posted
Anyone who has ever tried to stuff a penguin into a backpack knows that birdnapping is harder than it sounds.
Still, rumors persist that a child swiped a penguin from the Penguin and Puffin Coast at the St. Louis Zoo, stuffed it in a backpack and took the bird home to play. For the past few months, the Zoo has reassured media and countless other callers that its 80 penguins, and 25 puffins for that matter, are present and accounted for.
quote:Originally posted by Doug4.7: I thought they had 81 penguins.... Where did that other one go???
Actually, I think #46 is missing
It just goes to show that facts have never stood in the way of a good UL.
And I notice the prominent mention of snopes.com in the article. Must feel good getting some well-deserved appreciation (says he, sucking up to the Big Guy)
Ta ra 'wan,
Ieuan "I don't necessarily believe it, but I'll spread it" ab Arthur
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Y Gwir Yn Erbyn Y Byd Posts: 626 | From: Toronto, Ontario | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Doug4.7: pob14, I first read yours as, "...all we took home was a stuffed tiger...a park map, AND one of the goats in the Children's Zoo..."
...which would be even harder to fit in a backpack.
-------------------- A Viennese fellow is walking along the Karntner Strasse and notices a banana peel lying in his path. "Alas," he sighs, "now I must slip and fall down!" Posts: 506 | From: Missouri | Registered: Dec 2005
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quote:Snopes.com is the online reference guide to urban legends. It traces this bird tale back to 1993, when a hyperactive child visiting the Dudley Zoo in Britain supposedly hid a penguin under his jacket. Later, his mother found the bird flapping in the bath, legend says.
So not only is this hypothetical kid hyperactive, but his mother doesn't notice he's got a bird under his jacket until bathtime? Poor guy.
Art "is that a bird in your jacket or are you just happy to see me?" emis
-------------------- "You can't play Electro-magnetic Golf according to the rules of Centrifugal Bumble Puppy." -Mustapha Mond, "Brave New World" Posts: 679 | From: New York | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
I can see why the rumor would be more common at the STL Zoo. The Penguin and Puffin exhibit makes the birds much more reachable than usual exhibits. I-I mean my friend has petted the penguins and puffins there a few times. Which I don't condone, as it is bad *glances around nervously*...plus it makes your hand smell all fishy. My friend told me that.
edited for code
-------------------- Me: "He's 19? Uh oh, I bought him a beer." A: "You contributed to the deliquency of a minor in drag!" "Sweet spell check: keeping drunks off the radar since 1995."- IND GodRe-AnimateGreenPorkBush Posts: 3986 | From: Illinois, jealous? | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Wolf333: In reality, it was Burgess Meredith that was taken home in the child's backpack.
I would have thought Danny DeVito would fit more easily into a child's backpack.
-------------------- Where's the challenge in wassailing at Christmas? The place is lousy with wassail! Posts: 232 | From: Raleigh, NC | Registered: Jul 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Doug4.7: pob14, I first read yours as, "...all we took home was a stuffed tiger...a park map, AND one of the goats in the Children's Zoo..."
I told them to get a sheep, they make much better lawnmowers!
-------------------- Patrick Posts: 576 | From: Illinois | Registered: Dec 2002
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quote:Originally posted by poisoned candy from strangers: I-I mean my friend has petted the penguins and puffins there a few times.
If you go in the children's zoo, you can pet rabbits and turtles and stuff. Legitimately. They may look at you funny if you don't take a kid, though. You can borrow mine if you want. Just check their backpacks for goats before you leave .
-------------------- Patrick Posts: 576 | From: Illinois | Registered: Dec 2002
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quote:Snopes.com is the online reference guide to urban legends. It traces this bird tale back to 1993, when a hyperactive child visiting the Dudley Zoo in Britain supposedly hid a penguin under his jacket. Later, his mother found the bird flapping in the bath, legend says.
Shouldn't that read "Snopes.com is the online reference guide to urban legends"?
Don "sucking up right there with Ieuan ab Arthur" Enrico
-------------------- My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling, but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places. - Pooh Bear Posts: 2209 | From: Hamburg, Germany | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Doug4.7: pob14, I first read yours as, "...all we took home was a stuffed tiger...a park map, AND one of the goats in the Children's Zoo..."
...which would be even harder to fit in a backpack.
Yes, but on the other hand, by the time you got home there'd no longer be a backpack to worry about.
Barbara "the goat would be full, though" Mikkelson
Posts: 2511 | From: Los Angeles, CA | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
It’s black and white: Tale of lost penguin 'a ruse'
Maybe the release of "Happy Feet" triggered it, in much the same way that "March of the Penguins" is believed to have done so around the same time last year.
However it began, the story making the rounds is more or less the same.
quote:A penguin chick was birdnapped from a collection (Amazon World IIRC) in the Isle of Wight. To my knowledge it was never recovered.
A penguin chick disappeared from Amazon World, true. To the best of my knowledge, there was no specific evidence indicating that it had been abducted from the zoo by humans.
posted
I cannot speak for all penguins, but the one at Sea World that I got to pet was very, very loud. It would be difficult indeed to smuggle such a creature out without it attracting a lot of attention. We were also told that penguins in general do not like to be picked up. They suffer anxiety when their little footsies don't touch the ground. I'd imagine your average penguin would struggle and make lots of noise if someone tried to birdnap it.
posted
Though I did hear that the San Diego Zoo once held a black-tie party for their most generous donors, and six penguins managed to sneak out unnoticed as the party broke up.
Brad "what makes you think I'm not wearing a tux?" from Georgia
-------------------- "No hard feelin's and HOPpy New Year!"--Walt Kelly Hear what you're missing: ARTC podcasts! http://artcpodcast.org/ Posts: 7581 | From: Gainesville, Georgia | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Purported purloined penguin positively a prank
All 15 of the African blackfooted penguins at the Georgia Aquarium are safely accounted for.
It's important to say that up front because, if you believe rumors circulating in the midstate, one of the little tuxedoed fellows was supposedly birdnapped in recent weeks by a student from West Laurens High School.
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