A BAKER has been forced to rename her novelty pig tarts - because they don't contain any pork.
Val Temple, who runs Sgt Bun Bakery, Weymouth, says officers from Dorset's trading standards department also told her she must swap the name of robin tarts as they are not made from robins.
And she claims she was instructed to rename her paradise slice because ... it's not from paradise.
Mrs Temple has made the novelty cakes in the shape of pigs and robins as a treat for her customers for years.
She said: "It's a joke.
"The officers came in and said they had had a complaint and I must change the names because they didn't contain pork, robin or paradise.
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"It's an insult to the public. Of course they don't contain pig, robin or paradise.
(via)
Monday, April 30, 2007
Pig sick
Bull Wanders Into Elderly Woman's Garage
An elderly upstate New York woman had to put up with a lot of bull -- literally.
Eighty-one-year-old Mabel Washburn says she was pulling into her driveway Wednesday when she spotted something big inside her garage.
It turned out to be a bull.
She drove to a nearby relative's home and called police. When she returned home a few minutes later, the bull was still there.
Washburn said the animal rammed its horns into her car a couple of times. She blew her horn at it but says the bull then chased her car as she drove away.
Deer Open Door, Visit Retirement Home
A pair of deer took a quick tour of a retirement home after one accidentally triggered an automatic door.
The animals were wandering near the home Wednesday when one stepped on a mat that triggered a clear sliding door, according to staff members and surveillance tapes.
"The joke afterward was that they were trying to get in because it was taco day," said Frank Buhrman, spokesman for Cross Keys Village/The Brethren Home Community.
Art from sugar (and chocolate)
Chocolatework.com is an informative site for chocolate enthusiasts, providing a reference and idea source for chocolate sculpture, wedding cakes, plated desserts, and pulled sugar work.
Pulled sugar is a very versatile medium. Finished pieces can be produced quickly and on short notice. This pulled sugar showpiece swan is produced from blown sugar. The base is made of poured sugar that has been cast onto foil, which may be left on or removed after the sugar has cooled for a different effect.
The body of the swan is the blown sugar portion. The wings are formed from a pulled sugar base and then covered with individual pulled sugar feathers. The grass may be made from pulled sugar as well but it is made stronger if air is first blown into it. A pulled sugar rose finishes the sugar centerpiece.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Are rawhide treats from i-pets.com safe for my pet?
Are rawhide treats from i-pets.com safe for my pet?
How do I know that rawhide treats are free of poisons?
In light of the horrific news reports, more and more each day, of pets sickening and dying from tainted additives in pet foods and pet biscuits, the management of i-pets.com would like to take this opportunity to explain the processing of rawhide treats and any imported items we may sell to our customers.
Pets in the US are becoming sick and dying because of melamine, a chemical found in fertilizers in Asia and which should not be in pet food in any amounts. Melamine was used as an additive in wheat gluten and rice gluten used in pet foods. Why? Food and Drug Administration investigators say the Chinese companies may have spiked products with the chemical melamine so that they would appear, in tests, to have more value as protein products.
How do you know melamine additives aren't in rawhide treats? Because rawhide is almost pure protein - there is no need to add protein value. Products sold by i-pets.com, which state "USA" are made entirely in the United States from cattle hides raised and processed in the United States. No chemicals are used to process these rawhides - the process involves repeated washes with purified water to remove fats which can lead to unpleasant odor and spoilage. In the last water bath, hydrogen peroxide, the same product used for first aid, is added to the water to retard spoilage.
Rawhide treats made in foreign countries are identifiable because these are the ultra white ones. Some disreputable companies will use chemicals to whiten the hides, because it makes them more attractive to customers. Dogs could care less!
i-pets.com sells imported rawhide treats in addition to those manufactured in the USA. Why? Because consumers like looking for bargains and it's impossible to manufacture in the USA as cheaply as overseas. US manufacturing is regulated by countless federal, state and local agencies, and also required to meet minimum wage and insurance requirements. Foreign companies are not bound by these same rules and can produce at much lower cost.
How does a consumer know if an imported pet product is safe? It's easy to say "Buy from a reputable manufacturer," but most consumers are not familiar with foreign companies. So take it a step further - buy from a reputable retailer. At i-pets.com, we have seen the gamut of good and bad manufacturing practices. We have visited factories in Mexico, Thailand, Taiwan, China and South America. We would not buy a product to sell to the public that we wouldn't wish to give to our own companion animals.
At i-pets.com, we pride ourselves on our ultra-low prices, but we will not sacrifice the safety of our customers' companion animals solely to sell a cheaper product. i-pets.com will only sell imported products from manufacturers we have personally visited and been satisfied with. If we can't find an acceptable product at a lower price than our competitors, we will not carry that product.
iPod Nano Cozy (Hamlet)
iPod Nano Cozy (Hamlet)
Hamlet takes his iPod holding job seriously. Sure, he gets moody sometimes ("to be... or not to be..."), but when it comes to toting around your nano in his softy, cushy body, he's a pig that's true to his calling.
Hamlet is made of a sparkly pink acrylic felt, lined with a soft pink plushy fabric, stitched with pink thread, and has a pink button nose. Hamlet hangs from your bag with the aid of a metal lobster clasp, and sports a pair of white felt wings to lighten your load a bit!
The Refined Litter Box
The Refined Litter Box
- Large sliding platform which holds
large litter tray and extra litter. - Top storage drawer for cat toys and food.
- Reversible walls for left or right entry.
- Non toxic Polyurethane coating.
- Matches home furniture.
- Plastic barrier helps keeps in odor.
Amber Fish - Lampwork Animal Focal Bead
**Art Glass direct from the artist to you**
A beautiful fish with great character that's ready for adoption and excited to get to it's new home. Transparent light amber base with light aqua fins, curious blue eyes and red lips. Etched for a nice smooth feel and matte finish. Which also makes this bead fingerprint resistant. Adopt him today and use him for display purposes or use in your jewelry projects.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Barbaro’s little brother is born
The colt took his first awkward steps away from his stall and out of the barn at Mill Ridge Farm, his back limbs nearly buckling, as a groom helped out with a firm hold on the horse's rear end.
Out in the paddock, the colt, just 10 hours old, looked back to the groom with an expression of: "What now?"
Friday was one glorious day in the Bluegrass, with barely a cloud in the blue skies above Mill Ridge's rolling 1,100 acres. "It's a good day to be born and get turned out," Michael Matz said.
The trainer of last year's Kentucky Derby winner was at Mill Ridge because this was no ordinary newborn. Here was Barbaro's little brother, out to the paddock for the first time with his mother, La Ville Rouge. His foaling today on April 20 - exact time: 2:08 a.m. - had been routine. He's a big boy, 148 pounds.
After just a minute standing in the grassy paddock, the colt was loping alongside La Ville Rouge, who instinctively leaned her head in front of her son, herded him away from a fence, taking him around his first turn.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Ewe've been conned ladies
THOUSANDS of rich women were conned by a firm into believing LAMBS were valuable miniature POODLES.
Entire flocks were imported to Japan from the UK and Australia then sold by the internet company as the latest “must have” pet.
The bizarre scam was rumbled when Japanese movie star Maiko Kawakami complained on a talk show that her new poodle refused to bark or eat dog food.
She showed photos of the animal and was devastated when told that it was a lamb.
Hundreds of women contacted police to say that they had also been sold lambs instead of pedigree pups by the tricksters based in Sapporo, Japan.
(photo credit)
Too bizarre to be true?
Yes!
Algae killing birds, sealife in Calif.
A bloom of ocean algae that produces a toxic acid has sickened and killed hundreds of birds, sea lions and dolphins in California, environmentalists said.
Domoic acid is produced by microscopic algae. Birds and sea mammals ingest the acid by eating fish and shellfish who dine on the algae.
