Homage to Blinky

Here's some food for thought: Imagine that you encounter a strangely freakish animal, a mutant of some sort. Maybe a hermaphroditic cow/bull with 7 legs. What would run through your mind?

I think my thoughts would turn to the possible cause of the mutation. I'd wonder what dangerous pollutants or dire genetic abnormality might be responsible. Maybe I'd try to get a photo of it. But I definitely wouldn't accept a burger made from that cow. Would you?

A daring chap in Wisconsin does not share my reservations. The man ran over a young buck in his driveway. Being an avid deer hunter, he decided to take the carcass home for dinner. I can only imagine his surprise upon closer inspection, when he discovered that the buck had both male & female sex organs, as well as 3 extra stump legs similar to crab pinchers.

Incidentally, the story brought to mind good old Blinky, the 3 eyed fish caught in the river just outside the Springfield nuclear power plant.

"It was definitely a freak of nature." He's quoted as saying in a recent MSN article. "It kind of gives you the creeps when you look at it." He also described the deer as quite tasty.

Sorry, but I just couldn't eat the mutant. It would be interesting to see a follow-up story on this guy years from now. Will he have dolphin-like flippers or perhaps nub antlers of his own? One can only imagine.

I don't know what kind of environmental laws they have in Wisconsin, but I sure hope this kind of thing is stringently investigated. That seems unlikely, sine the evidence was promptly processed & consumed but I'd still like to think someone will try to figure it out.