The Animal News Thread

[Fauxmage]

Calif. Officials Resume Sea Lion Battle


http://my.eimg.net/harvest_xml/NEWS/img/20060515/4467fcc0_3ca7_1552720060515528380264.jpg (http://enews.earthlink.net/article/pho?guid=20060515/4467fcc0_3ca7_1552720060515528380264&article_path=/article/top&article_guid=20060515/4467fcc0_3421_1334520060515-1514806128)

Sea lions sun themselves on the back of a pleasure boat Thursday, Sept 15, 2005, in Newport Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, FILE) NICK UT

From Associated Press
May 15, 2006 7:28 PM EDT
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Authorities hope to deter sea lions from boarding boats by - get this - spraying them with water. The mischievous pinnipeds have returned to the bay after wreaking havoc last summer by trashing boat cabins and decks, swamping a vintage yacht and barking all night.
So far this spring, they've ransacked one craft and nearly scuttled a 20-foot sailboat, which was submerged to the rooftop before shipyard workers intervened, said Justin McCarthy, manager of Hill's Boat Service.
"As soon as one is up, three jump on," McCarthy said. "And it only takes four to tip one of these boats."
Seeking to avoid a repeat of last year's mayhem, harbor officials are testing a motion-activated sprinkler they hope will shoo the animals away from boat decks. Sea lions sunbathe to raise their body temperature and don't like being squirted with cool water, said Chris Miller, the city's harbor resources supervisor.
"It's hard to control nature," Miller said. "But we're doing our best."
The high-tech effort has one observer scratching his head.
"It's funny because people don't realize the old trick is you just put a little dishwashing soap (on the deck) and they slide right off," said Hank Wiessner, co-owner of Fun Zone Boat Co.
:laugh: Sea lion delinquents! :laugh:

[Tiggerwoos]

Awwwwww, bless 'em, they're so cute!

[Oracl]

Amazing! :D

[thevegantwins]

New York Times, anything in bold is my emphasis.

May 16, 2006

To Save a Shorebird, Horseshoe Crabbing Is Banned in New Jersey

By TINA KELLEY

In an effort to save a wide-ranging shorebird from extinction, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has banned all fishing of horseshoe crabs, the bird's main food source, for the next two years. The moratorium, put in place yesterday, affects about 30 commercial fishermen in New Jersey.

The red knot, a robin-size bird that the state has listed as threatened, migrates annually from Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America, to the Canadian Arctic. When flying north from Brazil, the birds make only one stop, along the Delaware Bay, where they eat enough protein- and fat-rich horseshoe crab eggs to double their weight. Then the birds take off for the last leg of their 10,000 mile journey, a nonstop flight north to Southampton Island in Canada, just below the Arctic Circle.

In 1998, about 50,360 birds made the journey. But by 2004, after a large increase in the horseshoe crab harvest during the 1990's, only 13,315 birds were counted. Last year about 17,000 landed on the shores of Delaware Bay. Some scientists estimate that the birds could become extinct in five years.

"New Jersey has taken the position that we're going to do everything we can, everything within our authority, to make sure that doesn't happen," said John Watson, deputy commissioner of the state's Department of Environmental Protection.

But last week, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which coordinates the management of ocean resources in the 15 Atlantic coast states, stopped short of imposing a regionwide moratorium on horseshoe crabbing. The commission instead limited the harvesting of the crabs during the spring breeding season in some states.

Fishermen in New York are allowed to take up to 366,000 crabs, but took only 142,279 in 2004, according to the commission. In Connecticut, where crabbers were allowed to take 48,689 crabs, they took 23,788 in 2004.

A bill in the New Jersey Assembly's Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee calls for a moratorium on horseshoe crabbing that would last until the red knot population reached 240,000 and the supply of crab eggs returned to a level that could sustain them. The bill also seeks to appropriate $168,300 to compensate licensed harvesters of horseshoe crabs and eggs, based on their harvests three years ago.

Eric Stiles, vice president for conservation at the New Jersey Audubon Society, said that the shorebird migration generated at least $15.9 million in tourism for New Jersey in 1998, and from 1996 to 2001, wildlife-related recreation grew 43 percent. "We're looking at an industry that's exploding in New Jersey," he said. Meanwhile, he added, the conch and eel fisheries, which use horseshoe crabs for bait, are in decline.

Scot C. Mackey, a lobbyist for the Garden State Seafood Association, said 32 or 33 fishermen still have commercial licenses to catch horseshoe crabs. He said he was disappointed with the state's moratorium, and would have liked to have seen the state allow the harvesting of male crabs. Compensating the fishermen for their lost harvests would not help conch fishermen, who use the horseshoe crabs for bait, he said.

Boo-friggin-hoo about the fishermen, murder shouldn't be easy. It enrages me that this is all about profit-which industry is worth more money. Humans really suck. Not all, just those who don't care about any other species besides themselves.

[Bowwowmeow]

I know what you mean vegantwins. And crab isn't even a staple "food" for people, its an expensive luxury. People can (and do :blecch:) eat ANYTHING, and since crabs are not necessary for human survival, leave them to those who do need to eat them in order to survive extinction. :grumble::tantrum::hbang:

[Bowwowmeow]

Apes Shown to Be Able to Plan Ahead


By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID (AP Science Writer)
From Associated Press
May 18, 2006 7:58 PM EDT
WASHINGTON - They don't bring along an umbrella or sunglasses that might be needed later, but researchers say apes, like people, can plan ahead.
Both orangutans and bonobos were able to figure out which tool would work in an effort to retrieve grapes, and were able to remember to bring that tool along hours later, researchers report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
In a series of laboratory tests the apes were shown the tools and grapes, allowed to retrieve grapes, and then removed from the area where the treats were available.
They were allowed back from one to 14 hours later and most were able to bring along the correct tool to get the treats, report Nicholas J. Mulcahy and Josep Call of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
The researchers said the finding suggests that planning ahead arose at least 14 million years ago, when the last common ancestor of bonobos, orangutans and humans lived.
While the findings do not necessarily imply that the apes are able to anticipate a future state of mind, they are nonetheless groundbreaking, Thomas Suddendorf of the University of Queensland in Australia said in a commentary.
"By identifying what capacities our closest living relatives share with us, we can get a glimpse at our evolutionary past," Suddendorf said.
In a separate paper in ScienceExpress, the electronic version of Science, researchers report that scrub jays look over their shoulders when hiding food for future use and, if they think another bird saw where they put it, will relocate their cache.
The report by Nicola S. Clayton and colleagues at the University of Cambridge in England noted that relocating food was common when a bird thought it had been observed by a more dominant bird, but not when a partner was present.
The findings indicate that the birds act to avoid the possibility that a non-partner will raid their stored food, and remember who was around when they hid it, the researchers say.

[Oracl]

...researchers say apes.....can plan ahead.
Probably better than some people I know, including my boss at work! :rolleyes:

[Bowwowmeow]

Dog Survives Fall Off Cliff; Owner Rescued


From Associated Press
May 18, 2006 6:27 PM EDT
LOS ANGELES - A dog survived a plunge from an oceanside cliff and his owner had to be rescued when he got stuck searching for the animal. Pepe, a Jack Russell terrier, darted over the cliff's edge in the upscale Pacific Palisades area while chasing a squirrel on Tuesday.
He landed next to Pacific Coast Highway, where he narrowly avoided being struck by a big rig.
Motorist Jenny-Lyn Marais stopped and coaxed the dog into her Range Rover.
"I leaned across and opened the door and whistled for him to come," said Marais, who works in a Santa Monica dental lab. "He was so gentle and so grateful. He jumped right over on my lap and started licking me."
Meanwhile, Pepe's owner Brandon McMillan drove down to the base of the cliff and began climbing back up in search of his pet, but got stuck about 15 feet from the top when the ground began to give way.
Firefighters rescued McMillan, and a man who had been on the beach below told him that someone had stopped to pick up a dog.
Marais had dropped Pepe off at veterinary hospital. By chance, a friend of McMillan's who is an animal rescue volunteer stopped at the hospital to distribute a flyer about Pepe.
A few phone calls later, man and beast were reunited.
"If this dog has nine lives, he used two yesterday," McMillan, an animal trainer, said Wednesday. "One was falling off the cliff and the other was landing on Pacific Coast Highway and living to tell the tale. He did both."


People who claim dogs and cats are natural enemies know nothing about the relationship between dogs and squirrels!
:doggygrin: :squirrel

[Oracl]

That little dog was very lucky! :)

[Fauxmage]

University Warns Students of Deer Attacks


By JIM SUHR (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
May 19, 2006 3:22 PM EDT
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Tammy Emery used to think of deer as sweet and adorable, like Bambi. An encounter with a hard-charging doe changed that. The 31-year-old secretary was among at least seven people threatened or injured by female deer last year on Southern Illinois University's campus - attacks that have prompted the school to wage a safety campaign during this spring's fawning season.
The attacks in the woods at the 20,000-student university have been attributed to a combination of protective motherly instinct, squeezed habitat and, in some cases, a little too much human curiosity.
The message now: Keep your eyes peeled for deer, don't approach them, and if a wild-eyed deer starts bounding your way, run.
"Before last year, no one really had heard of this sort of thing," says Clay Nielsen, a wildlife ecologist at the university.
Nielsen believes different deer were responsible for the three attacks that sent Emery and at least three others to the hospital, mostly with minor injuries.
"It wasn't like it was one crazy animal," Nielsen says. But some of the attacks may have been avoided, he thinks, if the victims hadn't committed an absolute no-no: moving in on a fawn to pet it.
Now, with fawning season soon to peak - last year's attacks happened June 7-15 - Nielsen and other campus officials are using signs, radio spots, e-mails and fliers about the deer in Thompson Woods. Later this month, Nielsen will lead a seminar titled "Avoiding Deer-Human Encounters of the Third Kind on Campus."
The effort also includes a two-year study by Nielsen and other researchers to count the deer, pinpoint how the animals affect the campus' ecosystem and gauge what locals think of them. Nielsen says the study will offer no recommendations on what to do about the deer, leaving that difficult issue for administrators.
All of this comes too late for Emery, a secretary in the political science department who still winces when she recounts what happened to her on the June afternoon she took a shortcut through Thompson Woods.
Emery heard a rustling and saw "this deer was headed right toward me, full charge." Emery never saw any fawn, only the adult deer with eyes wide.
"I could tell it was angry, but I wasn't sure what about," she says. "I know by the time I was in the area she was really mad and going to take it all out on me. I couldn't have run if I tried."
In an instant, the deer knocked the woman to the ground and delivered a flurry of kicks. Emery, screaming, curled defensively into a ball as the snorting animal rained blows on her, slicing open one of her ears and leaving her with huge bruises and a hoofprint on her hand.
"I thought, `This is crazy, this can't be real. I'm being attacked by a deer,'" she recalls.
The deer was scared off by passers-by. Emery has not been back in that stretch of the woods since.
While taking a shortcut through the woods this week, Stephanie Eastwood, a biochemistry major, wondered what all the fuss was about, saying deer were the least of her worries.
"Deer are docile creatures - they don't just attack," said Eastwood, 26. "I find it amusing to see the animals in the park, but all I've seen here is squirrels and snakes, and snakes bother me more."
Nielsen suspects various factors conspired in last year's attacks, including an increase in the deer population and the clearing of trees and windbreaks around the campus' edge. That shrinking habitat has forced the animals into Thompson Woods, which is 20 or so acres with hundreds of yards of paved trails.
"It's the result of having a beautiful campus that we have to deal with wildlife," Nielsen says.
Emery says she thinks differently deer these days: "When they're mad, they're vicious. They're not the pretty creatures they were to me before."


"They're mad as hell, and they're not gonna take it anymore!" :D
They've a right to be angry, it seems to me. :agree:

[Bowwowmeow]

China Rare-Tiger Center Expects 100 Births


From Associated Press
May 22, 2006 6:48 PM EDT
BEIJING - More than 100 Siberian tigers, one of the rarest animals, are expected to be born this year at a breeding center in China's northeast, an official said Monday.
At least 50 female tigers at the Manchurian Tiger Park in the city of Harbin are expected to give birth, said general manager Wang Ligang, quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency.
Fewer than 400 Siberian tigers, also known as the Amur, Manchurian or Ussuri tiger, are believed to survive in the wild, about 20 of them in China and the rest in Russia. They are the largest tiger species, weighing up to 600 pounds.
Human settlements have encroached on the cats' habitat, and they also are in danger from poachers who want hides and bones for use in traditional Chinese medicine.


