Animal ghosts, daft records

Regarding Animal Ghosts [ FT402:69], it may just be that, like human ghosts, they haunt the locations where they lived. As cats and dogs, and to some extent horses, live in a domestic environment, their ghosts would be more likely to be witnessed by us humans. Perhaps the ghosts of cows and sheep appear in the fields overnight, and foxes and badgers haunt the woods, but no one is there to witness them.

• The review of the book Grave Disturbances [ FT402:60] brought to mind something I have often thought about. Why is it OK to dig up people’s remains after a certain (unspecified) time? We may be doing it to gain knowledge of the past, and stock up our museums, but have we any more right than the grave robbers who looted tombs for material gain?

• Turkmenistan is not top of my list of post-lockdown destinations. However, I think ‘The Terrible Turkmen’ [ FT402:50-53] does the country an injustice in terms of the world records their leader is attempting to set. In recent years, the entries in Guinness World Records have become increasingly “obscure and absurdly specific”, such as most ping pong balls caught with chopsticks in one minute, and most potatoes sliced in one minute (wait for it) while hopping on a shovel – 32 and 38 respectively, in case you’re wondering. That makes Turkmenistan’s effort seem positively pedestrian.

Dave Miles

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