Cat in a jar
Hunting cat
On-line cat
Nerdy cat
Camouflaged cat
Cat breading
World's smallest cat
Courageous cat
Traitor cat
Cosplay cat
Sports cat
Showing posts with label Cat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cat. Show all posts
12 Craziest Peculiar Cats
Hitler cat
Cat in a jar
Hunting cat
On-line cat
Nerdy cat
Camouflaged cat
Cat breading
World's smallest cat
Courageous cat
Traitor cat
Cosplay cat
Sports cat
Cat in a jar
Hunting cat
On-line cat
Nerdy cat
Camouflaged cat
Cat breading
World's smallest cat
Courageous cat
Traitor cat
Cosplay cat
Sports cat
WonderfulTattooed Sphynx Cats
A baby Sphynx is so ugly that it's cute. Also known as the pedigree Canadian Hairless, this Sphynx kitten is 2 weeks old. Although they appear to be hairless, Sphynx kittens have very fine, short hair that feels like peach fuzz. Their skin is the color that their furry coat would have been, if they had a pelt.Sphynx owners often dress their cat to help keep it warm and healthy. This breed also needs to be bathed to remain clean. Like a parent might assist their child in putting on a temporary tattoo, some Sphynx owners frequently tattoo their cat.
And then there are the Russian Sphynx breeds with more extreme tattoos and fashions like those below.
Scandal or Sexy?
A sadomasochist and inked Sphynx makes for a bizarre photo. Most of these featured Sphynx cat photos involve fake tattoos, the kind that are applied with water and light pressure. Other photos are of Sphynx cats which are permanently tattooed. Can you tell the difference?Tattooed Sphynx Minus Leather Accessories
The cat in the photo above has another fake tattoo. The photo below features a permanently inked Sphynx.
As mentioned previously, it is common practice for Sphynx cat owners to dress their little darlings in order to keep them warm and healthy. But Mistress Bad Ass Cat? The choice of S&M fashion to keep the cats toasty seem ludicrous, yet humorous.Russian Tattooing Sphynx Started Scandal
It's all the rage, in Russia, if you own a Sphynx to have it tattooed. But this photo started a scandal as it spread online. It is unclear if PETA knows, but here is a video of the infamous cat tattoo parlor.Tattooed Sphynx with Tattooed Owner
This is the same cat from the picture and video above. It seems perfectly happy with its matching tattooed owner. Oh wait, perhaps the hairless cat's expression is seriously ticked as it contemplates killing its owner?
Matching Sphynx Cat & Owner
So what do you think? Is it barbaric to tattoo cats since they cannot voice their desire to be inked or not? Is this animal cruelty? Or is it live and let live?
Inked Sphynx
Is it cool? Cooler yet when the tattooed cats are all decked out in S&M leather fashion? Do you find it funny, bizarre, or WTF?The cat in the photo above has another fake tattoo. The photo below features a permanently inked Sphynx.
The choice of fish being tattooed on the cat seems as strange as the owner having the cat tattooed in the first place.Were These Fashions Chosen to Keep Cats Warm?
9 Weirdest Animal Incidents
Missing Cat Turns Up on TV Show
A cat which disappeared from its home in Cornwall turned up safe and well - on the set of Question Time. Tango, a tom, had crept into Treviglas Community College's hall in Newquay, where BBC1's political discussion programme was being filmed last week. He padded out from under a table where David Dimbleby was chairing political discussions with a panel of guests. The first owner Jackie Ellery knew of his surprise appearance was when a friend rang to say she had spotted him.
But she was not the only person to notice the furtive feline - panel guest Julia Goldsworthy, Lib Dem MP for Falmouth and Camborne, had also clocked him, as had many of the studio audience who erupted into laughter at his nonchalant air.
