Linus' animals

[John A. Merullo]

I remember Linus often discussing many fanciful animals at various
times. He would speak of them as if he were an expert, not unlike the
way he would speak of the Great Pumpkin. This is what I've been able to
recall.
Chicken-birds (Do they build their nests on mountain-tops?)
Gully cats ("immune to the bite of the dreaded queen snake", q.v.)
Night snakes
Queen snakes ("once you've been chomped by a queen snake, you've had it!")
Rock snakes (noted for lousy aim)

Were there any others?

Thanks,
John

[t***@lsa.umich.edu]

Post by John A. Merullo
Chicken-birds (Do they build their nests on mountain-tops?)
Gully cats ("immune to the bite of the dreaded queen snake", q.v.)
Night snakes
Queen snakes ("once you've been chomped by a queen snake, you've had it!")
Rock snakes (noted for lousy aim)

Don't forget hedge toads.

[Andrew Bull]

Post by t***@lsa.umich.edu

Post by John A. Merullo
Chicken-birds (Do they build their nests on mountain-tops?)
Gully cats ("immune to the bite of the dreaded queen snake", q.v.)
Night snakes
Queen snakes ("once you've been chomped by a queen snake, you've had it!")
Rock snakes (noted for lousy aim)

Don't forget hedge toads.

I thought they were a fear of Snoopy's? Or were they in Linus's book of
curious animals - something like "Queen Snakes, Hedge Toads and Gully Cats"
?

[t***@lsa.umich.edu]

Post by Andrew Bull

Post by t***@lsa.umich.edu
Don't forget hedge toads.

I thought they were a fear of Snoopy's? Or were they in Linus's book of
curious animals - something like "Queen Snakes, Hedge Toads and Gully Cats"

Correct on both counts. For reference, here's the text of one of the
strips in question (14 July 1972, reprinted in "You've Come a Long Way,
Snoopy," rerun in Classic Peanuts on 12 July 2002).

Linus: A strange creature in Woodstock's nest?
Linus: Maybe it's a hedge toad..
Snoopy: That's just what I was thinking
Linus: I have a book at home that tells all about such strange
creatures...I'll go get it...
Linus: Here it is...it's called "Hedge Toads, Queen Snakes and Gully Cats"
Snoopy: I haven't read the book, but I read some of the reviews

[Safari Extreme]

Post by John A. Merullo
Gully cats ("immune to the bite of the dreaded queen snake", q.v.)

Great!
It's translated Burropardo in Italian!
I always wanted to know how the Burropardo sounded in English :)

--
"Your soul-sucking days are over, amigo..."

[m***@gmail.com]

Post by John A. Merullo
I remember Linus often discussing many fanciful animals at various
times. He would speak of them as if he were an expert, not unlike the
way he would speak of the Great Pumpkin. This is what I've been able to
recall.
Chicken-birds (Do they build their nests on mountain-tops?)
Gully cats ("immune to the bite of the dreaded queen snake", q.v.)
Night snakes
Queen snakes ("once you've been chomped by a queen snake, you've had it!")
Rock snakes (noted for lousy aim)
Were there any others?
Thanks,
John

Hedge toads

[Tim Chow]

It was only recently that I learned that the term "queen snake" is the
name of a real type of snake.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_snake

Note, though, that this animal goes by many other names as well.

I would guess that Schulz didn't know this and thought he was coining a
new term when he had Linus talking about "queen snakes." Perhaps Schulz
knew about "king snakes" (a more well-known term for a real type of snake)
and thought that "queen snakes" would be an amusing malapropism.

---
Tim Chow