from Flickr, by ~Kenny
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Better late than never ...
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Got time to kill?
Animals have inspired countless people to study biology. Their unique behavior and amazing abilities are the impetus for fascinating research. And who doesn't love a good animal video?
Here's the Top 10 Amazing Animal Videos compiled by Wired Science
Friday, December 26, 2008
Today's awwww
Two weeks old hippopotamus Paula is pictured on the first day of her presentation to the public at the Berlin Zoo December 16, 2008.
Photo credit: REUTERS/Johannes Eisele
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
I wouldn't challenge this -
Thailand's self-proclaimed "Scorpion Queen" created a new world record Monday by holding a live seven-inch scorpion in her mouth for more than two minutes.
She held the poisonous arachnid in her mouth for two minutes and three seconds before spitting it out -- all the time wearing a white dress and gloves covered in the stinging creatures.
Source: AFP
Art by Laurie Hogin
Song of Retail #1 (Pink Skull Monkey), 2004
oil on panel, 19” x 19”
More at Littlejohn Contemporary Gallery
(via BoingBoing)
Monday, December 22, 2008
Taking a break
A rare photo of a hummingbird - sitting still.
(via L.A.Unleashed)
Photo credit: Steve/Your Scene
Cute or not? Baby Manatee
In 2008, SeaWorld, Orlando, has rehabilitated and released six manatees back into the wild.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
What NOT to give for Christmas
Pictured at left is a swan pin cushion shoe, one of the horrible gifts featured in the The Daily Mail's roundup of "The ghastliest gifts ever."
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Video: Talking cats & dogs
This video drives my cat Grace crazy. She has to meow along with it. I wonder what that cat is really saying in the video.
watch video
(via Slobber Space)
Friday, December 19, 2008
Gothic kittens?
Three kittens with ear, neck and tail piercings were removed from a home by humane officers on Wednesday.
One of the officers from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Luzerne County said the pierced kittens were being sold as “gothic kittens” on an Internet auction site.
The investigation began about a week ago when a man from another state noticed “gothic kittens” being sold on eBay. The kittens were also being sold on a pet classified Web site with an attached picture of a pierced kitten.
Source: timesleader.com
Thursday, December 18, 2008
S.F. Zoo seeks surrogate mom for baby gorilla
Keepers handling the newborn gorilla at the San Francisco Zoo are hoping to find a surrogate gorilla mother for a baby whose own mom is showing little interest in him.
Mom, an endangered western lowland gorilla named Monifa, bedded down in the gorilla enclosure about as far away as she could from her infant.
The baby gorilla, part of the critically endangered lowland western species, was the first born at the zoo in 10 years.
Source: SF Gate
Cat burglar steals toys from his neighbors
A real-life cat burglar has left his owner feeling less than purr-fect - by swiping dozens of cuddly toys from nearby homes.
Frankie the tom cat has got his claws into 35 teddies and soft toys in the last year.
Owner Julie Bishop believes the two-year-old feline is sneaking into her neighbors' homes.
He drags each one of his finds through the catflap before depositing them on the same spot in the living room.
Source: Daily Mail
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
This wouldn't happen on CSI
Investigators are trying to determine the origin of a heart that was found Monday on the floor of a car wash in Paw Paw, Mich.
"The heart was transported by the officer to a local animal clinic, and the officer was advised the doctor could not determine if the heart was an animal's heart nor rule out it possibly being a human heart," WOOD-TV reports. "The cardiologist can not rule out at this time the possibility that the heart may be a human heart."
Scientists are now said to be studying the organ.
Source: USA Today
Facts about you and your pet
Some interesting percentages from a new poll released by the Associated Press and Petside.com:
67 percent of pet owners claim they can comprehend their pet’s own language
62 percent think their pet understands what they say as well
But not all species are equal:
69 percent of surveyed dog owners insist their pets understand when they speak to them
50 percent of cat owners say the same
The economy might be awful, but
85 percent of pet owners are not cutting back on pet care expenses due to economic pressures, even though other polls show a majority of people having to make cutbacks in other areas.
