Fat Animals with Accents

Apparently obesity isn't just for American's anymore... make that humans in general. First we have George, the greedy little pig as old British women would call him. This hedgehog was delivered to the Wildlife Aid centre in Leatherhead, England five times heavier than his natural weight. At 5lbs, George is dangerously obese and a testament to the fattening properties of garden insects, fruits and mushrooms.

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Remind anyone else of this?

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More of a trailer park tiggywinkle if you ask me.

Next we have Peaches, the fat baby wombat, from Tomerong, north of Sydney. In this series of caught-in-the-act photos, Peaches has become trapped in her caregiver's flower pots after eating all the flowers and then burrowing her way in.

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This happened to Benny once after a night of drinking.

Credit for both stories to the premier scientific journal of the Old Continent, the Daily Mail, and NK for forwarding them along (who, for the record, knows that wombats are not British).

More like this

The following post was originally published on Obesitypanacea.com on October 7, 2009.
When many people set out to exercise, they do so with the primary goal of losing fat mass. There is much advice floating around about how to optimize or maximize fat loss during exercise; one of the most commonly touted is that of the fat burning zone.
In his post last Friday, Peter did a very nice job of introducing the the counter-intuitive idea that having too little fat, rather than too much, causes many of the metabolic problems of obesity.&nbsp
There are two kinds of fatty acids: saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fatty acids have no carbon-carbon double bonds (-CH=CH-), they have only (-CH2-CH2-) single bonds.

George is darling. Hedgehogs make me laugh anyway with their round bodies and tiny feet (and what must they think of me?) but George is just precious. He needs a hat.

Doesn't this have something to do with their hibernation cycle? I think I remember reading something about English hedgehogs in general, something about their not being able to eat enough before hibernation to ensure the adequate fat stores they need. Or something. Man I wish I could remember that link.

i think hedgehogs add about 30% to their bodyweight before hibernation and that inadequately fatty hedgehogs should not be allowed to hibernate, as they tend to get too cold. their quills don't afford much protection so they rely on adipose tissue to be their fur coat. that being said, george needs a stomach staple.

After seeing these pictures I believe I will pass on that second piece of pie! LOL!
Dave Briggs :~)

By Dave Briggs (not verified) on 03 Jan 2008 #permalink

the alternative mascot for the 2000 Olympics was Fatso The Fat-Arsed Wombat. I'ld wondered what he'd been up to, since.