:tiger::tiger::tiger:

[Fauxmage]

R.I. to Order Cat Owners to Spay, Neuter


By M.L. JOHNSON (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
May 24, 2006 10:56 PM EDT
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island could become the first state to require cat owners to spay or neuter their pets under legislation passed Wednesday by the General Assembly.
The measure would require pets older than 6 months to be spayed or neutered unless owners pay $100 for a breeder's license or special permit. Violators would be fined $75 a month.
The Senate previously passed the bill, and with House approval, it now goes to Gov. Don Carcieri. The governor was reviewing the legislation, spokesman Jeff Neal said.
Democratic Rep. Charlene Lima, the legislation's main sponsor in the House, said she hopes Rhode Island will lead the nation in instituting a spaying requirement.
Supporters say the bill could save thousands of cats from being killed each year and ease crowding in animal shelters.
But some animal rights advocates worry the bill could prompt cat owners to abandon their pets rather than risk a fine or pay several hundred dollars for the birth control procedures.
The bill has a provision for low-income pet owners to receive subsidies for low-cost spay and neuter surgery. It also exempts farmers.
East Providence, Pawtucket and Warwick already have similar municipal ordinances.

[Bowwowmeow]

Skunks Wage Turf Battle Over New Homes


From Associated Press
May 30, 2006 3:58 PM EDT
STOCKTON, Calif. - Residents of new housing developments on the outskirts of San Joaquin County cities are waging a stinky turf battle with skunks.
Animal control officials warned residents that skunks are holding on to their underground burrows even as brand new homes take root above.
"They're just a nuisance right now," said Tom Ramirez, who supervises animal control for the Stockton Police Department. "They're multiplying everywhere."
Skunks live in dens that hold up to 75 animals, Ramirez said. New development hasn't scared them, only pushed them deeper, he said.
If bothered, skunks can spray a foul scent up to 10 feet.

[Bowwowmeow]

Jack the Cat Chases Black Bear Up Tree

http://my.eimg.net/harvest_xml/NEWS/img/20060609/4488f240_3ca7_15527200606091990380950.jpg (http://enews.earthlink.net/article/pho?guid=20060609/4488f240_3ca7_15527200606091990380950&article_path=/article/str&article_guid=20060609/4488f240_3421_13345200606091202035244)

A black bear clings to a backyard tree in West Milford, N.J., Sunday, June 4, 2006. Jack, a 15-pound orange-and-white cat, chased the bear up another nearby tree after it climbed down from the one it first was in. SUZANNE GIOVANETTI

From Associated Press
June 09, 2006 3:33 PM EDT
WEST MILFORD, N.J. - A black bear picked the wrong New Jersey yard for a jaunt earlier this week, running into a territorial tabby who ran the furry beast up a tree - twice.
Jack, a 15-pound orange-and-white cat, keeps a close vigil on his property, chasing small animals when he can, but his owners and neighbors say his latest escapade was surprising.
"We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty,' never knowing he'd go after a bear," cat owner Donna Dickey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's newspapers.
Neighbor Suzanne Giovanetti first spotted Jack's accomplishment after her husband saw a bear climb a tree on the edge of their northern New Jersey home's back yard on Sunday. Giovanetti thought Jack was simply looking up at the bear, but soon realized the much larger animal was afraid of the hissing cat.
After about 15 minutes peering down at the cat from the tree, the bear descended and tried to run away, only to have Jack chase it up another tree.
At this point Dickey, who feared for her cat, called Jack back home and the bear scurried back to the woods.
"He doesn't want anybody in his yard," Dickey said.
Bear sightings are not unusual in West Milford, which experts consider one of the state's most bear-populated areas.


:D

[Bowwowmeow]

Panda Center Launches Live Web Cam


From Associated Press
June 09, 2006 10:37 AM EDT
BEIJING - There's a new reality show in town - "Panda Cam."
The Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in China's southwestern Sichuan province has set up a camera to capture the everyday life of pandas to be watched live on the Internet, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
"Panda Cam" will be aired in 20-minute segments from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 10:50 p.m. EDT and 2 a.m. to 2:50 a.m. EDT, Xinhua said.
The facility, in the heart of Sichuan's lush, cloud-wreathed mountains, is home to about 80 artificially bred pandas.
The Web site has a section in English and a quiz on panda knowledge, Xinhua said.
About 1,600 wild pandas live in the mountain forests of central China - the only place in the world they are found - with another 180 in captivity around the globe.
Pandas are threatened by loss of habitat, poaching and a low reproduction rate, making them among the most endangered animals in the world. Females in the wild typically have a cub once every two to three years.
---
On the Net:
Panda Cam: http://www.pandaclub.net

[Bowwowmeow]

Feds Propose Habitat for Puget Sound Orcas


By GENE JOHNSON (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
June 09, 2006 7:44 PM EDT
SEATTLE - Federal officials have proposed designating nearly all of northwest Washington's inland waters - about 2,500 square miles - as critical habitat for killer whales, the first major development since the creatures were listed as endangered last year.
Following a public comment period, the habitat designation could become official by the end of the year, the National Marine Fisheries Service said Friday in a news release. It would mean that within the outlined area, no federal activities can take place unless officials demonstrate that the habitat will not be harmed.
The proposed area encompasses parts of Haro Strait, the waters around the San Juan Islands, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and all of Puget Sound except for Hood Canal, because there is little evidence the orcas swim there. Eighteen military sites covering nearly 112 square miles of habitat are exempt.
"It looks like we're getting the tools in place to provide orcas with the protection that hopefully will get them to the point of recovery," said Patti Goldman, an attorney with the environmental law firm Earthjustice.
But Kathy Fletcher, executive director of People for Puget Sound, and Fred Felleman, of Ocean Advocates, questioned whether the proposed area is enough: Besides military areas, it excludes any waters less than 20 feet deep. They said shorelines are crucial to the health of the ecosystem overall, and in particular to salmon - the primary food source of Puget Sound's orcas. Herring, which the salmon eat, live in shallow subtidal zones.
"This is a major gap," Fletcher said. "When something is proposed that might screw up the habitat of Puget Sound" - a dock for a construction project, for instance - "it's on the shoreline. The habitat of the salmon is as important as the waters where the orcas actually swim themselves."
Felleman said that overall, he was pleased with the proposal, but that he would like to see the waters off the state's western coast designated as critical habitat as well: That's where the orcas spend at least some of the winter, he said, and it's also where they could be troubled by Navy activities.
Fisheries Service spokesman Brian Gorman invited Fletcher and Felleman to raise such points during the public comment period.
"People are encouraged to point out where they think we need a little more work," he said.
The federal agency's 44-page report on the proposal notes that the designation of critical habitat could lead to revised limits for commercial salmon fishermen and new standards for sewer and stormwater discharge.
The "southern resident" population of orcas in Puget Sound - believed to have numbered 140 or more in the last century - has suffered several major periods of decline since the 1960s, when the whales were caught for aquariums. The population rebounded to 97 in the 1990s, then declined to 79 in 2001. Currently, there are 90 whales, with several calves recently born.
Pollution and a decline in prey are believed to be their biggest threats, though stress from whale-watch boats and underwater sonar tests by the Navy are also concerns.
The National Marine Fisheries Service initially refused to list the whales under the Endangered Species Act, finding that they were not distinct from other orcas around the world - a finding based on a classification of the species written in 1758. In 2002, eight environmental groups sued, and U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik ordered the agency to reconsider, using updated science.
The fisheries service eventually agreed that the Puget Sound orcas needed protection, leading to the listing in November. Farm and property rights groups have challenged the listing in federal court in Seattle, saying it could lead to "needless water and land-use restrictions on Washington farms, especially those located near rivers inhabited by salmon," the orcas' prime food source.
The fisheries service also said it expects to release its draft orca recovery plan for public comment within the next month.

[Bowwowmeow]

Manatees Off Fla. Endangered Species List


By BRIAN SKOLOFF (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
June 09, 2006 7:37 PM EDT
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The state wildlife commission has voted to take the manatee off Florida's endangered species list, saying the animal's population is on the rebound.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to designate the manatee as a threatened species rather than endangered. It also voted to remove the bald eagle from its list of threatened species.
State officials said the decisions would not affect how the species are protected. Both the bald eagle and manatee remain protected under federal law, including the 1973 Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers the manatee endangered and the bald eagle threatened.
"There will be no less protection," commission spokesman Henry Cabbage said.
But some environmentalists said the reclassifications could set in motion a downward spiral of state funding and protections.
"As species like the manatee are reclassified to a less imperiled status before their populations have actually recovered, state funding for research, management and law enforcement will likely be directed elsewhere," said attorney Martha Collins.
Collins represents 17 environmental groups who last week filed a petition with the state seeking to have the entire protection classification system revamped.
The state's classification system consists of three categories: endangered, threatened and special concern. They are based on a species' population, how fast it is declining and when extinction is projected, among other factors.
Scientists have said the manatee population is expected to drop 50 percent over the next five decades because of habitat loss, boat collisions and red tide algae. Still, they said the species is not endangered - a classification that denotes species on the brink of extinction.
An annual survey released in February found 3,116 manatees in Florida waters, up from 1,267 in 1991, the first year the census was conducted. But state scientists said the increase shown in the survey is partly a result of better techniques for finding the animals.


Well I hope they stay protected. I never know whether this is good news or not. It seems like its an excuse for people to stop caring about them when they take them off the endangered species list.
As far as I am concerned, the only animals who don't need to be on the endangered species list are fleas, ticks, lice, mosquitoes, and people. Anyone recognize a pattern here? ;)

[Oracl]

As far as I am concerned, the only animals who don't need to be on the endangered species list are fleas, ticks, lice, mosquitoes, and people. Anyone recognize a pattern here? ;)

:agree: :D

[dreamer]

Suspect's dog bites him in police chase
June 14, 2006


CEDAR CITY, Utah - A police pursuit ended when the suspect's dog, not happy about being bounced around in the car, bit its owner on the face.

Iron County sheriff's officers approached Nicholas T. Galanis, 47, of Salt Lake City to talk to him about some stolen property.

Galanis got in his car and fled with his dog.

The chase went southbound on Gold Springs Road, a windy, bumpy dirt road about five miles northwest of Modena, at around 5:38 p.m. Monday, said sheriff's detective Jody Edwards.

"Deputies could see the dog in the passenger seat getting slammed into the window," he said.

The dog, which is partly pit bull, "became so agitated that he bit his owner in the face," Edwards said. "And this is what ended the chase."

The bite removed part of Galanis' nose and he stopped.

Galanis was taken to Valley View Medical Center before being booked into Iron County Jail.

His dog was taken to the Enoch Animal Shelter.

Galanis was held for investigation of supplying false information to police, receiving/possession of stolen property and theft.

[Bowwowmeow]

Oh I hope they don't do anything to that dog. And ANY dog might have done it. They always have to slander pit bulls. :mad:

[Bowwowmeow]

Town Orders Man to Find New Home for Goat


From Associated Press
June 14, 2006 3:50 PM EDT
MANHATTAN, Mont. - The town council has ordered Bob Perkins to find a new home for the goat that eats the weeds and grass on his front lawn. "I can have two obnoxious dogs, but not a cute goat," Perkins said.
Mayor Tony Haag said the town of about 1,400 people is growing and cannot afford to allow one of its residents to have a goat. If it did, he said, what would stop other town residents from keeping goats, too?
An adjacent property owner recently complained about the goat, which Perkins has owned for about a year.
Initially, a police officer informed Perkins that keeping the animal in the city could be punishable by a fine and jail time.
The town council voted Tuesday night to force him to remove the goat from the city limits.
Sadie Hensler, who rents a house next to Perkins, wrote a letter to the town council saying the goat was quiet and friendly.
Harold Ralston, who works at a dog-grooming business said, "All it does is mow the lawn."
Before adopting Buddy the goat, Perkins has kept sheep on his property to keep the weeds and grass at bay. Over the years, he has had 13 different sheep, and they were all named Buddy.
"They were a real babe magnet," Perkins said. "It's the way I met half of my ex-wives."

[thevegantwins]

They were a real babe magnet," Perkins said. "It's the way I met half of my ex-wives

How many wives did this guy have? :lech: :dizzy:


I'd much rather have a goat next door than hear the sound of a lawn mower every weekend. People are so stupid.

