This story started me thinking about something that had never before occurred to me. During the first and second world wars, what happened to all the animals? During the blitz many bombed out homes would also have been home to family pets, particularly dogs and cats. Many will have been killed, along with their owners, others that survived, would have been terrified and would probably have run away and become homeless. Some were more fortunate, like Sheila, the elephant pictured in our photograph. Sheila had arrived at Belfast zoo in the late 1930s and lived until the early 1960s. During the 1941 blitz on Belfast, Sheila was moved out of the zoo for safety reasons. She was sheltered by a mystery woman who kept the elephant calf in her back garden. "The woman is something of a zoo legend," said manager Joy Bond, adding: "The pictures have been here a long time but nobody had been able to identify her." The woman dubbed the 'elephant angel' is thought to be one of the two women pictured above. Now the zoo are issuing the old black and white photographs in the hope that someone might be able to identify her. Commenting on Sheila's thirty year stay at the zoo, Mark Challis, zoo chief, said "If it wasn't for the care of this lady, that may not have been the case." To date, several people had called the zoo saying they could have been the woman's neighbours. During the war the government ordered the killing of 33 animals including one hyena, six wolves, one puma, one tiger, one black bear, two polar bears and one lynx, due to fears they could escape during air raids, the zoo said.Thursday, 26 March 2009
The Elephant Angel
This story started me thinking about something that had never before occurred to me. During the first and second world wars, what happened to all the animals? During the blitz many bombed out homes would also have been home to family pets, particularly dogs and cats. Many will have been killed, along with their owners, others that survived, would have been terrified and would probably have run away and become homeless. Some were more fortunate, like Sheila, the elephant pictured in our photograph. Sheila had arrived at Belfast zoo in the late 1930s and lived until the early 1960s. During the 1941 blitz on Belfast, Sheila was moved out of the zoo for safety reasons. She was sheltered by a mystery woman who kept the elephant calf in her back garden. "The woman is something of a zoo legend," said manager Joy Bond, adding: "The pictures have been here a long time but nobody had been able to identify her." The woman dubbed the 'elephant angel' is thought to be one of the two women pictured above. Now the zoo are issuing the old black and white photographs in the hope that someone might be able to identify her. Commenting on Sheila's thirty year stay at the zoo, Mark Challis, zoo chief, said "If it wasn't for the care of this lady, that may not have been the case." To date, several people had called the zoo saying they could have been the woman's neighbours. During the war the government ordered the killing of 33 animals including one hyena, six wolves, one puma, one tiger, one black bear, two polar bears and one lynx, due to fears they could escape during air raids, the zoo said.
Illusion
How scary is this amazing illusion.Stare at the four dots for about 30 seconds.
Then close your eyes and tilt your head back.
Keep them closed.
What do you see?
Who Am I? - Wednesday's Answer
********************
Did you solve the 10 clues given, and work out the name
of yesterday's mystery celebrity?
The answer was:
PIERS MORGAN
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It's Not Easy Being Your Own Boss
A man owned a small farm in the south west of WA. The Department of Consumer & Employment Protection heard that he was not paying proper wages to his employees and sent an agent down to interview him.
"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent.
"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $400 a week plus free room and board. The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $450 per week plus free room and board. Then there's the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night. He also gets to sleep with my wife occasionally."
"That's the guy I want to talk to - the half-wit,"says the agent.
"That would be me," replied the farmer.
"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent.
"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $400 a week plus free room and board. The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $450 per week plus free room and board. Then there's the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night. He also gets to sleep with my wife occasionally."
"That's the guy I want to talk to - the half-wit,"says the agent.
"That would be me," replied the farmer.
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