However, although his owner had been watching the programme in her living room, she missed his TV debut. Although his TV debut may have been fleeting, it seems that Tango's screen appearance will go down as one of the more memorable events to happen on the show. (Link)
Cat Trapped Inside a Metal Container Survives 34 Days by Licking Walls
A black cat named Socks miraculously survived a month trapped in a 20ft industrial storage container - by licking condensation on its walls. The 11-month-old feline reunited with its owners after electrician Murray Ruxton found it inside the container. He survived 35 days without food or water by licking condensation from the sides of the metal unit in Arbroath, Angus. Socks went missing and owner Michelle Maher reported him missing to the charity Cats Protection. Michelle put up posters and searched the streets whilst Cats Protection volunteers kept a lookout for the missing puss. Unbeknown to them, Socks had snuck into a 20ft metal container - similar to shipping containers - which was used by store equipment and supplies for electrical company D Adam & C.
Although desperately thin - half his ideal bodyweight - and dehydrated, the mischievous moggy was reunited with its owner and is expected to make a full recovery from its ordeal.
Tiny Chihuahua Blown Away by Strong Wind
The Utleys of Waterford Township, MI, had set up a booth at a flea market when Tinker Bell, a 6-pound Chihuahua who had been standing on top of it, just flew away like a flimsy piece of paper dragged by 70-mile-an-hour winds. The good news is that, with the aid of a pet psychic, Dorothy and Lavern found a dirty and hungry Tinker Bell in a wooded area about a mile away.
Bird With Cigarette Caused a £250,000 Fire
A cigarette loving sparrow is being blamed for a fire that caused £250,000 of damage to a shop in Lincolnshire. Paul Sheriff, 48, who runs Crescent Stores in Leasingham, was initially at a loss as to what had caused the blaze. Six weeks later, insurance investigators told him that they discovered 35 cigarette ends in the roof.
Their conclusion was a sparrow must have picked up a smoldering butt to feather its nest in the roof's eaves, causing the blaze. Mr Sheriff, a non-smoker, said: "The shop was a total mess. All the suspended ceilings came down, all the electrics were down, all the fridges were broken, it was horrendous. A spokesman for his insurance company said: "We believe it's the first case of its kind we've ever had to deal with. I've certainly never come across this sort of thing before. It's strange to think how such a little bird armed with such a small object could cause such chaos."
Mice Responsible for a Fire That Killed Over 100 Cats
In an ironic event that may be called the mice revenge, mice are being held responsible for a blaze that killed nearly 100 cats at an animal shelter near the Canadian city of Toronto. The fire at the humane society shelter in Oshawa also killed three dogs and some rats that were up for adoption. An initial report from the fire marshal says mice or rats chewing through electrical wires in the ceiling are likely to have sparked the blaze. The $250,000 (£137,000) fire is still under investigation by the Ontario Fire Marshal's office.
Orangutan Deactivates Electric Fence to Escape from Zoo
An Australian zoo was evacuated after an "ingenious" orang-utan escaped from her enclosure by short-circuiting an electric fence today. Staff at Adelaide zoo said 137lb (62kg) Karta used a stick to short-circuit the electric wires around her enclosure before piling up some more sticks to climb out. But the 27-year-old ape only ventured as far as a surrounding fence, still metres from members of the public, during her 30 minutes of freedom. The zoo's curator, Peter Whitehead, said she seemed to realize she was somewhere she was not supposed to be and returned to her enclosure.
Karta was spotted by a member of the public and, although she returned to her enclosure, the zoo was evacuated as a safety precaution. Whitehead said the orang-utan was not aggressive and had not been close to members of the public. However, vets stood by with tranquilizer guns in case of trouble.
Zookeepers believe that Karta was driven to make an incredible escape attempt by grief at the loss of her longtime mate.
Sheep Abseiled Down Electricity Cable After Snagging Its Horn
This hapless sheep has become a real life 'ram-bo' after inadvertently abseiling down a hill when its horn became snagged on an electricity wire.The unfortunate sheep was spotted bleating for help more than 15 feet above the ground next to a telegraph pole. Luckily it did not catch the current from the wire.