[Bowwowmeow]

Same here. :)

[Fauxmage]

Bush to Create Largest Marine Sanctuary


By JOHN HEILPRIN (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
June 15, 2006 12:19 PM EDT
WASHINGTON - President Bush is creating a vast new marine sanctuary Thursday, extending stronger federal protections to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and its endangered monk seals, nesting green sea turtles and other rare species.
The nation's newest national monument, which will be given a native Hawaiian name based on suggestions from state residents, covers an archipelago stretching 1,400 miles long and 100 miles wide in the Pacific Ocean. It's home to more than 7,000 species, at least a fourth of them found nowhere else.
Bush was announcing his creation of the nation's 75th national monument at a White House ceremony. The decision immediately sets aside 140,000 square miles of largely uninhabited islands, atolls, coral reef colonies and underwater peaks known as seamounts to be managed by federal and state agencies.
Conrad C. Lautenbacher, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which will manage nearly all of it, said the new protected area would dwarf all others.
"It's the single-largest act of ocean conservation in history. It's a large milestone," Lautenbacher said. "It is a place to maintain biodiversity and to maintain basically the nurseries of the Pacific. It spawns a lot of the life that permeates the middle of the Pacific Ocean."
It is only the second time that Bush has invoked the 1906 National Antiquities Act, which gives the president authority to create national monuments to preserve the nation's ancient cultural sites and unusual geological features. The law itself turned 100 this month.
The president had planned as late as Wednesday to use instead the National Marine Sanctuary Act, a law that would allow challenges from Congress and others to the decision, said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to upstage Bush.
"This means the area will get immediate protection rather than having to wait another year," the official said, adding that Bush opted at the last minute to create a national monument after realizing the process had gone on for five years and elicited thousands of comments.
With the national monument designation, the federal government can immediately begin a five-year phaseout of the eight commercial fishing permits in the area and impose strict prohibitions on any other extractive uses, the official said.
In February, Bush used the antiquities law for the first time when he declared part of the African Burial Ground in the lower Manhattan section of New York City a national monument. The site, covering less than half an acre, marks where an estimated 20,000 slaves and free blacks were buried in the 18th century.
President Clinton used the act to create 19 national monuments and expand three others to set aside 5.9 million acres of land, mainly in the West, and he drew widespread criticism from conservatives.
About 132,000 square miles of the marine area that is being set aside for the national monument already is designated either a coral reef ecosystem reserve or a national wildlife refuge. By making it a national monument, the government will have greater power to protect it.
Expanding the existing reserve and refuge to a monument of 140,000 square miles will make it the largest no-take marine conservation area in the world, just ahead of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Midway Atoll, one of the outermost points of the new monument, will retain an emergency landing strip for commercial and military trans-Pacific flights.
NOAA will develop regulations for managing all of the monument except for two national wildlife refuges within it that will still be overseen by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Last month, state and federal officials signed an agreement to manage the pristine islands jointly.
Administration officials say their intent is to preserve zoned access for native Hawaiian activities, educational and scientific expeditions. Recreational and tourist visits that are no more harmful than scuba diving or photography also will be allowed. Permits, however, will be required for all activities.
Joshua Reichert, who heads the private Pew Charitable Trusts' environment program which pushed for the sanctuary for eight years, said the region contains almost 70 percent of the tropical shallow water coral reefs in the United States.
"When you add it all up, it's a world-class ecological jewel," he said. "From both a national and global perspective, this really is a landmark conservation event."

[dreamer]

Oh I hope they don't do anything to that dog.
That was my first concern too...I thought the guy deserved it for letting his dog be "thrown around" as it was. I hope someone adopts the dog...

[Bowwowmeow]

Bear Eats Oatmeal in Woman's Kitchen


From Associated Press
June 19, 2006 4:22 PM EDT
WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia - It was a real-life version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears - only in reverse - when a woman came home to find a young bear eating oatmeal in her kitchen.
The bear apparently entered through an open sliding glass door, broke a ceramic food container and started eating, West Vancouver police Sgt. Paul Skelton said.
"It sounds like a nursery rhyme, doesn't it?" Skelton said. "At least we have a health-conscious bear on our hands."
Three police officers who went to the home Thursday couldn't get the bear to budge, so authorities let the animal finish its meal.
"The bear didn't appear to be aggressive and wasn't destroying the house, so they just let it do what it was doing and eventually the bear decided to make its way out of the residence and down toward a forested gully," Skelton said. "It ended the best it could."
Skelton said bears in the suburbs north of Vancouver have been coming out of hibernation as hungry as ever but later than usual but this spring because of a heavier than normal snowpack from the winter. The report Thursday was one of six complaints police said they received about bears in the area that day.


What a cute story! :laugh:

[thevegantwins]

In my state, the authorities would have blown the bears head off. Seriously, they killed 3 bears within the past few months because the bears entered BSE (Bear Exclusion Zones) which means even if a bear isn't aggressive, isn't doing anything, the authorities are supposed to murder the bear immediately. Most of the state is now covered under BSE. Here's a story about that:

Working for the Bears



Saving One Bear’s Life

In early May, NJARA’s director, Angi Metler, learned of a deli in Highland Lakes (bear country) that was attracting bears because they do not have a bear proof dumpster. Due to complaints about the bears, a trap had been set by Fish & Wildlife (F&W). If a bear was caught in the trap, as was likely to happen, the bear would have been killed by F&W. Thanks to a few days of protests and calls from members to have the trap removed, the owner finally agreed and called F&W to remove the trap. The BEAR Group is working on setting up a meeting to secure the location with a bear proof dumpster.



End the BEZ’s and the Bear Hunt

Please add your voice to the growing number of NJ citizens who are outraged by the three bears killed in May for wandering into the Bear Exclusion Zones (BEZ) set up by the Fish and Game Council and approved by the DEP last November. Under this new policy, bears found in a BEZ must be killed, not relocated. How absurd. Since we know that Fish & Wildlife has purposely relocated bears into areas that are not bear habitat (Monmouth & Somerset counties), NJARA wonders exactly how those bears ended up in those towns without being seen trying to get there. Corzine's ignorance about bears was recently illuminated when he told the media he supports the BEZ killing policy for public safety reasons. The bears should have been tranquilized and relocated to more suitable habitat. Don't believe the lie that there is no place to relocate bears.



Governor Corzine has not taken any affirmative action on behalf of our bears. His silence on this issue is astounding considering he had all the right things to say before the election. Sound familiar? Don't be discouraged. If Governor Corzine wants to take the McGreevey route, the political fallout will be huge.

Whatever you do, please don't give up! It is important for our movement to remain committed to the political process, but we must remind Corzine that we will hold him to his promise. To that end, we all must pledge to protest, call, leaflet, talk, advertise, put up billboards, write, and e-mail until he makes good on that promise. Do something every day. Don't assume someone else is calling and writing. If everyone who wants the killing to end did something, then the killing would end.



Governor Jon Corzine

PO Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625-0001



Lisa Jackson, Commissioner

Department of Environmental Protection

PO Box 402, Trenton, NJ 08625-0402



In order to aid towns in dealing with black bears, NJARA and the BEAR Group are putting together an instructional video to be disseminated to police, animal control officers and mayors. The video will deal with such issues as the nature of black bears, garbage control and aversive conditioning amongst others.



Legislation to Protect Bears
In January, a bill (A525) that protects bears

was introduced by Assemblyman Panter. Assemblyman Gusciora is also a prime sponsor and Assemblyman Gordon and Assemblywomen Greenstein and Voss have signed on as co-sponsors. The bill is in the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee. Contact committee members asking that the bill be heard and released. To find the committee contact info, call NJARA at 732-446-6808 or click here.



Lawsuit Still Pending
As you know, NJARA sued the state last fall to stop the 2005 bear hunt from proceeding. Even though the judge did not grant a TRO for that hunt, the lawsuit is still ongoing since we are attacking the 5-year black bear management plan, not just the 2005 bear hunt. The lawsuit will be filed in early July.



Update on Activists Arrested

Activists arrested at the protest last December had their day in court and despite an excellent case put forth by attorney Gina Calogero , the judge found them guilty. The activists are appealing. The case against the activists arrested on hunter harassment charges stemming from their participation in the Wounded Bear Rescue Team and documentation of the hunt will be heard on June 27 in Vernon. Call NJARA if you wish to attend.

[dreamer]

It's horrible that they have that attitude in your state:tantrum:

[Bowwowmeow]

Bailey the Beaver's Teeth Grow Back


From Associated Press
June 20, 2006 3:58 PM EDT
PULLMAN, Wash. - Bailey the beaver finally has her choppers back. The beaver was struck by a car near Lewiston last April, losing her four rust-colored front teeth.
But under care at Washington State University's veterinary hospital, Bailey has grown her teeth back and is preparing to return to the wild.
Teeth are a beaver's most important tool, used to gnaw through just about anything, including the tree bark that is a mainstay of their diet. A beaver wouldn't last long in the wild without them.
"They're stone chisels, is really what they are," said Charlie Powell, spokesman for the WSU veterinary school.
Chances are good Bailey will be released back into the wild by August, said Angela Teal, a veterinary technician who helps care for injured wildlife at the school.
That's a happy ending, since lots of wild animals become too spoiled or softened by human contact to be turned loose again.
The WSU vet school treats scores of wild and domestic animals each year, but beavers have been relatively rare. Powell said this is the second one he's seen in his 17 years there.
Other than the loss of her teeth, Bailey wasn't too badly injured, Teal said. But they had to improvise to figure out how to feed the 41-pound beaver, who's likely 1 1/2 to 2 years old.
"We don't really carry a supply of bark, and we don't have a pond with lily pads for them to eat," she said.
They started by feeding Bailey baby food, then soft berries and dandelions and corn.
Powell said media inquiries have flooded the school, following the announcement of Bailey's recovery since April.
"These are probably the most famous beaver teeth in all of human history," he said.
---


:colors:

[Bowwowmeow]

Zookeeper Fosters Wallaby With Pouch


From Associated Press
June 23, 2006 6:23 PM EDT
TACOMA, Wash. - When a baby wallaby's mother died of a bacterial infection last month, a Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium biologist volunteered to become its foster mother.
Jennifer Donovan, 34, a senior staff biologist, has never been a mom, but she knew just where to turn when A.J., the orphaned Parma wallaby, needed her help. Donovan called her own mother, Toni.
The 7-month-old joey was accustomed to her touch and her smell, and Donovan had fashioned a makeshift pouch to make him comfortable. But she knew she needed a better way to carry the wallaby around. She told her mother: "Drop everything. Start sewing."
The result was a fleece-lined "joey pouch" Donovan hangs around her neck.
"I just picked up little Mr. A.J. and immediately upon being put into that pouch, he calmed down," Donovan said.
Donovan feed A.J. formula with a curved-needle syringe because he wasn't willing to eat from a bottle. His weight has doubled from 800 to 1,600 grams, or about 3.5 pounds, since his mother, Alkina, died May 5.
A.J. is about a foot long from nose to rump, plus a 12-inch tail. Average height for adult Parma wallabies is about 1 1/2 feet tall.
Donovan tucks him into the pouch for part of the day while she makes her rounds at the zoo's Kids Zone, teaching human youngsters that "animals are awesome and we want to protect them every day." And she shows up on her days off to care for A.J.
Zoo spokeswoman Carolyn Cox is impressed. It's not unusual for zookeepers to hand-rear young critters, she said, "But I've never seen anybody go to these lengths to help an animal get through its childhood."
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is the only combined zoo and aquarium in the Pacific Northwest. It focuses on animals from the Pacific Rim area.
Parma wallabies come from the forests of New South Wales in the southeast corner of Australia. At one time they were believed to be extinct, until some were found in the 1960s.
The Parma wallabies are less than half the size and still considerably less common than red-necked wallabies. Both carry their young in pouches and use their long, powerful tails for balance and hopping.

[Bowwowmeow]

Man, Henrietta the Chicken Best Buddies


From Associated Press
June 26, 2006 4:09 PM EDT
BISMARCK, N.D. - Terry Morris' pet and traveling companion weighs less than a pound and loves Mexican food. Morris and his pint-sized pet chicken named Henrietta have been chums for about a dozen years, and their friendship has hatched a new children's book.
"She's my buddy," Morris said, as Henrietta walked across his shoulders. "It's pretty strange, I know. But she's a good pet."
Henrietta, an Old English Bantam hen, walked into Morris' life 12 years ago. Then 3 months old, the chicken strolled through the front door of a wheel alignment business Morris owned in Olympia, Wash.
He searched for the bird's owner but no one claimed her, so he let Henrietta stay in his shop.
"I didn't think she'd last a week in there, with cars going in and out all the time," Morris said.
Henrietta made the garage her home. She greeted customers with a friendly squawk, punched numbers on the calculator when Morris was in the business office and sat on his head when he talked on the phone.
She ate lunch with him at the shop and soon found that she enjoyed his takeout meals better than her scratch. Henrietta's favorite is Mexican food. Morris said taco sauce makes her comb light up bright red.
Morris has taken Henrietta on trips with him, logging more than 50,000 miles in his truck, where she sits in a custom coop on the front seat.
Last year, he took Henrietta to Los Angeles to visit his granddaughter. The chicken made a surprise appearance at show-and-tell, where 25 kids got to pet her.
"Most of the kids there didn't even know what a chicken was," Morris said. "Nobody brings a chicken to a classroom in L.A. The teacher was a little overwhelmed."
Morris, 60, is the former owner of wheel alignment shop in Bismarck, where he grew up. He always wanted to move out West, so he did in 1991. He had a shop there for 15 years, before moving back to North Dakota this spring.
He lives on a small farm north of Bismarck. Henrietta lives there, too, in a horse trailer. Sometimes, when Morris opens the door to the trailer in the morning, there's an egg in there. Sometimes there's one in his truck.
In Washington, one of Morris' customers took a liking to Henrietta.
Iris-Arla Moore, a librarian in Olympia, decided to write a children's book about the small pet chicken. "Henrietta the Guard Chicken" was published by Trafford Publishing in March. The book chronicles Henrietta's time with Morris, who in the book is known as Dan.
"Now, a lot of people know me as the 'Chicken Man,'" he said.


