Ah, the great quandary of meteorology: what happens when a small mammal pisses on your instruments, and it fucks your instruments up, and then you relay the borked piss-data to Australia’s meteorology bureau? Truly a question as old as time itself.
And a very real problem for one farmer in Western Australia. Tom Murray, who collects rainfall data for the Bureau of Meteorology, found that he was getting rainfall readings despite the bone-dry winter on his farm in Dalyup near Esperance on WA’s south-east coast.
“I went out to check the rain because we record for the Bureau of Meteorology and, about six weeks ago, there was about 0.4mm in it,” he told the ABC.
“And I didn’t think we’d had quite that much, so I looked a little bit closer and it actually had a little bit of colour in it, so I got a bit suspicious.
Upon sniffing the no doubt vile concoction, he used his extensive experience with fox piss to ascertain that the breaker in fact contained fox piss. Funny about that. “Fox pee is very distinctive in the aromatic area,” Murray said.
He reckons that the fox has returned several times since, but he never actually caught him in the act. ABC Rural, who were the ones to uncover this truly horrifying conspiracy – which no doubt extends to the highest corridors of power – installed a motion sensor camera near the site over two days, to no avail.
“They’re noted for their cunning aren’t they?” Mr Murray said after seeing the day one footage. “I reckon he did it from a distance.”
BOM spokesperson Neil Bennett told the ABC that he’s heard of this, just never from a fox.
I haven’t heard of a fox, no. The mysteries of yellow rain are fairly common, especially on clear days when you know there is no cloud out there and suddenly the rain gauge is reporting something, your suspicions are raised. Dogs I’ve known about but foxes, that’s a new one.
Here’s my defamatory theory: Murray himself is doing this. The bloke’s pissing in the vial and taking Australia for mugs. I see you mate. (Please do not sue.)
Source: ABC.
Photo: Reddit.