The drama unraveled at the small town of Helgoysund on the Norwegian coast. Tourists at the scene mounted a rescue attempt and eventually roped it to pull it back to ground level. After nearly an hour, and some ingenious rope work, the German tourists managed to bring the sheep down unharmed. Spectators suggested the sheep may have been grazing on the hill, and while trying to reach a field of ewes, it got its horn stuck on the zip wire. As it got more agitated, it was pulled down the hill on the wire it was attached to and ended up more than five metres above the ground.
Skunk Gets Stuck in a Peanut Butter Jar
Teresa Vick saw something very strange - a skunk with its head stuck in a peanut butter jar in downtown Bixby. "I deliver the Tulsa World in this area and I was throwing a newspaper here at the Community Centre and I just happened to come upon a skunk with the jar already on its head at about 5:30 this morning," Teresa Vick said. The hungry skunk was just looking for a meal when it got its head caught in a discarded jar. Teresa called several places before she found Ned Bruha, The Skunk Whisperer. She kept the skunk corralled as she waited.
According to Ned Bruha, all wildlife wants is food, water and shelter. Peanut butter is irresistible to skunks. They are opportunistic and they are going to take advantage of any bit of food they can get. This guy found peanut butter and got itself into a little bit of trouble. Ned used a rag soaked in chloroform to mildly sedate the skunk before pulling the jar off its head, and wasn't even sprayed by the appreciative skunk. The skunk just seemed happy to be free once more, and ran off unharmed.
Puppy Survives Miraculously After Swallowing a 10 Inch Toy Arrow
Puppies are known for chewing and eating everything and anything. But Betty the bull terrier must have regretted her greed and curiosity after she swallowed a 10-inch plastic arrow that was almost as long as herself. Thankfully, the Staffordshire bull terrier survived after undergoing emergency surgery to remove the item after it became lodged halfway through her body from the aesophagus to her small intestine. Her owner, Emma Watson, 38, believes her pet gobbled up the arrow after disappearing into her seven-year-old daughter Lilly-Jay's playhouse when a gust of wind opened the door.
The dog is now recovering, but she doesn't seem to have learned her lesson; as soon as she got home she tried to eat the TV remote control.
A cat which disappeared from its home in Cornwall turned up safe and well - on the set of Question Time. Tango, a tom, had crept into Treviglas Community College's hall in Newquay, where BBC1's political discussion programme was being filmed last week. He padded out from under a table where David Dimbleby was chairing political discussions with a panel of guests. The first owner Jackie Ellery knew of his surprise appearance was when a friend rang to say she had spotted him.But she was not the only person to notice the furtive feline - panel guest Julia Goldsworthy, Lib Dem MP for Falmouth and Camborne, had also clocked him, as had many of the studio audience who erupted into laughter at his nonchalant air.
However, although his owner had been watching the programme in her living room, she missed his TV debut. Although his TV debut may have been fleeting, it seems that Tango's screen appearance will go down as one of the more memorable events to happen on the show. (Link)
Cat Trapped Inside a Metal Container Survives 34 Days by Licking Walls
A black cat named Socks miraculously survived a month trapped in a 20ft industrial storage container - by licking condensation on its walls. The 11-month-old feline reunited with its owners after electrician Murray Ruxton found it inside the container. He survived 35 days without food or water by licking condensation from the sides of the metal unit in Arbroath, Angus. Socks went missing and owner Michelle Maher reported him missing to the charity Cats Protection. Michelle put up posters and searched the streets whilst Cats Protection volunteers kept a lookout for the missing puss. Unbeknown to them, Socks had snuck into a 20ft metal container - similar to shipping containers - which was used by store equipment and supplies for electrical company D Adam & C.Although desperately thin - half his ideal bodyweight - and dehydrated, the mischievous moggy was reunited with its owner and is expected to make a full recovery from its ordeal.
