Monday, January 11, 2016

A twist of lemming

Must credit Gilbert of the Respectful Insolence commentariat for bringing this story to Riddled attention. Given their size, skwirl brains are never going to be a major part of anyone's diet, but people were consuming them for culinary and regional-identity reasons, and there were concerns that this could cause brain-rot prion disease and late-stage voting for Mike Huckabee. It is old news (i.e. 1997) but still of interest to the large sector of our readers who have issues with skwirls, or brains, or both.
Doctors in Kentucky have issued a warning that people should not eat squirrel brains, a regional delicacy, because squirrels may carry a variant of mad cow disease that can be transmitted to humans and is fatal.

Although no squirrels have been tested for mad squirrel disease, there is reason to believe that they could be infected, said Dr. Joseph Berger, chairman of the neurology department at the University of Kentucky in Lexington [...]

In the last four years, 11 cases of a human form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, have been diagnosed in rural western Kentucky, said Dr. Erick Weisman, clinical director of the Neurobehavioral Institute in Hartford, Ky., where the patients were treated.

"All of them were squirrel-brain eaters," Dr. Weisman said. Of the 11 patients, at least 6 have died.
The numbers were shaky: in their press report the authors cited 11 cases, but in the original paper, they had investigated all five cases. Then two decades went by without further reports or direct observation of skwirls with CJD. But let us not lobby Retraction Watch to have the paper unpublished, for it provides an excuse for a Beatrix Potter / Zombie cross-over -- a genre monopolised by Riddled.
-------------------------------------------------
On the sixth day, which was Saturday, the squirrels came again for the last time; they brought a fresh skull in a little rush basket as a last parting present for Zombie Owl.

But Nutkin ran in front laughing, and shouting—
"Walnut tasty, walnut sweet,
Crack through the skull and suck out the meat!"

Now old Brown Zombie took an interest in brainzz; he opened one eye and shut it again. But still he did not speak.

Nutkin became more and more impertinent—
"Old Mr. Z! Old Mr. Z!
Wrinkly old king in his castle of bone,
Looks out twin windows at the view from his throne."
Nutkin shambled up and down like a dead thing; but still Zombie Owl said nothing at all.

Nutkin began again—
"Seahorse and almond, two of each, an ambsace;
Archway and hook, the temporal lobe.
  Chamber, bridge and pine-gland, and a sky-blue place;
Black substance and peach-stone, all part of the globe."

Nutkin made a whirring noise to sound like a groan, and he took a running jump right onto the head of Zombie Owl!...

Then all at once there was a flutterment and a scufflement and a loud "BRAINZZZ"

The other squirrels scuttered away into the bushes.

7 comments:

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

So that's why the Squirreltuckians keep electing Mr. Elaine Chao to the Senate...
~

OBS said...

of interest to the large sector of our readers who have issues with skwirls, or brains, or both.

Often when baiting zombies it's best to hide it a bit better than that, lest they become suspicious.

The numbers were shaky: in their press report the authors cited 11 cases, but in the original paper, they had investigated all five cases.

Two of the missing cases are easily accounted for. It's Kentucky -- the sad cases of Ron and Rand Paul have been well documented in each of their public speaking engagements.

rhwombat said...

OBS: Are you suggesting that Skwrltuckiens are diet food for zombies? Well Suuuieeee!

M. Bouffant said...

Although no squirrels have been tested for mad squirrel disease
How could one tell whether it was mad to begin w/?

I only have issues w/ brains, not squirrels. Not even the one that bit me 'bout 45 yrs. ago. I'm sure it's been dead many yrs. now; why hold a grudge?

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Suspicious Zombie is suspicious.

But here: There is OBVIOUSLY AN INVASION!! Screw ISIS or Al-Qaeda or Bare-chested Putins, ARM YOURSELF AGAINST THE FUCKING SQUIRRELS!!!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/12/a-terrifying-and-hilarious-map-of-squirrel-attacks/

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Do NOT follow the Cyber Squirrel link in that article if you are feeling paranoid...

Tim said...

-- "All of them were squirrel-brain eaters," Dr. Weisman said --

I wonder if Dr. Weisman's epidemiological survey included *frequency of mud-munching*; Even if it did,

Convenience store owners say they refill their supply of white dirt weekly, which would indicate that there is a consistent “demand” for it. However, it’s incredibly difficult to find people to admit to eating clay...

I've heard tell that edible dirt is usually sourced from a few regional, yet secret, locations of old-timer renown --

I’ve persistently tried to get the sellers to talk to me about their sources (with little luck). One told me she gets it straight out of the ground from a deposit near Macon, Georgia.

http://munchies.vice.com/articles/the-american-south-is-still-eating-white-dirt

If I had a nickle for everytime I've found a deer hair in my Kaopectate...

...and when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Fl799teNe7M