"Wild" Creatures and the Past

I slept like a rock last night.  Nedi was beside my legs and Lovey was curled up at my waist.  We had our second freezing night for the fall, and it's only 37 degrees outside, now, at 9 a.m. - Maybe I'll enjoy the heat and humidity of Florida! -  Nedi is curled up on the bed right now; Lovey is getting some sunshine.  I'm not walking the Rs at the moment because Remy is seeing the chiropractor this morning.  I did enjoy seeing NCIS last night - and I got a kick out of the way the team was trying to find "the perfect woman" for Gibbs to date.  I think that he will always choose his own ladies.  -  I had planned on being at home this weekend with the kids, but it looks as if I might be with Maggie, instead.  I'll return from Florida on the first, and start pet-sitting on the third, with Finn and Skippy.

What a wild, crazy, and sad time near Zanesville, Ohio!  People started calling the sheriff's office to report "exotic animals" being seen along the highway yesterday afternoon.  A Mr. Thompson had permits to keep lions and tigers, bears, giraffes, camels, cheetahs, wolves and orangutans and chimps.  The primates were found all safely caged in Thompson's house.  Thompson, however, was dead in the yard; all the large animal enclosures had their gates open, and all the gates off the property were open.  There were 48 large animals loosed - nearly all have been shot dead.  The sheriff gave the order to "shoot to kill" last evening, when it was reported that the owner was dead and the creatures were loose.  Several of the animals were standing next to the open doors of their cages when they were killed.  Photos of the dead animals have made me cry.  One large cat (type not identified) was struck by a car and killed on the highway.  These animals are scared witless!  It's a shame that the shoot to kill order was given! (Even though I do realize that the sheriff is/was trying to protect the residents of his county...)

If you know me, you know that I am fascinated by history.  I've been excited by recent finds that have been announced over the past few days....  A fully intact ship-burial with a Viking warrior has been found on the Scottish Highland peninsula of Ardnamurchan in Lochabar.  It has been dated to the tenth century, and contained a whetstone from Norway, a ring pin from Ireland, and pottery from the Hebrides.  Most of the warrior's skeleton has decayed, but part of his jaw and several teeth have been recovered, as well.  He was buried with his broadsword, a bronze-headed axe, his conical helmet, and his shield was placed above him.  ....  At Bredon Hill, immortalized by a poem in A. E. Housman's 1896 anthology, A Shropshire Lad, the reportedly largest ever treasure trove of gold has been found.  Details of what it includes are sketchy, and the finder has not been identified. But it is understood the Worcestershire County Council and the county coroner have been informed because of the potential archaeological significance. The treasure, found at the site of an Iron Age fort in Worcestershire, is already being compared with the Staffordshire Hoard, the country’s biggest ever find of Anglo Saxon gold. ....  After standing for at least 4,000 years, the standing stone at Bedd Morris on Newport Mountain has fallen. It was broken off below ground level, and is believed to have been run into by a motorist during the weekend.  Well over six-feet tall, the bronze-age stone is now a parish marker between Newport and Pontfaen in Wales.  The National Park Authority is investigating.  ....  And in Dangtu, Anhui Province, China more than 40 cultural relics have been found in a 400-square-meter tomb that is 2,000 years old.  It is suggested that the tomb belonged to an aristocrat of Yue, one of the seven Warring States during the Warring States period (475 to 221 BC).  One of the most gorgeous, and yet tiny, pieces was a "dragonfly eye" glass bead. This kind of jewellery was made by nomadic tribes in Mediterranean countries in the 10th century BC and was believed to keep misfortune away from the wearers, as well as to play the role of money, Gong Xicheng, deputy director of the provincial archaeological institute said.