Ferret legging up for deletion Options

[Emperor]

Ferret legging could be deleted from Wikipedia.

Luckily, it is now safe at Encyc.

[Emperor]

Wasn't it Somey or someone who said that it used to be more fun pre-Wikipedia where if you were in a group of people and you didn't know something you'd figure it out, without running to the computer. Thanks guys, particularly Kato who seems to be the expert here.

Seeing the way the article is improving now reminds me of how I once liked Wikipedia. Too bad Obesity is right.

[Malleus]

Wasn't it Somey or someone who said that it used to be more fun pre-Wikipedia where if you were in a group of people and you didn't know something you'd figure it out, without running to the computer. Thanks guys, particularly Kato who seems to be the expert here.

Seeing the way the article is improving now reminds me of how I once liked Wikipedia. Too bad Obesity is right.

If you're talking about the animal rights slant, ferret legging has died out in the UK, you don't see it any more, and I'm sure it would now be considered unacceptable by the RSPCA and result in prosecutions.

I'm astonished though to see that it appears to have spread to the US, where it's considered to have "Celtic origins". Completely bizarre, as ferrets weren't introduced to England until the 11th century.

This post has been edited by Malleus:

[A Horse With No Name]

Completely bizarre, as ferrets weren't introduced to England until the 11th century.

I can imagine the scene...

"Ferrets, meet the English. English, say hello to the ferrets!"

Of course, the Spanish introduced my ancestors to the American Indians in the 16th century -- although the Angel Moroni insists we were galloping around North America before that! (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/wink.gif)

And, whoa, the WR team came out in full force -- including the apathetic Mr. X! (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/smile.gif)

This post has been edited by A Horse With No Name:

[Malleus]

Completely bizarre, as ferrets weren't introduced to England until the 11th century.

I can imagine the scene...

"Ferrets, meet the English. English, say hello to the ferrets!"

We weren't "English" then, we were Anglo-Saxons and Normans, with a dash of Viking.

Anyway. well done to the WR team.

I'm astonished though to see that it appears to have spread to the US, where it's considered to have "Celtic origins". Completely bizarre, as ferrets weren't introduced to England until the 11th century.

Yeah, that's quite depressing (see my post earlier in the thread).

According to WP, the Richmond Times-Dispatch "claims it has a Celtic origin" (that's Richmond, Virginia - not Richmond in Yorkshire). You should take that out because it is clearly false - "reliable source" or not.

On YouTube there is some footage of ferret legging from the Richmond "Celtic Fare" featuring a guy pulling the most unconvincing Scottish / Irish (?) accent you'll ever hear.

Also, YouTube have got that classic clip from Yorkshire TV of presenter Richard Whitely getting attacked by a ferret while its ferreter owner looks on nonchalantly. As I say, there's just something inherently funny about ferrets.

I think I will take that Celtic claim out, as it's clearly bizarre nonsense. There is something funny about ferrets, I agree; they're charming, mischievous little rogues, just like me. In the the interest of full disclosure I'll admit that I have 12 of the little blighters. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/biggrin.gif)

[Sarcasticidealist]

There is something funny about ferrets, I agree; they're charming, mischievous little rogues, just like me. In the the interest of full disclosure I'll admit that I have 12 of the little blighters. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/biggrin.gif)

Dave Barry once theorized that weasels were inherently funny, and offered the following sentences in defense of that view:

Not funny: Richard Nixon is wearing a necktie.
Funny: Richard Nixon is wearing a neckweasel.

Not funny: Scientists have discovered a 23rd moon orbiting Jupiter.
Funny: Scientists have discovered a giant weasel orbiting Jupiter.

Personally, elk are my go-to funny animal.

[Kato]

Personally, elk are my go-to funny animal.

Maybe elks are funny. They've got a ridiculous pomposity about them, like they're trying to be serious, but will always fail because they carry around what is basically a tree on their heads. There was that old Woody Allen stand-up routine where he hit a moose while driving on the road, and ends up taking it to a party. Controversial Scottish comic Gerry Sadowitz once opened a performance in Montreal by shouting "Hello moosefuckers!" and had to leave the stage due to crowd fury.

Dave Barry once theorized that weasels were inherently funny,

Weasels don't seem funny though, they're too sinister and ratty.

Ferrets are funny in that hazy tradition of British innuendo that is hard to pinpoint - maybe because of ferret legging. Under certain circumstances, even the mention of the word "ferret" can get a laugh. They're almost like the male equivalent of "beaver". It's no coincidence that the two culprits behind the Gropecunt Lane FA immediately got involved in the ferret legging article when highlighted here.

[Milton Roe]

Personally, elk are my go-to funny animal.

Maybe elks are funny. They've got a ridiculous pomposity about them, like they're trying to be serious, but will always fail because they carry around what is basically a tree on their heads. There was that old Woody Allen stand-up routine where he hit a moose while driving on the road, and ends up taking it to a party. Controversial Scottish comic Gerry Sadowitz once opened a performance in Montreal by shouting "Hello moosefuckers!" and had to leave the stage due to crowd fury.

