Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 99
March 6, 2022
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March 4, 2022
Burglarizing Black Bear, Hank The Tank, Spared Thanks To DNA Evidence
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
A 500-pound black bear named Hank was partially pardoned after DNA evidence revealed that the furry fugitive did not act alone during a seven-month crime spree in Lake Tahoe.
Hank Goes ViralHank the Tank took the world by storm in early February, when California state officials announced trapping efforts to catch the massive menace, who had managed to evade hazing and migration attempts since he began terrorizing the Tahoe Keys neighborhood last summer.
The 500-pound black bear earned the moniker “Hank the Tank” after the South Lake Tahoe Police Department received more than 150 complaints about the public nuisance, accusing him of burglarizing 33 houses on his own.
Though neighbors took precautions to keep him out, Hank is smarter than your average bear — or at least stronger — and even dead-bolted doors didn’t stand a chance against the husky boy’s hunger. While they hoped for refuge from his rampage in the winter, Hank appeared to skip hibernation thanks to the buffet of food options available.
More Than Meets the EyeAs state officials and animal-loving neighbors debated whether Hank deserved to be euthanized or sent to a sanctuary, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife began collecting DNA samples for evidence that he was even at fault for the vandalism. As it turns out, he was not — well, not completely, anyway.
DNA samples collected from the properties revealed that the neighborhood sweep was a group effort, with at least two other large black bear bandits joining in on Hank’s good times.
The grizzly street gang will now be the targets of a “trap, tag, haze” effort to keep all three bears from continuing to go full Goldilocks on the neighborhood.
According to the wildlife agency, these efforts will help CDFW “gather information and learn from scientific analysis to help inform and refine our bear management in the Lake Tahoe Basin.”
What To Do About Hank & Co.?While they do not intend to euthanize any bears trapped in the process, the bears are still not in the clear. California law dictates that anyone who has property damaged by a bear could get a permit to have a trap set up in their lots. If the menacing bruins are caught and proven to be the culprit, government officials are authorized to shoot.
With California’s black bear policy giving state officials the authority to euthanize or relocate a problematic or “severely food-habituated” bear like Hank, there aren’t many good options for keeping a bear safe while protecting property at the same time.
Even if dropped off hundreds of miles away, bears have a habit of migrating right back to their homes. Large adult bears also don’t adapt well to sanctuaries, often posing a high risk for caretakers and fellow captive creatures. When it began to appear that the only option would be to euthanize Hank, animal activists were outraged, as were many of the locals who had filed complaints about him.
Hope for a Happy EndingThough residents certainly don’t want Hank vandalizing their homes, many also don’t believe the “gentle and sweet” bear deserves to die, as he has not threatened any humans — he just “sits there and eats.”
Thanks to the power of DNA, here’s hoping Hank and friends will live to eat for many more days!
By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: Burglarizing Black Bear, Hank The Tank, Spared Thanks To DNA Evidence
Burglarizing Black Bear "Hank The Tank" Spared Thanks To DNA Evidence
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
A 500-pound black bear named Hank was partially pardoned after DNA evidence revealed that the furry fugitive did not act alone during a seven-month crime spree in Lake Tahoe.
Hank Goes ViralHank the Tank took the world by storm in early February, when California state officials announced trapping efforts to catch the massive menace, who had managed to evade hazing and migration attempts since he began terrorizing the Tahoe Keys neighborhood last summer.
The 500-pound black bear earned the moniker “Hank the Tank” after the South Lake Tahoe Police Department received more than 150 complaints about the public nuisance, accusing him of burglarizing 33 houses on his own.
Though neighbors took precautions to keep him out, Hank is smarter than your average bear — or at least stronger — and even dead-bolted doors didn’t stand a chance against the husky boy’s hunger. While they hoped for refuge from his rampage in the winter, Hank appeared to skip hibernation thanks to the buffet of food options available.
More Than Meets the EyeAs state officials and animal-loving neighbors debated whether Hank deserved to be euthanized or sent to a sanctuary, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife began collecting DNA samples for evidence that he was even at fault for the vandalism. As it turns out, he was not — well, not completely, anyway.
DNA samples collected from the properties revealed that the neighborhood sweep was a group effort, with at least two other large black bear bandits joining in on Hank’s good times.
The grizzly street gang will now be the targets of a “trap, tag, haze” effort to keep all three bears from continuing to go full Goldilocks on the neighborhood.
According to the wildlife agency, these efforts will help CDFW “gather information and learn from scientific analysis to help inform and refine our bear management in the Lake Tahoe Basin.”
What To Do About Hank & Co.?While they do not intend to euthanize any bears trapped in the process, the bears are still not in the clear. California law dictates that anyone who has property damaged by a bear could get a permit to have a trap set up in their lots. If the menacing bruins are caught and proven to be the culprit, government officials are authorized to shoot.
