Transcript
Speaker: You're listening to Spill the Kibble, the podcast where I read your submitted stories and have real veterinarians react to them. If you are interested in sharing your clinic story, email us at spill at spill the kibble dot com.
Speaker: Please note that this show is not suitable for all listeners. Listener discretion is advised. And with that, let's go to the show.
Speaker: Welcome to Spill the Kibble. I'm Cal. I'm Dr. G. And I'm Dr. M. And we're here to tell your pet animal spooky Halloween story.
Speaker: You got spooky one? I don't scare easy. Wait, the opposite. Easily scared. What are you guys all up to lately? Missing you dearly. I know it's been a minute since we recorded. We took a little bit of a break. Maybe the longest one.
Speaker: I know. For sure the longest. It was quite the hiatus, but it's good to see everyone. I was frolicking through Europe. She was. It's true. She was up in castles and stuff. Highly recommend Belgium. Loved it.
Speaker: I feel like you're talking to the listeners and not me, but I realize this is something and I should probably engage with. No, i'm I'm talking to anyone who will listen because all I wanted, I wanted. I loved Belgium. where How many places did you go? Started out in Berlin for a work trip and then headed to Belgium and went to Brussels.
Speaker: went to Bruges, went to Ghent, and then went to Spa to see the Formula One track there. Whoa. pretty I am geographically inept. Me too.
Speaker: And I'm not even going to tell you how many of those places I know where they are. I didn't know where they were until I was there. Okay, that does make me feel lot better. It's all in Belgium. I mean, except for Berlin, obviously, that's in Germany. Makes me feel worse because I had to imagine they were different countries you were bouncing around in. No, no. ah We were supposed to go to London this in a couple of weeks and it got it got canceled.
Speaker: No, sorry. Still never her been to Europe. I was this close to getting as worldly as you. You're going to get there, buddy. I'm so sad that it got canceled. Yeah, it's OK. We'll we'll reschedule it. It's not canceled, it's rescheduled. Yeah. I'm drinking tea Earl Grey hot right now.
Speaker: I love that journey. There you go. Yeah. yeah It's like you're there. It's as close as you can get right now. yeah yeah Yeah. Put on a Harry Potter movie, drink some Earl Grey. you know i just want to say I love Belgian beers. Ooh, hot take. Delirium is amazing. And like you only can get a few of the different like kinds they make here in the States and they're not cheap. Wow.
Speaker: We went to Delirium's cafe like over and over and over again. Just like try everything. Yeah, when in Belgium, you have to. Tell him about the town square and like the festival they were having.
Speaker: Oh, like the minute we got there to our hotel, all the streets were flooded with just people and bikes. And the hotel staff said, oh, this is ah there's an event going on. No cars are allowed. It's just like everybody's allowed to just like walk wherever they want. oh So we like immediately like headed out to town. And we're walking around. And we go to the like main square called like the Grand Place yeah in Brussels, which is like these huge it's just like this huge square with all these like huge buildings.
Speaker: And there's a festival going on, like the Festival of Giants. They make these huge like giant puppets that like people like wear and spin around in. And and like yeah, there was like food, there was beer.
Speaker: Spooky Giants or like Hill Giants? Hill Giants, I would say. like Is this their version of Halloween? No, it was a they're completely different festival. Just a troll-themed block party.
Speaker: It was very like Dutch folklore seemingly. I don't know. I love that. It's like a much more tame version of Midsommar. But yeah, anyway, they had escargot just like on of in a booth. But they had funnel cakes and hot dogs too, right? They had pizza on a stick. What?
Speaker: Deep fried Oreos? None of that. They had potatoes. Did you try an escargot? I had it. Tastes like rubber bands in butter. You tried multiple escargotes.
Speaker: Escar went. Escar none. Wow. Escar no You said they taste like rubber bands? Yes. It tastes like, kind of like calamari. You're not uncultured. Neither. What?
Speaker: ah and You know what? Listeners, get in the chat. yeah I'm sorry if that's your favorite delicacy. it's just It just tastes like chewy. like it's just a Did you cook it? No, a chef in a Parisian restaurant cooked it for me. Okay. It's in this like bizarro plate where there's just a bunch of snail-shaped holes it.
Speaker: And it's just like butter and garlic and herbs like bubbling in all the holes and you like fish them out of the hole and they're just kind of like infusing with flavor. Yeah, this does sound good. So it tastes like chewy, but tastes like butter and garlic. Well, yeah, it didn't really taste like anything. It tasted like like I was chewing up rubber bands that had been cooking in garlic and butter. Now, the idea of chewing on a rubber band, not to eat just that texture, I like that.