The algae population increases or "blooms" every year as the ocean waters warm but this year's bloom seems early, extensive and "very, very thick," said David Caron, who teaches in the biological sciences department at University of Southern California.
"In five years of study I have not seen a bloom this large at this particular time of year," Caron said. "It's having an extraordinary impact on pelicans and many other species."
"There are conceivably thousands of animals being affected," Caron said.
The Wetland and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach had received 73 sick or dead birds since Sunday, assistant director Lisa Birkle said.
The toxin has been swifter and deadlier than usual, she said.
Samsung Donates Suicide Bomber Detection Dog To Iraq
A three year old Labrador called Pyeonghwa, which means 'peace' will be deployed in Northern Iraq in a few weeks. Her job will be to detect suicide bombers.
The Labrador, who was trained in Korea by UK based specialised police officers, will prove to be an invaluable aid in Iraq, as British forces attempt to install order in the country. She will be joining Korean troops already stationed on the ground.
The small Labrador is the first dog in history to be trained for the specific purpose of preventing would be suicide bombers from detonating their devices. She is trained to detect the specific explosive substances that are used in self detonating bombs used by suicide bombers.
(via)
Amazing flying dogs!
from flickr, by lindquist
from flickr, by McInnes.info
from flickr, by chadh
found here
found here
from flickr, by samson_snow
found here
found here
from flickr, by Captain James T Kirk
from flickr, by essexjan
found here
from flickr, by MyRidgebacks
found here
from flickr, by nbraier
Thursday, April 26, 2007
China Bans Melamine in Food Products
Finally! A small step forward ...
China said Thursday it has banned melamine from food products after the chemical was found in exports of vegetable protein shipped to the United States, but rejected it as the cause of dozens of pet deaths in North America.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials say they suspect the substance, which is a chemical found in plastics and pesticides, is to blame.
China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement there was no evidence to support the FDA's claim but that it would cooperate with the United States to find out what actually killed the animals.
A pox on the box
For finicky felines, there are remedies for litter box rejection.
Americans adore their felines -- or so it seems. We own more cats than any other type of animal companion. Still, millions of them end up in shelters every year, where, according to estimates, 70 percent are destined for euthanasia.
A great number of these cats are surrendered for behavioral issues that, experts say, can be corrected with a little thought and experimentation. And one of the most frequent problems often is simple to solve.
Dogs find counterfit DVDs
Lucky and Flo are touted as the latest weapons in the fight against movie piracy. They were trained after a study in 2004 determined that dogs could be used to detect polycarbonate and other chemicals used in optical discs. Neil Powell, a trainer in Northern Ireland known for training dogs to sniff bombs and other devices, trained the two animals.
They are believed to be the first DVD-sniffing dogs in the world.
Lucky and Flo, the Motion Picture Association's DVD-sniffing black Labrador retrievers, led investigators to an estimated 100,000 pirated movie and computer games DVDs hidden in secret storage compartments in shops and a warehouse in Malaysia last week.
The canine duo also helped Philippines law enforcement officials seize an estimated 300,000 pirated DVDs from three malls in Manila notorious for the sale of pirated movies and music this week. Among the seizures, which had an estimated street value of $500,000, were a significant number of discs containing child pornography.
Officials say that investigators also seized DVDs containing child pornography in Malaysia. The raids, on 11 retail outlets and a warehouse, took place in the same building where the canine duo, with Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) and Motion Picture Association (MPA) investigators, discovered and seized an estimated one million pirated optical discs infringing movie and computer games titles on 20 March 2007.
Movie pirates placed bounties on the dogs after a DVD ring was busted last month in the south of the country, according to Malaysian media reports.
Tigers for Tomorrow
Tigers For Tomorrow Exotic Animal Preserve, Inc. was founded in July of 1999, for the sole purpose of creating a safe haven for exotic animals in need of a permanent home.
Tigers for Tomorrow (TFT) is a not for profit organization, that provides a last stop sanctuary for exotic animals, specializing in exotic cats. They specialize in exotic cats, lions and tigers but will not turn away other exotic animals in need. TFT believes that all animals deserve the right to live in safe surroundings.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Cute Baby Bamboo Lemur
Bilbo, a bamboo lemur, weighed just 30g when he was born on 22 February, 2007. Rejected by his mother at a zoo in Stockholm, Sweden, he has since gained a further 100g. It is thought there could be just 200 bamboo lemurs left in the wild.
Hunters kill one of last surviving Amur leopards
Hunters in Russia's Far East have shot and killed one of the last seven surviving female Amur leopards living in the wild, WWF said on Monday, driving the species even closer to extinction.
Last week environmentalists said there were only between 25 and 34 Amur leopards -- described as one of the most graceful cats in the world -- still living in the wild. (Full story)
"Leopard murder can only be provoked by cowardice or stupidity, in this case most likely by both," Pavel Fomenko, WWF's biodiversity coordinator in Russia's Far East said in a statement.
A hunter shot the leopard through the tail bone. It tumbled over and was then beaten over the head with a heavy object, WWF said. Amur leopards have not been know to attack humans.
Rare Sumatran rhino filmed for first time
One of the world's most endangered animals, the Sumatran rhinoceros, has been filmed in the wild for the first time in a coup that could help save it from extinction.
The night time footage from Borneo island in Malaysia showed a Sumatran rhino eating, peering through jungle foliage, before it walked up to the camera and sniffed the equipment.
Malaysian officials and the WWF hailed the two-minute clip from a video camera mounted in a forest as a rare look into the rhino's life.
"These are very shy animals that are almost never seen by people and so this video gives us an amazing opportunity to spy on the rhino's behaviour."
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Exotic Animal Farm Owner Dies After 1,800-Pound Camel Sits on Her
WEWAHITCHKA, Fla. — The owner of an exotic animal farm has died after being kicked and then sat on by a 1,800-pound camel.
Cathie Ake and the 4-year-old camel were being filmed by a local television station on Sunday when the camel kicked her and sat on her during a break in filming. The station was doing a story on Mini-Akers Exotic Animals, the farm Ake owned with her husband.
Ake's husband, Donnie Ake, said he thinks Polo, the camel, was agitated by mating season.
He said he would find a new home for Polo, which they bought three weeks ago, The News Herald of Panama City reported Tuesday.
Pregnant cow runs riot across city
A pregnant cow being chased by police and fire fighters caused 25,000 euros (17,000 pounds) of damage on a three-hour rampage through the German city of Hanover.
Uschi escaped from a farm late on Monday and became increasingly violent as she encountered shocked drivers and pedestrians in the city.
Pursued by the farmer, television camera crews and 30 police and fire fighters, the Charolais cow lashed out at cars, benches, garden fences and whatever else got in her way during the 5-km chase, authorities said.
Stumpy the duck loses one of his four legs
STUMPY, the Hampshire duck which became famous around the world after being born with four legs, has lost one of its extra limbs after getting caught in its pen.
Stumpy caught the media's attention worldwide after it was born at the Warrawee Duck Farm in the New Forest on February 7.
After catching one of its extra limbs in its special pen, the duck is now down to only three legs.
However, the accident has led to a positive outcome for Stumpy, because now it can roam the farm free with the other ducks because it is no longer at risk of being caught in hedges, which could have put its life in danger.
Farm owner Nicky Janaway said: "He's now only got three legs and a stump which means he's Stumpy by name and stumpy by nature.
Drunk man rides horse into bank, spends the night
A drunk German horse rider rode into a bank foyer to sleep for the night, after having one too many for the road during a stopover at his local beergarden.
Wolfgang Heinrich, 40, from the German town Wiesenburg, had been riding with his Haflinger horse Sammy when he stopped to have a drink with friends.
