These strange animals are invading Florida. Plus, can UNESCO save the world’s oldest mummies?

RJ Hamster

1 year ago

Monday, October 30, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we scream at an influx of strange animals into Florida, prepare for Halloween (and the Day of the Dead) …
and examine what happens to your body when you cut out alcohol?

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID GEETING

Florida always has been different. Green iguanas (above) fall onto driveways during cold snaps. Thousands of poisonous cane toads escape. Rhesus monkeys break free.

Invasive intruders include hissing ducks, walking catfish, hermaphroditic river eels, bloodsucking worms, pet-eating monitor lizards, and rodent-sized African land snails.

Now the ferocious—and carnivorous—kinkajou is presenting new challenges among the Sunshine State’s strange menagerie. One paper calls Florida the “Jurassic Park” of exotic species.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

A colony of vervet monkeys (left) are believed to be descendants from a South Florida breeding center in the 1940s. These Muscovy ducks (right), not the most beloved by Floridians, live at the only rescue facility in the state exclusively dedicated to the species. Read more.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTHA SAXTON, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION

Can UNESCO status save the world’s oldest mummies? (Above, the Chinchorro people in present-day Chile used clay masks and pieces of wood to reshape and decorate their mummies.)

What happens to your body when you cut out alcohol?

She escaped Oklahoma’s killing of rich Osage members—and became America’s first prima ballerina

This American diet could add 10 years to your life

When should you get screened for breast cancer—and how often?

Explore the ancient Maya underworld in these Belizean caves

How old are you really? The answer is written in your face.

Take a ride on America’s loneliest highway

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

PHOTOGRAPH BY NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND

Trick or treat? The National Museum of Ireland—Country Life, near the town of Castlebar, displays this plaster cast of an early 1900s jack-o’-lantern. What is it called?
A.
Ghoul carrot
B. Ghost turnip
C. Demon squash
D. Devil potato

CLICK HERE FOR THE ANSWER

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES RAPPOLD, WILD ORCA PHOTO TAKEN UNDER PERMIT #26288

Killer whales, not eating (um, porpoises): These orcas aren’t getting enough to eat. Their main prey, chinook salmon, are falling in numbers. Scientists are mystified over incidents of these orcas pushing porpoises with their snouts, holding them in their mouths, and carrying them above the water. The rough treatment often kills the porpoises—but the southern resident killer whales don’t eat them.

A MYSTERY

LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOMAS BRAVO, REUTERS

Blessings and joy: The movie Coco shined a light on the massive Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico, Central America, and parts of the U.S. (Above, revelers in Mexico City celebrate by dressing up as the holiday’s most ubiquitous symbol, a skeletal figure known as the calavera Catrina.) Here are 10 things to know.

DAY OF THE DEAD

Today’s soundtrack: Remember Me, Miguel, Natalia Lafourcade

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter! It was curated and edited by Jen Tse, Nancy San Martín, and David Beard. Let us know!

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