Post by: Harold Tuttle on July 12, 2007, 06:22:39 AM
Giant badgers terrorise Iraqi port city
Article from: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Basra
July 11, 2007 05:37pm
THE Iraqi port city of Basra, already prey to a nasty turf war between rival militia factions, has now been gripped by a scary rumour giant badgers are stalking the streets by night, eating humans.
The animals were allegedly released into the area by British forces.
Local farmers have caught and killed several of the beasts, but this has done nothing to dispel the rumour.
Iraqi scientists have attempted to calm things down. However, the story has spread like wildfire in the streets of the city and the villages round about.
Mushtaq Abdul-Mahdi, director of Basra's veterinary hospital, has inspected the corpses of several badgers and tries to reassure Iraqis that the animals are not a new post-war arrival in the region.
These animals appeared before the fall of the regime in 1986. They are known as Al-Ghirayri and locally as Al-Girta, he told AFP. Talk that this animal was brought by the British forces is incorrect and unscientific.
Not everybody is convinced.
I believe this animal appeared following a raid to the region by the British forces, said Ali Mohsen, a farmer in his 40s from Karmat Ali, near the air base used by the multinational force.
As we are close to the airport, they probably released this animal into the area.
British troops have been based in Basra since the 2003 US-led invasion overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, and the 5500 that remain still face the threat of *expletive deleted*it militias battling for the region's oil resources.
They also have to battle the Iraqi rumour mill, as locals are quick to blame them for almost any calamity that befalls the area including an apparent plague of vicious badgers with long claws and powerful jaws.
British army spokesman Major David Gell said the animals were thought to be a kind of honey badger melivora capensis which can be fierce but are not usually dangerous to humans unless provoked.
They are native to the region but rare in Iraq. They're nocturnal carnivores with a fearsome reputation, but they don't stalk humans and carry them back to their lair, he said.
Both the scientists and the soldiers agree that the badger ought not to be a danger to humans, but so far they have failed to reassure the populace.
I was sleeping at night when this strange animal hit me on my head. I have not seen such an animal before. My husband hurried to shoot it but it was as swift as a deer, Suad Hassan, a 30-year-old housewife said.
It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey. It runs so quickly.
Cell phone video of the badgers circulating in Basra shows a stocky skunk-like animal with long front claws.
The honey badger, or ratel, is known as a brave predator capable of killing a cobra. It weighs up to 14kg.
Sattar Jabbar, a 50-year-old local farmer from Abu Sakhar north of Basra, believes the badger can tackle even large prey.
I saw it three days ago at night attacking animals. It even ate a cow. It tore the cow up piece by piece. I tried to shoot it with my gun but it ran away into the orchards. I missed it, he said.
Post by: Manedwolf on July 12, 2007, 06:29:56 AM
And....A SNAKE! ...?
Post by: JonnyB on July 12, 2007, 06:34:03 AM
jb
Post by: El Tejon on July 12, 2007, 06:40:54 AM
I welcome our Badger Overlords!
Post by: mtnbkr on July 12, 2007, 06:44:55 AM
Sorry, I caught that episode of The Twilight Zone a few days ago...
Chris
Post by: griz on July 12, 2007, 07:03:15 AM
In less than 24 hours a thread about "which gun for giant badgers" will be locked on THR.
Post by: Tallpine on July 12, 2007, 07:13:06 AM
Quote
The Badgers have come to liberate you!
That's what liars Bush&Blair are saying ... but really they have come to establish lawn order
Post by: HankB on July 12, 2007, 07:16:33 AM
Have the U.S. Government denounce it as a hoax before it airs, and insist that the badgers/bugs whatever are not crossbred with wild swine, and that we would not release these animals into any area intentionally . . .even if we had them, which we don't.
Post by: Harold Tuttle on July 12, 2007, 07:54:48 AM
http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/
Post by: AJ Dual on July 12, 2007, 08:04:32 AM
Are there mushrooms as well?
And....A SNAKE! ...?
And....A SNAKE! ...?
Nominated for APS "Witty post of the year"!
Post by: wmenorr67 on July 12, 2007, 08:25:11 AM
Post by: AJ Dual on July 12, 2007, 09:24:56 AM
A little tin-foil and a gas mask and you could have "robo trooper" march through a town...
Post by: mountainclmbr on July 12, 2007, 09:32:39 AM
Post by: mountainclmbr on July 12, 2007, 09:55:15 AM
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1274983,00.html
Quote
Police in Iran are reported to have taken 14 squirrels into custody - because they are suspected of spying.
