6 Famous Animals You May Not Know
April 19th, 2008 by davinci1. Barry
Barry, the legendary Saint Bernard who rescued over 40 snowbound people in his lifetime (1800-1814) can still be seen, thanks to the art of taxidermy, in the National Museum in Bern, Switzerland. Barry had remarkable sensory gifts. He could predict imminent avalanches and he could lead the monks of the Hospice of St. Bernard to travelers buried beneath the snow. The monks continued to name their lead dog “Barry” as a tribute to the original after his death.
2. Bibs
Heroic canaries are surely rare. One of them, Bibs, lived — and died — in Hermitage, Tenn. Bibs belonged to an elderly woman known as Old Aunt Tess. When Old Aunt Tess fell and injured herself severely, Bibs went winging down the road for help. She banged against the window of a neighboring house until she aroused the occupant. Old Aunt Tess survived but Bibs died from excessive tapping.
3. Checkers
While running for vice-president with Eisenhower in 1952, Richard M. Nixon’s career was almost shattered by an expose revealing that he had a secret $18,000 personal fund (mostly contributions from oilmen) stashed away under another name. Asked to resign, Nixon decided to defend himself on television. Told to make disclosures of any gifts he had received, Nixon remembered how FDR had defended his dog, Fala, in 1944, and he decided to do likewise. In his speech, Nixon said that he had received a gift from a Republican in Texas, “It was a little cocker spaniel dog . . . Black and white spotted. And our little girl — Tricia, the 6 year-old –named it Checkers. And you know, the kids (like all kids) love the dog, and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we’re gonna keep it.” After the speech, Nixon wept, saying, “I was an utter flop . . . Well, at least I won the dog vote tonight.” The speech was a success. Nixon stayed on the ticket, writing later, “Checkers emerged from the campaign the best-known dog in the nation since Fala.”
4. Incitatus
Caligula, emperor of Rome from 37 to 41 AD, was one of the most depraved and monstrous rulers of all time — but he lavished love on his horse, Incitatus. Caligula made the horse a consul of the empire and supplied him with a marble manger, ivory stall, gold drinking goblet, furniture, and a retinue of slaves. Caligula even held parties at which Incitatus was the host.
5. Jack the Porpoise
Sailors bringing their ships through French Pass, a waterway near D’Urville Island off the coast of New Zealand, learned to depend upon a porpoise named Jack to guide them through the dangerous currents. From 1871 to 1903, Jack met and piloted every boat that appeared. In 1903 a drunken passenger on The Penguin shot and wounded him. Jack recovered, resumed his self-appointed job, and for nine more years guided all ships — except The Penguin.
6. Muhamed
A mental wizard, Muhamed was part of a stable of horses in Elberfeld, Germany, trained and owned by Karl Krall in the late 19th century. Blindfolded by a sack, Muhamed could calculate cube roots after only four months of training. He could also add, subtract, multiply, and divide. To give an answer to a math problem — say, 54 — he would tap his left foot five times, his right four times. Scientific observers came and went without proving that any trickery had occurred.
- excerpt from The Book of Lists