Speaker: Not my experience with... I think that's why people like it, because like in my mind, it's that's bugs. But in reality, the mouthfeel was giving very much like a pink eraser covered in butter and herbs. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: You know? The the little nubs at the end when you pull off to spike a one liter bag. I've probably said it before. I love chewing those guys. White ones are fine. The blue ones, oof. Extra squishy. See? So maybe when you go, maybe pop on over. see if you can get some Escargo. I've Escar went. I've had it. I like them.
Speaker: Oh, you like it? Oh, I'm sorry. So there you go. You don't think it tastes like rubber bands covered in stuff? It might feel closer, than ah but butter and garlic. How do you go wrong? I can't be part of this conversation. I don't know anything.
Speaker: But you love snails. I like snails when they're alive and they're cute. They're cute. Living their lives. I don't think I could eat them. They're they're too cute for me. That's fair. We did see a bunch of snails in the neighborhood after a rain a few weeks ago. and that I don't want to eat those guys.
Speaker: No. I only see earthworms here. i don't want eat those guys. I don't want to eat those. What do I look like? A trout? What if you could clean him out, though? No. Actually, this maybe is insensitive to some, i think a lot of ah I think, a lot of veterinary folks. Eating worms? Lean vegetarian.
Speaker: Yeah, probably. i shouldn't know. i'm sorry but I'm sorry about the worm thing. You know what, though? The worms have a really important job, so I can't take them away from that. Yeah. When I was in Berlin, I did go to the disgusting food museum. More about that. And I did eat a mealworm. Whoa.
Speaker: Good for you. i mean, a very tiny one. How did it taste? ah Salty and crunchy. Okay. Like a caper. Yeah. Did they say they prepared them or is that their natural state? They were like dried and salted. There you go.
Speaker: I don't know why I took a significant other with me because he can't handle if quite anything gross or smelly. And there were a lot of things you had to smell. And he was like, no. See a super smeller? Yeah. ah So I smelled all the stinky cheeses.
Speaker: Sure. Also, there were Twinkies and gummy bears there. So like it was a mix of food. Like Ancient Twinkies? No, like there's people that think Twinkies are gross because they're like all chemical and stuff. And then there's also people that eat, you know, seal blubber. It's just a gambit of like whatever you're going to. Yeah.
Speaker: I go for a gummy worm. It was all about like different cultures eating different things and being OK with it. Yeah. Honestly, that kind of sounds like a great museum. It was. It was really cool. It does seem like a good thing to to bring your significant other to, right? Both of you have to experience what really actual not good food is. Yeah. So you're going to need like weak cooking efforts.
Speaker: The ticket to enter is a barf bag. Stop. Wow. Which is really funny. That's foreboding. kept mine. would ask for a refund when they when they made that money happen. They had a sign that said this many days since the last person vomited. And it was like. What was the number? 27. Okay. Almost a month. Yeah.
Speaker: And you guys didn't take it back down to zero. So no, he excused himself for a while. That's fair. He didn't want to break the streak. Meanwhile, I'm all up on the display. It's like, what's going on? It's all fake. Yeah, well that's fair.
Speaker: It's not real food. But the stinky cheese? The stinky cheese was just like in a little like snifter. a i don't know if the cheese was. I couldn't see. It just had like kind of like a gauze thing in it. i don't know.
Speaker: Someone's job is changing the cheese. Yes, probably. It's got to be stinky, but not the wrong kind of thing. You're right. Someone does have to change the cheese. There was this like fake bowl of broth and guess what was inside it? Fake bowl of broth. Soup. Part of the soup that was the main component. Eyeballs. Eyeballs and they made you touch it but it was really just grapes. Tallow.
Speaker: Chicken stock. Bowl testicles. Water. Matzo ball. thinking way too more food. Salt. Less food? Less food. Tar? Less no i eat less love less food. Less practical food. Ranch. Ranchers. Bowl testicles? Okay, okay. It's not like an animal eating it. It's people eating it.
Speaker: Great. MSG. Well, that was part of it, but not this particular bowl. I'll just tell you. testicular bowl? testicular bowl. This particular bowl. and That's what I said. It was a huge black tarantula.
Speaker: Cook it in a broth. They want you to eat It was fake. It was just like, it was some. But they saying some culture ate tarantula. Eats tarantula in this like bra. Good protein. Bra, I already told you I put tarantula in my mouth.
