h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

OOOOOOOOOooooooooo!

The rodent in the hedge was a dormouse .

I didn't realise that lemmings are so small http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/lemming.html

Get a big enough mug and you could set up a lemming commune

A dormouse? I thought it was supposed to be 'bigger than a '? How can it be bigger than a when it is a ? And if the in question is your average, run around the kitchen, everyone up on chairs going "Oo, aa, !" type , then a dormouse is much smaller than ...

Oh well

That lemming is adorable! I lemmings!

awwww....I didn't realise how small they were either, I was thinking more of a weasel, stoat sized thing...

I lemmings now too

I did go to Norway once, but I didn't see any - now I know why, it's because they're sooooooo *tiny*

Did you look inside the mugs?

That lemming is cute! I had no idea they were so small either. Much cuter than mice IMO. Very cute.,

The mugs! *Slaps forehead* Of course!

That particular lemming is probably the cutest thing ever

You should always have a lime in a mug that you put lemmings in. Everyone knows that!
Did you know that dormice are still eaten in certain parts of europe.
The Romans loved a tasty dormouse. An acquaintance of mine did his Phd thesis on them (Romans and dormice that is). He's been to the museum of London and helped them reassign bits of pot, which were labelled as plant pots, to be dormouse containers.

Sounds like one of the Romans' more sensible eating habits. My favourite Roman recipe is 'Weasel Ashes dissolved in Vinegar'. I mean, first you've got to incinerate a weasel and *then* you've got to dissolve the ashes in vinegar. Why not just eat the weasel? And drink some vinegar at the same time. The Romans must have hated weasels.

NO ONE is eating that lemming!

I'm not that keen on weasels myself but I think the vinegar bottle is safe in my house.

Well, quite - I mean, just shoo them away, Romans: there's no need to get all heavy.

That reminds me of the recipe for pukeko soup:

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add a large stone.

Dress the pukeko and add to pot.

Simmer 5 hours, and salt to taste. Remove the pukeko and eat the stone.


pukeko: http://www.disordered.org/travel/NZ/NI/pukeko.jpg

Wow! A pukeko! I've never heard of those before (I take it they don't taste very nice? Or is it just the name that puts people off?)

When I clicked on the link, I was expecting some sort of fruit!

I guess I should have put the link first

Pukeko are all sinew and no meat. I felt a bit sorry for the one in the photo being posted by the recipe. They're pretty cool birds (although they have a habit of getting run over quite easily).

Aww - animals must hate cars even more than the Romans hated weasels. (Some of the UK's more modern motorways have little tunnels underneath them at intervals, principally for the benefit of badgers!)

It looks a bit like a European moorhen, only much fancier - a moorhen that's got all dressed up to go out somewhere posh.

Badger tunnels! the velvet underground! . That is very civilised of the UK road builders.


Pukeko are aka Swamp Hens. You sometimes see more than one run over because when the first one gets hit the others tend to stay near it .

Oh - that really is sad. Poor Pukekos. And silly drivers - everyone should just slow down a bit.

(At least 'Swamp Hen' doesn't sound any better on a menu)