"Most of the kids there didn't even know what a chicken was," Morris said. "Nobody brings a chicken to a classroom in L.A."

I bet if more people did there would be more vegans in the world.

[dreamer]

Pig who posed as Wilbur gets reprieve June 29, 2006



MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The message of "Charlotte's Web" has softened the heart of a farmer who has decided a piggy who posed as Wilbur won't be going to market after all.

"Charlotte's Web," which author E.B. White called "a story of friendship and salvation on a farm," tells how a clever spider named Charlotte saves Wilbur the pig from slaughter. HarperCollins Publishers wanted photos for an upcoming reprint of the children's classic, and the pictures were shot last week on John L. Batey's farm about 25 miles southeast of Nashville.

Batey said he didn't recollect the moral of the story — or the potential for publicity — when he told a reporter the piglet was destined to be sold within the year.

When the prospect of Wilbur becoming pork chops was reported, the phone at Batey's farm started ringing.

Calls from Canada, Boston, Chattanooga and the publisher in New York urged clemency for the pig.

"I am married to a lovely man, and anyone who knows John knows he would be honest and fair to everyone," said Melissa Batey about her husband. "But he didn't read the book. I had to point out that the farmer was not the good guy until the end of the book."

So now Batey, who has raised livestock for decades, has named the pig Wilbur and pledged to keep him forever in a specially built pig pad down on the farm. A nutritionist will be consulted on developing a special diet so Wilbur doesn't, well, make a pig of himself.

"I wasn't going to be the bad old farmer in the book," Batey said. "I'm going to be keeping him myself."

Wilbur even went to church on Sunday, where the preschoolers know Charlotte's Web well and lavished him with hugs and pets.

"I just didn't know he was going to be so famous," Batey said. "He's become a hall of famer real fast."


Now why couldn't this farmer realize that ALL pigs--all animals for that matter--deserve such respect?

[Bowwowmeow]

Now why couldn't this farmer realize that ALL pigs--all animals for that matter--deserve such respect?
You took the words right out of my mouth dreamer. But the idea will spread around and touch many others, some of whom will be bound to see it more clearly than this particular farmer. :agree:

[dreamer]

I hope you're right, but I think people find it easier to "connect" and fight for one animal than to realize what they're doing (or having done for their own appetites) to millions:sigh:

[Bowwowmeow]

Calif. Man Finds Marmoset in Backyard


From Associated Press
June 30, 2006 3:10 PM EDT
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Andrew Padilla first saw the monkey in the backyard of his Palo Alto home, hanging out by a fence. He thought it must be a squirrel.
It turned out to be a marmoset - and one that was a long, long way from its native home in the rain forests of South and Central America.
"I wanted to adopt him," Padilla said. "He was so cute and friendly."
Padilla said he fed the stray monkey bananas and crackers before calling the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA to report him.
"We thought, 'Sure. What have you been drinking?' But when our officer arrived, there he was," said Scott Delucchi, spokesman for the animal care agency.
An officer coaxed the marmoset into custody with a banana. The agency has kept the animal in a small cage at its shelter in San Mateo.
Officials don't know where the animal came from but they plan to send it to Primarily Primates, a 75-acre animal sanctuary just north of San Antonio.
The marmoset, which weighs about 12 ounces, appears healthy but a little disoriented, Delucchi said.


:wigglemonk:

[Bowwowmeow]

Bear Takes in Dinner and a Show in Nevada


From Associated Press
August 07, 2006 4:39 PM EDT
INCLINE VILLAGE, NV - A bear with better taste than his, or her cousins, dined last week on salmon, tri-tip and cherry ice cream - all in the deserted food court at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor.
The choices of surf and turf - and the bard - were more discriminating than the bear that settled last month for cold pizza and an even colder beer it found in a convertible near the south shore casino area.
The foray also was more successful than the bear that wandered into a delivery area last week at MontBleu Casino Resort & Spa on the south shore, but left empty-pawed.
Nevada Department of Wildlife biologist Carl Lackey was called to the scene and left one of his bear traps, but wasn't real optimistic.
"I put old doughnuts in the trap and he just seems to walk by it and head for the refrigerators in the food court," Lackey said. "I mean, why eat day-old doughnuts when you can get salmon?"
Lackey said that while the food vendors have locks on the coolers, "They're just bike locks and the bears are strong enough just flick them off."
Catherine Atack, director of the annual festival, said that having a bear come for dinner is a first.
"Nothing like this has happened before and this year, all four of our food vendors have been hit," Atack said. "We even had one bear appear during the show and the audience was told to stay seated until he was chased away."
And stale doughnuts weren't the only treat the finicky bear snubbed.
"He broke into one of the refrigerators where there was cherry ice cream and vanilla," Atack said. "He ate the cherry and never touched the vanilla."

[Bowwowmeow]

Endangered Manatee Spotted off U.S. Atlantic Coast; Marine Mammal Rarely Seen So Far North


From Associated Press
August 21, 2006 8:46 AM EDT
WARWICK, Rhode Island - An endangered manatee made a rare appearance in Rhode Island waters off the U.S. Atlantic Coast during the weekend, a state Department of Environmental Management official said.
The manatee was seen Sunday in Greenwich Bay off the coast of Warwick. The large marine mammals are usually found only in the warm waters of Florida and North and South Carolina.
DEM dispatcher Michael Mahoney said the manatee seen in Rhode Island appeared healthy.
It is not known whether the manatee is the same one seen earlier this month near Manhattan Island in New York. That manatee was tracked as it swam north along the coasts of Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey.
Manatees are protected by the Endangered Species Act. Florida wildlife experts counted 3,116 in their annual survey in February.

[Ped Ant]

Trap-jaw Ants

Trap-jaw ants bite with a force of over 300 times their own body weight, new high-speed digital images have shown.

Their jaws spring shut at more than 100 km/h (62mph) - the fastest recorded speed at which an animal can move its predatory body parts.

The pictures also reveal these tiny creatures, native to Central and South America, do more with their vicious jaws than simply giving a nasty nip.

By biting the ground, the ants hurl themselves upwards when danger looms.

A frosty reception

Uninvited visitors to a nest of trap-jaw ants can expect a vicious response.

The ants are named after their characteristically long jaws, which they use to hurl unfamiliar neighbours from their nests, cripple prey, or deliver a brutal bite to anything they consider a threat.

Employing the same high-speed imaging methods as those used to film flying bullets, an American research team now shows that the jaws can move at exceptional speeds. Peak velocities exceed 180km/h (110mph)

"This is really by far and away the fastest recorded animal limb movement," said lead researcher Sheila Patek, of the University of California, Berkeley, who worked with ants from Costa Rica.

"The ants' jaws are relatively short, but they deliver such a powerful bite because they can accelerate so quickly. It's simple physics."

Airborne antics

The new findings, reported this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also explain why the ants sometimes bounce into the air when they bite.

"If they bite something which is too hard to be crushed or thrown back by their jaws, the impact tosses them upwards," said Dr Andy Suarez of the University of Illinois, a co-author in the study.

This recoil effect propels the biter on to a brief, haphazard flight which ends in a crash landing several centimetres away.

Such a chaotic journey might seem uncomfortable, but the ants are simply too light to be injured by their misadventures. In fact, Dr Patek and her team have now shown that the ants sometimes perform the flights voluntarily.

By biting the hard ground, rather than another animal, the ants can propel themselves skyward whenever the need arises.

The impact throws their tiny bodies upwards. In effect, the ants are using their enormous bite force as a means to suddenly take off.

This novel way to move may help them to escape predators such as lizards, which attack very quickly and would not be discouraged by a simple bite.

The popcorn-effect of many ants jumping at once might also serve to confuse attackers.

"The results show us the surprising and interesting ways in which a single mechanical system can be co-opted for such different behaviours," says Dr Patek.

when i grow up i want to be a trap-jaw ant. :agree: :bhead:

[Bowwowmeow]

Wow! :speechless:

We love you just the way you are, Ped. :smallheart:

[dreamer]

Escaped hamster interrupts jet flight Fri Sep 29, 10:49 AM ET



It wasn't "Snakes on a Plane," but an Austrian Airlines jet made an unscheduled stop Friday after a passenger sneaked a hamster aboard and the rodent escaped. The flight from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to the southern Austrian city of Graz made a stop in Innsbruck so officials could search for the hamster and make sure it didn't gnaw through any wiring, the airline said.

It said the flight was diverted after a passenger notified the crew that he had brought a hamster aboard and had lost track of it. Passengers were ordered off the plane, and some were taken by bus to Graz. It was not immediately clear how many people were aboard.

By midafternoon, a search of the aircraft still had not turned up any sign of the hamster, authorities said.

Austrian Airlines said the jet would remain grounded until the hamster was found "because it can't take off that way for safety reasons."

[Oracl]

Poor little hamster. He would be very frightened I should think. :(

[paul]

poor hamster

[1vegan]

Equine surprise for new landlady
The new landlady of a Tyneside pub has spoken of her surprise at discovering that one of the regulars is a horse.

Jackie Gray recently took over the Alexandra Hotel in Jarrow and said she was shocked when carthorse Peggy joined owner Peter Dolan for a pint.

The 12-year-old female, which has a taste for John Smiths and pickled onion crisps, has apparently been visiting the pub for several years.

Mrs Gray was taken aback at first but says Peggy is no bother at all.

She said: "When I bought the pub a few weeks ago I heard rumours that one of the regulars was a horse but I didn't quite believe them.

"It was a hot day when the horse came in and I was shocked at first because I have never run a pub before."

Retired oil rigger Mr Dolan, 61, from Jarrow, bought Peggy six years ago and discovered her fondness for the pub when she followed him inside.

She had been tied up, but the rope was so long she was able to follow Mr Dolan right up to the bar.

He said: "Peggy's no bother at all. Most of the regulars know her as she's been coming in here for years and for them Peggy's a bit of a novelty. She's a proper lady." ;)

[Gliondrach]

There's a good BBC television programme on here called Autumnwatch. Those of you not fortunate enough to live in these holy islands might be able to see it on the internet. The bit about the seals and geese and swans doesn't interest me much but the parts about the red deer do. There's a fascinating struggle to be top dog amongst the stags on the island of Rhum. The most successful, in terms of offspring, is Caesar. He is 12 years old. His place was taken by Percy who had fought off all comers until he was challenged by Brutus. Brutus is much smaller but he can be a killer. This is due to the shape of his antlers. He has a long pointed prong on each antler which are like daggers. He has killed two stags with them. He and Percy locked horns - I mean antlers - and the fight was on. Percy, being much stronger, lifted him of his front feet and pushed him back. Percy had the confidence of having won every fight he's been involved in - including the one against Caesar. But Brutus is an awkward fighter. His antlers don't allow other stags to get a good grip. Suddenly, Percy was in trouble. It looked as if the killer prongs were stabbing him in the back of the neck and head. No blood was drawn but it must have been painful. He broke away and ran off. Brutus trotted over to the hinds that Percy had been guarding and seemed pleased with himself. But, the next day, Caesar made a challenge and Brutus was off without putting up a fight.

What will happen next is anyone's guess. There's another young stag who has a small harem who might be a contender. Perhaps Percy will step into the ring again. Or Maximus, another big stag who had earlier been defeated by Percy. I am going to watch the next installment soon - at 8pm on BBC2.

[Gliondrach]

You can watch bits of it here:

bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wildbritain/autumnwatch/

I'm not sure if you need broadband. Perhpas not. The programme was on Monday to Thursday, last week, and the same this week.

Today there was a nasty fight between two seals. Quite bloody but it ended without too much damage being done.

[dreamer]

This is really an editorial, but I liked the gist of it...

Looking at Flipper, Seeing Ourselves

By FRANS de WAAL
Published: October 9, 2006
Atlanta

NO one blinks when a celebrity is called “vacuous” or a politician a “moron” — but when headlines screamed that dolphins are “dimwits” and “flippin’ idiots,” I was truly shocked. Is this a way to talk about an animal so revered that there are several Web domain names that include “smart dolphin”?

This is not to say that one should believe everything about them. For example, their supposed “smile” is fake (they lack the facial musculature for expressions), and all we seem to have learned from chatting “dolphinese” with them is that lone male dolphins are keenly interested in female researchers.