But when he left the pub he realised he was too drunk to ride all the way home - and because it was cold, he decided to use his bank card to open up a nearby bank foyer and take himself and Sammy inside to sleep it off.
Heinrich and his horse were found in the early hours of the morning by local man Stephan Hanelt, 36, who came to the bank to take out some money.
China gives panda cub 2 more years in D.C.
Chinese officials granted Tai Shan, the National Zoo's popular giant panda cub, an extra two years at the Smithsonian Institution park with his parents.
Under a panda loan agreement with China, any cub born at the National Zoo would be returned for breeding sometime after its second birthday. Tai Shan turns 2 on July 9 but will remain with his mother Mei Xiang and father Tian Tian at least until 2009.
Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong presented the zoo with a giant green laminated passport to extend Tai Shan's stay.
"As an envoy of goodwill from the Chinese people and a symbol of friendly cooperation between China and the United States, Tai Shan will continue to bring more happiness and delight to the American people," Wenzhong said.
Riggs named most 'Beautiful Bulldog'
DES MOINES, Iowa - Riggs hardly looks or acts like a beauty king. A 3-year-old male bulldog, Riggs is a drooler with protruding teeth and a penchant for attacking noisy appliances, begging for crumbs and hopping on furniture.
Fortunately for the canine from Prairie City, Iowa, those traits endeared him to judges Monday in the "Beautiful Bulldog" contest, an annual event held to draw attention to the 98th running of the Drake Relays.
Riggs beat out a 50-dog field that included the likes of Sir Grizwald Snorzalot, Napoleon Underbite and Crazy Legs Da Moose to take the crown. Contest organizers acknowledge the event is more about a winning personality than beauty.
Mother and child
AFP/Getty photo by Orlando Kissner
An Amazon onca panther carries her baby at the zoo of Curitiba in southern Brazil. The onca, which had been living in a private house for 16 years, was seized by authorities and sent to the zoo, where she gave birth.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Animals in the depth of the sea
26 photos of sea creatures at such extreme depths that special devices are required to photograph them, like this one:
How to handle your pets' most annoying habits
He's a handful, all right. He keeps you up at night; he's always missing the facilities. And he goes nuts when a man in uniform approaches the door. But your pet partner - whether a dog, a cat or a hamster - need not drive you crazy. Try the practical tips to train your four-legged family members. After all, who else greets you at the door, running around in circles and giving you little love sniff-sniffs?
Real Simple asked readers to share their biggest pet hassles at www.realsimple.com, then consulted experts for their solutions. Here are the results.
Almost Human, and Sometimes Smarter
Observed in the wild and tested in captivity, chimpanzees invite comparison with humans, their close relatives. They bear a family resemblance that fascinates people, and scientists see increasing evidence of similarities in chimp behavior and skills, making some of them think on the vagaries of evolution.
Chimps display a remarkable range of behavior and talent. They make and use simple tools, hunt in groups and engage in aggressive, violent acts. They are social creatures that appear to be capable of empathy, altruism, self-awareness, cooperation in problem solving and learning through example and experience. Chimps even outperform humans in some memory tasks.
“Fifty years ago, we knew next to nothing about chimpanzees,” said Andrew Whiten, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. “You could not have predicted the richness and complexity of chimp culture that we know now.”
A lesson in chick hatchery
Things you probably never knew, such as:
"Chicks, when they start to hatch, first break through the membrane to practice breathing. You know that pocket of air on the big side of the boiled egg? That's what that is for. Breathing practice.
After the chick breathes up that pocket of air, they break through the shell to let more air in. The chicks have a special little "tooth" on their beak they use to do this."
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Dog Polo Shirt
Wowo Dog Pod
The Wowo Dog Pod, by Vurv Design, is targeted at hip, design-conscious pet owners and their pampered pets. Wowo's bent ply products have a distinct mid-century aesthetic, and cater to pet owners who want their pet accessories to complement the beauty of their modern furnishings.
More of a recliner than a pet bed, it's like an Eames chair for your best friend. Bent ply with a choice of veneers. Solid wood legs. Removable, washable pad. Suitable for small dogs.
I'm just taking the cats out for a walk...
Jackie Morris is used to the odd stare when she takes her pets out for a walk. But it's not her dogs Bella and Floss that get the admiring glances, but rather her three ginger cats that accompany them.
Maurice, Elmo and Pixie often tag along on the four-mile walks by the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. The intrepid moggies pick their way through moorland and even negotiate tricky stiles on the route. They also leap onto the sign posts, perhaps to check they are going in the right direction.
Their adoring owner Jackie said her cats were keen to come out in all weathers...but the preening felines didn't like muddy areas and avoided any bogs.
Doggy Bath Plug
Doggy Bath Plug
Man overboard! Oh wait.. that's not a man, it's an adorable puppy to keep you company in the bathtub. Think you're too grown up to take a bath? Never!
Grab your Mr. Bubble, floating battleship, and rescue the puppy!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
China criticised for 'tiger wine'
China has come under fire for allowing tigers to be bred for the production of so-called "tiger bone wine".
The drink is reportedly made by steeping tiger carcasses in rice wine. Those who drink the wine believe it makes them strong.
Chinese delegates at the International Tiger Symposium in Nepal are arguing for the lifting of a current ban on the trade in tiger bones and skins.
But other Asian nations with threatened tiger populations want the ban to stay.
Shark Catch In Florida May Earn Place In The Record Book
A 1,063-pound mako shark hooked close to shore in the Gulf of Mexico is being investigated as a possible world fishing record.
The Sea Ya Later II was cobia fishing when its crew spotted the 12-foot 6-inch shark Wednesday afternoon between Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach. The Mother Lode, a 45-foot charter boat, helped bring in the shark.
They used flying gaffs to secure the fish and then tied the gaffs to the Sea Ya Later II, which was tilting.
"If (the shark) hadn't been as tired as she was, this boat would be sitting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico," said Lindsey Stanley, the Sea Ya Later IIs captain, told the Northwest Florida Daily News.
After the shark died, it took eight men to pull it aboard the Mother Lode and take it to Destin.
The registered weight of 1,063 pounds makes the catch eligible for the world record in the 30-pound line class for a short-fin mako. The class record is a 997-pound, 11-ounce shark caught in Sidney, Australia, in 1995. The largest mako recorded in the all-tackle division was a 1,221 pounder caught in Massachusetts in 2001.
Video: Playful kitties
They tumble, they wrestle, they play with yarn! And there's a catchy song, too!
Video: Elephants at the Houston Zoo
For elephant afficionados - a whole page of videos featuring elephants.
Video: We are not alone
Some examples of the numerous life forms living on our body made visible by scanning electron microscopes.
There are as many creatures living on our bodies as there are people on earth!
(via)
Friday, April 20, 2007
Puppy Butt Wall Hooks
Puppy Butt Wall Hooks
Cute enough to hang in a hallway, bathroom, pantry, garage, or anywhere you need a hook, these polyresin hooks are mounted on wood and will add a humorous touch to your home. Perfect for all the pet lovers in your life.
"Robofalcons" to take on UK city's pesky pigeons
LONDON (Reuters) - A flock of robotic falcons has been dispatched to tackle an influx of obese pigeons who are increasing in number and size thanks to an unnatural diet of fastfood.
The mechanical birds -- called 'Robops' -- have been placed on rooftop locations around the British city of Liverpool, and will flap their wings and squawk loudly to scare the problem pigeons away.
The initiative was launched to deal with the birds who are now considered a nuisance in the city, flying at people and leaving droppings everywhere, Liverpool council said.
Officials: Pet Food Poison May Have Been Intentional
FDA Investigators Say Chinese Companies May Have Added Melamine to Appear to Boost Protein Content
For the first time, investigators are saying the chemical that has sickened and killed pets in the United States may have been intentionally added to pet food ingredients by Chinese producers.
