"Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars," says a report by the Wall Street Journal. Apparently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (that's right: Game Wardens) have gotten tired of chasing game poachers around (huh? they'll be here in droves come Thursday!!!) and they're going after "illegal wood" obtained from less-than-reputable sources. Long story short: Don't go traveling overseas with your classic guitar unless you want to risk a fine and getting it taken away. Seriously.

We know they're all over Mexico... and Texas. And even Kentucky. But now it seems that the (formerly) elusive Chupacabra has made an appearance in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC. Some folks from the hospital there spotted the creature while taking cigarette breaks in the woods near the hospital... And they trapped it! There is some awesome video here, and a less legendary explanation of the story here.

OK, I gotta say... This does look a lot like a fox to me. But it's one ugly mother of a fox! Chupacabras: Zombie Foxes! It could happen.

If you've ever wished that armoredpossum would just hurry up and sell out already -- and start offering merchandise... Well wish no longer! We have now, by accident or otherwise, opened an online T-shirt shop. Click here to shop 'till you drop. All proceeds will go to saving the endangered pygmy swamp 'possum (no, not really).

Mark Zuckerberg: yes, the Facebook guy, has recently begun a diet in which he will only eat the meat of animals he has killed. Apparently he has managed to off a got, a pig, a chicken, and maybe a couple sea creatures so far. Now he's wanting to go hunting for wild game. Why post this here? Well, here's a rich guy who came from a privileged background and not from "the country", and he's actually discovered that there is value in knowing where your food comes from, and connecting with the animals you eat. I've never been a Zuck fan, but I've gotta say: there may be hope for this guy yet.

The story goes that he and his friends/co-workers had a pig roast, and that there were people who were oblivious to the reality of the fact that pork came from real live pig, until they were looking at the whole thing roasting. Mark was bothered enough by this lack of connection to the source that he found a local chef to help him with this new plan to eat only what he kills. Now I'm not advocating that everyone only eat what we kill... But if you know anyone who has this same kind of disconnection between the meat on the table and the animal it came from, then by all means take them hunting! If a few more people stop taking nature and the food chain for granted because of this, I think its a good thing.

Finally, a "social app" that I can get into: Untappd is a social drinking app where you do check-ins (yes like Foursquare), but with beer! It lets you keep track of that cool new craft beer you tried a month ago, and earn badges and stuff along the way. And you can also see what your drinking buddies are up to so that you can try stuff they like and vice-versa. I love the idea of being able to keep a list of craft beers -- and what I thought of each one. I notice that sometimes I run into a beer I had a year ago and can't remember whether I loved it or hated it. This will at least prevent some poor purchasing decisions.

They've got a cool idea... it's like a universal UFO club. Wish I'd had this a long time ago. Unfortunately, it's a little late coming; Foursquare and Gowalla kind of have the "Check-In" thing sewed up. And now even Facebook is trying to get into the act, meaning we've hit the point of check-in saturation. So Untappd will probably die before it gets any traction. Or maybe not... So go out there and visit http://m.untappd.com from your mobile phone (no app to install) to get started, and get 'yer drink on!

That's right: Blackbirds—mostly Red-Winged, and mostly dead—rained from the sky over the weekend in Beebe Arkansas. According to Reuters, thousands of blackbirds fell from the sky over a 1-mile radius overnight Friday night. The birds were still falling when wildlife officials arrived on the scene the next day. The number of dead birds being reported ranges from 1000 to over 4000, depending on the news source. Suffice it to say that a lot of blackbirds had a really bad New Year. Video and this story from CNN, original story from Reuters.