Nevertheless, it’s going too far to say that dolphins are dimwits. Yet this is the claim of Paul Manger, a South African scientist who says that dolphins’ relatively large brains are due simply to preponderance of fatty glial cells. These glia produce heat, which allows the brain’s neurons to do their job in the cold ocean.

Based on this observation, Professor Manger couldn’t resist speculating that the intelligence of dolphins and other cetaceans (like whales and porpoises) is vastly overrated. He offered gems of insight, such as that dolphins are too stupid to jump over a slight barrier (as when they are trapped in a tuna net), whereas most other animals will. Even a goldfish will jump out of its bowl, he noted.

If we skip the technicalities — such as that glial cells are not simply insulation, that they add connectivity to the brain, and that humans, too, have many more glial cells than neurons — the question remains why the prospect of animal intelligence sets off such controversy. Could it be that the huge size of the dolphin brain, which exceeds ours by 15 percent or more, threatens the human ego? Are we to ignore the billions and billions of neurons that dolphins do possess?

The goldfish remark reminded me of a common strategy of those who play down animal intelligence. They love to “demonstrate” remarkable cognitive feats in small-brained species: if a rat or pigeon can do it, it can’t be that special. Thus, some pigeons have been trained to use “symbolic communication” by pecking a key marked “thank you!” that delivered food to another pigeon. And they have also been conditioned to peck at their own bodies in front of a mirror, supporting the claim that they are “self-aware.”

Clearly, pigeons are trainable. But is this truly comparable to the actions of Presley, a dolphin at the New York Aquarium, who, without any rewards, reacted to being marked with paint by taking off at high speed to a distant part of his tank where a mirror was mounted? There he spun round and round, the way we do in a dressing room, appearing to check himself out.

What is so upsetting to some people about the closeness between animal and human intelligence, or between animal and human emotions, for that matter? Just saying that animals can learn from each other, and hence have rudimentary cultures, or that they can be jealous or empathic is taken by some as a personal affront. Accusations of anthropomorphism will fly, and we’ll be urged to be parsimonious in our explanations. The message is that animals are no humans.

That much is obvious. But it is equally true that humans are animals. Is it so outlandish, from an evolutionary standpoint, to assume that if a large-brained mammal acts similarly to us under similar circumstances, the psychology behind its behavior is probably similar, too? This is true parsimony in the scientific sense, the idea that the simplest explanation is often the best. Those who resist this framework are in “anthropodenial” — they cling to unproven differences.

Since Aristotle, humans have known that dolphins are incredibly social. Each individual produces its own unique whistle sound by which the others recognize him or her. They enjoy lifelong bonds and reconcile after fights by means of “petting.” The males form power-seeking coalitions, not unlike the politics of chimpanzees and humans. Dolphins also support sick companions near the surface, where they can breathe. They may encircle a school of herring, driving the fish together in a compact ball and releasing bubbles to keep them in place, after which they pick their food like fruit from a tree.

In captivity, dolphins are known to imitate the gait and gestures of people walking by, and to outsmart their keepers. One female dolphin that was rewarded with a fish for every piece of debris she managed to collect from her tank managed to con her trainers into a bounty of snacks. They discovered she had been hiding large items like newspapers underwater, only to rip small pieces from them, bringing these to her trainer one by one.

There are tons of such observations, which is why most of us believe in dolphin intelligence — glia or no glia. It also explains why the slaughter of dolphins, as still occurs every year in Japan, arouses such strong emotions and controversy.

Still, I must admit that the whole dolphin affair has also offered me some fresh insights. From now on, if I find my goldfish thrashing on the floor, I will congratulate him before dropping him back into his bowl.

Frans de Waal, a professor of psychology at Emory University, is the author of “Our Inner Ape.”

[Fauxmage]

I like that very much, dreamer. It echoes my own thoughts perfectly. I shall be making use of the term "anthropodenial" frequently from now on, I suspect. :agree: ;) :D

[dreamer]

I'll try to remember "anthropodenial" too when I get in disagreements with people;)

I especially related to this part:
One female dolphin that was rewarded with a fish for every piece of debris she managed to collect from her tank managed to con her trainers into a bounty of snacks. They discovered she had been hiding large items like newspapers underwater, only to rip small pieces from them, bringing these to her trainer one by one.

Though not a dolphin, it reminded me of my first house bunny, Baby. (This is a story I tell when showing that bunnies are not dumb...as I've had many people tell me that when they learn I have house bunnies:rolleyes:) I was trying to litterbox train her and was giving her a small treat each time she went in the litterbox. Well, if you know "normal" bunny behavior, usually they leave a big pile of poop balls when they go. Well, Baby would jump in, leave ONE poop, jump out for a treat, then jump in and leave one more poop ball...I'm surprised she didn't double her weight with that instance of training me:D

[Bowwowmeow]

:D :dutchbun:

[Oracl]

A very clever bunny, dreamer! :bunny: :lol:

[paul]

thats such a loverly story dreamer, and it does go to show bunnys have brains.

[Gliondrach]

That's a really clever wabbit, Dreamer. Must be related to Bugs.

[Gliondrach]

I watched the end of a television programme last night about a bridge in Scotland, Overton Bridge near Dumbarton, that has a reputation as the Dog Suicide Bridge. Fifty dogs have jumped off it in the last 50 years.

One man was there with his dog, Hendrix I think her name is, and she just jumped over. This was four years ago. Luckily, she survived. She is now 19. She reminds me of Keykey. The parapet of the bridge is only about 30 inches high. They should put a fence up to make it higher. From a dog's point of view it is just a low wall. It is thought that they smell animal scent from down below and just jump over what they think is a wall. They tested some dogs with various scents - mink, squirrel and two other smells. All bar one went straight to the mink. Minks were let loose in this country in the 1920s but began breeding in large numbers in that part of Scotland about 50 years ago.

I found it very annoying to listen to Hendrix's human-type. He kept saying things like 'it was lying there in the grass', 'I picked it up and carried it up the bank'. Would he talk about a child like that? He knows her name and what sex she is. It was only when the interviewer mentioned her name a few times that this bloke begans to say 'she'. It is a very stupid man. It really is.

[thevegantwins]

That story is very frustrating, Gliondrach. Like you said, if they know dogs will jump, why not just make the barrier higher? It's like the locals enjoy the notoriety. :(

[Bowwowmeow]

Great Ape Scolded for Pulling Fire Alarm


From Associated Press
October 23, 2006 3:37 PM EDT
DES MOINES, Iowa - One of the great apes at a research center in Des Moines has learned a valuable lesson - don't pull the fire alarm. A bonobo named Panbanisha did just that last Friday, sending out the fire department to the Great Ape Trust of Iowa.
Fire department spokesman Brian O'Keefe said Monday it was the first known case of an animal setting off a fire alarm in Des Moines.
Trust spokesman Al Setka said a 25-year-old female named Panbanisha was the guilty ape.
Setka said Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, a lead scientist at the trust focusing on studying the behavior and intelligence of bonobos, scolded Panbanisha.
"It's my understanding that she's been told not to do it again," Setka said.
The fire alarm is on a wall in the bonobo home in an area used by the apes and members of the scientific team. Panbanisha is one of seven bonobos at the Great Ape Trust, and was among the first group to arrive in April 2005. Bonobos are among the most human-like of the great apes.
Setka said there are fire alarms throughout the center.
The one triggered last week was about the level of a light switch and had a pull handle, he said.
The trust was taking steps to secure the alarm with a protective cover, he said.
Setka said he didn't immediately know if all fire alarms would be covered, or just the one in the bonobo area.
The center, on a 230-acre site, also has three orangutans.


Troublemaker!
:damcemon:

[Bowwowmeow]

Couple End Up Catching Dog in Fla. Bay


From Associated Press
October 23, 2006 7:27 PM EDT
KEY LARGO, Fla. - Ray Truche Jr. and Lisa Largrassa fished for hours and didn't catch anything - except a drowning dog. Motoring their 23-foot fishing boat earlier this month on Florida Bay, the two hit something unusual and turned around to check.
"As we came back upon it, I realized it was a little fat dog," said Truche, of Manchester, Mass. "It was having trouble keeping its head above water. Its big eyes were looking at us. It was almost as if it was saying, 'Don't leave me here!'"
The couple leaned over the boat and made their only catch of the day: a 5-year-old cairn terrier named Tigger, The Key West Citizen reported Monday.
Tigger was apparently thrown from Diane and Richard Beckman's boat on their way from Key Largo to Marathon.
The Beckmans searched frantically for 2 1/2 hours with no sign of the dog.
"We went back and forth, back and forth," Diane said. "Finally we just gave up, because we thought he couldn't have survived in the water for that long. I was just heartbroken. "
Since there was no answer at the home listed on Tigger's tag, Truche and Largrassa dropped him off at the Upper Keys Animal Shelter.
Diane was elated when she got home and listened to her messages. She went quickly to pick up Tigger.
"He didn't know me. He was so terrified. As soon as he realized it was me, he jumped in my arms and wouldn't let go," she said.


Lucky dog! "Thrown" was a bad choice of words. When I first read it I thought the owners deliberately threw their dog overboard, but from reading the rest of the article it looked like the dog fell off.

[Fauxmage]

Mirror Test Implies Elephants Self-Aware
http://my.eimg.net/harvest_xml/NEWS/img/20061030/454586d0_3ca7_15527200610302125272232.jpg (http://enews.earthlink.net/article/pho?guid=20061030/454586d0_3ca7_15527200610302125272232&article_path=/article/str&article_guid=20061031/4546d850_3ca6_1552620061031-1937940394)

Image provided by National Academy of Sciences of 34-year-old female Asian elephant Happy at the Bronx Zoo in New York. Happy showed researchers that pachyderms can recognize themselves in a mirror _ a highly complex behavior previously known in only a few other species.

By ANDREW BRIDGES (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
October 31, 2006 12:41 PM EST
WASHINGTON - If you're Happy and you know it, pat your head. That, in a peanut shell, is how a 34-year-old female Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo showed researchers that pachyderms can recognize themselves in a mirror - complex behavior observed in only a few other species.
The test results suggest elephants - or at least Happy - are self-aware. The ability to distinguish oneself from others had been shown only in humans, chimpanzees and, to a limited extent, dolphins.
That self-recognition may underlie the social complexity seen in elephants, and could be linked to the empathy and altruism that the big-brained animals have been known to display, said researcher Diana Reiss, of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the Bronx Zoo.
In a 2005 experiment, Happy faced her reflection in an 8-by-8-foot mirror and repeatedly used her trunk to touch an "X" painted above her eye. The elephant could not have seen the mark except in her reflection. Furthermore, Happy ignored a similar mark, made on the opposite side of her head in paint of an identical smell and texture, that was invisible unless seen under black light.
"It seems to verify for us she definitely recognized herself in the mirror," said Joshua Plotnik, one of the researchers behind the study. Details appear this week on the Web site of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Still, two other zoo elephants, Maxine and Patty, failed to touch either the visible or invisible "X" marks on their heads in two runs of the experiment. But all three adult female elephants at the zoo behaved while in front of the jumbo mirror in ways that suggested they recognized themselves, said Plotnik, a graduate student at Emory University in Atlanta.
Maxine, for instance, used the tip of her trunk to probe the inside of her mouth while facing the mirror. She also used her trunk to slowly pull one ear toward the mirror, as if she were using the reflection to investigate herself. The researchers reported not seeing that type of behavior at any other time.
"Doing things in front of the mirror: that spoke volumes to me that they were definitely recognizing themselves," said Janine Brown, a research physiologist and elephant expert at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington. She was not connected with the study but expressed interest in conducting follow-up research.
Gordon Gallup, the psychologist who devised the mark test in 1970 for use on chimps, called the results "very strong and very compelling." But he said additional studies on both elephants and dolphins were needed.
"They really need to be replicated in order to be able to say with any assurance that dolphins and elephants indeed as species are capable of recognizing themselves. Replication is the cornerstone of science," said Gallup, a professor at the State University of New York at Albany, who provided advice to the researchers.
The three Bronx Zoo elephants did not display any social behavior in front of the mirror, suggesting that each recognized the reflected image as itself and not another elephant. Many other animals mistake their mirror reflections for other creatures.
That divergent species such as elephants and dolphins should share the ability to recognize themselves as distinct from others suggests the characteristic evolved independently, according to the study.
Elephants and mammoths, now extinct, split from the last common ancestor they shared with mastodons, also extinct, about 24 million years ago. In a separate study also appearing this week on the scientific journal's Web site, researchers report finding fossil evidence of an older species that links modern elephants to even older ancestors.
The likely "missing link" is a 27 million-year-old jaw fossil, found in Eritrea.


What makes me happy about studies like this is that they prove what I have known all along about ALL animals; they are just like us; or rather, we are just like them (six of one, half-dozen of the other).

