Mysterious Majolica Beasts

On my travels I have visited a number of places that have Majolica floor tiles on display. Majolica pottery is a distinctive Italian style of pottery which dates from the Renaissance period. Majolica pottery is typified by its bright colours that are set over a white background. The name Majolica is believed to have been derived from a medieval Italian word for the island of Majorca, the rational being that Spanish Moorish potters would have originally brought the pottery style from Majorca to Italy.

Majolica floor tiles are usually interesting as they often depict weird and wonderful creatures that are either creations of the artists mind or real beasts that are not known to man (well not known to me at least). Below is a selection of some of the Majolica floor tiles that I have come across, these are either 14th Century Majolica tiles from the Palais Des Papes in Avignon or 16th Century Flemish Majolica tiles from The Vyne near Basingstoke.

Please feel free to post in the comment section if you know what animals the tiles are supposed to represent.

A scaled beast.

Two freaky beasts getting it on?

An odd human-like skull.

A shelled creature.

A 16th century elf?

A weird fish ready for a kiss?

Some form of dog?

A bird?

A young Nessie?

Pictures, France (October 2012) & Hampshire (July 2013).

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Alcatraz’s Weird Residents

The former prison on Alcatraz Island is well known for some of its famous residents, which included Al Capone, Robert “Birdman” Stroud and George “Machine Gun” Kelly (amongst others). The prison closed in 1963 and by the end of that decade the island had become home to a number of Native American activists who stayed for around two years. The island is also reported to be home to a number of ghosts of the former prison inmates.

The weirdest Alcatraz Island resident by far however, is far smaller and more inconspicuous than any of these.

Back in 2012 the island was suffering from a rat infestation, and in a bid to control this problem a dye that fluoresces under ultraviolet light was put into bait. The plan being that the rat’s droppings could then be tracked using UV lights and the rats could be found and eliminated. However, the pest controllers found more than just glowing rat droppings, they found glowing millipedes. It seems that by accident the pest controllers had found an unusual trait of the island’s known species of millipedes, that when illuminated by UV light, that they fluoresce. It is not entirely clear why a mostly nocturnal and blind animal would evolve to emit light, but one theory is that it could be a mechanism to warn predators not to eat them (as they are toxic).

Alcatraz Island in San Fransisco Bay.

Alcatraz Island up close.

The prison. 

The prison.

Graffiti from the Native American Occupation.

A cell block.

A cell.

An example "tunnel" from the Alactraz prison escape.

The "service tunnel" behind the cells into which the escapees fled.

Prison Medical Ward.

A cell block.

San Fransisco at night as seen from Alcatraz Island.

Pictures, California (2008).

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