by >The Feedback section at the back of New Scientist is given to more silly
>stories. They've recently changed the writer of the section I believe. I
>saw the story below and my UL sense tingled not just because they admit
>the possibility in the story, but because I thought I'd seen similar
>references in this group. Google searching reveals that Lara found a
>similar story in early march.
I one saw a woodpecker pounding on the top of a parking lots
lamp post. Maybe some sound or electrical field triggered his
bug searching instincts. In the case of the story you've posted
below maybe some chemical in the cell phone triggers the dogs
feeding instincts. I'm just amazed they got the thing out in
working condition.
>So of course I set out to see if I could validate or debunk this
>myself.. Hotbot searches, CNN, BBC, Google Groups in general, Ask and
>then I decided to move onto the Vetinary sites. I find no abstracts and
>some very difficult to navigate sites and literally the two stories
>below. 3 years apart and the BBC one which passed through the Sun
>*cough* newspaper seems to have originated in Reuters.
>I'm unable to find anything in the intervening three years. Is this one
>going to crop up in Honk Kong in 18 months or is my spidey sense on
>overtime?
>Warwick
>14 April 2001
>THIS STORY has all the hallmarks of an urban myth, but the Ananova news
>service ran it last month, so maybe it's true.
>According to the report, Kamal Shah of Mombasa in Kenya couldn't find
>his mobile phone, so he phoned it up from his landline. He immediately
>heard it ringing--inside his dog.
>Shah explained that he had left his phone on a bedside table, and when
>it disappeared he assumed at first his son had taken it. In fact, his
>German shepherd dog, Snoopy, had swallowed it.
>Hearing the phone ringing from his dog's stomach was unexpected, he
>said. "It sent me into shock."
>Snoopy subsequently had an operation to remove the phone and both dog
>and phone are apparently doing fine
>Friday, January 2, 1998 Published at 07:18 GMT
>'Pass the phone, Charlie'
>You know what it's like ... a mobile phone rings, you dash around trying
>to find it. You scrabble around in your pockets and in bags but it's
>nowhere to be seen.
>Where's the last, the very last place you'd expect to find it?
>How about INSIDE a dog?
>That's where Rachael Murray discovered the mobile phone she'd planned to
>give her flatmate!
>The phone had vanished from under her Christmas tree so she dialled the
>number to try to find out where it had gone.
>Trail leads to ***hound
>To her amazement, she heard a faint ringing from 10-stone ***hound
>Charlie.
>Rachel, 27, from Hendon, in north London, told The Sun newspaper: "At
>first I thought Charlie was lying on the phone - then I realised where
>it was.
>"I couldn't believe he'd swallowed it. I sat there in disbelief."
>She was even more mystified 24 hours later when the 29.99 Orange Nokia
>emerged in perfect working order after nature had taken its course.
>Orange customer services gave Rachel the number so she could ring the
>lost phone.
>A spokesman for Orange said: "The dog swallowed the phone while it was
>under the Christmas tree.
>"All I can say is that we are delighted that customer services could
>help."
>The phone was intended as a present for Rachel's flatmate Tony
>Dangerfield - but the couple only found a pile of wrapping paper when
>they looked under the tree.
>Rachel said: "We searched everywhere for the phone but couldn't find it
>anywhere.
>"I couldn't stop laughing when I saw Charlie had eaten it. But then I
>got worried it might make him ill."
>The pair took the dog to the vet but were told Charlie should be able to
>pass the phone.
>She added: "Suddenly it just popped out, we couldn't stay cross for
>long."