Tiny Chihuahua Blown Away by Strong Wind
The Utleys of Waterford Township, MI, had set up a booth at a flea market when Tinker Bell, a 6-pound Chihuahua who had been standing on top of it, just flew away like a flimsy piece of paper dragged by 70-mile-an-hour winds. The good news is that, with the aid of a pet psychic, Dorothy and Lavern found a dirty and hungry Tinker Bell in a wooded area about a mile away.Bird With Cigarette Caused a £250,000 Fire
A cigarette loving sparrow is being blamed for a fire that caused £250,000 of damage to a shop in Lincolnshire. Paul Sheriff, 48, who runs Crescent Stores in Leasingham, was initially at a loss as to what had caused the blaze. Six weeks later, insurance investigators told him that they discovered 35 cigarette ends in the roof.Their conclusion was a sparrow must have picked up a smoldering butt to feather its nest in the roof's eaves, causing the blaze. Mr Sheriff, a non-smoker, said: "The shop was a total mess. All the suspended ceilings came down, all the electrics were down, all the fridges were broken, it was horrendous. A spokesman for his insurance company said: "We believe it's the first case of its kind we've ever had to deal with. I've certainly never come across this sort of thing before. It's strange to think how such a little bird armed with such a small object could cause such chaos."
Mice Responsible for a Fire That Killed Over 100 Cats
In an ironic event that may be called the mice revenge, mice are being held responsible for a blaze that killed nearly 100 cats at an animal shelter near the Canadian city of Toronto. The fire at the humane society shelter in Oshawa also killed three dogs and some rats that were up for adoption. An initial report from the fire marshal says mice or rats chewing through electrical wires in the ceiling are likely to have sparked the blaze. The $250,000 (£137,000) fire is still under investigation by the Ontario Fire Marshal's office. Orangutan Deactivates Electric Fence to Escape from Zoo
An Australian zoo was evacuated after an "ingenious" orang-utan escaped from her enclosure by short-circuiting an electric fence today. Staff at Adelaide zoo said 137lb (62kg) Karta used a stick to short-circuit the electric wires around her enclosure before piling up some more sticks to climb out. But the 27-year-old ape only ventured as far as a surrounding fence, still metres from members of the public, during her 30 minutes of freedom. The zoo's curator, Peter Whitehead, said she seemed to realize she was somewhere she was not supposed to be and returned to her enclosure.Karta was spotted by a member of the public and, although she returned to her enclosure, the zoo was evacuated as a safety precaution. Whitehead said the orang-utan was not aggressive and had not been close to members of the public. However, vets stood by with tranquilizer guns in case of trouble.
Zookeepers believe that Karta was driven to make an incredible escape attempt by grief at the loss of her longtime mate.
Sheep Abseiled Down Electricity Cable After Snagging Its Horn
This hapless sheep has become a real life 'ram-bo' after inadvertently abseiling down a hill when its horn became snagged on an electricity wire.The unfortunate sheep was spotted bleating for help more than 15 feet above the ground next to a telegraph pole. Luckily it did not catch the current from the wire.The drama unraveled at the small town of Helgoysund on the Norwegian coast. Tourists at the scene mounted a rescue attempt and eventually roped it to pull it back to ground level. After nearly an hour, and some ingenious rope work, the German tourists managed to bring the sheep down unharmed. Spectators suggested the sheep may have been grazing on the hill, and while trying to reach a field of ewes, it got its horn stuck on the zip wire. As it got more agitated, it was pulled down the hill on the wire it was attached to and ended up more than five metres above the ground.
Skunk Gets Stuck in a Peanut Butter Jar
Teresa Vick saw something very strange - a skunk with its head stuck in a peanut butter jar in downtown Bixby. "I deliver the Tulsa World in this area and I was throwing a newspaper here at the Community Centre and I just happened to come upon a skunk with the jar already on its head at about 5:30 this morning," Teresa Vick said. The hungry skunk was just looking for a meal when it got its head caught in a discarded jar. Teresa called several places before she found Ned Bruha, The Skunk Whisperer. She kept the skunk corralled as she waited.According to Ned Bruha, all wildlife wants is food, water and shelter. Peanut butter is irresistible to skunks. They are opportunistic and they are going to take advantage of any bit of food they can get. This guy found peanut butter and got itself into a little bit of trouble. Ned used a rag soaked in chloroform to mildly sedate the skunk before pulling the jar off its head, and wasn't even sprayed by the appreciative skunk. The skunk just seemed happy to be free once more, and ran off unharmed.
Puppy Survives Miraculously After Swallowing a 10 Inch Toy Arrow
Puppies are known for chewing and eating everything and anything. But Betty the bull terrier must have regretted her greed and curiosity after she swallowed a 10-inch plastic arrow that was almost as long as herself. Thankfully, the Staffordshire bull terrier survived after undergoing emergency surgery to remove the item after it became lodged halfway through her body from the aesophagus to her small intestine. Her owner, Emma Watson, 38, believes her pet gobbled up the arrow after disappearing into her seven-year-old daughter Lilly-Jay's playhouse when a gust of wind opened the door.The dog is now recovering, but she doesn't seem to have learned her lesson; as soon as she got home she tried to eat the TV remote control.
10 Most World's Worst and Crazy Jobs
(1) Janitor at a Porno Theatre
Janitor, in itself, is a pretty bad job. But, porno theater janitor is the worst job on the list. The main responsibility of the porno theater janitor is to take his mop and rag and wide up after each show is finished. Unlike a traditional theater, it's safe to assume that sticky substance under the chair is something other than Coca-Cola Classic! At least you get to see all that porn for free and you'll probably be very popular among your male friends, although this is probably not a job you want to talk about with your mother, or your wife for that matter.
(2) Guard at Buckingham Palace
Guard duty at Buckingham Palace is regarded as one of the worst jobs in the British Army. Besides the fact that they have to stand for hours, no laughing allowed, they also have to look their best. Soldiers spend several hours each day cleaning and pressing their uniforms and polishing their boots in preparation for one of the many kit inspections that they are likely to face before taking up their positions outside one of the royal palaces. Any soldier whose turn-out is less than immaculate is likely to face a variety of punishments, such as extra guard duty.
(3) Animal Masturbator
Researchers who want animal sperm -to study fertility or for artificial insemination-have a suite of attractive options: They can ram an electric probe up an animal's rectum, shove an artificial
vagina onto the animal's penis, or simply do it the old-fashioned way-manual stimulation. The first option, electroejaculation, uses a priapic rectal probe to send electricity pulsing through the animal's nether regions. "All the normal excitatory signals that stimulate ejaculation, like touch, sight, sound and smell, can be replaced with the current from the probe," says Trish Berger, professor of animal science at the University of California, Davis. "It's fascinating. Of course, this is a woman talking." Electroejaculation generally requires anesthetizing the animal and is typically used on zoo dwellers. The other two methods-the artificial vagina, or AV, and the good old hand-require that animals be trained to the procedure. The AV-a large latex tube coated with warm lubricant -is used primarily to get sperm from dairy bulls (considered the most ornery and dangerous of bovines). The bull gets randy with a steer; when he mounts the steer with his forelegs, a brave technician, AV in hand, insinuates himself between the two aroused beasts and deftly redirects the bull's penis into the mock genitalia, which he must then hold tight while the bull orgasms. (Talk about bull riding!) Three additional technicians attempt to ensure this (fool)hardy soul's safety by anchoring themselves to restraining ropes attached to a ring in the bull's nose. Alas, this isn't always absolutely effective: Everyone who's wielded an AV has had at least one close call, and more than a few have been sent to the hospital. The much safer "digital pressure" is used mostly with pigs, who are trained from an early age to mount a small bench while the researcher reaches around with a gloved hand and provides appropriate pleasure-er, pressure.