Which is exactly why I hate stuff like this too. They do it to animals in captivity, and make a big deal out of what they discover about one particular animal. But will what they learn make them set the elephants free? Will they stop treating elephants this way in the future? Why do they need reasons like the fact that animals are self-aware to stop abusing them? Why don't people just leave them the hell alone, ALL animals? Just give them the benefit of the doubt that they share our animal qualities with us, that we probably wouldn't have our own intelligence, self-awareness, ability to suffer, etc. if it hadn't developed in the animals that have existed for millions of years before we arrived on the evolutuionary scene anyway. :mad: :( :hbang: :sigh:

[paul]

i couldnt agree more fauxmage.:agree:

[Gliondrach]

Indeed.

A few times I showed Mandy her reflection in a mirror. She usually went to look behind it. This could indicate she thought it was a different dog. But, when I held her so she could see both of us, she didn't react as if it was anything strange. She could see me - the eyes of her reflection were looking at my eyes - and she knew that I was holding her, but she didn't try to find out which of the two Martins were real. She could recognise me from a distance - as proved by her excitement when she was sitting on the windowsill and would see me coming home - so, I think that she knew that my reflection was of me. This doesn't prove that she recognised herself, though. But, she could recognise female dogs at a distance and would growl at them. I seem to remember she would growl at them outside when she was on the windowsill so it couldn't have been their scent that gave them away. Unless she recognised the particular individual. She didn't growl at her reflection. Perhaps she knew it was hers.

[Keykeypie]

A swan who fell in love with a swan-shaped paddle boat has been moved to a zoo with his plastic lover.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m60/gingerlks/swanie.jpg

Biologists in Muenster, north-western Germany, say the rare Black Australian Swan has been showing all the typical signs of love for its species, circling its plastic lover, staring endlessly at it and making crooning noises.

The swan now refuses to fly south for winter without his mate.

Park keepers say that 'Black Peter' as the lovesick swan is known, refused to leave the boat on the Aasee Lake - which also should be taken off during the cold weather.

Boat-owner Peter Overschmidt has agreed not to lock his boat away for the winter.

He said: "When you see how Peter circles the swan boat you know there could be no other option, it's the centre of his life."

Hearing about Peter's plight Allwetter Zoo then agreed that both Peter and the boat could spend the winter on their pond near the elephant enclosure, which is more protected from the elements than the lake.

Zoo director Joerg Adler said: "This arrangement could go on for ever because the animal now firmly believes he has found a partner for life."

[Oracl]

Poor Black Peter. :sorry: He needs to come to Australia where he would have a wide choice of real Black Swans! :updn:

[thevegantwins]

Isn't trapping him and relocating him going to be very traumatic?

[paul]

it proberly would be tvt, its the 3rd time of heard a story like this in the last year or so. i havent seen one of these swan boats.

[Bowwowmeow]

Great Ape Scolded for Pulling Fire Alarm

From Associated Press
October 23, 2006 3:37 PM EDT
DES MOINES, Iowa - One of the great apes at a research center in Des Moines has learned a valuable lesson - don't pull the fire alarm. A bonobo named Panbanisha did just that last Friday, sending out the fire department to the Great Ape Trust of Iowa.
Fire department spokesman Brian O'Keefe said Monday it was the first known case of an animal setting off a fire alarm in Des Moines.
Trust spokesman Al Setka said a 25-year-old female named Panbanisha was the guilty ape.
Setka said Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, a lead scientist at the trust focusing on studying the behavior and intelligence of bonobos, scolded Panbanisha.
"It's my understanding that she's been told not to do it again," Setka said.
The fire alarm is on a wall in the bonobo home in an area used by the apes and members of the scientific team. Panbanisha is one of seven bonobos at the Great Ape Trust, and was among the first group to arrive in April 2005. Bonobos are among the most human-like of the great apes.
Setka said there are fire alarms throughout the center.
The one triggered last week was about the level of a light switch and had a pull handle, he said.
The trust was taking steps to secure the alarm with a protective cover, he said.
Setka said he didn't immediately know if all fire alarms would be covered, or just the one in the bonobo area. Troublemaker!
:damcemon:
She did it again. :D


Clever Bonobo Again Triggers Fire Alarm
http://my.eimg.net/harvest_xml/NEWS/img/20061115/455a9ed0_3ca7_1552720061115-1215664389.jpg (http://enews.earthlink.net/article/pho?guid=20061115/455a9ed0_3ca7_1552720061115-1215664389&article_path=/article/str&article_guid=20061116/455bf050_3ca6_1552620061116-39581173)

This undated photo provided by the Great Ape Trust shows Panbanisha the bonobo. For the second time in two months, the 20-year-old animal triggered a fire alarm at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa research center.

From Associated Press
November 16, 2006 5:03 PM EST


DES MOINES, Iowa - Panbanisha the bonobo is up to her tricks again. For the second time in two months, the 20-year-old animal triggered a fire alarm at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa research center.
The trouble started at about 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, when Panbanisha wanted to go outside but the staff was too busy to let her out, trust officials said. Panbanisha then apparently lost her temper and pulled the alarm, officials said.
It's a trick Panbanisha initially learned in October when she saw a welder start the alarm. It took her less than a day to learn how to duplicate the excitement.
When the alarm sounded again the next morning, "I went to check on Pan, and she was sitting there next to it with a smile on her face," said lead scientist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh last month.
Savage-Rumbaugh said she explained the danger of such mischief and Panbanisha promised not to do it again.
Panbanisha is one of seven bonobos at the Great Ape Trust and was among the first group to arrive in April 2005. Bonobos are one of the most human-like of the great apes and have sophisticated language skills.
Trust spokesman Al Setka said there are fire alarms throughout the center. The one Panbanisha triggered was about the level of a light switch and had a pull handle, he said.
Trust officials said they will cover the alarms to prevent a third prank from Panbanisha.
She's trying to tell them that she is too smart to be kept there, and they should close down and let her and her friends go. They are just too stupid to understand.

[Oracl]

She's trying to tell them that she is too smart to be kept there, and they should close down and let her and her friends go. They are just too stupid to understand.
She looks very clever. :agree: There's something very knowing in her eyes, along with a certain sadness. :(

[Bowwowmeow]

That's just what I see Oracl. And what makes me really sad is my firm belief that in spite of what is being done to her, if she were set free she would never harbor a grudge, or feel any hatred, or want to retaliate against her oppressors. That's what makes most other animals better than us, because we could not say the same about ourselves if the tables were turned.

And yet, if any animal wanted to harm us as much as we have harmed them, who could blame them?

[Oracl]

That's what makes most other animals better than us, because we could not say the same about ourselves if the tables were turned.
So true. :(

[1vegan]

This seems like good news.....I think.



AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: The Roman emperor Caligula is fabled to have made his horse a senator. The Dutch Party for Animals won't go that far, but looks set to score a milestone in elections Nov. 22 by becoming the first animal rights party in Europe to have its own lawmaker.

"We see this as a follow-up to liberating slaves, giving rights to women, and finally giving rights to animals," says party leader Marianne Thieme.

The Party for the Animals is poised to win at least one, and possibly two seats in the Dutch parliament — another coup for a country known for progressive legislation on decriminalizing and regulating euthanasia, soft drugs and prostitution.

"We want a constitutional amendment, guaranteeing animals the right to freedom from pain, fear, and stress caused by humans," said Thieme, 34, in an interview with The Associated Press.

Blair and Musharraf move to solidify their relationship Her party, known by its Dutch acronym PvdD, has adopted a down-to-earth program, sidelining more radical activists who would like to mandate vegetarianism and forbid zoos.

Its central aims are promoting "biological" farming practices — such as giving animals a minimal amount of living space — and discouraging the most inhumane of industrial farming practices, such as castration or slaughter without anesthesia.

Those goals are already endorsed by most political parties, but Thieme said support for her group has swelled since it was formed in 2002, as politicians failed to make animal welfare a priority.

"They say: people are more important. People should come first. But if you always follow that line of reasoning, animals never make it onto the agenda," she said.

The PvdD is one of 24 parties qualifying to stand for election, but only about 10 are likely to win seats. In 2003, PvdD drew 48,000 votes, just shy of the roughly 50,000 needed for a seat in the 150-member legislature.

In the most recent polls, the party stands to win around 130,000-140,000 votes, enough for two seats.

"Suddenly all the political parties are talking about animals," she said. "We're winning voters from them."

She says PvdD supporters not only come from the left, but also include traditional supporters of Christian parties who feel animal abuse is contrary to their values. Some likely voters are working-class pet owners with a strong feeling for "social justice," many who have never voted before.

"They say, I don't know what politics is. But I know what I want: I want to vote for animals," Thieme said. "I know that I care for them, I know they're abused, and that the violent way we treat animals says something about our society."

She said the broader movement suffered a setback after the murder of populist politician Pim Fortuyn in 2002 by an animal rights activist. The PvdD rejects violence, she said.

Animal rights parties exist in other western countries, notably Germany, and environmentalist parties that endorse animal-friendly policies have booked political successes around Europe.

Thieme said success in the Netherlands could help the movement elsewhere. "One of our purposes is to be an inspiration for other countries and animal rights activists," Thieme said.

She also credits her party's strength to a backlash against intensive farming in a country that is one of the world's biggest meat producers and has seen three massive outbreaks of animal disease in the past decade.

The worst was an outbreak of bird flu three years ago that led to the slaughter of 30 million chickens and infected 89 people, killing one. The government culled livestock and even ordered children's pet birds be handed over for gassing to control the spreading disease — a public relations disaster.

On issues that are not obviously animal-related, the PvdD will vote to "protect the weakest members of society," Thieme said.

Once it achieves its goal of a constitutional amendment, she said her party may simply dissolve itself. Or it may push the philosophical debate further.

"Let's begin with easing the suffering of the hundreds of millions of cows, pigs and chickens stuck in factory farming," she said. "After that, if there are people who want to stand up for the mosquitoes, then we'll talk about it."

I completely messed this up, I was trying to merge posts but failed. keykeypie is the original poster of this article, not 1vegan. He started a thread on this subject here. (http://www.thenakedvegan.net/showthread.php?t=692). Please ignore the poor moderation by a sick, tired vegan. :o, TVT

[Oracl]

ABC News Online

Cane toads help reduce mosquito numbers

If you dread summer because of the mosquitoes, you might need to start hanging around cane toads.

As part of a study into the effect toads are having on native fauna, a team of scientists has found cane toad tadpoles are reducing mosquito numbers.

Professor of ecological biology at the University of Sydney Rick Shine says the toads could be contributing to better human health.

"We've simply set out bowls of water with and without cane toad tadpoles, we've put mosquito larvae in there and we've seen whether or not the mosquito larvae do survive and what size mozzie actually flies out at the end," Prof Shine said.

"And the toads have quite a spectacular effect, they really do compete with the young mosquitoes and so you get fewer mosquitoes in the case of one species and for all four species we looked at, they're much smaller when they emerge."

Finally something positive being said about Cane Toads. :thumbsup: I guess it's too much to hope that people will think twice now before automatically killing this introduced species, which never asked to become an Aussie. :rolleyes: :(

[thevegantwins]

That's an interesting story, Oracl and reminds me of the organic farm I get our veg from in warm weather. The kids and I sometimes sit outside with Farmer Juan and Farmer Sue just to chat and there are never any bugs in front of their house because they keep chickens which walk wherever they want to. Chickens can eliminate mosquitos and other biting insects better than any chemical known to mankind.

[Bowwowmeow]

I guess it's too much to hope that people will think twice now before automatically killing this introduced species, which never asked to become an Aussie. :rolleyes: :(
Its too much to hope that most people will ever value any non-human animal for its own sake, and not because it benefits people in some way. :( :(

[Bowwowmeow]

The kids and I sometimes sit outside with Farmer Juan and Farmer Sue just to chat and there are never any bugs in front of their house because they keep chickens which walk wherever they want to. Chickens can eliminate mosquitos and other biting insects better than any chemical known to mankind.
That sounds like something you could write a children's story about. :colors:

[thevegantwins]

That sounds like something you could write a children's story about. :colors:
Yeah and I'd probably be charged under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act for lowering Monsanto's profits. :dizzy:

[Oracl]

Yeah and I'd probably be charged under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act for lowering Monsanto's profits. :dizzy:
That would be funny if it weren't so frighteningly possible! :eek: :dark: :D

[Oracl]

On a lighter note:

It's not a man's world for new gecko species

December 11, 2006 - 8:20AM
Source: ABC

Scientists at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) are researching a new species of gecko that has recently been discovered in Darwin's northern suburbs.

The mourning gecko is unusual because of the way it reproduces - females can simulate sex to produce eggs.

MAGNT vertebrates curator Paul Horner says the female geckos can often survive very well in a world without men.

"It's not totally without men - a few of the populations over in South East Asia, where they originate from, do have men," he said.

"But these don't do as successfully at colonising as what the all female populations do."

