Happy, Sunday, kids. Time to set aside all the craziness of the week — and this has been an exceptionally crazy one, hasn't it? — and just relax for a little bit before getting back to the important work of staring in astonishment at what the bastards are doing this time. (Well, yes, and working to stop it. That's useful, too!)

Look At These Calf Earmuffs! Just Look At Them!

Video screenshot, KWQC-TV

Wonkette Operative "Ann W" emailed to let us know a dairy farmer has come up with a fine idea: "Moo Muffs," to protect newborn calves' ears from frostbite (and not incidentally, help preserve their value at auction). Holly Poad, of Lone Rock, Wisconsin, and her aunt, Kim Ewers, created the fashion accessory in 2018 after their barn burned down and their dairy herd had to stay outside. The muffs came in especially handy during that "polar vortex" that hit in January 2019. The first pairs were made of fleece, but they quickly decided to add a water-resistant outer layer so that if it rained, the muffs wouldn't just add a cold wet yuck to the poor baby cowies' heads.

"I went to my favorite store, JoAnn Fabrics," laughed Ewers. "And came up with this."

In addition to the fleece, "Moo Muffs" includes a water-repellent material on the outside and fully adjustable straps. They also used bright colors so if the calf is able to rub the Velcro or the cow licks the calf and the earmuffs come off, it will be easy to spot them.

After making and selling them themselves at first, the idea caught on, and Poad and Ewers are now contracting with distributors to keep up with demand. And last summer, an Irish farmer posted what appears to be a home-knitted knockoff:

Stop talking, Dok, and post more calf pics. CALF BLEP!

Also too, here is a Wisconsin Public Radio interview with Holly Poad, from November. Neat!

My Cat Is Welcome To Eat My Corpse

This isn't the nicest thing, I suppose, but I'm weird: I thought this Washington Post story from January (when we were busy with Book Club) was pretty darned interesting. Yes, it does appear that domestic cats may eat you, but they're almost certain to wait until you're dead, so don't worry about it too much. Summary, if you don't want to burn one of your free WaPo articles: researchers at a forensic research "body farm" -- a facility where donated corpses are left out so rates of decomposition can be measured -- observed feral cats that got past the fence that's meant to keep bigger animals out. Yup, two different cats were observed on camera munching on a couple of the bodies. And go figure:

And although the cats had a buffet of more than 40 bodies from which to choose, each one returned to the corpse it had selected again and again — one almost nightly for 35 nights straight.

"The main theory is that cats are, like, picky eaters. Once they find a food that they like, they'll stick with it," said [Sara] Garcia, the lead author on the paper, which was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.

I was unsure about whether to include this slightly ghoulish content in nice things, but then I noticed the robo-ad that had randomly been served up on my screen, right under the paragraph about what a body farm is. That cinched it.

If anyone ever does open a combined senior condo / body farm outfit, I think I should demand royalties.

OK, here's the cat who'll devour my corpse. He likes to help Kid play computer games.

Thornton also enjoys spelunking. Here, he relaxes after conquering the futon cave.

Get To The Funny Twitter Stuff Already, Will Ya?

Okay, sure, bossy.

You should consider following this guy. Lots of cute, lots of lefty politics.

Baby caracal makes odd noises, but not odd for a baby caracal.

youtu.be

Your own cat-reaction mileage may vary:

I am verklempt:

Update on Atlantic columnist Adam Serwer's cute babby and one of his cute tabbies:

Science Moment:

Moar science: Birb pajamas.

Do you follow horror/fantasy writer Sam Sykes? You should! Puppy updates!

Sharing is caring. Or odd animal behavior that we anthropomorphize. Maybe the duck plans to come back with a net.

Some journalists will do anything to promote a story.

Hidden doofus, couching tigger:

And to close out: If only we could all be as happy as this happy damn rat.

Now go have yourselves a nice relaxing Sunday, alla yous! This is now your open thread!

[Wisconsin Public Radio / KWQC / Moo Muffs / WaPo]

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