8. The Fur-Bearing Trout
What sounds like a positively X-rated euphemism was actually a proposed animal (and a blatant fraud) that more than a few people have probably been taken in by over the years. This much-loved fish story (if youll indulge the pun) has its apparent origins in a letter written by a 17th century Scottish immigrant that speaks of the furried animals and fish native to his new home of Canada. Obviously amused by the letter, the recipient replied asking for more information on this furried fish and the Scot duly made up a specimen and sent it back to Scotland. But thats just one story. According to legend, a large amount of hair tonic was spilled into the Arkansas River sometime in the 1870s. This caused the rapid hair growth experienced by the (usually hairless) trout. Tales of hairy fish can be found in Icelandic legends (where they cause pregnancy to men who are stupid enough to eat their flesh) and these stories have no doubt added to (and influenced) the legend over the years. In addition, Wilbur Foshay, a flamboyant businessman and early adopter of the pyramid scheme actually hoaxed a newspaper into reprinting the allegedly true story of this improbable fish that sheds its fur in the summer and re-grows it in the winter. In reality, every single mounted specimen of this animal is a fake, usually a stuffed trout wrapped in rabbits fur, or similar. In this way, the fur-bearing trout are a direct relation of the 19th and early 20th century mermaids, ghastly exhibits created by bizarre taxidermy (usually an odd meeting of a fish and a monkey) and convincing only to very stupid people. A mounted specimen of a fur-bearing trout (that may be the original specimen) is on display in the Royal Museum of Scotland. As a postscript of sorts, there is actually a hairy fish known to science (well, sort of). The Mirapinna Esau, or Hairy Fish has very odd growths around its body that it uses as a form of camouflage; these growths can sometimes be mistaken for fur.