The Bizarre, The Unusual, The Unexplained Blog

A skull that was hidden away for two decades in a museum, has revealed the largest rodent that ever walked the planet. This could really be the “king rat!”

The skull had been donated by an Argentine fossil collector and was recently taken out of storage to reveal a cow sized rodent that waundered rainforests of Uruguay in seach of fruits and berries. The rodent was huge by any standard: approximately 8 feet long, with a skull over 20 inches long and weighing between 1,700 and 3,000 pounds.

Giant Rodent of Uraguay

The beast lived over 4 million years ago in South America and may have been food for saber tooth tigers.  Ernesto Blanco, a researcher said: “It’s a beautiful piece of nature. You feel the power of this very big animal behind this”.

Blanco examined the shape of the skull and the gigantic incisors and concluded the animal was definitely a rodent. He also explained the largest rodent alive today is the capibara which can weigh up to 110 pounds.

You can read more about this huge animal here.

Albert Grande, Bimwah-in-Training
http://albertgrande.com/
http://pizzatherapy.com
http://grandepublishing.com
http://hawaiisecret.info/

The Unusual, The Unexplained…

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Jimi Hendrix had “only one burning  desire: Let me stand next to your fire.” Little did he know that long before he wrote those lyrics and long after he was gone, the fire would still be burning in Centralia, Pennsylvania. The fire continues to burn in this town today, with little hope of it ever going out.

The fire started in a landfill over a seam of coal, in May of 1962 and just never stopped burning. At the time, residents including the town’s fire department thought the fire would just burn itself out.

Later that year, the Department of Environmental Resources was called in to monitor the fire. They bored holes to check things out. It appears the holes may have actually allowed the fire to have sufficient oxygen to continue on. The coal fueled the fire and the problems just got worse.

Families started to move out of town in 1969. A trench was dug to try to contain the fire. Debris and ash were used to stop the the blaze. It really was to little, to late.

Town residents began to use gas monitors to determine the health effects of the fire. Slowly more people decided to abandon Centralia.

The Fire in Centralia

By 1980, more families had left. The U.S. Bureau of Mines declared the fire had not been controlled and showed little evidence of ever going out.

In 1981, 12 year old,Todd Domboski, was almost killed, when a sinkhole caused by the fire nearly ended his life. The story brought National attention to the plight of the residents of Centralia.

Over the years there was a slow exodus out of town. Most townspeople decided to pack up and leave. The state bought their homes.

A few diehards have remained in Centralia, hoping against hope the fire will subside. It burns to this very day. Centralia has become a modern day ghost town. There is a fascinating story about the plight of Centalia at Offroaders. 

Joan Quigle, recently released  “The Day the Earth Caved In; An American Mining Tragedy” which chronicles the entire tale. She is the granddaughter and great granddaughter of Centalia miners. She presents a unique spin on the ineptitude of the state and federal government, and the greed of large corporations. Through it all the residents of Centralia just want their town back. 

Albert Grande, Bimwah-in-Training
http://albertgrande.com/
http://pizzatherapy.com
http://grandepublishing.com
http://hawaiisecret.info/

The Unusual, The Unexplained…

The Unusual, The Unexplained…