Most of the animal-themed April Fool’s jokes this year play on   our overwhelming desire to befriend, understand and get close to our animals.

Michigan’s State-Sponsored Canned Deer HuntsThe Detroit Free Press was the boldest and funniest, with a plan to corral Michigan’s 1.7 million deer and allow canned hunts in an effort to prevent bovine tuberculosis. “Hunters could drive to any of the eight or 10 state deer ranches after breakfast — no more need to get up before dawn — and be in a stand by noon. It shouldn’t take more than an hour to shoot the deer and get home in time to watch the football game,” a bogus biologist said. State financial crisis? Solved!

Google Translate for AnimalsGoogle gave us a bit of wish fulfillment with Google Translate for Animals, which comes just its only marginally less amazing program to translate a ton of human languages. Hold your Google Android up to an animal and finally get to understand what they’re saying. Their demonstration animals were all mushy, only offering compliments and affection. I’d have liked to see more opinionated animals, critiquing outfits, their food, their human handlers.

Montana State FlowerAn outdoors writer for the Billings Gazette wrote about a  proposal to recycle all those obsolete, giant satellite dishes at camp sites, providing both shade and some controversial outdoor television enterntainment.

Nanaimo Non-MermaidThe poor folks at the Nanaimo News on Vancouver Island no longer have a prank story about a mermaid sighting on

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