43 percent of animal owners plan on purchasing a gift for their pet this Holiday season.
The cat with contact lenses
Ernest - a 15-year-old black and white cat - suffers from entropion - an inward rolling of the eyelids, which causes inflammation and hinders sight.
Surgery might correct the condition, but veterinarians were concerned about how such an old cat would react to an anesthetic. The solution? Contact lenses!
Source: Daily Mail
(via Neatorama)
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Christmas Cats in Santa Hats
from Flickr, by taelcat
from Flickr, by petoskeygirl
Image source forgotten
from JabberJuls
from Flickr, by jessi_bruton
Image source forgotten
Photography by Paul Mutton
from Flickr, by Fuzzy Gerdes
from Odd Todd
from Flickr, by JeffSFO
from Parade
from Flickr, by Hockey.Lover
from Random Mumblings
from Flickr, by Pixel Packing Mama
from my cat wears clothes
from Flickr, by carol_kong
Image source forgotten
from Flickr, by Faythe
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Video: Sara the Walrus
Watch video
Sara is the star attraction at the newly-opened Istanbul Dolphinarium. Her skills at mimicking humans extend to dressing up as a railway conductor and blowing a whistle. She can lie down and catch a rose when it is thrown to her. And she has become adept at games with balls and hoops.
She certainly has a much more exciting life than she would in the wild, where walruses spend most of their lives lying on sea ice and seeking out molluscs to eat.
They live for around 50 years in the wild.
(via A Welsh View)
Friday, December 12, 2008
A Tiger's Tale
In Texas, where you can own a pet tiger, the booming exotic animal trade has grim consequences.
A very disturbing report by Melissa Del Bosque in the Texas Observer tells about the exotic animal trade which is a billion-dollar industry in Texas.
“It probably has the largest population of tigers in the country,” says Richard Farinato, a senior adviser with the Humane Society of the United States, “because there are a lot of animal breeders and a lot of animal dealers.”
Breeding can be lucrative. White tiger cubs sell for $5,000 each. Since tigers can have two litters a year of eight cubs, a breeder can earn $80,000 a year. Many of these white tiger cubs are sold to small businesses that travel around the country displaying them as props and charging tourists to take pictures with them.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Hotel builds $200,000 home for ducks
The Peabody hotel in Memphis says it spent about $200,000 building the Duck Palace, a rooftop domicile for its famous ducks.
The 24-by-12-foot enclosure features granite floors, a large viewing window, a scaled-down replica of the hotel and a swimming fountain adorned with two bronze ducks.
Jason Sensat, the hotel's duck chief, said the birds seem happy in their new home.
"When they're unhappy, they let everybody know," Sensat said.
Source: UPI
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The philosopher and the wolf
A spur-of-the-moment decision to buy a wolf cub changed Mark Rowlands’s life. From that moment on he found human company never quite matched up. The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons in Love, Death, and Happiness
An excerpt:
"The rule was that Brenin was never, ever, under any circumstances, to be left on his own in the house. Failure to abide by this rule involved dire consequences for the house and its contents; and the fate of the curtains and the air-conditioning pipes was merely a gentle warning of his true capabilities in this regard. These consequences included destruction of all furniture and carpets, with a soiling option also available for the latter. Wolves, I learnt, get bored very, very quickly - about 30 seconds of being left to their own devices is generally long enough. When Brenin got bored he would either chew on things or urinate on them, or chew on things and then urinate on them. Very occasionally, he would even urinate on things and then chew them, but I think that was just because, in all the excitement, he would forget exactly where he was in the order of proceedings."
"Brenin and I were inseparable for 11 years. Homes would change, jobs would change, countries and even continents would change, and my other relationships would come and go - mostly go. But Brenin was always there - at home, at work and at play. He was the first thing I would see in the morning when I woke - largely because he would be the one to wake me, around daybreak with a big wet lick to the face - a looming presence of meaty breath and sandpaper tongue framed by dawn's murky light. And that was on a good day - on bad days he would have caught and killed a bird in the garden and would wake me up by dropping it on my face. (The first rule of living with a wolf: always expect the unexpected.)"