For me, moose are funnier, what with the horse head and loose lips. I once had a moose behind a fence take food out of my hand in an Alaska nature preserve, and it's less funny when close. The damn things are huge and dangerous. Though they FEEL hilarious. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/laugh.gif)

Cows. Cows are inherrently funny. A reason you see them in so many Gary Larson cartoons.

Remember Ferret Face Burns in MASH? Did you know that animals with little beady eyes and narrow faces make most women bananas? Unlike kittens, the ferrets, rats, and possums of this world have sort of anti-baby look (baby = wide big eyes and a little smile). Thus, anti-cute. I predict the killers of this ferret article will be found to be female.

Stephen J. Gould once had a delightful article in which he showed that Mickey Mouse had evolutionarily morphed over the years to be less Steamboat Willy mouse-like, and much more baby-like. Thus, cuter by definition.

[A Horse With No Name]

For me, moose are funnier...

There was a Warner Bros. cartoon where Porky Pig was trying to evict a bunch of rowdy cats from his house. One of the cats climbed up on a moose head that was hanging from the wall. Porky grabbed the cat by the tail and tried to pull it down, but the cat wrapped its arms around the neck of the moose. The more Porky pulled, the further the moose head stretched – until the entire live moose came through the wall. I always thought that was the single most bizarre gag ever put in a cartoon. Pulling a moose through a wall? Wow, I still can’t get over it. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/wtf.gif)

[Milton Roe]

For me, moose are funnier...

There was a Warner Bros. cartoon where Porky Pig was trying to evict a bunch of rowdy cats from his house. One of the cats climbed up on a moose head that was hanging from the wall. Porky grabbed the cat by the tail and tried to pull it down, but the cat wrapped its arms around the neck of the moose. The more Porky pulled, the further the moose head stretched – until the entire live moose came through the wall. I always thought that was the single most bizarre gag ever put in a cartoon. Pulling a moose through a wall? Wow, I still can’t get over it. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/wtf.gif)

This is cultural. In Alaska there are mounted animal heads on walls at the main airport in Anchorage. You look up at them and say: "I guess we're not in Massachusetts anymore, Dorothy."

I suppose it would be okay to have the head of a magnificent animal you killed up on the wall, if it included a little brass plate that certified that you ATE the rest. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/mellow.gif)

[CharlotteWebb]

I suppose it would be okay to have the head of a magnificent animal you killed up on the wall, if it included a little brass plate that certified that you ATE the rest. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/mellow.gif)

That sounds reasonable.

However hunting licenses, tags, and especially ammunition are expensive these days, even in Alaska. But as far as subsistence goes, roadkill alone will more feed many of the smaller Parks Hwy communities during the winter months, however Wikipedia has no mention of this tradition. The best I could find was on everything2. [1]

I found the meat itself barely distinguishable from lean beef, plus it's 100% organic. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/tongue.gif)

[Milton Roe]

I suppose it would be okay to have the head of a magnificent animal you killed up on the wall, if it included a little brass plate that certified that you ATE the rest. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/mellow.gif)

That sounds reasonable.

However hunting licenses, tags, and especially ammunition are expensive these days, even in Alaska. But as far as subsistence goes, roadkill alone will more feed many of the smaller Parks Hwy communities during the winter months, however Wikipedia has no mention of this tradition. The best I could find was on everything2. [1]

I found the meat itself barely distinguishable from lean beef, plus it's 100% organic. (IMG:smilys0b23ax56/default/tongue.gif)

Yes, I hate wasting food in the same physical place that ANYBODY is hungry. Offends me deeply in every way. It took years to get laws passed to allow restaurants to give their excess day's food to the hungry, and similar laws are still not in place to allow out-of-stock-date items in grocery stores to be used the same way in homeless shelter kitchens. Which should not be a health problem because these dates are when the item has to be pulled from the store shelf due to inadequte consumer-shelf-life remaining (things are usually good for at least a week past that date-- something not a problem, if it's to be used immediately).

Roadkill is the same way. In most places, you're not allowed to take home and eat a deer you just hit and killed (something I've done myself-- the animal was dead as a doornail, but looked untouched). This is stupid because you know the meat is fresh (you just killed it), and there are few people likely to try to do this on-purpose, as the damage to your car and the danger to your life never outweighs the calories. Anyway, another dumb law. The animal has to sit there until the state comes to get it to turn it into garden mulch or something. And that's if you live in an enlightened state. (Some states have public road work crews that don't give a damn about anything).

(IMG:http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll191/Shrlocc/roadkill.jpg)

[KevinOKeeffe]

Roadkill is the same way. In most places, you're not allowed to take home and eat a deer you just hit and killed (something I've done myself-- the animal was dead as a doornail, but looked untouched). This is stupid because you know the meat is fresh (you just killed it), and there are few people likely to try to do this on-purpose, as the damage to your car and the danger to your life never outweighs the calories. Anyway, another dumb law. The animal has to sit there until the state comes to get it to turn it into garden mulch or something.

When my father was in K-12 school, in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, people would routinely bring road-killed deer to his school, where the cooks would use it to prepare what are/were known as "Wimpies," ie., "Sloopy Joes" made from ground venison, as opposed to ground beef. They used to really look forward to the delivery of these highway mishaps, since the "Wimpies" were considerably more enjoyable than their usual lunchroom fare.