Semi OT - Animals in War

[General Pain]

http://www.thekidswindow.co.uk/News/War_Animals.htm

[Mohoender]

Amusing and interesting. I didn't know about the memorial but I'm convinced they deserve it. Animals can still be used and, in fact, are still in use. Dogs of course as we already discussed it but also Mules (German Gebirgsjäger) and horses (currently in Afghanistan).

Then in the case of T2K you'll probably find a few more animals in use among the various militaries:

Camels would be in use again in some regions as pack animals or for patrol (they are still in use today).

I wouldn't be surprised to find an Elephant unit in the the Thai army.

Hyena was an intersting idea.

At last, birds would be used again ; pigeons being the first of course. Other birds would certainly be used but that would be for civilian purpose (hunting). If you send you PCs on the Siberian-Mongolian border they might run into an impressive sight: a Kazakh Eagle Hunter.

[pmulcahy11b]

One of the more interesting uses of animals in the military was during the Cold War at US Pershing missile sites in Europe. They used geese -- they make an incredible racket when bothered by anyone they don't know, but can be trained to ignore regular site personnel, and they don't cost as much as dogs to feed and keep healthy.

[pmulcahy11b]

I wouldn't be surprised to find an Elephant unit in the the Thai army.

The Bangkok Sourcebook has the Thais doing just that -- using them as sort of heavy trucks in the jungle (not for attack).

[kato13]

At last, birds would be used again ; pigeons being the first of course.

A remember a harpoon supplement described the naming nomenclature of systems. SPY = multi purpose radar. BQQ = advanced sonar. The first letter was the platform (S=Ship). I seem to remember if the second letter was B then the system was pigeon based.

The military thought they had retired that letter until the Coast Guard came up with a system to use pigeons' superior eyesight to find orange life vests in the water. The pigeons were trained to peck in the direction in which they saw orange in the water from their own little glass canopy under the fuselage.

I don't think the project continued past testing (due to costs), but I always thought that was an interesting application.

[General Pain]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bomb
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/188487/project_xray_the_armed_forces_mount.html

...EDIT...

This suddenly gave me an idea...

Anyone know of enourmous bat caves in the west coast of USA?

[General Pain]

http://www.freakingnews.com/Pictures/1/Army-Animals.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Rhino-Armour--18492.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18500/Army-turtle--18503.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Military-Lion--18469.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Turtle-Tank--18478.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Army-Rottweiler--18460.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Gorilla-Warfare--18468.jpg (Gorilla Warfare) ;)
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Marine-War-Hero--18465.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Military-Chimp--18463.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Camo-Zebra--18482.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Austrailian-Koala-Guard--18470.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18500/Buffalo-soldier--18505.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18500/Cow-Officer--18500.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Bazooka-Leopard--18479.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/gorilla-warrior--18449.jpg
http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/18000/Taliban-Rhino--18454.jpg -Taliban Rhino

[General Pain]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Camel_Corps

[kato13]

One of those pics reminded me of one time I was about 5 and I heard a news report which stated "Guerrillas with small arms were attacking a village". I imagined gorillas with T-Rex like forearms rampaging through a village. Was really fearful of that for a time lol.

[General Pain]

One of those pics reminded me of one time I was about 5 and I heard a news report which stated "Guerrillas with small arms were attacking a village". I imagined gorillas with T-Rex like forearms rampaging through a village. Was really fearful of that for a time lol.

...LOL....priceless....hahahahahahahahaha

to be young again,,,,,

[pmulcahy11b]

I have a picture like that somewhere (I think Antenna gave it to me) of a squirrel with a very small Carl Gustav M-2...

[Mohoender]

One of the more interesting uses of animals in the military was during the Cold War at US Pershing missile sites in Europe. They used geese -- they make an incredible racket when bothered by anyone they don't know, but can be trained to ignore regular site personnel, and they don't cost as much as dogs to feed and keep healthy.

That's the old story about Rome. However, I didn't know they were still using it. Very efficient indeed.:)

[Mohoender]

The Bangkok Sourcebook has the Thais doing just that -- using them as sort of heavy trucks in the jungle (not for attack).

I didn't read it that far. However, a few weeks ago I was watching a report on the Thai elephants. They had become obsolete over the past years but they are slowly becoming fashionable again as the royal family is supporting their preservation. At one of the school they are also trained in the ways of old fashion fighting. Then, I was not thinking of elephants as war beasts but I was thinking of them as patrol vehicles.

[pmulcahy11b]

You know...if we could just IRL genetically-engineer those kind of animals -- we could give poachers a really nasty surprise in game preservation efforts!

[General Pain]

You know...if we could just IRL genetically-engineer those kind of animals -- we could give poachers a really nasty surprise in game preservation efforts!

Im so for that kind of research......

[Graebarde]

One of those pics reminded me of one time I was about 5 and I heard a news report which stated "Guerrillas with small arms were attacking a village". I imagined gorillas with T-Rex like forearms rampaging through a village. Was really fearful of that for a time lol.

Like a scene out of Captain Ron if I recall the movies name correctly...
"There are NO gorillas on these islands.."
Later "You should have said GURRR nor GOR.." or something to that effect.

[Targan]

I've just been watching a story on Australia's ABCTV 7:30 Report about goats being extensively used as beasts of burden in outback Australia during the 19th and early 20th centuries especially by poorer families. There were photographs and early film footage of teams of goats hitched up to small wagons used to cart various cargoes but especially water. There was also footage showing very popular (and heavily wagered upon) goat harness races with children driving miniature chariots pulled by 'racing goats'.

Yes. Its pretty strange.