about the same size.

Then I found out about the munchkin. A fairly new breed, the munchkin is relatively normal in size and appearance except for its very short legs. The cat kind of looks like the feline version of a dachschund. I’ve read that munchkins move quickly like ferrets and exhibit a similar playful nature. Apparently the shortness of their legs is due to a random mutation.

Tompkins Square Dog Run Halloween Parade Photos

I’ve posted on Flickr another set of photos that I took. The photos are from this year’s Tompkins Square Dog Run Halloween Parade.