There are a lot of odd stories floating around the internet, many of them involving horses. Horse meat in hamburger, unicorns, combusting manure... are any of these things real?
You Might Have Eaten a Horse
Have you eaten horse meat? Intentionally, probably not. But how about unintentionally? Many U.S. stories about horse meat being an ingredient in hamburger are fake news. But, a study by researchers from Guelph University shows that there could be horsemeat in some Canadian sausage. Of the 100 sausages tested undeclared horse meat showed up in one sample that was supposed to be 100% pork. Researchers pointed out that this mislabeling wasn’t a risk to health and the sausage producer stopped operations.
Is there a horse in your Jello? Don’t worry, apparently horse hooves don’t have the type of collagen needed to create gelatine, the stuff that makes Jello jiggly. Gelatine is derived from the hooves, bones, skin and other tissues of cattle and swine, but not horses. Seriously though, if you read how gelatin is derived, you might not want to eat it anyway.
Rapture Care
The predicted rapture date for 2018 has come and gone, but, we still have the predicted rapture dates for 2019 to look forward to. Worried about what might happen to your horse after the rapture? A company called Rapture Pet Care will ensure that your horse or other companion animal will be looked after once you part from this mortal coil. The after-rapture care is provided by atheists and other non-Christians. For the incredibly reasonable price of $10, Rapture Pet Care has a complete protocol for caring for your pets. And according to their website, they are totally legit.
Fake Zebra
Lots of galleries, zoos and museums are on a budget, so it’s not surprising when they have to ‘make do’ to fill out an exhibit sometimes. A zoo in Egypt was recently accused of painting donkeys to look like zebras. Not so said it’s keeper, who insisted they were real zebras, despite the donkey ears, smudged stripes and small stature. We get it. Zebras are expensive and not very nice to deal with. Painting donkeys is cheaper and probably a lot more fun. This fake zebra story was true while the zebras were false.
Paint-ed Horse
We’ve all seen the fake horse with the word HORSE Photoshopped on it. But the photo of the pinto foal with markings that look like the silhouette of a horse are totally real. I tried to find out what became of DaVinci as he grew older. He’d now be a three-year-old but looks like he got his fifteen minutes of fame before he was a weanling. This story is true.
Poof!
You’ve probably heard that damp hay can heat up and catch fire. This is why it’s so incredibly important to make sure the hay you pack in your barn is dry. Every year, barns go up due to damp hay combusting. But, did you know that manure can combust as well? Manure of all types has been used as fuel to heat homes and cook meals. But, if it isn’t stored properly, it too can combust, much like damp hay. A stable in New York state was forced to find new ways to deal with manure after piles kept combusting in the hot dry weather. No doubt neighbors downwind were glad fire crews were able to quench the smoking piles. True story.
There Are Unicorns, and They’re One of Us
I’ve written about unicorns and whether they are real or not before. But, I really didn’t expect to find that there are actually human unicorns. Thankfully, the phenomena is rare. And, thanks to today’s technology, it’s treatable. But, back in the day, ‘cutaneous horns’ were known to grow from people’s heads. The horns start with tumors that start growing keratin—a protein that makes up our fingernails. Some are cancerous. A horn in the middle of a horse’s head seems to be romantic. But, one growing from a human’s head—not so much. Ugh—this one’s true too.
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A study by researchers from Guelph University shows that there could be horsemeat in some Canadian sausage. Of the 100 sausages tested undeclared horse meat showed up in one sample that was supposed to be 100% pork. ...
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