Speaker: I respect that culture. For fun or on a dare? On a dare. It was when he was on that episode of America's Next Top Model and he was trying to get the perfect shot. Oh yeah. Or fear factor. Yes, it was the mashup.
Speaker: Yeah, sure. Boulay Brothers. Dragula. Sorry, I thought I had it to include some spitters into this conversation because we know how much Dr. M hates them and it's the Halloween episode. And it's Halloween time, which speaking of, guys, there's a new Halloween mascot in town.
Speaker: I know him personally or or I will soon. And I just think that you guys need to be introduced. I'm going to go ahead and send the picture in the group chat so that you can really experience this new Halloween mascot. Is it David Pumpkins Jr.? I already know who I'm hoping it is. Maybe he could be, but I think he's pretty special. He's coming to a house near me. That's right, everyone.
Speaker: It's Count Porcula. Coming to house near you? Your house? yep No, not my house. One of my best friends' house. Okay, so I don't have to be nice about this? About Count Porcula? Yeah. What kind of trash you have to say about my best friend, Count Porcula?
Speaker: ah The breed in general, not this specific angel. and But I'll keep it. I'll keep it above the boards. My friend married into a bulldog family. So partner's first dog that he ever got was an English bulldog. Fell in love with the breed. We understand.
Speaker: um They just lost, hit that bulldog. oh um Sweet baby best friends. Like he was through every every episode of life with him.
Speaker: um They have another one named Ella who is perfect and completely round. And she was very sad because she didn't have a friend. So then they went through a rescue because they didn't want to go through a breeder. And they found Count Porcula. He's a 12 week old English bulldog.
Speaker: He's adorable. he's ah That picture doesn't do him justice in terms of the ways that he is not a traditional bulldog. He actually has quite a long nose. like He doesn't have a lot of face wrinkles, which I can appreciate. yeah i They say he's 100%, who knows?
Speaker: knows there's There's a pittiness to the eyes, I have to say. There is a pittiness to the eyes. But I love that he's dapple. He's so cute. He doesn't have a corkscrew tail. He doesn't have a super squishy nose. So actually, like genetically, he's probably a little bit healthier.
Speaker: Hot tail. Than your average B-dog, you know? And I say that with love for the breed, but you know there there are some aspects of that breed where they're maybe not like the healthiest and setting them up for the most success that they could possibly have, AKA corkscrew tails that are kind of deep and and hold onto yeast like it's their job. um Squishy faces that make it hard to breathe and collect their tears. You know, there's some so there's some stuff that's maybe a little bit a little bit challenging.
Speaker: And he doesn't seem like he really has that. So good for him. He's really cute. He's really cute. Doesn't need a nose job or nothing. And he's going to be big, though. I hope that I am given the opportunity to pet him on the head and say hello very soon. I'm going pet the count tomorrow. I was going to go tonight, but we were doing this.
Speaker: thanks Thanks for postponing your date with the Count. You're welcome. to keep the Count waiting, you know? I kind of just zoomed in and I didn't even look at the dog in the background. I just assumed that was, he was in the produce section under the misters.
Speaker: Everyone was sitting there. that's ah Just getting fresh. me Just getting fresh. That's so funny. oh I guess October's not the time for a hosing.
Speaker: There he is with his new da-da. I don't think they're going to keep the name tragically, but Count Porcula is probably the funniest thing. It's incredible. That's exactly what I was thinking about. yeah That's like a selling point name.
Speaker: and smart Smart for the rescue to name him that. And whatever Photoshop or AI they did to put him in ah a mysterious, you guys should really see it. It says Count Porcula with little bat wings. And he's got like jack-o'-lanterns and pumpkins behind him. It's a very, very cute ad. I decided that even if they change his name, that's his stage name. And if he ever decides to become a performer, then he'll go by Count Porcula.
Speaker: Yeah. Okay, side note. like I could post it and just like cut out the information at the bottom. but we get out laish We can Would that be a reverse image searchable thing?
Speaker: Probably. Here's the thing. We'll recreate it with a different dog and a different background. just it like a stick figure with punk. Yeah, okay. Yeah. well We'll give you the imagery without sharing the actual image. I'll do an artist rendering of it. A re reenactment.
Speaker: Exactly. The courtroom illustrator. Apparently there was a place in Arkansas called Cowt Porkula and it was a popular barbecue restaurant and food truck. Good for them. i would eat there.
Speaker: Yeah, right. It's a great name. It's a little rock. Absolutely. But I feel like it is defunct. Unfortunately, it got reincarnated as a puppy. So that's fine A restaurant I'm reincarnated into a dog. That's cool. What was it? A barbecue place you said? Yeah. Okay. If that was going to be reincarnated, it would be a bulldog.
Speaker: Yeah. i want to be a skyscraper. You want to be a skyscraper when you grow up Yeah. Dream big, buddy. No, no, no. When I die, i want to come back as a skyscraper. Oh, okay. I dream tall. Very tall. Exceptionally tall. But where would your skyscraper be? Skyscraper.
Speaker: Where would you like to skate? Where would you like to skate? Bottom of the ocean. I'm the tallest, hippie tallest building in Atlantis. I love that. In like central Atlantis or like on the outskirts? it's Central. Greater metropolitan Atlantis. The greater... the the greater Atlantis proper. The upper east side Atlantis. Yeah. One of the middle class franchises. Not franchises. Hamlets. Burrows. Yes, Burrows. Are you made out of coral a la The Little Mermaid or are you like all steel baby or something else? ah Sand dollars. Sand dollars the whole way up and down. Yeah. I was merman made. love that.
Speaker: Barnacle, no barnacle. No. I try to keep it pretty tight, but you know, every now and again, there's a little five o'clock shadow barnacles. Sure, of course. You know, what's a building to do? It's a building to do. That's why you keep those like sucker fish ready. to like yeah A loyal platoon of placostomuses. There you go. How did I know you were probably going to know the name of what those things were called? course he knows the name of it. don't know what the plural of them is. Placostici. Placostici. Placostomai or Placostomuses. Yeah, they're Placo. Anywho, does someone have a poem or something like that?
Speaker: Oh my God, I wrote a poem. You wrote a poem? Do you want to start it off? No, I wrote it, but you can read it. I'll read the poem. Sit is a trick. This pod is a treat.
Speaker: Here are some tales about things with four feet. It's time to spill the kibble. Halloween edition. o So i found folks.
Speaker: What? I was starting to, the word starts with an S, but then you caught me and I got scared. So it was just a hiss. but but Scare me. Just a hiss. skin Scare my socks off.
Speaker: That reminds me of the neighbor kids ringing my doorbell to give me something. And my orange cat came up to the door to like investigate. And one of the kids was just like, hi, kitty. And he just hissed. And then one turn, he's like, it hissed.
Speaker: It hissed. I told you it would.
Speaker: want say hi? It hissed. It hissed. Anyway. And that's about respecting boundaries. Thank you. Teaching those kids right. My orange boy has lots of boundaries. Hiss means no.
Speaker: Yeah. Hiss means hiss. Hiss means this. Ooh. This means hiss. I don't know which one. Cut it. Cut it. We need it we need a trademark. um So I found these on the Bark Web.
Speaker: Hiss. And then I just like kind of rewrote them for the podcast. So. Okay. We'll see how this goes. I love it. So we begin. i came across a story about a hotel in Jerome, Arizona, where guests have reported a very specific kind of nighttime visitor.
Speaker: It apparently likes to wait until you're in bed. Some people have reported feeling something settled down at the foot of their mattress. Others have felt something brush against their legs while they're walking around the room.
Speaker: There are even reports of scratching at the door. Oh, yeah. It's ghost cat. It's a ghost cat. What kind of animal do you think is doing this? It's a ghost kitty. What? It's bats, girl.
Speaker: No, it's a ghost kitty. ok ghost bat. Werewolf. Werewolf. Werewolf go. feel it's a ghost. You just don't want take the obvious answer.
Speaker: I don't want to take the obvious answer? What's the obvious answer? It's a bat. You want it to be an actual bat, not a ghost bat. oh Excuse me. I want it to be a ghost bat more than anything. More than a ghost cat and more than a regular bat. But you think it's corporeal bats. As real as this desk is. i mean, maybe. I feel like a corp would did what a corporeal bat snuggle up on your bed? At the foot of your bed? and i think it says it starts as a feeling at the foot of your bed. But maybe you're...
Speaker: Listen. You tricking us, Cal? Time will tell. ok you got that You got that glint in your If your answer is cat, congratulations. What?
Speaker: Cats can't even fly. yeah, yeah. Okay. So continuing, the hotel itself has a pretty unusual history. m History. It's right in there, yeah.
Speaker: The building was once the United Verde Hospital in Jerome, Arizona, a mining town that eventually declined and became something of a ghost town.
Speaker: The old hospital has since been converted into the Jerome Grand Hotel. Ooh. Which obviously is where I would immediately draw the line.
Speaker: I feel like you guys would love to go there or stay there. I would go see it, but I would not stay. Ooh, okay. If there were ghost cats, I'd stay 1,000%. What's those ghost cat food? That's fine. like it's stink slit It stinks like tuna in the halls. Yeah. Yeah, i'm fine with it. there's You step on a ghost hairball. Tuna.
Speaker: If it's just a hotel, okay. But if it has a history of being a hospital, I don't know. um me but But then again, you guys work in hospitals and it was for animals, but still you're a little bit more like, eh, hospital. But for me, I'm like, a little spooky-ooky. I mean, if it was a spooky hospital hotel that had the spirits of... Oh, of dead miners? Yeah, and and and majors and everything in between. of If it was people haunting it, I'd be a little less inclined. But if all those spirits are little fuzzy guys, then I'm fine with it.
Speaker: You did have a haunted vet hospital. I did work in a haunted vet hospital. And canonically, as a child, I cried the whole way through the haunted mansion ride at Disney. And mom had to buy me a dog harness on a wire that was supposed to be a ghost dog you could walk around. And I cherished the heck out of that thing. So I adopted a ghost dog early. We played with that a lot. it Are you looking up this hotel? Because you better not be.
Speaker: No, I don't look up anything ever. Hmm. All right, to continue. Apparently, plenty of people disagree and want to be guests of this hotel. These guests have reported all sorts of paranormal activity there.
Speaker: And among the strange things people claim to encounter, there's one particular visitor that seems to have a very specific routine. It behaves like a cat. It curls up at the foot of the bed.
Speaker: It scratches at doors. It rubs against people's legs. You said something just now that fundamentally may have changed my answer. You said it behaves like a cat. Yeah.
Speaker: Not it is a cat. Yeah. And that's a little spooky ookier because it's like a little demon pretending to be a cat. because it's ra Because it's obviously a raccoon. It's like that scary story where it's like, people can lick too. Yeah, that urban legend. It's like, my dog was there the whole time. What do you mean? The murderer was there. if you don't know it, look it up, guys. It's bananas. Okay, so if a guest told you there was something invisible in my room that keeps rubbing against my ankles, like what would you think of that?
Speaker: Am I another guest or do I work at the hotel? Or are you the vet in town and people are just coming to ask you about this? Wouldn't that be weird? If I was the vet town, I'd say far out That's crazy. but Let me know if it happens again. Like I would just inquire. But if I worked at the hotel, I feel like I i don't know if I'd lean into it or I'd try to make a a change up to a different room. Gas leak? Gas leak. Bats. You don't want to say bats if you work for the hotel. Would you reach out to Zach Baggins and have him come to your hotel and try to figure out what's going on?
Speaker: Before I knew that he was Garbo and screwed over Holly Madison, yes. Now, no. I'll find somebody else. yeah Yeah, but Aaron is still with him and I want to give Aaron a job.
Speaker: That's fine. We'll let Aaron come. He had a lot bad going on. His ex-wife tried to kill him. That's true. She hired a hitman. Holly Madison? No. No, Holly Madison had nothing to do with that. Holly Madison dated Zach Baggins. Zach Baggins cheated on her with a lot of different people.
Speaker: Aaron is another ghost adventure guy who works with Zach Baggins. Oh, okay. While he was on location, he found out that his wife hired someone to murder him while he was chasing ghosts. That actually helps telling the story. They blamed all of this on the demon that follows them from one another ghost adventure episode.
Speaker: I did do the ASL for that story. Unfortunately, it's not a visual podcast. But anyway. continue. Yes. Racken. So here is where this gets weird. Guests aren't necessarily saying I saw a cat. They're describing the experience of having a cat there.
Speaker: You might feel the mattress move. You might feel something against your leg. You might hear scratching. You might even wake up with the distinct impression that an animal has curled up at the foot of your bed. But when you look, there's nothing there And that's because, according to the hotel's ghost stories, The cat isn't exactly hiding.
Speaker: It's dead. bomb baba ah The Jerome Grand Hotel is reportedly home to a ghost cat that wanders the third floor. And apparently this little guy has figured out the perfect afterlife.