Britain's latest secret weapon?The rodents were found near the Iranian border allegedly equipped with eavesdropping devices.
The reports have come from the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
When asked about the confiscation of the spy squirrels, the national police chief said: "I have heard about it, but I do not have precise information."
The IRNA said that the squirrels were kitted out by foreign intelligence services - but they were captured two weeks ago by police officers.
Britain's latest secret weapon?The rodents were found near the Iranian border allegedly equipped with eavesdropping devices.
The reports have come from the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
When asked about the confiscation of the spy squirrels, the national police chief said: "I have heard about it, but I do not have precise information."
The IRNA said that the squirrels were kitted out by foreign intelligence services - but they were captured two weeks ago by police officers.
Post by: client32 on July 12, 2007, 10:07:34 AM
This is another of a long line of Iraqi legends about us and the British. There are some Iraqi people that believe we have a "cold" pill that we take to keep us cool in our body armour. Another myth is that the 82nd berets are died with blood.
Is this a specific type of blood, or just any that is found?I think I might try to start that rumor here as well.
Post by: crt360 on July 12, 2007, 10:35:25 AM
I'd pay good money to see a badger kill a cow and eat it.
How does a dog with a monkey head that was chasing deer = badger? It sounds more like el chupacabra.
Post by: mountainclmbr on July 12, 2007, 10:52:01 AM
-- Monty Python, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", modified by Mountainclmbr for defense against mall zombie badgers, with apologies to El Tejon
Post by: AJ Dual on July 12, 2007, 10:53:01 AM
So, El Tejon = Al-Girta
I'd pay good money to see a badger kill a cow and eat it.
How does a dog with a monkey head that was chasing deer = badger? It sounds more like el chupacabra.
I'd pay good money to see a badger kill a cow and eat it.
How does a dog with a monkey head that was chasing deer = badger? It sounds more like el chupacabra.
Over there, wouldn't it more appropriately be al-chupacabra?
Post by: MechAg94 on July 12, 2007, 12:17:58 PM
Then did he raise on high the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, saying, "Bless this, O Lord, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemy badgers to tiny bits, in thy mercy." And the people did rejoice and did feast upon the lambs and toads and tree-sloths and fruit-bats and orangutans and breakfast cereals ... Now did the Lord say, "First thou pullest the Holy Pin. Then thou must count to three. Three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the number of the counting, be reached, then lobbest thou the Holy Hand Grenade in the direction of thine badger, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it."
-- Monty Python, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", modified by Mountainclmbr for defense against mall zombie badgers, with apologies to El Tejon
You didn't even have to look that up did you. -- Monty Python, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", modified by Mountainclmbr for defense against mall zombie badgers, with apologies to El Tejon
Post by: Brad Johnson on July 12, 2007, 02:04:12 PM
Brad
Post by: Harold Tuttle on July 12, 2007, 03:39:19 PM
Dinsdale!
Post by: crt360 on July 12, 2007, 03:44:15 PM
I am ever soooooo dissapointed in you folks. All this talk of badgers and, so far, not a single person has said...
Brad
Brad
. . . cover your nuts?
So, El Tejon = Al-Girta
I'd pay good money to see a badger kill a cow and eat it.
How does a dog with a monkey head that was chasing deer = badger? It sounds more like el chupacabra.
I'd pay good money to see a badger kill a cow and eat it.
How does a dog with a monkey head that was chasing deer = badger? It sounds more like el chupacabra.
Over there, wouldn't it more appropriately be al-chupacabra?
Right, I wasn't thinking.
Post by: Bogie on July 12, 2007, 05:41:40 PM
Post by: Vile Nylons on July 13, 2007, 04:06:17 AM
Post by: Perd Hapley on July 13, 2007, 04:55:01 AM
Post by: Nick1911 on July 13, 2007, 06:35:28 AM
Quote
I am ever soooooo dissapointed in you folks. All this talk of badgers and, so far, not a single person has said...
What caliber for giant badgers? I'm thinking 30-06 from an M1. Everyone knows that .223 would just make it angry!
Post by: Harold Tuttle on July 13, 2007, 07:33:47 AM
Post by: Iain on July 13, 2007, 09:26:11 AM
Post by: Harold Tuttle on July 13, 2007, 09:37:49 AM
Post by: MechAg94 on July 15, 2007, 02:45:36 PM