(4) Sewers Cleaner
Ramesh Sahu works in the sanitation department of Calcutta, cleaning out the city's sewers. On a regular basis, Rakesh sits in a low crouch at the bottom of a seven-foot-deep manhole, sloshing away in a swirl of human waste and sediment. Equipped with a hoe and a steel bar, and wearing only a pair of loose purple underpants, Rakesh empties the thick black sludge from a clogged sewer into a bucket that his fellow crew members hoist up and dump in the middle of a narrow road. A small mountain of decaying excrement accumulates between the manhole and a rickety wooden vegetable cart. Two co-workers reach down and yank Rakesh out by his sore, extended arms, his body splattered with putrid muck. At 27, with a wife, three young daughters and a monthly income of about $100, he has been a sewage worker for the Delhi Jal (Water) Board for the past 10 years.
(5) Brazilian Mosquito Researcher
Scientists fighting malaria must study the biting habits of the mosquito that spreads it. In Brazil, that's the Anopheles Darlingi, which doesn't fall for the light or wind traps researchers use in Africa: this smart little sucker will come near scientists only when they offer themselves as bait. In the early evening, when mosquito activity is busiest, a mosquito dinner- researcher finds a nice buggy area and sets himself up inside a mosquito-netting tent with a gap at the bottom. Mosquitoes fly in low and get trapped inside, where the researcher sits stoically, sacrificing his skin to science. He needs focus only on his legs to keep him busy: whenever a mosquito chooses a drumstick dinner, the researcher draws it into a mouth tube and then expels it into a container. Veteran researcher Helge Zieler used to put himself on the menu twice a week. On his best evening, he caught 500 Anopheles in 3 hours. Meanwhile, of course, the skeeters feasted on his entire corpus-a grand total of about 3,000 bites, or an average of 17 per minute for 180 minutes on end. "It's not so bad," he says, explaining that his personal response to mosquito bites is an immediate itch that goes away naturally in a few minutes. Except when his response is to contractmalaria. Despite taking prophylactic chloroquine, Zieler developed a case that took him two years to shake.
(6) Portable Toilet Cleaner
This job is a sort of combination of garbage collector and gastroenterologist, and arguably more disgusting than both put together. Although most people in polite society methodically avoid situations where they need to use a portable toilet, modern outhouses can be lifesavers. As gross as they can be, they'd be worse without the folks who clean them for a living. Using a tank and a vacuum wand, cleaners must suck up all the waste in aportable toilet. After picking up any stray toilet paper, they also wash down all surfaces that could possibly be soiled, including the walls. This is when a high-pressure hose comes in handy. Usually, cleaning one portable toilet takes only a few minutes, and most workers clean from 10 to 60 of them a day. But it's not always that easy: Portable toilets that tip over require more damage control. Nevertheless, some cleaners grin and bear it -- and take home $50,000 a year.
(7) Flatus Odor Judge
Odor judges are common in the research labs of mouthwash companies, where the halitosis-inflicted blow great gusts of breath in their faces to test product efficacy. But Minneapolis gastroenterologist Michael Levitt recently took the job to another level-or, rather, to the other end. Levitt paid two brave souls to indulge repeatedly in the odors of other people's farts. (Levitt refuses to divulge the remuneration, but it would seem safe to characterize it thusly: Not enough.) Sixteen healthy subjects volunteered to eat pinto beans and insert small plastic collection tubes into their anuses (worst-job runners-up, to be sure). After each "episode of flatulence," Levitt syringed the gas into a discrete container, rigorously maintaining fart integrity. The odor judges then sat down with at least 100 samples, opened the caps one at a time, and inhaled robustly. As their faces writhed in agony, they rated just how noxious the smell was. The samples were also chemically analyzed, and-eureka!-Levitt determined definitively the most malodorous component of the human flatus: hydrogen sulfide.
(8) Cat Food Quality Controller
British man Jon Hanson had what he describes as the worst job in his entire life: quality control on cat food. His task involved several test as he describes. Test 1: Bury face in a huge tub of it and sniff it to make sure it's fresh. Test 2: Plunge arms in it up to the elbows and grope for bony bits and take them out. Test 3: Scoop up huge dollop of it, smear it flat on surface and prod it with fingers to test how much gristle is there. Uggghh!