Foreclosure crisis affecting pet birds, too
Here is a little-known side of the foreclosure crisis: exotic birds abandoned or dropped at shelters because their owners cannot move into an apartment or a relative's home with the sometimes noisy creatures.
Animal rescue groups say they're becoming inundated with calls from people who lost their houses desperately trying to find a new home for their macaw or cockatoo.
Adding to the problems of finding new homes is the life span of the birds, which can run from 20 years for a cockatiel to between 50 and 80 years for the larger birds.
Intelligent, lively birds like parrots, cockatoos and cockatiels can be time-consuming to care for, loud, and destructive to themselves or their surroundings if neglected or mistreated.
Source: Reuters
Photo: Julie Corsi
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Simpler times
During the next few months, Google will be digitizing the entire LIFE photo archive — about 10 million photos stretching from the 1750s to today.
This photo:
Edwardian era group of women, children and pet dog posing for informal portrait outside at resort.
| Location: | Lossiemouth, Scotland |
|---|---|
| Date taken: | 1910 |
| Size: | 1280 x 991 pixels (17.8 x 13.8 inches) |
Pupsicle?
A Sheboygan, Wisconsin, woman has been cited for animal neglect after leaving her overweight dog outdoors in single-digit temperatures, where it froze to a sidewalk but survived.
Shelter workers say 120-pound Jiffy was left in frigid weather last week but the "morbidly obese" border collie was protected by layers of insulating fat.
Police issued 59-year-old Alice Bigler an ordinance violation for animal neglect.
Source: USA Today
Find a photo booth
American photographer Sharon Montrose who is smitten with dogs and photo booth strips. See more of her work at The Dog Photo Booth
(via Presurfer)
Monday, December 8, 2008
The life I want
One of the blogs I visit frequently is Riviera Dogs. It is filled with excellent photos of dogs, taken in the south of France and Monaco.
Ahh, that's the life I would love - warm, sunshiny, relaxing ... with many tourists and local dogs, enjoying the scenery, the food, and the lifestyle. I, too, would take photos of all the cute dogs and their owners!
Riviera Dogs is administered by Jilly Bennett, who also owns a dog sitting facility, Pension Milou. When residents of the Cote d'Azur go away on holiday or business, they know their dog will be looked after in an environment just like home.
Jilly also maintains two outstanding photo blogs: Menton Daily Photo and Monte Carlo Daily Photo.
From Menton: Roquebrune village held its annual Fête des Châtaignes (the Chestnut Fête) - with between 1500 and 2000 visitors arriving at the village to buy roasted chestnuts and sip hot wine or tequila.
Can't you almost smell them roasting?
And then, - October in Monte Carlo!
Jilly - you have so much to do!
Aren't you tired?
Do you need an assistant?
I'd do it for free!
Can I come and live your life?
Photo credit: all by Jilly Bennett
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Furever Jewelry
Pet Lover? Have Fur? 
Inspired by her fluffy, beautiful American Eskimo dog, artist Pam Vale has created a stylish jewelry collection celebrating that unique bond between us and out pets.
Pam's new FUREVER jewelry is handmade plastic vials filled with your pets fur. Just purchase the item you desire, collect fur from your faithful friend and Pam does the rest.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
World's oldest animals
Jonathan the tortoise and Mischief the cat may have hit the headlines for their longevity, but there are plenty of other creatures giving them a run for their money in the age stakes.
Source: Telegraph
Today's awwww
8-week old Amur leopard at the Wildlife Heritage Foundation (WHF), a conservation charity based in Smarden, Kent
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Loose pigs snarl traffic
A truck carrying nearly 100 pigs overturned on Interstate 94 near Interstate 494 in Minnesota Thursday morning causing traffic to be snarled.
State Patrol Lieutenant Jeff Gladfelter says that not all of the pigs stayed with the flipped tracter-trailer. "There was about 15 of them that got loose." Gladfelter says 7 troopers and some MnDot workers were able to corral most of the pigs in a makeshift pen on the side of the highway.