With California’s black bear policy giving state officials the authority to euthanize or relocate a problematic or “severely food-habituated” bear like Hank, there aren’t many good options for keeping a bear safe while protecting property at the same time.
Even if dropped off hundreds of miles away, bears have a habit of migrating right back to their homes. Large adult bears also don’t adapt well to sanctuaries, often posing a high risk for caretakers and fellow captive creatures. When it began to appear that the only option would be to euthanize Hank, animal activists were outraged, as were many of the locals who had filed complaints about him.
Hope for a Happy EndingThough residents certainly don’t want Hank vandalizing their homes, many also don’t believe the “gentle and sweet” bear deserves to die, as he has not threatened any humans — he just “sits there and eats.”
Thanks to the power of DNA, here’s hoping Hank and friends will live to eat for many more days!
By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: Burglarizing Black Bear "Hank The Tank" Spared Thanks To DNA Evidence
March 3, 2022
The Great Nantucket Sea Serpent Hoax
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
When photos of massive footprints on a sandy beach started popping up in the papers in the summer of 1937, the people of Nantucket — an isolated crescent-shaped island off of Cape Cod in Massachusetts — started to whisper that a sea monster had certainly come ashore.
A Serpent is SpottedMany people in New England already believed in giant serpents swimming under the waters, so the stories circulating that one was stepping across the beach were readily accepted by a number of people in town. That same year, an article appeared in the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror that read: “A sea monster. Bill Manville says he saw one off Nantucket. Insists he was not dreaming. Hopes it appears again to verify his story.”
The Inquirer and Mirror, August 07, 1937. Courtesy Nantucket Atheneum’s Digital Historic Newspaper Archive
Manville told the story to any who would listen, and days later, two more men found signs that seemed to support his sighting. Across Madaket Beach, footprints appeared, measuring 5.5 by 4 feet. People whispered that the monster Manville had spotted in the cold water must have made its way onto the shore.
The Monster Made a Splash in the Scientific CommunityAs photos of the footprints made their way into the papers, there were many skeptics who pushed back. When someone sent the pictures to the head of the New York Zoological Society, Dr. W. Reid Blair, he responded bluntly:
“No marine mammal could have left the tracks as they do not move so much on their flippers as they do on their second joint and on their bellies,” Blair stated. “Evidence of their passage would be seen on the beach only in a slight indentation. As for a land mammal, there is nothing on Nantucket Island that could leave such large tracks.”
What Was the Nantucket Sea Monster?
In August 1937, large footprints were found on a Nantucket Beach, measuring 66in long and 45in wide. This was after a few sightings of a green sea serpent off the coast of the island. After that, more people came forward claiming to have seen the serpent. pic.twitter.com/kF5zz3zLjP
— Cryptid Quest (@CryptidQuest) February 19, 2021
Then one day in July, residents spotted the beast that had made the prints towering on the shore. They descended on the beach to get a closer look and spotted a huge monster more than 100 feet long, with fangs descending from its open maw, horns atop its head, and spikes cascading down its spine. If a brave member of the townsfolk stepped even closer and reached out to touch the monster, they would find a slight give in the rubber of the massive balloon.
The Nantucket Sea Monster was, after all, a hoax. It was there on the beach, but it wasn’t a real monster. As it turns out, it was the creation of a man, and the lore was spread around town by Manville and other pranksters who were in on the fun. It had been placed in the water by a local, and it drifted to South Beach where it made a splash. Coming to see the balloon turned into an incredible tourist experience that summer on the beach in Nantucket. People from all over wanted a photo in front of the sea monster, and the event woke up the sleepy town.
Who Was Tony Sarg?Anthony Frederick Sarg, known professionally as Tony Sarg, was known as America’s Puppet Master. He was a German-American illustrator and puppeteer who was looking to make waves amongst the calm of Nantucket. Sarg spent time working for Macy’s and helped develop some of the first balloons that would be part of the now-famous parade. He figured out how to make everything from beloved cartoon characters to sea monsters.
Sarg also owned a shop in Nantucket, Tony Sarg’s Curiosity Shop, and wanted to get the town in the papers to attract tourists. His health began to decline in the 1930s, and he would often leave the bustle of New York to spend time at his home in Nantucket. Some people believed he generated the hoax to get business for his shop, but others believed he wanted to bring some magic to the city that had given him peace.
What Became of Sarg and His Sea Monster?After the summer of 1937 came to a close, the balloon made its way to New York to delight even more people in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that fall. Sarg died in 1942, but he helped create a legacy of wonder and inspired many future puppeteers. Next time you watch the Macy’s Parade and see the towering balloons, picture one of them on the beach in a sleepy town by the sea.
