Blogs & Ecology

Image of Thumbelina by Phil Konstantin

A couple of years ago the UK’s Daily Mail reported on the world’s smallest horse, Thumbelina, who entered the Guinness Book of Records measuring just 17 inches tall.

Born in a farm in America where the owners specialise in breeding miniature horses, the couple realised that Thumbelina was different as soon as she was born because she weighed a mere 8lbs, the average weight of a new born human baby.

Image by César Dennis Méndez Peñuela

Striking new evidence has been discovered that shows the origins of one the world’s greatest dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Although thought to have lived throughout what is now western North America, the bipedal predator may very well have hailed from further afield, as these fascinating images portray… Confused? Read on.

Source: CrazynFunny

Images via Oddity Central

We’re used to the weird and wonderful here at Environmental Graffiti but even we did a double take when we came across a mouse hanging ten. Yes, that’s right, a surfing mouse.

Australian surfer Shane Wilmott has trained his four pet mice to ride the waves. Using their tails as rudders, the mice are set on custom-made mice-sized boards – no glue or ties, they can jump off at any time – and are let loose on the water.

Image: Everything is Permutated

Finally, proof that exercise is bad for your health: Yesterday, a jogger in Arizona discovered that exercise is not as good for you as people profess. During her regular run she was attacked by a rabid fox, who it turns out was also remarkably insistent.

After the fox bit the jogger on the foot she went to grab it by the scruff of the neck only for the fox to firmly clamp its jaw on her arm. Despite trying to shake the it off, the fox would not let go so the lady had to run the mile back to her car with fox in situ. That’s one dedicated jogger.

Image: Nature Explorer

Soaring nearly 8,000 feet high above the East Javanese horizon, Mount Bromo coughs up deadly pillars of toxic volcanic steam, sand and sulphur. But the locals don’t run from this giant tourist draw. They climb towards it. This time of year, you see, is when they feed the volcano.

Image: Thomas Hirsch

Written by Andy Boyd

Leather is one of the most versatile materials available to an artist. Normally the preserve of clothing or sofas, artists have been using it for centuries as a form of decoration and self expression.

Image via Metro

How many times have you wished for a freak storm to come so you could get the day off school? Well, some kid in Devon, England has been wishing hard! Not only did they manage to get the day off school but landed the rest of the town a day off, too. Only they probably weren’t so pleased about it.

Image: thesaint

Imagine getting a text message from an elephant. What would it say? Perhaps, “Stop calling me Dumbo, and, no, I can’t fly.”? Well, it appears that we might find out pretty soon.

In the last two years alone, the Kenyan Wildlife Service has killed five African elephants from the Ol Pejeta Conservancy because they were trampling through human settlements and cropland. It’s a problem that will only get worse as humans encroach on elephant’s territory.

Image: Built Report

Resembling contestants from the cattle equivalent of Mr Universe, these absurdly built bovines certainly don’t cut a pretty picture. Affected by a genetic mutation, known medically as Muscular Hypertrophy, or double muscling, the freakishly-shaped cows are the result of cross breeding. About a century ago, a group of Belgian farmers thought it was a great idea to produce a breed of supercows, as you do. The eventual outcome of this breeding plan was the Belgian Blue breed, possibly the most intimidating looking herd in history.

Image: Ruth Lyon-Bateman

They say lightning never strikes twice, but for cows it just seems to keep on striking, as yet another herd of cattle was zapped by one of nature’s most volatile forces. A single bolt of lightning killed 52 cows in San Jose, Uruguay last Wednesday, 22 October, during a night storm. According to reports, the cows were trying to find protection by huddling against a fence, but the plan backfired, quite literally, as fence-protector became fence-conductor.

Image: Brent Townshend

This beautiful photo was taken on the corner of Buci and Seine in St-Germain-des-Pres, Paris. The photographer Brent Townshend used multiple fisheye lenses and self-written software to stitch the panoramic series of shots together, composing the eye-catching final image.

He says that the emergent shape of a dove, formed by the outlines of the buildings, was planned at the time of photographing and is not the result of any ‘tweaking’ beyond the use of his software to convert an essentially spherical panorama into a flat image.

Image: Pavol Sulek

Written by new contributor, Megan Fizell

Banksy has opened a different sort of pet store in Greenwich Village and the ‘animals’ in the cages are something you would expect from a happy meal at McDonalds. The show entitled ‘The Village Pet Store and Grill’ explores society’s use of animals as pets, food, and clothing.

Image: peregrinari7

A hot potato in recent global warming debates has been the increased production of methane into the atmosphere as a result of increased cattle farming, and even though hungry carnivores know their lust for bovine cuts only bolsters demand, they’re not about to give up their love of hamburgers or steak any time soon. So what’s the solution? According to Australia’s climate change adviser, the answer is simple: eat kangaroo.

Image: Kenneth Catania

Image: Andreas Bauer

When most people think of origami, the image that inevitably springs to mind is the humble crane and the piece of Japanese folklore which holds that whoever is dedicated enough to fold a thousand will have their greatest wish granted.

What most aren’t aware of are the existence of the staggeringly detailed creations of American origami artists such as Robert Lang. With a PhD in Applied Physics, Lang has built a career out of applying his knowledge of mathematics and engineering to the very ancient art of paper folding – with spectacular results: