Replies

Scientists' Favorite Far Side Cartoons - 3

I treasure all of Larson's cartoons. He knows so much about science in
general and natural history in particular that our lab walls and doors
get covered with his stuff. But I'll tell you my two favorites that
relate to birding. One shows a group of people with binoculars and books
watching cows in a field, and a really weird-looking cow appears on the
horizon: "And then the bovine watchers were given a _real_ treat. On a
small knoll, in full splendor, there suddenly appeared a Guatemalan cow
of paradise." My all-time favorite, which I haven't been able to find in
the cartoon collections, shows several hawks perched in a tree, wearing
dark glasses (I'm almost sure of the glasses), with the caption, "Birds
of prey know they're cool."

My very favorite Far Side cartoon depicts two spiders at either end of a
spider web they built across the bottom of a playground slide. One
spider says to the other "If we pull this off, we'll eat like kings!".
It still makes me laugh out loud. (science and technology librarian)

My favorite is one with the herd of buffalo charging in one direction,
and the caption reads: "As if we all knew where we were going?!"

Definitely the one with the dinosaur lecturing to other dinosaurs
about the climate changing, the end of the world coming, and that they
only have a brain the size of a pea.

My favourite is the 2 polar bears, stomachs bulging, lying contentedly next to
an igloo with a hole in the roof. One says to the other "I just love this kind
-- crunchy on the outside, soft, pink and chewy on the inside".

My favorite shows aliens fishing for humans from a spaceship, with one
disgusted because it just hooked a "Nerd".

My favorite--two bears in a junked car in the middle of the woods. One
says, "Think about it Murray. ...If we could get this baby runnin', we could
run over hikers, pick up females, chase down mule deer--man, we'd be the
grizzlies from hell." My second favorite--Poodles of the Serengheti.

For teaching about natural selection: Two deer, one with a bulls-eye
pattern. The other one says, "Bummer of a birth mark, Hal."

It is very difficult to pick out the ones I like
best. As a wildlife biologist I could relate to so much of his work. He
definitely will be missed.
I would have to say that if I had to pick just one it would be
the one of the birds on the tree branch with sunglasses and personal
stereos and at the bottom it says "Birds of prey know they're cool".
Although I am a little biased as I specialize in predator biology and
management.

One of my favourites (there are so many) is one in which a suburban
father is pointing out a singing bird in his backyard to his son. A
network of white picket fences that separate the yards of his suburban
neighbours are clearly visible in the picture. He tells his son that the
bird's singing serves to mark its territory and that this is a behaviour
that is "...restricted to lower animals.". (Canadian zoo biologist)

The one with the astrophysicists monopolizing the telescope and intimidating
the other researchers -- something like "All night long the astrophysicists
would monopolize the telescope and terrorize the other researchers". (UK)

Two of my all time favorite Larson cartoons are firmly established on my
office door for all to see:
1) A young nubile beetle is depicted leaving the house on a date and as she
passes her father's chair he says...Young Lady you get back in there and wash
off some of that pheromone.
2) Depicts a roadhouse in bug land which says Eddie's Place, Females, Females,
Females.....Wingless!
I consider these classics.

As one of the few functional morphologists in captivity, and a
slothologist (studier of all sloths, both living and extinct), my
favorite Larson cartoons are two. One shows a sloth dancing
around in the rain forest and states, "What sloths do when no one
is around." Actually, they are rather misunderstood, and can
move quickly of necessary, It is just that usually they do not find
it necessary. The animals are really the philosophers of the rain
forest, and prefer to observe and ponder rather than rush around
as do monkeys and other canopy species.
The second cartoon (an equal favorite) shows a sloth gunfighter
who has just shot a bad guy, and the caption says something to
the effect of "Well, it's no surprise the sloth got him; old Hank
was never a very quick draw". Again, sloths are really
misunderstood and unfairly considered to be a vice. As I have
had a wonderful career working on them for many years, I do not
consider being slothful any drawback at all!!!
Slothfully yours,

You probably have lots of replies by now, but I just have to mention my
all time favorite: the Harpy Eagle on its nest surrounded by binoculars and
clothing as seen through binoculars. This adorns the wall of my office in
enlarged form. The only Harpy Eagles I have ever seen were in a zoo in
Mexico, but I hope some day to be fortunate enough to see one in the wild.

My favorite Larson cartoon is the one with two scientists doing a
'toxicological' experiment. One scientist is pouring various substances
onto a duck's back while the second one is at a blackboard writing
down the results, e.g. "Milk off a duck's back", "Water off a duck's back",
"Acid off a duck's back" (crossed out), etc.
I enjoy this cartoon because of its play on the words "off a duck's back"
in the context of toxicology.

My favourite one shows two honey bees on a comb with the wife saying to the
husband who has a map in hand, "Face it ????, you're lost!"
Men as you know will never ask for directions! (Nova Scotia)

Like so many Larson fans, I am hard-pressed to come up with a single
favorite. However, as an ornithologist, I can say that I am particularly
attached to this one: The picture is three 1930's mobster-type thugs
standing outside holding binoculars and field guides. The caption reads
simply, "Boid watching". What better example of birding's widespread
appeal!

Two favorites that come to mind:
1) "When old entomologists die." Cartoon of prof on his back with legs
curled up like a dead beetle.
2) "Yep, Carl, it looks like a 'Vespidae' and boy does it look mad!"
Cartoon of two safari entomologists, one holding a jar over a hornet that
landed on the other's back. It's funny because I have seen this clinical
detachment and interest from entomologists in the field. This is why
entomologists all stand amongst themselves at parties.

I am an algal ecologist, and the closest thing Gary ever drew
for our profession was the caveman 'laboratory' with several cavemen looking
intently into petri dishes filled with agar. Since they didn't have micro-
scopes they were holding up the dishes in various fashions, i.e., close to the
face, but the best was the guy holding his hands up to his eyes imitating
binoculars! The title was "Early Microbiologists"

My two favorites are: 1) A scientist travels back in time with a
thermometer to settle the warm vs. cold blooded dinosaurs question.
Unfortunately I can't remember the punch line. What makes the cartoon
funny is that the thermometer used is a rectal thermometer used by
herpetologists, hence the scientist was crushed by the dinosaur. 2) One
deer says to a second "Bummer of a birthmark" to a second deer. The
birthmark is a bulls-eye on its chest. A great example of evolution by
natural selection.

How about the one with the "jar of humans" which fell and broke on the Earth,
freeing the captive humans, and a voice from the clouds saying "Uh oh."

Actually I have a couple of favorites. I suppose my all time favorite is an old
cartoon. In it a pair of spiders have just constructed a web across the bottom
of a playground slide. One spider says to the other "I tell you Bob, if we
pull this off we'll eat like kings!"
My other favorite is fairly recent -- just within the last year. A father and
son are leaning over the fence in the yard looking at the neighbor's house. A
pack of wolves is running in and out of the house. The father is looking at
the son and saying "I know you miss the Wainwrights, Bobby -- but they were weak
and stupid people -- that's why we have wolves and other large predators."
I'm an assistant professor at a small liberal arts college in Iowa. My
speciality is community ecology. I like to use Larson's's cartoons in class and
on handouts to lighten the mood. Often his cartoons illustrate biological
principles in a fairly twisted way that appeals to students (and to me).

My roommate has been looking for a specific Gary Larson Cartoon for
some time now. It's the one where the male bear comes home with a tag
on his ear and a radio collar around his neck. The female bear is
waiting at home and says "Boy, this had better be good!". If you know
where to find this cartoon, please let me know. Thanks!!

As a wildlife ecologist, my favorite Larson cartoon is a recent one. A man
and his son are looking over the fence at the neighbor's house, into which a
family of wolves is moving in. The father is saying to the son something
like "I know you miss the Anderson's, but they were weak and stupid..."

I love the lemming one but there was also one that
I first saw when studying natural selection that seemed appropriate. There is
some large game animal (a bear I think) who is surrounded by others who are
discussing the unfortunate birthmark their comrade has, that of a large
bulls-eye right across the chest. I can't wait to see the rest!

It was with great sadness that many of us received the news of Gary Larson's
"retirement".
I am carnivore biologist working for the province of British Columbia and
many Far Side cartoons grace my office and home. In the field of carnivore
related humour, Gary has been most generous.
My favorite (of the week!) is the one that shows two grizzly bears eating a
seal while surrounded by polar bears -- the caption: "Don't eat the flippers,
Zeke or they'll know we're tourists." A close second is the wonderful
portrayal of several despondent and dazed looking wolves with armloads of
classic Far Side ducks - "Some wolves, their habitat destroyed and
overwhelmed by human pressures, turn to snorting Quack!"

I like the one where (if I can remember it correctly, it's been about five
years since I saw it) a guy is talking to a fish in a goldfish bowl and
making rude comments about the fish's sister, the caption read something like
"Testing the Sensitivity of Goldfish"
(fisheries ecologist)

My favourite Far Side cartoon shows a snake in his easy chair
working on a half-swallowed pig, eyeballing the ringing telephone and
thinking "Damn!". As a herpetologist, I have many favourite Far Sides, but
that's my all-time number one!

There was no one favorite of all time. Depending on my general outlook on life
at the moment, I had many favorites. I still do, and so does my son, age six.
I suppose now I should say "Thanks for the mammaries" but I won't. (wildlife
ecologist)

All biologists have a collection of their favorites tacked up amidst the piles
of equipment and paperwork in their offices. A few of mine:
Cow lying on a psychologist's couch. "Maybe it's not me. Maybe the rest of the
herd's gone insane."
As a farmer looks up to see a cow carried off by a hawk: Dang, that cowhawk's
back.
A young boy chasing a screaming friend, snake in hand: For the rest of his life
the young reptile suffered deep emotional scars.
Drawing of a skeleton with a leghold trap lying under a tree cut down by a
beaver.
Woman with a vacuum cleaner walking down a forest road: The woods were dark and
foreboding, Alice sensed sinister eyes watching. Worst of all, she knew Nature
abhorred a vacuum.
Gary has so often brought a humorous insight to some of the most painful
aspects of our field. A gentle reminder of what we're working for. We'll miss
him.