Over the Hedge by T Lewis and Michael Fry for October 27, 2015

RJ does not look Happy :-(

I assume the name means that raccoons look like predecessors of dogs, but I don’t really see it. The “washer” part is clear enough.

When the description of the giraffe was first brought back to Europe, the populace refused to believe that such an animal existed.

When people first brought to Europe descriptions of Rhinos, everyone decided that they were unicorns.

Apparently a different concept of “unearthly beauty” was involved.

Scientists thought someone had put together a number of animals for the duck-billed platypus. Thought it was totally a fake.

Procyon is the brightest star in Canis Minor (the Little Dog) and is sometimes called the Little Dog Star, much as Sirius in Canis Major is called the Dog Star. I suspect the taxonomist who chose the name was drawing on this association — thus “Little Dog” more than “Before the Dog.”

He’s probably more upset about the washing part.

I think I’d translate “procyon” as “pre-dog”, not “before-dog”.

Verne is turning RJ into an outcast that Verne is.

Weren’t giraffes called camelopards? Like a camel with leopard markings.