Food and Drug Administration investigators say the Chinese companies may have spiked products with the chemical melamine so that they would appear, in tests, to have more value as protein products.
Officials now suspect this possibility because a second ingredient from China, rice protein concentrate, has tested positive for melamine. So has corn gluten shipped to South Africa. That means there is a possibility for another round of recalls.
See Spot Run ... Up a Bill
About 43.5 million U.S. households own at least one dog, and more and more dog owners are lavishing pets with amenities like nail-polish “pawdicures” and banana biscotti—pampering that takes a serious bite out of the bank account.
Consider three classes of dogs and what their varying lifestyles cost in the Chicago area.
Intruder Leaves Maggots In Home
Eeeuuuwww!
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A Lee County woman wants to find out who broke into her house and dumped thousands of maggots on her floor while she and her family slept.
Mary Jo Uhler says she and her family spent more than a day cleaning their home, and they were still finding maggots.
Uhler's daughter Kristina Smith said someone came through the sliding glass door early Sunday morning and dumped them.
Smith said the family had to throw out a sofa and chair, along with other personal possessions that were ruined. The damage could end up costing the family hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
The sheriff's office is investigating the break-in, but no arrests have been made.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Donkey Becomes Witness in Dallas Dispute
The first witness in a lawsuit Wednesday between two neighbors was a real ass. Buddy the donkey walked to the bench and stared at the jury, the picture of a gentle, well-mannered creature and not the loud, aggressive animal he had been accused of being.
The donkey was at the center of a dispute between oilman John Cantrell and attorney Gregory Shamoun that began after Cantrell complained about a storage shed Shamoun was building in his backyard in Dallas.
He said Shamoun retaliated by bringing Buddy from his ranch in Midlothian and putting him in the backyard.
Cantrell complained of donkey noise and manure piles.
"They bray a lot any time day or night. You never know when they're going to cut loose," he testified.
New Pet Food Worry: Contaminated Rice
An industrial chemical that led to the nationwide recall of more than 100 brands of cat and dog food has turned up in a second pet food ingredient imported from China.
The discovery expands the month-long cascade of recalls to include more brands and varieties of pet foods and treats tainted by the chemical.
The chemical, melamine, is believed to have contaminated rice protein concentrate used to make a variety of Natural Balance Pet Foods products for both dogs and cats, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.
The FDA has there is no evidence so far to suggest any of the rice protein went to companies that make human food, said Michael Rogers, director of the agency's division of field investigations. But the FDA, which is continuing to update its list of pet food recalls, has not yet accounted for all of the imported ingredients.
Leaping sturgeon injures Florida woman
A sturgeon jumped out of a river and hit a woman riding a personal watercraft causing severe injuries, the latest accident involving the flying fish along the Suwannee River, officials said.
Sharon Touchton, 50, of St. Petersburg, suffered a ruptured spleen and had three fingers reattached by surgeons, but she lost her left pinkie finger and a tooth.
Problems with sturgeon — which are large, prehistoric-looking fish with hard plates along their backs that can grow up to 8 feet long and up to 200 pounds — came to a head last year when 10 people were injured in accidents caused by the jumping fish.
Gulf sturgeon migrate into the Suwannee River in March to spawn, and remain in the river until the fall. Researchers are not sure why the large fish jump.
Conservation officer: Wolf chased cars
When conservation officer Steve Peterson got a call that a timber wolf was chasing vehicles on a country road near Brimson, he thought it was prank or a misidentified German shepherd. But then he saw it firsthand.
"I couldn't believe it. It was like a dog chasing cars," Peterson said. "It looked like a big, healthy male wolf. No mange."
Responding to the call last Friday, Peterson saw the animal hide in the ditch as a pickup approached and then come bounding out to chase it.
The wolf did the same when Peterson drove to that spot, where he stopped his vehicle.
"He hung around for a minute or 90 seconds and then walked off. I haven't heard any more reports since then," Peterson said.
WWF urges Russia to set up reserve for endangered Amur leopard
The green group WWF Wednesday urged the Russian government to set up a national reserve in the country's far-east to protect the endangered Amur leopard.
According to the last survey carried out by Russian and American scientists, between 24 and 35 leopards remain in their natural habitat spread over three reserves located near the Chinese border and along the Amur river.
"In China there are only a handful of Amur leopards left," he said. "All the body parts of the female are used for making medicines -- even whiskers and teeth."
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Young Whale Found in New York Harbor
Marine biologists were standing watch on Tuesday over a young whale that lost its way in New York harbor and nearly wandered into a narrow waterway notorious for industrial pollution.
The animal, described as a juvenile minke whale about 15 feet long, was cruising around Gowanus Bay, the outlet from the mile-long Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. It appeared to be in good health and not distressed, said Kim Durham, rescue program director for the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation.
The foundation, based in Riverhead, N.Y., specializes in cases involving whales, dolphins, seals and sea turtles.
Durham and other experts were dispatched to the scene after the whale was spotted early Tuesday. A television news helicopter videotaped it leaping out of the water, a behavioral trait common to whales of the baleen species.
UPDATE: 4/19/2007
NYC Whale Beaches Itself, Dies Suddenly
A young whale that swam aimlessly for two days in a small bay off an industrial section of Brooklyn beached itself at an oil depot dock Wednesday and died suddenly. Animal activists said the minke whale, about a year old, was too young to survive on its own.
"It's very sad," said Kim Durham, a rescue specialist at the Long Island-based Riverhead Foundation for Research and Preservation, who had monitored the troubled animal's activities around the clock. "It was a very young whale that became confused and disoriented."
Belgrade horses may be drugged for Stones gig
Preparations to sedate as many as 300 horses stabled at Belgrade's racecourse to keep them calm during a Rolling Stones concert have enraged Serb animal lovers who are lobbying to have the gig moved to another venue.
The concert is expected to draw more than 100,000 people to the Hippodrome, Belgrade's largest fenced space. The horses will be only a few meters from the stage.
"Horses differ, the same as people. Some are more nervous, more skittish," said hostler Jovanka Prelic. "If they get too nervous or start to panic during the concert, they'll get sedatives."
The sedative would be diazepam. In Serbia it trades under the name Bensedin, a very popular drug during the 78 days of NATO air strikes in 1999, when much of Belgrade's adult population was on tranquilizers.
Stuffed monkey leads cops to drug arrest
An Arkansas State Police trooper suspected monkey business when he spotted a large stuffed animal perched atop the dashboard of a pickup truck on the interstate.
A trooper driving down Interstate 40 near Forrest City on Monday spotted a truck with much of its windshield blocked by a large, stuffed monkey, authorities said. When the trooper pulled over the driver, he could smell what he suspected to be marijuana and he searched the vehicle, police said.
Police said the trooper found more than 2,100 hydrocodone pills, 70 Xanax pills and 85 Soma pills.
Arizona man sentenced for shooting at firefighters who refused to remove his cat from a tree
A man who shot at firefighters after they refused to get his cat out of a tree has been sentenced to five months in jail.
Jeffrey Francis Cullen, 59, of Kingman, reported a tree fire on Aug. 17. Once the three-person crew arrived, Cullen told them he wanted his cat rescued from the tree.
Hualapai Valley Fire Department spokeswoman Sandy Edwards said a battalion chief told Cullen to call animal control or to wait for the cat to get hungry and come down.
The response apparently incensed Cullen, who retrieved a small handgun from his home and came out shooting.
Study: Soft tissue in T.rex resembles that of hen
T. rex was no chicken.
But scientists say soft tissue recovered from inside the leg bone of a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex most closely resembles that of a modern hen.
