so what programe / advert was " dog faced newt " off ??

It was from an advert for a theme park, but I can't remember which one. I was hoping someone here could tell me.

It featured stop-motion clay bats, if I remember rightly, voiced by children. One of them called another a dog-faced newt, and I've used it as an insult ever since.

Nice write-up on the hairy frog, Bentwaters. Top stuff

This is a Hairy Frog fish!


Julien

That is one ugly fish!

Okay good people, today's animal is:

fairy penguin

The fairy penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the smallest penguin species and is found only in southern Australia and New Zealand. Fairy penguins weigh approximately 1 kilogram and stand 30 cm high. Their dense waterproof plumage is dark blue on the upper parts of the body and white on the underside. The single Australian subspecies is distinguished from the five New Zealand subspecies by having a margin of white feathers on the tail and on the rear edge of each flipper.

Fairy penguins live on average for 7 years, and some retain the same mate for life. A clutch of two white eggs is laid in spring. Male and female birds share the 36-day period of egg incubation. When the chicks hatch they are initially helpless and are brooded continuously for about 2-3 weeks. After this period both adults leave the chicks unguarded in the nest during the day, while they forage at sea to obtain food for the rapidly growing chicks. By 8 weeks of age the chicks have lost their down and acquired the waterproof plumage necessary for independent life at sea. These young birds are not seen again at their original colonies for at least a year and may disperse widely during this period.

Plus, they look so cute!

And there I was, thinking it was Graham Norton, in a dinner suit.
Edgar

Now, now, Edgar!

A Fairy Pengiun, is he cute?



Julien

From the BBC News website:

Two "gay" male penguins have hatched a chick and are now rearing it as its adoptive parents, says a German zoo.
The zoo, in Bremerhaven, northern Germany, says the adult males - Z and Vielpunkt - were given an egg which was rejected by its biological parents.
It says the couple are now happily rearing the chick, said to have reached four weeks old.

The zoo made headlines in 2005 over plans to "test" the sexual orientation of penguins with homosexual traits.
Three pairs of male penguins had been seen attempting to mate with each other and trying to hatch offspring from stones.

The zoo flew in four females in a bid to get the endangered birds to reproduce - but quickly abandoned the scheme after causing outrage among gay rights activists, who accused it of interfering in the animals' behaviour.

The six "gay" penguins remain at the zoo, among them Z and Vielpunkt who are now rearing the chick together after being given the rejected egg.
"Z and Vielpunkt, both males, gladly accepted their 'Easter gift' and got straight down to raising it," said a zoo statement. "Since the chick arrived, they have been behaving just as you would expect a heterosexual couple to do. The two happy fathers spend their days attentively protecting, caring for and feeding their adopted offspring."

Gay pengins, what ever next?

No word today?

Julien

bi polar bears ?? and no i do not mean manic depressive ones !!

You don't get polar bears at the south pole!

yep but they are both stupid enough to be in zoos which is presumably where the research was carried out !!

Dont get smart!

Julien

I didn't get where I am now by being smart!

I like to take the weekends off...

Right, today's word is:

dromedary

Someone is bound to take the hump over this!

only one hump

Nah, it's an airfield somewhere in Norern Oirlan . . .

The camel has a single hump,
The dromedary two;
Or is it the other way around?
I'm never sure - are you?

Dromedary it's only have one hump

Though often called the one-humped camel, the dromedary has two humps used for energy storage in the form of fat. The under-developed anterior hump sits over the shoulders and the large rear hump is found in the centre of the back.

Apparently

I never knew that. I always thought it had one hump (despite the poem). Enlightening stuff, Nick.

Furthermore . . .

Despite its common name "one-humped camel", the dromedary actually has two humps, although only the rear one is fully developed. A simple way to remember which camel is a Bactrian and which is a Dromedary - if you rotate the first letter of the name so it sits flat, you will get the basic profile of the animal (and the approximate visual representation of the humps)

In addition, a Camel is a Cigarette!

Oh no it's not!!!



It's a Brand name of a Cigarette!!!

Smartass!

Didn't they say that Camels were the most honest cigarette in the world, because they were the only ones that put a picture of the factory on the front of the packet ... ?

Sometimes . . .

Okay, today's word is:

transmogrify

. . . to transform in a magical or surprising form – Harry Potter?

to transform, often with grotesque or humorous effect,

is this what happens when you get married ?????

Nick: it was around before Harry Potter.

Mark: I'll let you know when I get married!

Jeff, has anyone told your better half yet?

Phil.

I know – thought you might be looking for a 'buzz word' – or in your case, two!

They might!


Or three - Calvin and Hobbes! That's where I first came across the word, and I've used it ever since. I love made-up words, they're such fun to slip in to conversations.

Yikes!

Julien

Jeeze!!! – DON'T DO THAT!!!!

Didn't she used to play the title role in Beauty and the Beast? And I don't mean Beauty!

Who, or what the hell is that???

The Bride of Wildenstein

Transmogrify - sounds like Nastassja Kinski in "The Cat People."
Edgar

Phwoooaaaarrrr!!!!

Easy, tiger!

What he said!

Julien

Okay, ladies and preverts, today's word is:

halibut