The Nantucket Sea Serpent floats through Times Square in the 1937 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. pic.twitter.com/bRgmg9ajEM
— Maksym Golubyev (@carabbaass) October 17, 2016
By Kelsey Roslin, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
March 2, 2022
America’s Alleged Trial Against Tomatoes, Not Witches, In Salem
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
According to The Packer Fresh Trends 2021 survey, 54 percent of Americans consumed more veggies last year than the year before. At the top of their grocery lists were staples like potatoes and tomatoes. Of course, discerning Ripley’s fans know tomatoes are fruits, not vegetables. (For everybody else, here are the mind-boggling details.) But the essential point remains the same: whether fresh, frozen, canned, or processed, tomatoes are highly popular grocery items.
It’d be hard to imagine life without spaghetti Bolognese, saucy pizza, or ketchup-dunked french fries. But once upon a time, tomatoes had a very different reputation. They were considered downright dangerous, physically and morally. Fortunately, everything changed with the Salem Witch Tomato Trial.
America’s Most Underrated Salem Trial?
Examination of a Witch by Tompkins Harrison Matteson. Courtesy Peabody Essex Museum.
The Salem Witch Trials of Massachusetts took place between 1692 and 1693 and involved the persecution of roughly 200 individuals accused of sorcery. Of those incriminated, 20 people faced execution, making for a period of hysteria that continues to darken the history of colonial America. But there’s supposedly another trial that took place in Salem — Salem, New Jersey, that is — on September 25, 1820: the Salem Tomato Trial.
The groundwork for this trial was laid long before the Salem Witch Trials when the Aztecs first introduced Spanish Conquistadors to tomatoes, a staple of Mesoamerican cuisine. Even the name “tomato” has come down to us from the Nahuatl term “tomatl,” Uto-Aztecan for “the swelling fruit” (via The Vintage News). No doubt, the Conquistadors enjoyed delish proto-Mexican food among the tribes of Mesoamerica. But when these soldiers of fortune returned to Spain laden with bushels of the seductive red produce, most Europeans didn’t bite.
The Decorative Plant that Didn’t Play Well with PewterDespite knowing that tomatoes were edible, most Europeans grew them only as decorative plants. They admired the nightshade’s vibrant colors and delicate, fuzzy leaves. But gardeners couldn’t wrap their heads around, let alone sink their teeth into, devouring them. This attitude persisted not only on the continent but also in the British Isles and the American colonies.
In the late 1700s, the tomato’s reputation took a turn for the worse. With religious fervor at an all-time high, everything came under religious scrutiny. Even the so-called “swelling fruit.” People started fearing tomatoes, associating their unabashed scarlet hue with danger, death, and sin. They nicknamed them “the poison apple,” according to Smithsonian Magazine, alluding to the fruit that got Adam and Eve in so much trouble.
What made the hysteria around tomatoes so tricky to combat? Genuine cases of individuals getting sick or dropping dead after indulging in the fleshy crimson produce. But people of the time failed to recognize the true culprit: pewter. You see, Euro-Americans relied on pewter plates to serve food, including tomatoes. Pewter contains scary amounts of lead, only exacerbated by the highly acidic nature of tomatoes. In other words, the pewter-tomato combo represented the perfect recipe for disaster.
Little changed regarding the tomato’s reputation over the next century. Countless scholars and physicians weighed in on the matter, classifying them as everything from degenerate aphrodisiacs to toxin-laden curiosities never to be eaten. But one man would allegedly suffer the tomato’s bad rap no longer: Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson. Disgusted by the unfounded information, he decided to prove once and for all the edibility of tomatoes by staging the Salem Tomato Trial.
The story goes that on September 25, 1820, Johnson stood outside the Salem courthouse in New Jersey with a basket of tomatoes. After a crowd gathered to watch, he downed every single one of the red orbs. To the amazement of the onlookers, Johnson remained conscious, healthy, and free from the symptoms of poisoning. His trial-by-tomato changed many minds. Soon, tomatoes became a staple of New Jersey cuisine.
Tall Tales from SalemHowever, it appears that most — if not all — of this fanciful tale is made up. While Colonel Johnson did live in Salem, New Jersey, the story of him eating tomatoes at the courthouse does not appear in contemporary documents until about 90 years after it supposedly took place.
In fact, tomatoes could be found in cookbooks from the time and were even enjoyed by Thomas Jefferson! However, the produce may have been more popular among the wealthy, like Jefferson, and therefore could have had a less-than-appetizing reputation in more rural areas.
Accounts of the Salem Tomato Trial were based on unwritten folklore, and exacerbated by people like Joseph Sickler, a newspaper reporter and Salem’s postmaster, who was brought on by CBS as a “historical consultant” for a radio show which created an audio drama based on the story and presented it as fact.
Much like how stories of the Salem Witch Trials got out of hand over time — there were never any witches burned at the stake in Salem — so it appears that the tale of Salem Tomato Trial did as well.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: America’s Alleged Trial Against Tomatoes, Not Witches, In Salem
March 1, 2022
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