Speaker: No food, no litter box, no vet bills, and unlimited access to hotel rooms. so my question is to you. If you were a cat, would you spend eternity living in a hotel as a ghost?
Speaker: It's up there. I think I could do better. i think I'd go for a medieval castle. I'd want to be a castle cat. That's a good one. you know Or Egypt. Could I haunt where I lived when I was alive and I get to stay with my family? Yeah. But then they'll die too.
Speaker: The hotel is nice because it rotates out. There's always people there. Yeah. I guess, did hotel cat was Hotel Cat ever owned? I don't know more than that. Yeah.
Speaker: I think if Ghost Cat was owned, it's a sad story. If Ghost Cat was as stray, then that's the sweetest ending I can imagine. Now, if it was only a Ghost Cat, I'd probably stay at this hotel. But I feel like he only is on the third floor. And like, how lucky are you to get that floor? i think there's other spirits there. So i don't know if I want to stay. I pay extra. There's a a ghost turtle that doesn't cuddle on the second floor. It's a hundred floors of frights, obviously. Why'd you go all in with David S. Pumpkin? The hundred floors you get off at the third, you're done with the ride. I don't know the name of the cat, so should we name the ghost cat?
Speaker: He's in Arizona, so like desert vibes. What was any name of the hotel he was at? Jerome Grant Hotel. Don't name him Jerome. It's just like prickly pear. oh Pricks.
Speaker: Yeah. Maybe not. perry break in my bed Perry. Oh, Perry. Perry's nice. Imagine this haunting you. We have a cat in screen being very adorable.
Speaker: He's being so cute. He is doing well. Well, I have another story. Yes, please. It begins. There's a little square in London called Pond Square.
Speaker: too soon, dude. Too soon. said it got canceled. Okay, well, i no wait wait I wrote this story before i knew. Also, what if this inspires another place where you can go and you might have missed it? wow yep.
Speaker: If you had gone too soon. Okay, silver lining, you're welcome. Thank you. It was gay was is too soon and now it's right on time. i just needed those that extra minute.
Speaker: Okay, there's a little square in London called Pond Square that apparently has a very strange resident. It's not a dog, cat, fox, or even the usual animals you might expect to see wandering around London City.
Speaker: For centuries, people have reported seeing the same bizarre creature there, usually at night, appearing out of nowhere, running in frantic circles, and then disappearing just as quickly.
Speaker: So if someone came to your clinic and they said they'd seen a completely bizarre animal running around in circles, making horrible noises, what would be your first thought?
Speaker: Can I ask if it's bigger than a bread box? the I think I need context for how big it is. I'm not going to tell you that. It's fair.
Speaker: Frenchie scooting its butt.
Speaker: My mind went straight to Hedgehog. i don't know why. Oh, let me think back to like British movies I watched as a child. My brain can immediately superimpose a hedgehog over the Union Jack. It's so easy to do if I close my eyes.
Speaker: They have a sheep in England, notoriously. Wallace and Gromit, they definitely got sheep in there. Artman Animation. Is that Australian? What are the big blackbirds outside the Tower of London?
Speaker: Ravens. Maybe. They're not crows. e and I have a bird a bird friend, but she's not available to ask right now. Bird friends go to bed pretty early. They don't want eat bird brains.
Speaker: Right. don't want to bird brains. They need their bird breast. And the early one gets it. Early bird. They get up. They get the worm. They give it to the next early bird. They feed it to the birds to take care of them. Okay, let's continue.
Speaker: So, a little history lesson for you. i love that. Back. back In 1626, Sir Francis Bacon was experimenting with the idea that cold could be used to preserve heat.
Speaker: One freezing morning, he brought a chicken, killed it, plucked it, and then, because apparently that seemed like a reasonable scientific experiment, stuffed the carcass with snow.
Speaker: Hmm. Unfortunately, Bacon caught a severe cold while conducting the experiment and died shortly afterward. Wow. And this is where things get weird.
Speaker: Okay. People began reporting a strange apparition Pond Square. a white, featherless bird suddenly appearing and racing around the square in frantic circles. Are you running around like a chicken with his head cut off?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: What? Dr. g you're stop you're you're You're speechless. ah Keep going. I'm... Mr. Bacon's hairless, featherless bird runs around like crazy through the park.
Speaker: Okay. ah Here's some more. One man in 1943 was walking through the square at night when he heard what sounded like horses in a carriage approaching.
Speaker: Then he heard a horrible shriek. And suddenly, this strange bird appeared and started tearing through the square before vanishing. This old school ghost. one's This one's got legs. Well, it's London. Of course, all their ghosts are old. That's true.
Speaker: Okay, so what would you feel if you just saw an animal suddenly appearing and running in circles and screaming in the disappearing? Well, I don't know about me. I feel like potentially Dr. G would try to try to give it aid because he has more wildlife experience than me.
Speaker: Does it look... So i'm a met I'm imagining a headless chicken or a guy that's plucked like a chicken. What's happening? Because I have to know if I need to capture it, save it, or defeat it.
Speaker: i think it's chicken-sized. So about a bread basket. And it's clothed. Plucked. Plucked.
Speaker: Head. We never said there wasn't head. Face. head. face right we never said there wasn't a head it's not i I don't think it's a headless chicken horseman.
Speaker: I'm going to turn off the lights and throw a towel over it. Okay. Turn off the lights in the park. Yep. yeahp i got are you gonna I mean, it's 1943, so you're just like taking the light, of the candle.
Speaker: Is that like a snifter or whatever? You're going to snuff out all the candles? and i'll take my I'll take my walking stick and I'll beat up the Tesla coil fueling the lights. The Charles Dickens like light the outer.
Speaker: I'm going to slap on my stilts and I'm going to snuff the streetlights. Of course. Then throw it hell. Okay, I have another little bit to the story. Okay.
Speaker: Okay, apparently it doesn't matter what century you were in. In the 1960s, a motorist whose car had broken down reported seeing it. And then in the 1970s, a couple sitting together in the square had their romantic evening interrupted when the apparition reportedly dropped out of nowhere and landed beside them.
Speaker: Okay, those last three, those are all LSD. I don't know how to explain the other ones. They heard the story, they went to the park, they tripped. Yeah. Okay, but my question is, like, if you're sitting peacefully with your date and a mysterious animal falls out of the sky beside to you, like, do you check on it or do you run away?
Speaker: yeah I'm going to check on it. i'd I think I'd scream. I'm very jumpy. You're allowed to scream. You can be surprised. But I guess that the question still now that it's now that it's real, it's not someone else's report like I'm encountered. Does it look more animal than demon?
Speaker: o Good question. That is a great question. Because if it's more animal, I'm jumping in to help. Like I've picked up turtles on dates and then you can't hold your partner's hands because you might give them salmonella.
Speaker: It's a bad play. Unless you're into that kind of thing. Unless she's into that kind of thing. And she is. yeah oh is she the one that stuck around? Yes. audit Well, in in everyone's defense, I've probably picked up a turtle on more than one date.
Speaker: yeah It's actually your go-to move. It's a test. But favorite person finally works it for sure. yeah Yeah. Your patented test to screen partners. See if they're pro or anti-turtle. That classic three months in, you pick up a turtle.
Speaker: ah Single fellas. Instead of doing with the the ducky game at the carnival, it's just a turtle. Yeah, exactly. um i imagine it looks it looks just like a plucked chicken.
Speaker: But it sounds like it runs very fast in its screams. So I don't know that I would feel confident to catch it. I'm not very athletic. I feel like because it screams, it must have a head. Ooh.
Speaker: Well, if you're not athletic, that's what the stilts and the towel are for That's how you get your advantage. You can use stilts, can't you? Okay. In this world, you think it takes no athleticism to use stilts.
Speaker: In this? In this scenario, you're thinking stilts, anybody's game. You don't have to have core string. On a cobblestone square?
Speaker: it was the 60s. Anything was possible. this square has been around since the 1600s. So like, it's probably all cobblestones, baby. You're gonna trip right over those. But I'm wearing- Stilts? What kind of shoes do you No, but on the bottom of the stilts. You wear stilettos.
Speaker: it's a chunky It's a chunky stilt. Chunky stilt into stiletto. Do your best, go.
Speaker: What could go wrong? There. Well, let's finish up the story. Okay. ah thought I wrote this and I said, well, here's the strangest part is if it is all strange.
Speaker: The creature people have been seeing isn't just a ghostly chicken. It's plucked and it's dead. Legends says it's the ghost of the exact chicken bacon used in his ill-fated experiment. Still racing around pond square centuries later, apparently furious about the whole snow stuffing situation.
Speaker: Sightings have become much rarer in recent years, but perhaps the ghost chicken has finally made peace with its fate. Or maybe, after roughly 400 years of running in circles, it finally figured out where it was going.
