347. If you have a nervous disposition, don't read on . . .

At the weekend we found an unidentified 'thing' in the chicken house. Skin and flesh and hairs, shape of half a finger, and looking like a piece of uncooked chicken.

(Not the blue thing - that's a biro.)


'Qu'est ce que c'est?' we asked each other.

We now think it's a teratoma which made an appearance a couple of years ago in The Guardian - see https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/27/teratoma-tumour-evil-twin-cancer

The word teratoma comes from the Greek meaning 'monstrous tumour.' The tabloids as you can imagine ran monster headlines when The Guardian was more restrained. But they have a point: teratomas can include hair and teeth and bone.

They are made of cells gone awry.

Maybe not something for the BBQ.

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