the problem with freely associated data

[learnedax]

After watching a Scooby Doo movie last night* in which Shaggy and Scooby bump into a medusa briefly, I was musing on mythological creatures that through their gaze, touch, etc. could get you stoned, and whether anyone had made that joke before. With a little googling I didn't find anyone having explored all of the potential for psychoactive basilisks, but I did wander off onto cockatrices, because they're really a breed apart as far as petrifying creatures are concerned. They've just got weirder and more contradictory myths associated with them, I think, then say the basilisk. Plus no one really remembers much about them, whereas your man on the street could probably recognize a medusa right off - which is about the only chance he'd get, anyway. The cockatrice's alleged capacity to stone you by breathing on you is pretty funny all on its own, but when I inevitably perused the wikipedia page the thing that really caught my eye was the claim that, of all animals, the weasel is the only one immune to the cockatrices rocky imprecations.

And that is fascinating to me because, amongst other things, it finally clears up a point about which, I have to admit, I initially was slightly dubious: dkapell's claim that weasels are 3% of the battle. If it saves me from facing a squad of cockatrices myself, you bet I'm keeping a platoon of weasels around.


*(Scooby Doo and the Goblin King, one of the modern cartoon ones where actual magical things happen - but surprisingly good, and with voice actor guests ranging from James Belushi to Lauren Bacall. It was fun.)