This is the first time dinosaur protein has ever been sequenced. The feat, described in Friday's edition of the journal Science, means that researchers now have a new way to learn how ancient creatures are related to modern animals.
The discovery also bolsters the theory that birds descended from dinosaurs, and suggests that a T. rex drumstick might have tasted like chicken.
"What we knew, based on bone shape, was that dinosaurs are closely related to birds," said Mary Schweitzer of North Carolina State University and lead author on one of the Science papers.
"The similarity to chicken is definitely what we would expect."
The T. rex femur was discovered at the Hell Creek Formation in Montana in 2003, buried deep beneath the surface of a sandstone outcrop. Paleontologists had to break the leg into pieces to get it into the helicopter that was ferrying finds away from the site.
Schweitzer was able to isolate soft material from the hollow cavity of the bone. It seemed to contain blood vessels and cells.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Siberian Tiger Pounces Back From Brink
After decades of chilling population declines, the Siberian tiger may be treading toward a slightly sunnier future.
Hunted down to 40 animals, the Siberian tiger barely survived the 1940s. Since then it has slowly clawed its way back, with help from a Russian hunting ban and the efforts of conservation groups. In 2005 the Wildlife Conservation Society estimated the subspecies at 431 to 529 animals worldwide.
But the world's largest wild cat—such as this mother and cubs photographed in Russia in the mid-1990s—has now grown in number to about 600, the highest such count in over a hundred years, according to a new Russian census heralded by the international conservation organization WWF.
Man races world's fastest cat
It sounded like a joke from the start -- an almost primeval joke. Come watch a 100-meter race on a grass track pitting the world's fastest land mammal, the cheetah, against one of Africa's fastest human beings.
The cheetah goes from zero to 60 mph in three seconds, the Ferrari of animals. It can reach a top speed of 70 mph.
By contrast, the fastest human has been clocked at around 9:76 seconds in the 100-meter dash. Looking at the stats, common sense says there's no way man can compete with this big cat in any race.
But don't tell that to Bryan Habana. The 23-year-old is one of South Africa's most famous rugby players, a speedy winger who's been credited with some of the most memorable moments in the sport's history.
Habana runs the 100 meters in about 11 seconds.
For this race, Habana was chosen by the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust, a conservation group involved in cheetah awareness programs in South Africa for 35 years.
(Watch raw video of the big cat overtake Habana 
)
Natural Balance recalls venison dog, cat foods
Natural Balance Pet Foods recalled two kinds of pet food after receiving reports of animals vomiting and experiencing kidney problems, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday.
The recall includes all date codes of Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food.
The company does not know the cause of the problem, but said it is focused on one particular lot.
Natural Balance Pet Foods is working with the FDA to investigate the matter and is urging consumers to not feed either pet food product to their animals.
Dogs that Changed the World
It is the epic story of one of the most amazing evolutionary journeys ever taken by a species. Thousands of years ago, as humans began to settle in villages, the wolf emerged from the wild and made the startling leap to "man's best friend." Once domesticated, dogs would accompany human cultures down through the centuries and to the far corners of the world.
Monday, April 16, 2007
5,000 rabbits block traffic on major Hungarian highway
A truck carrying 5,000 rabbits to a slaughterhouse overturned on a major Hungarian highway Monday, sending authorities on a hopping big bunny hunt.
The M1 highway, the main connection between the capitals of Hungary and Austria, was closed for several hours in the morning while authorities tried to recapture them, Highway Patrol spokeswoman Viktoria Galik said. The road reopened in the afternoon.
Colo. court swats down mosquito lawsuit
Three prisoners serving potential life sentences in Colorado say their lives have been threatened by mosquitoes.
The inmates at Walsenburg and Limon prisons sued, saying they were at risk of contacting West Nile virus or other diseases after they were bitten repeatedly by mosquitoes and suffered "the emotional and mental distress of whether or not each mosquito's bite would result in death or serious bodily injury."
The Colorado Court of Appeals swat down their case and upheld a lower court's decision to throw their case out.
Prison officials said no confirmed cases of West Nile virus have ever been found in the prison population, and inmates are provided mosquito repellant.
Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?
Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees ...
How frightening!
It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail.
They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well.
The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up.
Court to rule if chimp has human rights
He recognises himself in the mirror, plays hide-and-seek and breaks into fits of giggles when tickled. He is also our closest evolutionary cousin.
A group of world leading primatologists argue that this is proof enough that Hiasl, a 26-year-old chimpanzee, deserves to be treated like a human. In a test case in Austria, campaigners are seeking to ditch the 'species barrier' and have taken Hiasl's case to court. If Hiasl is granted human status - and the rights that go with it - it will signal a victory for other primate species and unleash a wave of similar cases.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Kool Dogz Ice Treat Maker
Customize a fun treat for your dog by suspending his favorite treats, toys and chews (not included) in an ice mold. For serving, your frozen delight secures to a base which keeps it free of dirt. Kit includes reusable/freezable bucket with lid, base with extension rod, and ice treat recipes.
Doggie bag
FIRST CAME THE DOGS. Teeny-weeny little things, smaller than a cat or even a rat, so little they could fit in your purse.
Convenient, sort of. But consider the mayhem that a dog, no matter how tiny, can cause inside your pocketbook. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out that you do not want all that mixing it up with your cell phone and lip gloss.
This totally off-label use of the venerable handbag led to the next development in the world of mini-canine transportation, doggie carriers.
These closely resemble a purse but come equipped with special flaps and openings to cater to the needs of the creature within (and the dog lover who carries the thing). Namely, unlike your typical purse, these have washable interiors. A major development on the timeline of dog accessories.
It didn't take long for dog-hauling to morph into a fashion statement with Louis Vuitton, Gucci and other high-end designer labels creating carriers that cost a lot more than a lifetime supply of flea powder and heart-worm pills. We're talking thousands.
An intriguing variation on this theme is the designer logo fanny pack that Gucci fashioned for dogs themselves. This creates the possibility of a dog lover, wearing head-to-toe Gucci, hoisting a Gucci dog carrier inside of which is nestled a dog wearing a Gucci fanny pack. The mind boggles.
That brings us to the present and the latest chapter in the annals of hound-hauling.
In this contraption the dog actually becomes the purse. The $89.95 Twinkletoes Traveler from inthecompanyofdogs.com has adjustable straps to convert your dog from handbag to shoulder bag and back again.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Video: Rhapsody in Zoo
As photo shoots go, it was somewhat atypical. Sure, the ingenue wore fur, and attendants were suitably admiring. But the subject was shockingly young, and the photographers' dizzying demands produced a foot-in-mouth—er, -bowl—moment or two. Before long, the poor thing was worn out and needed some beauty sleep.
Knut, a polar-bear cub born at the Berlin Zoo, amiably bared all for Annie Leibovitz and Vanity Fair's Green Issue cover, which he shares with a not quite as hirsute, though suitably cute, Leo DiCaprio. And a star is born.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Devil firefish
Devil firefish use their sharp dorsal spines to inject a powerful protein-based toxin into their prey to kill it. They have been known to cause death in humans.
Bedbugs bounce back: Outbreaks in all 50 states
Nearly eradicated in the United States 50 years ago, resistant strains of "super" bedbugs are infesting mattresses at an alarming rate. In what's being touted as the biggest mystery in entomology, all 50 states are reporting outbreaks of the blood-sucking nocturnal critters.
Pest control companies nationwide reported a 71 percent increase in bedbug calls between 2000 and 2005. Left alone, a few bedbugs can create a colony of thousands within weeks.
"We never treated bedbugs until 2002. Now we have a dedicated bedbug crew working on this every day," said Luis Agurto, president of Pestec in San Francisco.
Bedbugs have been found in moving vans, public transit seat cushions, airplanes, college dorms and even a Bay Area meditation retreat. They spread by hitching a ride on your clothes or in your luggage and crawling off to infest your home or apartment building.
Nearly 300 bedbug infestations were reported to San Francisco health officials in 2006, more than double the number in 2004. Most of the cases involved travelers discovering bedbugs in upscale hotels.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
The pictures that prove kids can be as much of a handful in the wild
The powerful bond between mother and child is not the sole preserve of humans, as these stunning images from the natural world show.
From pandas to polar bears, the care, attention and patience demonstrated by these creatures is something that resonates with how we too care for our young.
Pictures by Steve Bloom.
Marine Scientists Monitor Longest Mammal Migration
Marine scientists recently published a research paper in the science journal, biology letters, that found humpback whales migrate over 5,100 miles from Central America to their feeding grounds off Antarctica; a record distance undertaken by any mammal.
"For years everyone said humpback whales could be found in warmer waters during the winter months, but this was the first time we were actually able to quantify this on a global scale, and relate it to these long distance migrations."
Doing yoga, doggie style
Yoga instructor Brenda Bryan, performs a yoga pose as she stretches "Gus," her mixed-breed dog during a yoga class for people and their dogs in Bellevue, Wash.
By the end of a recent yoga class, many participants were passed out on their mats, in a position their instructor calls the “upward facing belly pose.”
That’s largely because about half the group was about to walk out on four legs: The Seattle/King County Humane Society now offers 40 minute classes of “doggie yoga.”
Brenda Bryan, who teaches human yoga as well as the new class for both dogs and humans, says the dogs react to the gentle energy in the room.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Cute otters cause internet sensation
A pair of otters, filmed holding hands in Vancouver, have become video stars after footage of them was posted on the internet.
Milo and Nyac were filmed sleeping while floating on their backs holding hands, a behaviour biologists call rafting.
Since the video was posted, it has been viewed by more than 1.5 million people and become YouTube's top rated pets and animals video of all time.
It's not the first time Nyack has been featured on TV. She was one of the few sea otters to survive getting coated with oil during the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989.
She was cleaned up and sent to Vancouver, where she has now become a video star.
See video
Hawaiian Hairless Rubber Cat
The 'Kohona' aka 'Hawiian Hairless', 'Rubber Cat'.
You've NEVER heard of a Kohana???
Well, its not surprising, most people haven't.
What IS a Kohana? The Kohana is the result of a mutation
originating in Hawaii and is the ONLY true hairless breed of
cat. It's true! Kohana's have no fuzz whatsoever... no hair
follicles... Where a Sphynx feels like a warm peach, a
Kohana feels more like a warm candle. To date, there are
only 18 of these cats in existence, but they've stirred up a
huge interest for such a small number.
Twice the charm of a Sphynx?? Or
twice as ugly.... You be the judge.
(via)
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Cockatoo guarding chocolate eggs
A cockatoo at a wildlife sanctuary has spent a fortnight trying to hatch a bowl of chocolate eggs.
Pippa has been protecting the chocolates at Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary since she was taken outside, put on a table and saw them.
Her owner, Geoff Grewcock, said: "She went straight over, climbed on the creme eggs and that was it. She thinks they're her eggs.
"Until she clicks they're not real eggs, we'll just leave her there."
Mystery cat takes regular bus to the shops
Bus drivers have nicknamed a white cat Macavity after it has started using the No 331 several mornings a week.
The feline, which has a purple collar, gets onto the busy Walsall to Wolverhampton bus at the same stop most mornings - he then jumps off at the next stop 400m down the road, near a fish and chip shop.
Scroll down for more...
The cat, nicknamed Macavity, has one blue eye and one green eyeThe cat was nicknamed Macavity after the mystery cat in T.S Elliot's poem. He gets on the bus in front of a row of 1950s semi-detached houses and jumps off at a row of shops down the road which include a fish and chip shop.
Driver Bill Khunkhun, 49, who first saw the cat jumping from the bus in January, said: "It is really odd, the first time I saw the cat jumping off the bus with a group of passengers. I hadn't seen it get on which was a bit confusing.
"The next day I pulled up on Churchill Road to let a couple of passengers on. As soon as I opened the doors the cat ran towards the bus, jumped on and ran under one of the seats, I don't think any of the passengers noticed.
(via)
Time in the Animal Mind
Humans are born time travelers. We may not be able to send our bodies into the past or the future, at least not yet, but we can send our minds. We can relive events that happened long ago or envision ourselves in the future.
New studies suggest that the two directions of temporal travel are intimately entwined in the human brain. A number of psychologists argue that re-experiencing the past evolved in our ancestors as a way to plan for the future and that the rise of mental time travel was crucial to our species’ success. But some experts on animal behavior do not think we are unique in this respect. They point to several recent experiments suggesting that animals can visit the past and future as well.
Man Hospitalized After Fish Attack
BREVARD COUNTY, FL -- A freak fish attack sent a man to the hospital in Brevard County. Josh Landin says a 57-pound fish -- measuring nearly five feet long -- jumped into his boat and bit him. Josh and his friends say it happened as they leaned over the side of the boat to reel in a smaller fish.
"We were staring at that little fish ...and like someone waved a magic wand that went whoosh and it was suddenly a 5 foot long 60 pound fish!" said Rob Platner, victim's friend.
"[It] jumped right out of the water, hit me in the chest, knocked me over and bit my leg," said Josh Landin.
The fish was a king mackerel, which tore into Josh's hand and leg in two places. Josh had to get more than a hundred stitches at the hospital.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Researchers find gene that determines dog size
Researchers have finally solved one of the great canine mysteries: Why are small dogs small?
As it turns out, small dogs all bear a tiny piece of regulatory DNA that shuts off the gene that produces a powerful growth factor.
The gene regulator was probably inherited from a miniature wolf about 15,000 years ago a -- though it has since disappeared from the wolf population -- and has spread rapidly throughout the dog world by human intervention.
"All dogs under 20 pounds have this -- all of them," said biologist K. Gordon Lark of the University of Utah, one of the authors of the paper published today in the journal Science. "That's extraordinary."
The discovery helps explain the great diversity in size among dog breeds, the greatest diversity among any mammalian species. It also may have implications for humans.
"By learning how genes control body size in dogs, we are apt to learn something about how skeletal size is genetically programmed in humans," said geneticist Elaine Ostrander of the National Human Genome Research Institute, who led the study.
The gene in question, IGF-1, is the blueprint for a protein called insulinlike growth factor, which not only plays a role in human growth but also is implicated in cancer and certain skeletal diseases.
Indiana family saved by cat's meow
A cat that went berserk, jumping on its owners' bed and meowing wildly as carbon monoxide filled a home, may have helped save a couple and their son from death.
Eric and Cathy Keesling said their 14-year-old cat, Winnie, played a crucial role in saving their lives March 24 after a gasoline-powered water pump in their basement caused a buildup of the odorless but deadly gas.
About 1 a.m., the domestic shorthair began nudging Cathy's ear and meowing loudly.
''It was a crazy meow, almost like she was screaming,'' said Cathy.
When she finally climbed from bed, she realized she was extremely nauseous and dizzy and couldn't awaken her husband. Because he had undergone neck surgery the previous day, she decided to call 911, but was so disoriented she had trouble dialing.
Paramedics soon arrived and found the couple's 14-year-old son, Michael, lying unconscious on the floor near his bedroom. The Keeslings were taken from the home in oxygen masks and treated for carbon monoxide.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
FouFou Booties
HAVE YOUR FOUFOU DOG TAKE A STROLL IN STYLE!
FOU-MA BOOTIES
Our new FouFou Booties are waterproof, and feature a custom made FouFou Dog rubber sole. Each bootie is designed with decorative swoosh and laces! Choose from a variety of colors.