Source: kare11
Australia's white possum - gone forever?
Australia's white possum could be the first creature to die out purely due to climate change.
The rare and timid animals, which normally thrive in the cool temperatures of Daintree forest in Tropical North Queensland, have not been seen for three years despite intensive searches.
Professor Stephen Williams, of James Cook University in Queensland, believes the species has become extinct after temperatures rose by 0.5 degrees.
Just five hours of temperatures over 30 degrees is enough to wipe out the species, which is unable to maintain its body temperature under extreme heat, he claimed.
Source: Daily Mail
Which room would you put these in?
The studio of artist Anne-Catherine Becker-Echivard must smell pretty disgusting.
The Frenchwoman uses fish heads on models to address topics ranging from Aids to repression.
'Fish are a great method of communicating my opinions on this world,' says the 37-year-old, who lives in Berlin.
Since she fell in love with the humble mackerel and sardine 11 years ago, Ms Becker-Echivard has gone on to create a school of art that has left critics open-mouthed.
Source: Metro
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
World's oldest living animal?
What do you think?
Is this tortoise
the same as this one?
A spokesman for the tourist board of St Helena, an island in the South Atlantic, said a photograph of the tortoise that was taken during the Boer War has been found.
Jonathan the tortoise is believed to be 176-years-old and was about 70 at the time the black and white picture was taken.
He was captured munching on grass in about 1900 with a captured Boer War prisoner in the background looking at him.
Today he lives with fellow land tortoises David, Speedy, Emma, Fredricka and Myrtle on a plantation owned by the St Helena government.
Source: Daily Mail
300 flying foxes rescued in Australia
The future of a colony of fruit bats has been put at risk after hundreds of pups were abandoned by their mothers in heavy storms.
More than 300 infant grey-headed flying foxes are being cared for at a bat hospital since they were left to fend for themselves in the last week.
Most are suffering from hypothermia and deydration, and many have been attacked by swarms of flies.
Source: Metro
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Hey baby, let's go for a ride
This is Chico from Phoenix, Arizona. Chico is a member of the Biker Dogs Motorcycle Club. He has put on about 35,000 miles and is on his second bike.
Nothing beats a cold brew after a long ride!
Lots more Dogs on Bikes
Getting squirrelly in DC
Some Washingtonians love them. Some hate them. But perhaps the prevailing sentiment toward the city's squirrels is indifference. After all, seeing a gray squirrel rushing around downtown as if he has important places to be is about as unusual as seeing a guy in a charcoal suit doing the same.
But it wasn't always that way.
A little more than a century ago, the District's downtown parks and green spaces didn't have a squirrel population to speak of. Eastern gray squirrels are native to this area, but they had been largely wiped out in the most urban parts of town by the late 19th century because of hunting, which wasn't outlawed in much of the city until 1906.
Looking to fill the squirrel vacuum, nature lovers, government officials and other civic-minded residents in the early 1900s pushed to have areas including Lafayette Square, the U.S. Capitol grounds and the Mall stocked with squirrels.
The organized release of gray squirrels into Washington's parks and green spaces is a little-known chapter in the story of the city's development. Even park historians and scientists who have studied the District's squirrel populations weren't aware of these squirrel-stocking endeavors.
Source: Washington Post
(via corsinet)
Monday, December 1, 2008
Cute or not? Crested gecko
Lacking eyelids and true eyelashes, a New Caledonian crested gecko licks its eyeballs to keep them moist.
—Photograph by Julie Larsen Maher/WCS
Dogs Serving Veterans
A very touching slideshow from the New York Times: Dogs Serving Veterans.
Pictured here: Sue Downes, 28, was deployed to Afghanistan as a military police officer when she lost both legs in an explosion in 2006. Through the Neads (National Education for Assistance Dog Services) Canines for Combat Veterans program, she was paired with Lila in 2007.
The dog has become a loving and intuitive companion, helping Ms. Downes walk and deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"She helps me with a lot of stress issues, which I didn't expect her to do," she said.
See more photos of veterans and their companion helpers.
Source: New York Times
Photo: Winthrop Handy
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