Russia’s blue dogs
WINTER WONDERS
Slightly outside Europe, an ice volcano appeared near the village of Kegen in Kazakhstan in February and became a tourist attraction. The chimney-like ice structure formed around a hot well that ejected water into the sky where it immediately froze, slowly building the cone, which finally reached 45ft (14m).
Not to be outdone by nature’s creativity, on 6 and 7 February, 13 Finns created a snow circle with a diameter of 160m (525ft) at the Löfkulla golf course in Espoo. The mastermind behind this cropcircle-like artwork was Janne Pyykkö, an IT consultant from Espoo. He attempted to show “how a large team succeeds in demanding work”. The snow image consists of six large subdrawings and a star-shaped centre connecting them. The lines are made of footprints, and the artwork’s complexity easily reached that of the most elaborate crop circles. It took 13 people nine hours to complete the design, but – as Pyykkö explained – they were in no hurry. web. de, 10 Feb; Italehti, 9 Feb 2021.
DOUBTFUL DOGS
The golden jackal (Canis aureus), a wolf-like canid native to southeast Europe, walked in front of the lens of a wildlife camera near Rastatt in Germany. The animal is not native to central Europe, but the numbers of sightings have increased recently, and zoologists suggest the animal is expanding its range. The last report in Baden-Württemberg was in December 2020, when a male jackal was killed by a car near Bruchsal. n-tv.de, 28 January 2021.
Meanwhile, blue dogs became Internet stars in January when they were photographed near a derelict glass factory in Dzerzhinsk, 370km (230 miles) east of Moscow. A vet took fur samples and found chemical dyes present. Then, green dogs were spotted at Podolsk, 40km (24 miles) south of Moscow. Their unusual hair colour was supposedly caused by powdered green paint stored in a nearby warehouse. n-tv.de, 28 Jan; BBC News, 20 Feb 2021.
STRANGE CATS
Alien Big Cats continue to be a common phenomenon. In July 2020, a large cat – 8090cm (31-35in) long, 40cm (16in) tall and thought to weigh 6-7kg (13-15lb) – was observed and photographed in the Pineta di AppianoTradate Park, 10km (6 miles) southwest of Como, Italy. It was certainly no panther, but Gianfranco Guidali who took the pictures suggested it might be a true European wild cat. Park experts Mario Binda and Vittore Arrigoni were less certain: “From the photo it doesn’t look like a wild cat. The tail of Felis silvestris silvestris is thicker and the muzzle does not match either. If authentic it would be anomalous because wild cats don’t usually frequent lowland environments.”
Meanwhile, a more traditional panther was observed at Ventas de Huelma, near Granada in Spain. The Guardía Civil searched for it in a helicopter, but in vain, although footprints were said to have been found. The last sightings of panthers in Andalusia were in 2013. A day later, the black cat was photographed, and experts promised it would be caught within hours – but no capture was made. A week later, national papers reported that “the panther has evaporated”, but for all we know it may be seen again. In January 2021, another big cat appeared close to Disneyland Europe, near Paris. La Provincia di Como, 22 July; El Ideal, 14 Sept; La Información, 15 Sept; La Vanguardia, 20 Sept 2020; https://strangereality.blog
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
A none-too-bright young man broke into a flat in Leck, Germany, and stole instruments worth some 3,000 euros, but only escaped with his musical booty after it had started to snow. It didn’t need Sherlock Holmes to follow the criminal’s footprints to his home in the freshly fallen snow. shz.de, 17 Feb 2021.
After a burglary in Hennef, Germany, on 9 January 2019, the 41-year-old victim pressed charges against his 31-year-old neighbour. When both appeared in court, the burglar explained that he had discovered child pornography in his target’s home. A police search soon revealed this to be true. The burglar was fined 750 euros, but the victim was given a year’s suspended sentence for the posssession of pornographic material.
The man appealed, and in the new trial became entangled in ever more complex lies. The police obtained the authority to search his parents’ house in Stralsund, on the Baltic coast, and found material showing that he was also involved in active child abuse. As a result of the burglary, he faced a new trial for child rape in February 2021. Rhein-Sieg-Anzeiger, 27 Feb 2021.