Tea Cup Bed
This novelty bed is a must have for the urban chic dog! Ultra soft and luxurious! 30 1/2" Circle.
Doggie Lunch Box
The Dog Flask keeps food and water fresh and portable. Made from high-impact ABS plastic, the Dog Flask is ideal for home and travel use. The sealed 3-tier feeder keeps food and water separate, and silicone seals make sure the contents don't escape their airtight containers.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Farmer Dyes Sheep Red
A flock of red sheep have been entertaining motorists driving past a business park in West Lothian.
The sheep have been released on a hillside beside the M8 between junctions three and four and is the brainchild of Pyramid Business Park.
The stunt in Bathgate was set up "for a bit of fun" to "brighten things up".
Farmer Andrew Jack, who owns the 54-strong flock, spent hours spray painting the woolly mammals. They will be red for a month until sheared.
(via)
Cute Baby Lemur
A veterinarian feeds Tivalo, a baby crowned sifaka lemur, at the Vincennes Zoo. Because his mother had problems nursing the infant—one of two lemurs born at the zoo in January—doctors had to feed him by hand.
Build Me A Tapeworm
tapeworms are as strange as animals can get...
These flat, ribbon-like creatures live inside the digestive tracts of vertebrates. The tapeworms that live in humans can get up to sixty feet long. They feed on our food, despite the fact that they have neither a mouth nor a digestive tract. Their bodies are like a kind of inside-out intestine, rippling with finger-like projections that absorb nutrients. Once inside us, tapeworms can live for decades, deftly escaping the notice of the immune system despite their being as long as an anaconda. Some tapeworms have hooks or suckers on their front end ("head" is too generous a term), which they use to anchor themselves in place. They can also swim upstream to meet food coming out of the stomach and drift back down the intestines to feed, releasing chemicals to slow down their host's peristalsis so that they don't get swept away.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Great Turtle Race
They may only have ten years left.
Find out how you can help.
Eleven leatherback turtles are swimming across the Pacific Ocean to the Galapagos Islands in a "race" that will be tracked online to draw attention to the plight of the endangered creatures.
The turtles have been tagged with satellite communication devices that give their positions as they head south from their nesting sites on Costa Rica's Playa Grande beach to feeding grounds near the Galapagos, about 950 miles away.
Online participants can choose a turtle and track its course at http://www.greatturtlerace.com/ from April 16 with the winner being the animal that travels furthest in two weeks of swimming.
There is no prize for the winner of the race, aimed at highlighting the dangers facing a creature that has graced the oceans for 100 million years.
Photo: Fiona Cuthbert
Layla the rhino calf wows crowds in Budapest
The world’s first rhino calf born through artificial insemination thrilled scores of children and journalists in her press debut at Budapest Zoo.
Layla, a two-and-a-half-month old Southern White Rhino who is Hungary’s answer to celebrity German polar bear cub Knut, at first appeared intimidated by the crowd at her naming ceremony, but later sniffed happily around her paddock.
“Every new life is a miracle and we have had the fortune of being part of an even more special kind when this vigorous and playful calf came to light,” Budapest Zoo Director Ilma Bogsch told journalists.
Cute Red Panda Baby
March 28: Twin 12-week-old red panda cubs, Tenzin and Jishnu, made their first public appearance at the Sydney Zoo on Wednesday.
Only 2,500 red pandas are believed to be left in the world.
Choose Chocolate, Not Fur: A Rabbit Reality Check
As Easter approaches, hearts and minds naturally turn toward springtime and all that it entails. During this enchanting season, many of us feel the impulse to give colorful Easter baskets brimming with surprises for children. Too often, one such “surprise” is a velvet-eared, live baby bunny, adorably nestled among green plastic grass and pastel chocolate eggs. While it is often tempting to give those cuddly little creatures as pets at Easter, Marie Mead cautions that people must educate themselves about the nature and needs of rabbits before taking the bunny plunge.
“Rabbits are very misunderstood animals,” says Marie Mead, creator of celebratingrabbits.com and author of the upcoming book Rabbits: Gentle Hearts, Valiant Spirits—Inspirational Stories of Rescue, Triumph, and Joy (Nova Maris Press, Spring 2007, $18.95). “They are extremely sensitive, intuitive, and gentle creatures who require extensive attention and mature guardianship—something many people don’t realize when they purchase a baby bunny. It’s a very sad fact that most rabbits don’t even enjoy a year of happiness with their new caretakers. Instead of living out their normal lifespan¬¬––eight to 12 years––they often die within the first year of life.
“Many rabbits are injured or become ill due to improper handling and care and, as a result, either die painful deaths or are euthanized,” says Mead. “Discarded bunnies overrun the animal shelters after Easter, resulting in many rabbits being euthanized due to space constraints and other factors.
Apes to Name Neighboring Trumpeter Swans
The eight bonobos at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa howled Tuesday as they watched two trumpeter swans dip into a lake for the first time. Who can blame them? Not only will the apes get new neighbors, they'll get a chance to name the rare birds. "They were very excited," said scientist Karyl Swartz. "It's something new in their environment."
Department of Natural Resources officials released the white swans as part of a restoration project that places birds to nest and produce offspring that are then released into the wild.
Trumpeter swans are America's largest waterfowl, weighing up to 35 pounds with an 8-foot wingspan. They are Iowa's only native nesting swan.
Once common across much of the continent, they were hunted for their feathers to near extinction by the late 1800s. The swans now have protected status, and their population has grown with help from nesting projects.
The Great Ape Trust's grounds include 40 acres of lakes and wetlands, making it a perfect spot for the swans. And the birds will give the bonobos at the trust an interesting distraction.
"They're going to be curious about what's going on down here," Swartz said. "They monitor their environment closely."
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Rare Red Bird of Paradise hatches at Chicago zoo
There really is a Red Bird of Paradise -- and, now, three of them live at Brookfield Zoo.
A Red Bird of Paradise chick hatched last week at Brookfield Zoo -- thanks to some zookeeper match-makers.
The perching birdhouse at Brookfield Zoo is chirping with excitement these days. And that's because Mr. Red Bird of Paradise, the one with the reddish feathers, and Mrs. Red Bird of Paradise are the proud parents of a very rare little chick born just this past Thursday. It's been a long wait.
"The birds came to us very young so it took several years for them to be sexually mature. A couple years to get them old enough and we were only getting infertile eggs," said Anne Oiler, Assoc. Curator of Birds Brookfield Zoo.
So for Mr. and Mrs. Very Rare Red Bird of Paradise the timing was always wrong. There was no magic. Being a rare bird can be a good or bad thing. For instance, if you call someone a really rare bird, that's an insult. But in this case it's good news because there are only eleven of these birds in four zoos in America. And, according to the zoo, this little chick is the result of the love tunnel, a wire passageway that takes the birds to their romantic rendezvousa cage filled with trees and branches.
The result-- One very hungry little bird being fed by hand because mom is too inexperienced.
(There are only 11 of these birds in the US)
Horse 'driver' charged with DUI
An Alabama police chief says DUI charges can apply even when the vehicle has four legs instead of wheels.
A woman has been charged with driving under the influence and drug offenses after a ride on a horse.
Police say the woman went for a midnight horseback ride Sunday in Sylvania and used the horse to ram a police car.
She's also charged with animal cruelty and second-degree assault.
After search, Google finds snake in office
Google Inc may be famous for instant searches, but it took a bit longer to find a 3-foot python that escaped in its massive Manhattan offices.
The pet of one of its employees, "Kaiser" got loose over the weekend, prompting a search that ended when the snake was found Monday night, according to company spokeswoman Ellen West.
"We are pleased to report that Kaiser was located in the office," West said in a statement. "Kaiser was taken home by his owner and is no longer in the building."