(9) Roadkill Remover
Pretty self-explanatory. Roadkill collectors not only have the job of peeling the remains of dead creatures in decay off the road in various states, they also get to do it while braving oncoming traffic.
(10) Monkeys Chaser at a Safari
Marin from Canada was hired to work in a safari zoo. He had to be caged-in in a car and drive around from one reserve to the next. Monkeys always climb on top of the car and usually enjoy a free ride for a while. At the exit of the monkey reserve is a zoo worker equipped with a stick. His duty is to prevent monkeys from leaving the reserve on a car. Imagine chasing monkeys in the glowing sun for eight hours.
Janitor, in itself, is a pretty bad job. But, porno theater janitor is the worst job on the list. The main responsibility of the porno theater janitor is to take his mop and rag and wide up after each show is finished. Unlike a traditional theater, it's safe to assume that sticky substance under the chair is something other than Coca-Cola Classic! At least you get to see all that porn for free and you'll probably be very popular among your male friends, although this is probably not a job you want to talk about with your mother, or your wife for that matter.(2) Guard at Buckingham Palace
Guard duty at Buckingham Palace is regarded as one of the worst jobs in the British Army. Besides the fact that they have to stand for hours, no laughing allowed, they also have to look their best. Soldiers spend several hours each day cleaning and pressing their uniforms and polishing their boots in preparation for one of the many kit inspections that they are likely to face before taking up their positions outside one of the royal palaces. Any soldier whose turn-out is less than immaculate is likely to face a variety of punishments, such as extra guard duty.(3) Animal Masturbator
Researchers who want animal sperm -to study fertility or for artificial insemination-have a suite of attractive options: They can ram an electric probe up an animal's rectum, shove an artificialvagina onto the animal's penis, or simply do it the old-fashioned way-manual stimulation. The first option, electroejaculation, uses a priapic rectal probe to send electricity pulsing through the animal's nether regions. "All the normal excitatory signals that stimulate ejaculation, like touch, sight, sound and smell, can be replaced with the current from the probe," says Trish Berger, professor of animal science at the University of California, Davis. "It's fascinating. Of course, this is a woman talking." Electroejaculation generally requires anesthetizing the animal and is typically used on zoo dwellers. The other two methods-the artificial vagina, or AV, and the good old hand-require that animals be trained to the procedure. The AV-a large latex tube coated with warm lubricant -is used primarily to get sperm from dairy bulls (considered the most ornery and dangerous of bovines). The bull gets randy with a steer; when he mounts the steer with his forelegs, a brave technician, AV in hand, insinuates himself between the two aroused beasts and deftly redirects the bull's penis into the mock genitalia, which he must then hold tight while the bull orgasms. (Talk about bull riding!) Three additional technicians attempt to ensure this (fool)hardy soul's safety by anchoring themselves to restraining ropes attached to a ring in the bull's nose. Alas, this isn't always absolutely effective: Everyone who's wielded an AV has had at least one close call, and more than a few have been sent to the hospital. The much safer "digital pressure" is used mostly with pigs, who are trained from an early age to mount a small bench while the researcher reaches around with a gloved hand and provides appropriate pleasure-er, pressure.