:femme: :rock: :D

[NYC Rocker]

:D :laugh:

Buh-Bye, Boys. :blinkwave: :wave:

[1vegan]

Dog alerts Wis. family to house fire

The Associated Press
Monday, December 11th, 2006 02:07 PM (PST)
GRESHAM, Wis. (AP) - A Rottweiler awoke a mother in time to grab her two young sons and escape from their burning house over the weekend in eastern Wisconsin, according to sheriff's officials.

The 150-pound dog, named Zeus, awoke Jennifer Brusoe at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday at their rented house, according to a Shawano County sheriff's officials.

Brusoe grabbed her two sons, ages 5 and 6, and escaped. One of the children was injured from a piece of falling ceiling, but his injuries were not life threatening, Deputy Jesse Sperberg said in a news release.

"She said the whole ceiling was in flames," sheriff's Sgt. Staber Cook said. "She grabbed the children as the ceiling collapsed in the bedrooms."

The Rottweiler and a family cat escaped and were picked up by a neighbor.

The Gresham Fire Department was investigating the fire, which they don't consider suspicious. Cook said it may have started from an electrical overload caused by electric heaters.

The fire caused extensive damage to the house and the family was temporarily staying at a hotel, the sheriff's department said. Done very well by Zeus :)

(side note: a 150 pound rottweiler is probably strong enoug to pull an adult out of bed?)

[thevegantwins]

I'm glad everyone got out, including the dog and cat. There are so many stories of animals saving humans' lives and so few stories of the reverse :( (except amongst AR and vegan circles ;) )

[thevegantwins]

Uplifting animal related news. The ASPCA 2006 Dog Photo Contest winners (http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=dogphoto_winner)! :doggy: :doggygrin: :dancepuppy: :dancepuppy2: :dogwalk: :frenchbulldog:

[Keykeypie]

AWE.....those are so nice VT......THANKS!

[Gliondrach]

What? They haven't used any of BWM's?

[Oracl]

Thanks, TVT! Cute pictures. :agree: I love the one of Bailey the Beagle! :colors:

[Bowwowmeow]

What? They haven't used any of BWM's?
Aw shucks. :o

[Bowwowmeow]

Group Seeks Protection for Right Whales

http://my.eimg.net/harvest_xml/NEWS/img/20061228/45934f50_3ca7_15527200612281573830721.jpg (http://enews.earthlink.net/article/pho?guid=20061228/45934f50_3ca7_15527200612281573830721&article_path=/article/top&article_guid=20061228/45934f50_3ca6_15526200612281916884119)

This undated photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows a right whale breaching the ocean's surface.

By MARY PEMBERTON (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
December 28, 2006 5:13 PM EST
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - After winning more protection for polar bears, a conservation group is pressuring the U.S. government to keep the North Pacific right whale from going extinct. The whales are the most endangered whale in the world.
The administration of President Bush proposed Wednesday that polar bears be listed as "threatened" because of melting Arctic sea ice related to global warming. A threatened listing is one step lower than endangered, meaning the species is likely to face extinction in the future.
Also Wednesday, the conservation group got the Bush administration to propose that the North Pacific right whale get its own endangered listing, apart from right whales in the North Atlantic. The proposal must be finalized in a year.
Right whales have been listed as endangered since 1973, but the separate listing proposal is important because it will draw attention to the few right whales left in the Pacific, said Brendan Cummings, ocean program director for the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity. The center was one of three groups that led the legal fight to get polar bears listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.
While scientists view the North Pacific and North Atlantic right whales as genetically distinct, they are listed as the same species. A 1991 recovery plan for right whales makes scant reference to whales in the North Pacific, instead focusing on the North Atlantic, where there are believed to be about 350, Cummings said.
Pacific right whales were hunted nearly to extinction in the 1840s, when 15,000 were killed in a single decade, Cummings said.
The whales were thought to be headed toward certain extinction until a surprising number turned up a couple of summers ago in the Bering Sea. Despite that, it is believed fewer than 100 exist off the Alaska coast, and a few hundred may still be left off the Russian coast.
The separate listing also will bring increased scrutiny to any proposals for oil and gas development in the area where the whales have repeatedly been spotted.
"We have the most endangered whale in the world and a proposal to open up its most important habitat to oil and gas development," Cummings said.

[Gliondrach]

Let's hope the whales win the battle against the oil and gas companies.

[Oracl]

Let's hope the whales win the battle against the oil and gas companies.
Yes. :crossfingers:

[Bowwowmeow]

The Right whale got its name from the whale hunters. They were so friendly and fearless, they would come right up to the whaling vessels and make easy targets, so they were considered the "right" whales to go after, since they were the easiest to kill. :( :mad: :(

[Bowwowmeow]

Hotel Chain Offers Massages for Dogs


By PHIL DAVIS (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
January 02, 2007 7:07 AM EST
SARASOTA, Fla. - Austin ricochets around the Ritz-Carlton hotel room, bouncing from bed to chair and leaping high to lick the face of his personal masseuse. He's an energetic 4-year-old pug, so there is a lot of wriggling as his "privileged pup" pet massage begins. But soon his eyelids droop and his tiny muscles relax under the soothing touch of Darlene Davison, the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota's spa director.
"OK, sweetheart, OK. There you go," coos Davison, creator of the luxury hotel chain's latest indulgence - the $130 dog massage.
Figure in the hotel's 20-pound weight limit and the additional $125 nonrefundable pet fee and the "privileged pup" plan comes out to a minimum of $12.75 a pound. And that's the basic package.
For another $220, the Ritz throws in gourmet dog biscuits, an in-room pet massage, a choice of nail buffing or nail polish, a souvenir photo, a brisk walk over Sarasota's scenic Ringling Bridge and a gourmet meal of organic stew and designer water served on a silver tray.
Americans spend about $38.4 billion on their pets annually, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturer's Association. Spending on pets increased an average of $2.3 billion a year since the association started tracking numbers in 1997.
"The trend, in the last year especially, is people enjoying things they can do with their pet," said Charlotte Reed, the New York-based author of the upcoming book "Miss Fido Manners Complete Book of Dog Etiquette." Reed has four dogs, three cats and several birds.
"People take their dogs to baseball games," Reed said. "People are going to fashion shows with their pets. People are going to benefits and art shows with their pets. You all dress nicely, put on your big diamonds and put on your pet's boa, or tuxedo shirt if it's a boy."
The platinum and pocket pup set are defintely the Ritz's target demographic.
The Ritz packages remain a budget buster for the average pet owner. An hour on the massage table at the Ritz equals an average year's worth of dog grooming and treats.
Davison said the blow is softened a bit by the obligatory massage lesson. Florida law says veterinary procedures - including massages - must be done in a vet's office unless it is for educational purposes. So Davison and five other dog-certified spa employees use the hour to demonstrate Swedish, sports or relaxation massage techniques to dog owners.
The lesson sold Austin's owners, Larry and Deborah Colton of Oldsmar, Fla. The couple drove about an hour to the Sarasota Ritz to celebrate Larry Colton's 59th birthday and do some shopping. They brought their pugs, Austin and 2-year-old Phoenix.
Deborah Colton said she wanted to learn pet massage for her 11-year-old lab mix, Kalua, who has arthritis. Kalua is too big to stay at the Ritz, so Austin got the massage.
"Massage is very important," Colton said. "I tend to do for my pets what I do for myself. I know the wonderful effects of massage so that's why I wanted to do this."
The Sarasota Ritz dog massage program is a pilot program for the whole chain, Davison said. She began offering services about three months ago and said business has varied from a peak of three canine customers in a week to no takers for several weeks in a row.
The hotel is working on more owner-pet pampering packages, although the human indulgences are being planned for the Ritz's luxury spa. No dogs allowed.
That rubs Reed the wrong way.
"I would spend $250 to get us both rubbed down ... so I can look over and smiling adoringly at my pet enjoying herself," Reed said. "That would be fun for me."


Hey Rocker, I think we're in the wrong business. ;)
*Goes off looking for the nearest Ritz-Carlton to which to offer my services* :hyper:

[Gliondrach]

You could start a cat and dog counselling service. Or a dog and cat astrology or tarot service. Or aura readings for dogs and cats. Or paw print readings for cats and dogs.

[1vegan]

Bank issues credit card to cat

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian bank has apologised for issuing a credit card to a cat after its owner decided to test the bank's identity security system.

The Bank of Queensland issued a credit card to Messiah the cat when his owner Katherine Campbell applied for a secondary card on her account under its name.

"I just couldn't believe it. People need to be aware of this and banks need to have better security," Campbell told local media on Thursday.

The bank said the cat's card had been cancelled. "We apologise as this should not have happened," it said in a statement.:D

[Gliondrach]

She could have ordered lots of things on the internet and then told the bank to take Messiah to court to recover the money.

[Oracl]

I can just imagine Messiah surfing the Net and ordering kitty toys and treats! :catw/b:

[thevegantwins]

I can just imagine Messiah surfing the Net and ordering kitty toys and treats! :catw/b:
Messiah could just claim he was high on catnip and wasn't responsible for his actions :D

[Keykeypie]

Birds catch ferry together

Two birds catch a ferry ride each day to get to the beach.

The male and female turnstones show up at 8.15am for the trip over the River Fal from Falmouth to St Mawes in Cornwall. They make the return trip at 4.30pm.

Skipper John Brown said: "They arrives for a breakfast of breadcrumbs at 8.15am before we set out, and never miss the last ferry back.

"We aren't sure why they don't fly. Maybe they're a bit lazy or like the company."

The birds nicknamed Fred and Freda pick up their food from under stones and rocks. They are among thousands of their species who spend the winter in Britain.

According to the Sun RSPB spokesman Tony Whitehead said: "These birds aren't bright, but they are amazing timekeepers."

[Oracl]

What a lovely story! :colors: My mother lives in Falmouth, I shall have to ask her if she knows about this. :rubchin: :)

[Keykeypie]

What a lovely story! :colors: My mother lives in Falmouth, I shall have to ask her if she knows about this. :rubchin: :)

Oh....that will be interesting to see what she says:agree:

[Gliondrach]

They're lucky they don't travel by rail. They would sometimes have to wait half an hour for a delayed train. That's if it wasn't cancelled. Clever birds.

[Charmagne]

I received a press release from the Animal Liberation Press Office announcing today that Whole Foods will pull POM products off its shelves unless it stops testing on animals. I've tried posting it but cannot for some reason. If anyone can get it to post please post it.

Anyway Yay!!!:yea: :yea:

[Fauxmage]

That's great news! :psing: :excited: :psing:

[Oracl]

Excellent! :thumbsup:

[Gliondrach]

Good for them.

[Keykeypie]

I received a press release from the Animal Liberation Press Office announcing today that Whole Foods will pull POM products off its shelves unless it stops testing on animals. I've tried posting it but cannot for some reason. If anyone can get it to post please post it.

Anyway Yay!!!:yea: :yea: Sure.....here it is:

For Immediate Release
January 17, 2007

Whole Foods Market to Pull POM Wonderful Products Off Shelves
Unnecessary Animal Cruelty Cited as Reason for Compassionate Decision
LOS ANGELES - In correspondence with a local animal activist yesterday, Whole Foods Market Customer Communications Specialist Jessie Walker said that Whole Foods would pull POM Wonderful products off their shelves nationwide April first unless the company stopped testing on animals. Animal rights activists applauded the move by the progressive grocer.

After being exposed last year as funding cruel and unnecessary animal experiments, in which baby mice were deprived of oxygen and rabbits had their penile arteries severed, POM has seen legal demonstrations at the homes of its executives in Los Angeles as well as a recent claim alleging product tampering on the East Coast, where an anonymous communique stated that 487 bottles of POM juice had been tainted with a gastrointestinal irritant.


In addition, the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau has recommended POM Wonderful discontinue its "puffery" and hyperbolic health claims regarding its pomegranate juice. NAD Director Andrea Levine reported that the claims were the strongest she'd ever seen for a food product, yet POM continues to make outrageous claims that its juice benefits cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

As detailed in a company press release last month, POM vice-president Fiona Possell resigned her position as company spokesperson, acknowledging animal rights activists as the reason for her resignation.

[thevegantwins]

Yeah :cheer:

[Keykeypie]

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m60/gingerlks/WILDDOGS.jpg

[Oracl]

Ha ha, very cute! :colors:

[Gliondrach]

The poor agilator doesn't stand a chance.

[Bowwowmeow]

Hehe! Look at those fat bellies. :smallheart:

[Charmagne]

KeyKeyPie - thanks for posting that article on POM!

Those babies are so cute - I love puppy breath!! Is that strange?

[Gliondrach]

No, it's not strange.

[Fauxmage]

Good lord! I know Golden Retreivers will eat ANYTHING, but really!