The slippery snake was reported Monday by Valleywag.com, a technology gossip Web site. Valleywag said the gray and brown reptile was brought to the building by an employee who didn't want to be away from it during the work day. It was dangerous to mice but not humans, Valleywag said.
Orphaned fox cub adopted by dog
A fox cub taken in by a rescue centre after being found beneath the body of his dead mother has got a new surrogate parent - a three-year-old mongrel dog.
Twelve-week-old Tod - named after the cub who befriends a puppy in the Disney film The Fox and the Hound - was adopted by the British Wildlife Centre.
Samantha Johnson, a worker at the centre, in Newchapel, Surrey, then took him to her home in nearby Lingfield.
She said her dog Molly "just took to Tod and is now his surrogate mother".
"He follows her everywhere," Ms Johnson added.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Coyote moseys into Chicago sandwich shop
For one day, at least, the roadrunner was safe. It seems the coyote was hankering for another kind of fast food.
Employees and customers at a downtown Chicago Quiznos sandwich shop were stunned to see a coyote walk through the propped-open front door Tuesday afternoon and lie down in a cooler stocked with fruit juice and soda.
"It wasn't aggressive at all," restaurant manager Bina Patel told the Chicago Tribune. "It was just looking around."
Employees and customers calmly cleared out of the restaurant, though some took the time to finish their sandwiches and snap some cell-phone photos, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Animal control officers took the passive coyote away after about 40 minutes, after a curious crowd had gathered outside.
Home Cooking for Pets Is Suddenly Not So Odd
A month ago, the thought of preparing home-cooked meals for a dog or cat might have seemed obsessive even for the most devoted pet lovers.
But with tainted pet food being blamed for at least 16 pet deaths — and some veterinarians predicting hundreds more to follow — preparing lamb stew for the family pet suddenly sounds sensible to at least a few more people.
So it is no surprise, perhaps, that cookbooks for dogs and cats are enjoying an increase in sales.
According to Nielsen BookScan, for the week that ended March 25, after Menu Foods recalled more than 60 million cans of pet food packaged under numerous name brands and store brands, The Good Food Cookbook for Dogs sold 194 copies, compared with 42 the previous week. Other books with even more modest sales totals also showed sharp increases over the previous week: Real Food for Dogs sold 66 copies, up from 23, for example, and Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets sold 34, up from 8.
Prehistoric whale skeleton found in Tuscany
Italian researchers have found the skeleton of a 33-foot prehistoric whale in the Tuscan countryside, a discovery that could shed light on the ancient environment of the sea, officials said.
The skeleton dates to 4 million years ago, to the Pliocene epoch, said paleontologists with the Museum of Natural History in Florence who are studying the fossil.
The skeleton was found a few weeks ago in Orciano Pisano, in the countryside about 50 miles east of Florence. It was found about 100 yards below ground in what used to be the sea occupying most of today's Tuscany, the statement said.
Red Tide Suspected in Manatee Deaths
State officials suspect red tide may have killed some of the 26 manatees found dead in the Fort Myers area over the past two weeks.
Red tide is caused by a bloom of the alga Karenia brevis, which contains a powerful toxin that can kill fish and other marine life. When manatees come up for air, they inhale the toxin at the water's surface. They also eat seagrasses that can absorb the toxin.
Forty manatees have died in the Lee County area since the beginning of 2006. Last year, 417 manatee deaths were recorded statewide, the worst year on record.
Jumbo Squid Invading Eastern Pacific
Flotillas of jumbo squid are invading the length of the eastern Pacific Ocean, and the voracious predators may be upsetting ocean ecosystems and threatening fisheries, scientists warn.
At their largest, jumbo, or Humboldt, squid (Dosidicus gigas) can extend to six feet (two meters) in length and weigh more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) each.
The squid have earned the nickname "red devils" for their powerful arms and tentacles, razor-sharp beaks, and insatiable appetites.
Monday, April 2, 2007
FDA blocks wheat gluten from Chinese company
The U.S. is blocking imports of wheat gluten from a company in China, acting after an investigation implicated the contaminated ingredient in the recent pet-food deaths of cats and dogs.
The Food and Drug Administration took action against wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. in Wangdien, China, after the U.S. recall of nearly 100 brands of pet food made with the chemically contaminated ingredient. The pet food, tainted with the chemical melamine, apparently has resulted in kidney failure in an unknown number of animals across the country.
Wheat gluten from China has been suspected in the outbreak since the first of multiple recalls was announced in mid-March. Even more pet food could be recalled in the next few days, though there probably has been no contamination of human food, FDA officials said Monday.
Parents warned about buying Easter chicks
Salmonella outbreaks in three states tied to baby birds
People who buy baby chicks for their children for Easter may also be carrying a dangerous visitor home – salmonella, which causes diarrhea, fever and stomach pain.
Salmonella outbreaks in Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio were tied to baby chicks in a study published Thursday in the Centers for Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The Nebraska outbreak, which involved children in a daycare center, occurred when a parent brought in chicks.
Baby birds, including chicks, ducklings, goslings and turkey, have long been linked to salmonella outbreaks. The bacteria from the chicks' intestines contaminate the animals' environments and feathers. Handling the chicks can pass the disease, which infects an estimated 1.4 million people in the U.S. annually, to humans.
"Children can be exposed to bacteria by simply holding, cuddling, or kissing the birds," according to a CDC web site. "Persons who purchase baby poultry remain unaware that contact with these birds put them and others" at risk for getting sick from salmonella, the authors of the paper said.
Why Is Tainted Food Killing More Cats?
A greater sensitivity of cats to a chemical found in plastics and pesticides could explain why they've died in larger numbers than have dogs after eating contaminated pet food, experts said Saturday.
The small number of confirmed reports of pet deaths bolstered by a far larger number of unconfirmed anecdotal reports suggests cats were more susceptible to poisoning by the chemical melamine that tainted the now recalled pet food, officials with the Food and Drug Administration and American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Saturday.
"I am concerned we have a situation where we have a sensitive species and it is the cat," said Steven Hansen, a veterinary toxicologist and director of the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control center in Urbana, Ill.
Testing by the FDA and Cornell University has found melamine in samples of recalled pet food as well as in crystal form in the urine and kidney tissue of dead cats. They've also found the chemical, in apparently raw form in concentrations as high as 6.6 percent, in wheat gluten used as ingredient of the recalled cat and dog foods, said Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian.
WikiFido
The content on this site was created by dog lovers for dog lovers. The content rests on a wiki platform that can be edited by all, so that our community benefits from the vast collective knowledge of the community.
NewCritters.com
This weblog celebrates earth’s biodiversity by highlighting recent new species discoveries.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Rugged Dog Toys for Aggressive Chewers
Due to numerous requests, especially for large dogs and aggressive chewers - i-pets.com now carries RUGGED DOG TOYS.
We've searched and searched - and these are THE BEST! (At our usual unbelievably low prices, of course!) We recommend these toys for teething puppies, large dogs, and aggressive chewers of all sizes.
Take a look at our rugged dog chew toys:
New Products:i-pets.com entire dog toy section is being re-vamped with exciting new additions. We're adding 25 new items this month. The rugged toy area is new and we'll continue to add more items each month to this group. We also have some very cute plush toys, a new selection of wooly toys, and some new, inexpensive vinyl toys.
In the near future, we'll be adding grooming supplies, collars, leashes and pet food dishes.Cute Baby Albino Wallaby
Peeking out from his mother's pouch, a baby albino wallaby named Pino sniffs around his new environment. The unusual birth of the pigment-lacking infant occurred on March 18 at “Le Cornelle” zoo park in Valbrembo, Italy.
Pino will remain in his mother's protective pouch for about six months before taking his first steps.