Speaker: Ooh. Oh, crossing the street. And now, Dr. g it's your duty to go to Pond Square at night and see if you see the ghostly chicken. I'm camping out.
Speaker: Summon the chicken. need You have to have a romantic date with your partner on a bench and see if he drops in. Bring stilts. It's BYO stilts and turtle. It's going to be the best date we've ever had. And hey, even if there's no ghost chicken.
Speaker: honestly you should go there I think it's kind of fun now you do need to report back yeah it's on the list this was fate yeah go to ghost bond now I need to like see where it is Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Oh, it's just like a little garden square. Honestly, if you were like a little nerdy British youth and you wanted to really just live your best October, you would just go there at night dressed as like a white ghostly chicken and just run around.
Speaker: You'd embrace it. be fun That's a fun Halloween costume. It is a fun Halloween costume. Honestly, i feel like I should write a children's book about the ghost chicken of Pond Square.
Speaker: How are you going to handle the part where he gets cut open and filled with snow? Yeah. You don't talk about the backstory. Like we don't talk about how what he got there. We just talk about that he is a ghost chicken living there.
Speaker: Yeah. What's his motivation? Yeah. Kids don't need to know that.
Speaker: What's his catchphrase? Oh, she's going to workshop it. Yeah, I'll work on it. next By next Halloween, we're going to have a great pawn chicken.
Speaker: i don't know. I love the fact that we have like recorded sightings of this chicken. It's pretty fantastic. That really tells you like nothing else was going on in the world. No, that's true. Then everybody was just gathering around to tell stories about the ghost chicken from a guy just experiment. And the sad thing is he was onto something. Cold can help preserve meat. But also i feel like no, he was trying to cook meat.
Speaker: Oh, with cold. Yeah, that's stupid. He deserved to get sick. Yeah. Sir Francis Bagus? Yeah. ah He deserved to get sick.
Speaker: I mean, I guess he was trying to also preserve the meat, but like... But that's old school. That's like, that's caveman times. Did you tell us how he died? He got sick from the cold. fuck.
Speaker: But he died. Maybe he, whoa, poultry geist. Maybe he got trapped in the body of the dead chicken that he was doing experiments on right before he died. And he's the ghost, but within the body of the chicken.
Speaker: He's a chucky for chicken. he's ah He's a, he's a, he's chucky. He's chucky. he's czey chicken Chicky the pound ghost. There you go. There's a story.
Speaker: ah You know what? I do think maybe they were trying to also preserve meat too. So maybe it was... Everybody knows ice keeps, you know, ice and salt and berry berry stuff below.
Speaker: Everybody knows that. don't think people knew that in 1620. Well, to be fair, Bacon might not have known that. But I feel like people living in like cold places knew that.
Speaker: Outside his bubble... If you're on vacation somewhere, Han, they probably figured it out. The Eskimos probably knew that ice caps. I think meat spoiling was a common issue. Fair enough. In like 1600s, eight clipped.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. Anyway, that's it. That's all I had. a ghost cat and a ghost chicken. Happy Halloween, everyone. but May your pets not haunt you.
Speaker: Mare pets, or unless they're super chill and nice and you want them to. Yeah, unless you want to. And then like a sweet little Casper the friendly cat haunt haunting unto you. I was just thinking that we need a word. We need a word for nice haunting.
Speaker: i think it's just Casper. Yeah, Caspering. Yeah. Spectral visitor. spectacular spectrum. I can't glean intention from spectral visitor. No, it's haunting makes me think I'm not going to have a good time. You know, visitor does make me think of like an alien invasion. So yeah, you're right.
Speaker: You know what? We're going to workshop it. We're going to figure it out. I believe in this. I mean, it's spooky season the whole, you know, the whole time. So if anyone, if anyone's a good one, let us know. Yeah.
Speaker: Email us at spill at spillthekibble.com. Yeah. Send us your stories and your ideas of what you want to call haunting in in a positive light.
Speaker: Yeah. Tell us. Listeners, weigh in. Tell us. Tell us. Do it. go um Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think we just spilled that ghostly, ghostly kibble. Happy Halloween.
Speaker: Happy Halloween. ah ah
Speaker: Thank you so much for listening. Please note that this podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Any medical advice heard on this show should be discussed with your animals care team.
Speaker: And a special thank you to our story submitters. Do you have a story you want to share? Email us at spill at spillthekibble.com and maybe we'll read your story. Also, please rate, review, and subscribe so that others can find us more easily. We look forward to next time.