(4) Sewers Cleaner
Ramesh Sahu works in the sanitation department of Calcutta, cleaning out the city's sewers. On a regular basis, Rakesh sits in a low crouch at the bottom of a seven-foot-deep manhole, sloshing away in a swirl of human waste and sediment. Equipped with a hoe and a steel bar, and wearing only a pair of loose purple underpants, Rakesh empties the thick black sludge from a clogged sewer into a bucket that his fellow crew members hoist up and dump in the middle of a narrow road. A small mountain of decaying excrement accumulates between the manhole and a rickety wooden vegetable cart. Two co-workers reach down and yank Rakesh out by his sore, extended arms, his body splattered with putrid muck. At 27, with a wife, three young daughters and a monthly income of about $100, he has been a sewage worker for the Delhi Jal (Water) Board for the past 10 years.(5) Brazilian Mosquito Researcher
Scientists fighting malaria must study the biting habits of the mosquito that spreads it. In Brazil, that's the Anopheles Darlingi, which doesn't fall for the light or wind traps researchers use in Africa: this smart little sucker will come near scientists only when they offer themselves as bait. In the early evening, when mosquito activity is busiest, a mosquito dinner- researcher finds a nice buggy area and sets himself up inside a mosquito-netting tent with a gap at the bottom. Mosquitoes fly in low and get trapped inside, where the researcher sits stoically, sacrificing his skin to science. He needs focus only on his legs to keep him busy: whenever a mosquito chooses a drumstick dinner, the researcher draws it into a mouth tube and then expels it into a container. Veteran researcher Helge Zieler used to put himself on the menu twice a week. On his best evening, he caught 500 Anopheles in 3 hours. Meanwhile, of course, the skeeters feasted on his entire corpus-a grand total of about 3,000 bites, or an average of 17 per minute for 180 minutes on end. "It's not so bad," he says, explaining that his personal response to mosquito bites is an immediate itch that goes away naturally in a few minutes. Except when his response is to contractmalaria. Despite taking prophylactic chloroquine, Zieler developed a case that took him two years to shake.(6) Portable Toilet Cleaner
This job is a sort of combination of garbage collector and gastroenterologist, and arguably more disgusting than both put together. Although most people in polite society methodically avoid situations where they need to use a portable toilet, modern outhouses can be lifesavers. As gross as they can be, they'd be worse without the folks who clean them for a living. Using a tank and a vacuum wand, cleaners must suck up all the waste in aportable toilet. After picking up any stray toilet paper, they also wash down all surfaces that could possibly be soiled, including the walls. This is when a high-pressure hose comes in handy. Usually, cleaning one portable toilet takes only a few minutes, and most workers clean from 10 to 60 of them a day. But it's not always that easy: Portable toilets that tip over require more damage control. Nevertheless, some cleaners grin and bear it -- and take home $50,000 a year.(7) Flatus Odor Judge
Odor judges are common in the research labs of mouthwash companies, where the halitosis-inflicted blow great gusts of breath in their faces to test product efficacy. But Minneapolis gastroenterologist Michael Levitt recently took the job to another level-or, rather, to the other end. Levitt paid two brave souls to indulge repeatedly in the odors of other people's farts. (Levitt refuses to divulge the remuneration, but it would seem safe to characterize it thusly: Not enough.) Sixteen healthy subjects volunteered to eat pinto beans and insert small plastic collection tubes into their anuses (worst-job runners-up, to be sure). After each "episode of flatulence," Levitt syringed the gas into a discrete container, rigorously maintaining fart integrity. The odor judges then sat down with at least 100 samples, opened the caps one at a time, and inhaled robustly. As their faces writhed in agony, they rated just how noxious the smell was. The samples were also chemically analyzed, and-eureka!-Levitt determined definitively the most malodorous component of the human flatus: hydrogen sulfide.(8) Cat Food Quality Controller
British man Jon Hanson had what he describes as the worst job in his entire life: quality control on cat food. His task involved several test as he describes. Test 1: Bury face in a huge tub of it and sniff it to make sure it's fresh. Test 2: Plunge arms in it up to the elbows and grope for bony bits and take them out. Test 3: Scoop up huge dollop of it, smear it flat on surface and prod it with fingers to test how much gristle is there. Uggghh!(9) Roadkill Remover
Pretty self-explanatory. Roadkill collectors not only have the job of peeling the remains of dead creatures in decay off the road in various states, they also get to do it while braving oncoming traffic.(10) Monkeys Chaser at a Safari
Marin from Canada was hired to work in a safari zoo. He had to be caged-in in a car and drive around from one reserve to the next. Monkeys always climb on top of the car and usually enjoy a free ride for a while. At the exit of the monkey reserve is a zoo worker equipped with a stick. His duty is to prevent monkeys from leaving the reserve on a car. Imagine chasing monkeys in the glowing sun for eight hours.
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