He's a cat... flushing the toilet! He's a cat... flushing the toilet!

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We R a teem of MAVERIKS!

We R a teem of MAVERIKS!

Emperor analyzes raccoon dog shit

When not carrying out his official duties as monarch of Japan, Emperor Akihito takes a deep interest in scientific research. A keen ichthyologist, the Emperor has published dozens of scientific papers on members of the goby family, and his work is so well known that the recent discoverers of a new goby species (Exyrias akihito) named their fish after him.

But while most of the Emperor’s past work has focused on gobies, his latest research investigates the feeding habits of wild tanuki — also known as raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) — that inhabit the spacious grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

The research, which was published in the Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science in June, involved the analysis of tanuki dung samples collected from the Imperial Palace grounds between April 2006 and December 2007. In all, 169 samples were collected from 30 “dung accumulation sites” (apparently, tanuki have certain preferred locations they use again and again). The samples were inspected for remnants of undigested materials that revealed the tanuki’s feeding habits and seasonal changes in diet. At his own request, the Emperor performed the dirty work himself.

More at Pink Tentacle

King Snake Slithers Out of Toilet

Kay, of Quedgeley, Glos., said: "My heart was in my mouth. I couldn't scream because I was so scared.

"I saw the tail poking out from the rim of the loo and thought Brian was playing a trick on me until I saw it moving.

"I couldn't believe it. What on earth was a snake from California doing in my bathroom? Needless to say I couldn't use the lavatory for a while after that!"

Ms Robins and her fiance tried flushing the reptile back down the lavatory but the snake returned and slithered onto the bathroom floor.

Excerpted from Woman's shock at finding snake in lavatory bowl

"It was like the toilet had given birth"

When it comes to toilets, there's a simple directional rule: everything goes downstream. When things move against the tide, then you have problems.

So as Tim Fraser was doing some laundry in his bathroom last Friday night, he became a wee bit disturbed when his toilet started spontaneously gurgling.

"I could see bubbles coming up and I thought 'what the the hell is happening?'" he said, recalling that evening.

Then he caught sight of a grey, furry head with a pair of pointy ears and saucepan eyes emerging on this side of the s-bend.

Moments later there was a half-drowned possum sitting in his Fowler toilet bowl.

"It was like the toilet had given birth," he said.

It's not clear who was more startled, man or marsupial. But Fraser was first to react. He darted to the next room and collected his digital camera.

More at From s-bend to YouTube: a possum's tale

Hat tip to Wagga!

Bear in the Men's Room

Funny Animals, Part 11

What's going on in the bathroom?

FUCK OFF by ~CalvinHollywood

+ by ~F4ust

Traumatized Toilet Worms

A New Zealander who invented a composting lavatory which relies on worms to do its dirty work was told the creatures might be left down in the dumps by their role.

Coll Bell was ordered by Auckland Regional Council to commission an expert to assess the psychological impact on the tiger worms.


The "wormorator" is an alternative to septic tanks
A council official told him: "You have to have someone with the qualifications to say the worms are happy," he told the Sunday Star Times.

The official felt the worms could be left traumatised, given that their sole task in life was to process human faeces.

"[She] felt that it could affect them in a psychological way," Mr Bell told the newspaper.

"I said, 'Well, what do I do about that?' and she said, 'You have to have someone with the necessary qualifications to say the worms are happy'."

His "wormorator", an alternative to septic tanks, was only approved after a vermiculture expert reported the worms were in excellent health and breeding happily.

In Mr Bell's invention, the long-suffering worms filter solids from toilet waste, with the leftover water being filtered into underground trenches.

A council spokeswoman said concern for the worms' welfare was justified because the system was going to be used at a campground where sewage flowed heavily for two weeks each year but dried up the rest of the time - meaning the worms might be left short of nourishment.

Toilet worms may be down in the dumps

In other news, 40% of Japanese men sit down to pee, survey shows.

Duck in a Toilet

Talula in the Toilet by *seppenator