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Faldage, please do tell us how the reindeer came to be associated with Santa. I'm all antlers these days, seriously.
Drugs and the Aztecs: What drug did they give to the virgins before sacrificing them?
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I'm all antlers these days
do you mean to say ... (nah. too easy)
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Yes, Keiva, too easy...
My brain is erupting them... And I really would like to know synonyms for horny, but that's another thread on another day. Horns are very different from antlers. I maintain: I'm all antlers; I'm not horny.
DubDub
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an other myth-- for the most part they sacraficed young men. i wonder where the "sacrafical young virgin" myth arose. some time not to far back i suspect. just another way to restrict women..
almost all cultures that had human sacrifice, used healthy young males. (all the better for the old, rich, powerful priests, princes and rulers to get the young virginal women into their own beds!)
from a biological point of view, you never want to kill of your young women.. but young men are much more expendable.
more boys are concieved, and more boys are born-- but by young adulthood, there is a shift.. and there are more woman than men (of the same age) but in cultures where men could and did have multiple wives, there was still an excess of men.. Food for the gods!
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Dear WW: I found a site with a bit of information, took a couple paragraphs:
Antlers are found in most species of deer. They are made of solid bone and grow from a bony base on the skull.Antlers begin growing in the spring as skin-covered projections. The dermal covering, or "velvet," is rich in blood vessels and nerves. When the antlers reach full size, the velvet dies and is rubbed off. The antlers are used in combat by males during the breeding season, and drop off afterwards. Antlers vary from simple spikes to enormous, branched structures. In most species, only males have antlers (both sexes have antlers in caribou).
All bovids have horns, at least in males and often in females. Horns can vary from simple spikes to extremely long, curved structures - but always unbranched. Bovid horns are made up of a permanent bony core covered with a layer of keratin, which is never shed. The horn picture above shows the hollow area where the bony core would be found.
I remember having our Herefords dehorned by chemical cauterization when horn bud was first beginning.
But I bought an hermaphrodite goat to eat a big patch of mixed poison ivy, bittersweet, and barbed wire, which I could not manage with pruning shears because of the invisible barbed wire. The goat gave me one very amusing demonstration of the use of his horns. A stray dog came into the yard, and headed for the goat at top speed. The goat ran a short ways, then turned on a dime, and butted the dog unconscious. But he hurt my daughter, so the horns had to go. When the vet approached him with a huge pair of pruning shears, I asked:"Does the patient get any anaesthesia?" "Negative," said the vet, and brought the handles of the pruning shears together with a lot of muscle power. The goat jumped up six feet, and came down blowing big bloody bubbles out of the gaping hole, and through his nose because the cavity was connected to his nasal sinuses. I assure you I did not enjoy the spectacle.
One interesting thing to be seen in the woods is a tree where several bucks have scraped the velvet off their horns, which incidentally recorded which one was the biggest, and destined to defeat the smaller guys.
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Deer velvet is a valuable export for Zild. Pound for pound, it's worth more than gold. It's used in various Chinese (or Oriental,anyway) herbal medicine remedies from increasing fertility and virility to God only knows what. Velvet probably represents one of the biggest returns from farming deer. The velvet is collected by removing the antlers and processing them. Doesn't seem to distress the deer too much, but I think they use local anaesthetic. Deer get stressed easily at the best of times as anyone who's had to work with them can tell you.
We had a goat (called Grundig after the tape recorder manufacturer - guess why!) who lived to the ripe old age of 15. He, like our sheep Mint Sauce who I discussed in a previous post, was a wether but I often wondered whether or not he'd been dealt with properly because he got very goaty from time to time. He was a fun animal and really very little trouble to keep, unlike the mobile hogget roast. If he got off his chain he made a beeline for the front door and would camp in the porch until one or the other of us went out and tied him up again. He was also very popular with the local kids. He loved playing and wasn't too rough with them. Like most goats, his favourite game was king of the castle. He knew what his horns were for though and several of the local dogs found that out the hard way. But when he was playing, he always pulled his punches. He and my first Keeshond bitch were great mates and would play king of the mound games for hours. He also used to enjoy sneaking up behind Sandra when she was hanging out the washing and would just gently prod her. If she fell over, he thought it was a great joke. He'd call triumphantly, stand there and wait for retaliation in kind. Let the games begin ...
As you may gather, I rather miss him!
Dehorning goats is cruel, because the horns are their natural and only defence. Without them they will hurt themselves using the tops of their heads as if the horns were still there. Typically, goats use the flats of the horns in combat, not the points, so they can't usually gore their opponents, although a kid's short horns can be dynamite. The instincts to use the vanished horns don't go away when the horns are removed. The SPCA in Zild frowns sternly on dehorning them.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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In reply to:
And I really would like to know synonyms for horny
The one that causes much cross-pond amusement is randy.
Bingley
Bingley
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(called Grundig after the tape recorder manufacturer - guess why!)
Um...because you can put anything into one? Lovely story, Ck. Thanks!
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The one that causes much cross-pond amusement is randy.
Why? (If you can say without the prose being too purple.)
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Dr. Bill (and anyone), would you please try and give a warning that I am about to read about cruelty to animals?
The idea of an animal in pain or distress sends a knife straight into my heart; and yours was a very graphic image.
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The one that causes much cross-pond amusement is randy.
Why? Jackie asked (If you can say without the prose being too purple.)
Dear Jackie - have you never heard Randy as a nickname for Randolph, or Richard? And reading this I am sure I am waaaay off base.
Anyone care to try the prose?
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Maybe Bingley feels about Grundig the way I do. About forty years ago I bought a Grundig radio for about fifty bucks, which inflation since makes look small, but was serious money to me then. It had piano keys to select the various functions. My younger son pressed two keys at same time. Both went down and STAYED down. Dealer said cost of having it fixed would be forty bucks. I do not love Grundig.
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