October 22nd
Alright, I need some help here. There is a cartoon (not sure which one it is) that has a kangaroo in it. One of the characters (Tom maybe of Tom & Jerry? That is the only one that comes to mind) believes the kangaroo is a giant mouse and the story line centers around this. OK, now you are asking, where is he going with this? Which leads me into today’s post.
Last night at 0200 as I was taking some personnel to the airport, I saw two forms of wildlife driving through the deserts of Kuwait. One was a jackal. Now this was the first time I had seen one of these. Luckily one of the passengers new exactly what it was, or I would be doing some research today. If you don’t know what they look like, here is a picture of a JACKAL.
Now, the second form of wildlife I saw was a kangaroo mouse. Now these I have seen before. See them all the time. Which leads me into my LOL of the day and the reason for my opening paragraph. I received an e-mail from a friend who said that there were mice in her garage and that they “freaked” her out. The first thing that popped into my head was, we look like giant ogres to those small vermins. But then I thought of that cartoon (that I watched eons ago), where a kangaroo was mistakened for a giant mouse. The craziest thing popped into my head. Suppose there was an equal playing field with size, and mice were as large as people. Would we be more “freaked out”? Can you tell I have been on this deployment way too long? Anyway, here is a picture of a kangaroo mouse, named for their larger counterpart because it hops on its back legs and has a long tail. KANGAROO MOUSE
What kind of excitement are you having in your lives?
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Coach Bill
Wow, your thinking back to the cartoon days. Funny thing is, I remember the cartoon well. The father and his son were going to catch the mouse and the father kept taking a beating. The son’s famous words were “Mother, get out the bandaids”
Paul B
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Cute! I had not seen a jackal before, and they are really pretty. The kangaroo mouse? looks just like a mouse! I don’t find them any cute… I think the thing that “freaks me out” about mice is the idea of all the disgusting places they are in, and the many diseases that they carry… a giant one would probably be the cause of my heart attack!
I am looking forward to reading your next post…
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Bill,
I’m thinking you might have a “P” test in your near future if you keep talking about giant mice.
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Way to go Ann Theune!!! Keep my hubby occupied by telling him about the mice you are finding in your garage. (Gotcha back:)) All I have go say is “Keep the mice on your side of the street!!!”
As many might know, mice and I don’t do very well together, so I don’t find the kangaroo mouse very “cute”. But thanks for sharing, Bill:)
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Hippity Hopper is the name. Finally some wildlife in the desert. I still want a camel spider and a lizard when you come home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippety_Hopper
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:42 am
Bill, Don’t you find it annoying that Jim always has an answer for everything? DO NOT bring back anything that breathes on its own for him. He has enough critters already.
As far as excitement around here, I just finished my 2nd night of conferences. Just one more to go next week. Great fun! My students are dropping like flies with all the flu going around. It’s going to be a long flu season!
Take care!
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:03 pm
WOW–you always surprise me with what you come up with or are thinking about. You got me thinking as well…I have never seen a real jackal but there was a comedy sketch awhile back with a puppeted jackal. Of course I don’t really remmeber the premise or what it was on, but thanks for keeping me on my toes. I am hoping that all of the critters you encounter over there are “cute”. I am guessing some of them are probably not real “cute” nor are they creatures you would like to encounter in your sleeping quarters. Hope all is well, miss ya and your crazy thoughts!
Heather
PS>>Did some of my own research on the jackal sketch–cannot specifically find it, but it may have been a jackalope that I was talking about.