Turtle Eaten by Golden Retriever Lives


From Associated Press
February 15, 2007 10:51 PM EST
BRANDON, Fla. - A palm-sized pet turtle and the golden retriever that gobbled it up survived the misadventure thanks to the quick actions of a 12-year-old girl, a veterinarian said.
The saga of Pepper the red-eared slider turtle and Bella the golden retriever started last week. Shelby Terihay, 12, moved her pet pond turtles indoors to protect them from a cold snap - a plan that worked well until Bella found some of the turtles in a bathtub, The Tampa Tribune reported.
A quick headcount confirmed Bella had swallowed one of the turtles. Shelby insisted on a rescue mission and, on the advice of a vet, her parents made Bella vomit. Out came Pepper, still alive despite a shattered shell and an estimated 10 minutes inside Bella's belly.
"This was definitely a first for me," veterinarian David Thomassy said.
Thomassy patched up Pepper's shell and credited Shelby with saving Bella, too.
"The turtle would definitely have caused an obstruction," Thomassy said. "Without cutting it out directly, it eventually would have killed the dog."


I hope the turtle stays well. I know its possible to patch their shells, but they can be quite susceptible to infections. :( :crossfingers:

[Charmagne]

Oh my goddness!:excited: That was a bright little girl. I'm so glad the turtle lived and hope he will be well. Unreal that he was still alive in the stomach!

[thevegantwins]

February 23, 2007
Beaver Seen in NYC; First in Centuries
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:01 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Beavers grace New York City's official seal. But the industrious rodents haven't been spotted here for as many as 200 years -- until this week.

Biologists videotaped a beaver swimming up the Bronx River on Wednesday. Its twig-and-mud lodge had been spotted earlier on the river bank, but the tape confirmed the presence of the animal.

''It had to happen because beaver populations are expanding, and their habitats are shrinking,'' said Dietland Muller-Schwarze, a beaver expert at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. ''We're probably going to see more of them.''

Beavers gnawed out a prominent place in the city's early days as a European settlement, attracting fur traders to a nascent Manhattan. The animal appears in the city seal to symbolize a Dutch trading company that factored in the city's colonial beginnings, according to the city's Web site.

But amid heavy trapping, beavers disappeared from the city in the early 1800s, according to the city Department of Parks & Recreation.

The beaver that has made its way to the Bronx appears to be a male, several feet long and 2 or 3 years old, said Patrick Thomas, the mammals curator at the nearby Bronx Zoo.

Biologists have nicknamed the animal Jose, as a tribute to Rep. Jose Serrano's work to revive the river. The Bronx Democrat lined up federal money for a cleanup.

''But I don't know to what extent I imagined things living in it again,'' he said.

That is amazing. The Bronx River is a cesspool. I hope the beaver can survive a swim in that. I've seen hawks, rats, mice, tons of pigeons and squirrels and too many human animals in NYC.

[Oracl]

''It had to happen because beaver populations are expanding, and their habitats are shrinking,'' said Dietland Muller-Schwarze, a beaver expert at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse.
It looks like the beaver may have been forced to live there due to reduced alternative habitats. :( I hope he survives. :crossfingers:

[Bowwowmeow]

Yes, me too. :smallheart:

[Charmagne]

Poor beaver! I wonder if he has a family - more of them in the lodge?

[Charmagne]

L.A. Zoo to retire elephant to animal sanctuary
Animal rights activists praise decision on Ruby, which ends months of speculation on her fate.
By Carla Hall, Times Staff Writer
March 12, 2007


The decision ends months of speculation over whether the pachyderm would go to another zoo or a sanctuary, and was praised by animal rights activists who lobbied for several years for her retirement to a preserve.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has expressed concern about the conditions for elephants at the L.A. Zoo, plans to discuss the decision to relocate Ruby at a news conference today.

"I am very pleased that the city and the zoo recognize that it's best to send Ruby to a sanctuary, which unlike a zoo can provide the vast space and natural conditions that elephants need," Catherine Doyle, elephant campaign director for In Defense of Animals, said Sunday night.

Activists have made the zoo's elephant habitat a rallying cry, long arguing that the giant land animals, which roam miles in the wild and form social bonds, simply do not have enough space at the L.A. Zoo.

State Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), who has tried to mandate space minimums for elephants in captivity, has said that L.A. Zoo elephants simply don't have enough space to be content. Levine is also expected to appear at today's news conference at the zoo.

But zookeepers and L.A. Zoo director John Lewis have insisted that space alone is not the issue in caring for captive elephants. Zoo officials had no comment Sunday.

Currently, Ruby is off-exhibit and solitary, having lost the closest thing she had to a companion in the female Asian elephant Gita, who died last summer.

After Gita's death, Lewis said he would consider either transferring Ruby — at 46, her breeding years behind her — to another zoo or sending her to a sanctuary.

The advisory L.A. Zoo Commission voted at a meeting earlier this year to urge that Ruby go to a sanctuary. Ruby's departure will leave the zoo with only one elephant, Billy, a 22-year-old Asian bull, in residence and on exhibit.

Ruby will go to the Performing Animal Welfare Society's Ark 2000 elephant sanctuary in San Andreas, southeast of Sacramento.

Like a kind of Leisure World for elephants, PAWS offers some 75 acres of rolling hills to wander, plus a 3-acre lake and mud holes.

"Here, she'll be able to bathe when she chooses to bathe, mud when she choose to mud, and graze," said Pat Derby, co-founder and co-director of PAWS.

"We're really happy the zoo has made this decision," Derby said Sunday night.

Like any other relocation for an elephant, Derby said, this one will take some adjustment.

"There's the popular misconception that you put them in the truck, drive to the sanctuary, let them out and they all live happily ever after," said Derby, who has been caring for elephants at a sanctuary for 21 years.

"Every move is traumatic and stressful for an elephant. They're grounded in routine. They don't adapt well to a change. It will be a real experience for her…. I will say she's healthy and she doesn't have any major medical problems, and she has a really lovely personality. I feel she will move more quickly."

The L.A. Zoo joins a small but significant list of institutions that have decided, for the good of the animals, to retire elephants.

Eight zoos accredited by the Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums — including San Francisco and Detroit — have placed a total of 11 elephants in sanctuaries, Doyle said.

The L.A. Zoo, however, is in the interesting position of retiring one elephant to a sanctuary but not getting out of the elephant-keeping business. In fact, the zoo has embarked on an ambitious, $39-million capital project to build a new pachyderm habitat that is expected to be devoted to keeping and breeding Asian elephants.

Ruby came to the L.A. Zoo from Circus Vargas in 1987, but was sent off to Tennessee's Knoxville Zoo in 2003 to serve as a maternal example to other elephants. In her wake, she left outraged animal rights activists who said the zoo was breaking the bond between Ruby and Gita, and even filed a lawsuit to get her returned. She did come back to L.A. in 2004 after her introduction to the herd in Knoxville proved unsuccessful. But she has been off-exhibit ever since, a result of construction on the zoo grounds.

The zookeepers and the director have always staunchly defended their management of and devotion to the elephants. Principal elephant keeper Jeff Briscoe has spent years caring for the zoo's elephants and travels to see them in the wild.

Animals in captivity are well-cared for, Briscoe said, and not subject to "incredible humanelephant conflict issues" that plague pachyderms in the wild, Briscoe said last year.

"There are space issues and poaching. It's important to keep them in people's eyes so they pay attention…. These guys are safer here than out there."

Good news for Ruby! But they are considering getting more elephants!

[thevegantwins]

March 12, 2007
Ants Test Nonviolence of Buddhist Monks
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:13 a.m. ET

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Buddhist monks, who are bound by faith to nonviolence, are grappling with how to rid a temple of a severe ant infestation without killing the insects.

Stinging red ants have plagued the Hong Hock See Temple in northern Penang state for a year, causing one worshipper to be bitten so badly last month that he had to receive hospital treatment, said Elma Lin, a temple volunteer worker.

A temple disciple tried using a vacuum cleaner to gather up the ants before freeing them in a nearby forest, but the method failed to purge the insects, Lin said.

''We haven't found a solution so far,'' Lin said. ''Nothing has worked.''

The temple's chief monk, Boon Keng, was quoted by The Star newspaper as saying that the monks had to ''respect other living things'' in the temple.

''When an ant drops on you, you must not flick it away or blow on it,'' he told the newspaper. ''If you do, it will bite to hold on. You just have to shake it off.''

The newspaper published a photograph of Boon Keng standing beside a sign at the temple that read: ''Beware poisonous ants. Do not sit under the tree.''

The decades-old temple has more than 10 monks living there and hundreds of devotees, Lin said.

It would be ironic if this was a sect of Buddhist monks that eat animals.

[dreamer]

Dog performs 'Heimlich' on choking owner
4 minutes ago



Toby, a 2-year-old golden retriever, saw his owner choking on a piece of fruit and began jumping up and down on the woman's chest. The dog's owner believes the dog was trying to perform the Heimlich maneuver and saved her life.

Debbie Parkhurst, 45, of Calvert told the Cecil Whig she was eating an apple at her home Friday when a piece lodged in her throat. She attempted to perform the Heimlich maneuver on herself but it didn't work. After she began beating on her chest, she said Toby noticed and got involved.

"The next think I know, Toby's up on his hind feet and he's got his front paws on my shoulders," she recalled. "He pushed me to the ground, and once I was on my back, he began jumping up and down on my chest."

That's when the apple dislodged and Toby started licking her face to keep her from passing out, she said.

"I literally have pawprint-shaped bruises on my chest. I'm still a little hoarse, but otherwise, I'm OK," Parkhurst said.

"The doctor said I probably wouldnt be here without Toby," said Parkhurst, a jewelry artist. "I keep looking at him and saying 'Youre amazing.'"

[Gliondrach]

I had to remind myself that it's not the first of April.

[thevegantwins]

April 3, 2007
Humane Society Holds Doggie Yoga Class
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:05 a.m. ET

BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) -- By the end of their doggie yoga class, most of the wandering and sniffing participants are passed out on their mats, in a position their instructor calls the ''upward facing belly pose.''

Beans, a majestic 2-year-old Vizsla, however, is ready to play. The overgrown puppy has tried to relax with his owner, Chantale Anderson, but once Magnet the black lab heads off to explore the room, Beans is ready to go.

Mostly, however, both the dogs and the humans on a recent evening at the Seattle/King County Humane Society seemed relaxed and focused for about 40 minutes of ''doggie yoga.''

Leilani the toy poodle is the star of the class, perhaps because the tiny 11-year-old is too timid to venture off the mat to play with the big dogs.

Her owner, Suanne Nagata, said afterward that Leilani just loves being touched.

''I could just feel her relax,'' she said.

Brenda Bryan, who teaches human yoga as well as the new class for both dogs and humans at the Humane Society, says the dogs react to the gentle energy in the room.

''As we get into it, the dogs all kind of calm down,'' said Bryan, who developed the poses for the class by working with her own two dogs -- Gus, a mixed breed, and Honey, a Shar Pei-Boxer mix -- and talking to instructors in other cities like New York, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh where yoga for dogs and their owners is starting to catch on.

The question she and the Humane Society get the most from prospective human students is how do the people and dogs interact?

In Bryan's class, the humans do traditional yoga poses -- yes, including ''downward facing dog'' -- while staying in contact physically with their pets.

Part of the class includes gentle stretching and dog massage, another specialty of Bryan's, but most of the time the humans gently use the dogs like yoga props.

In downward facing dog, for example, the humans rest their heads on their companions, who are relaxing -- napping? -- on the mat.

The yoga poses are modified both for the humans of different sizes and abilities and for the dogs. During class, Bryan reminds the people not to push their canine partners to perform.

''Don't be too ambitious,'' she said. ''Honor where your dog is and remember that dogs respond to our energy.''

The class was designed to offer a new way for humans to spend time with their pets.

''This is 80 percent fun,'' said Eve Holt, director of community relations for the Seattle Humane Society.

Bryan calls it ''partner yoga,'' because the class encourages both the human and the dog to increase their awareness of each other.

''Magnet and I were just in this little bubble,'' said Emily Keegans afterward.

She said her dog really loves getting the one-on-one attention he receives in yoga class and she likes having another opportunity to both exercise and spend time with her dog.

''I love doing yoga and I'm just really busy. Just to spend time with him and be with him is great,'' added Keegans.

She said she was doing dog massage at a Humane Society fundraiser -- a dog fashion show -- when during a conversation with the agency director she mentioned that she is also a yoga instructor. And the idea for doggie yoga was born.

''It was really just a marriage of all the things I love,'' Bryan said.

She said she hopes the class will open up yoga to a variety of people -- and dogs -- who have never done this kind of exercise before.

''We've been having a lot of fun with this,'' said Bryan, adding that her own dogs rush to the mat as soon as she unrolls it at home, whether or not she was planning to involve them.

Both the humans and the canines seemed to enjoy themselves before, during and after a recent doggie class at the Humane Society.

Shadow visited every mat during the class and made a complete circuit of shoe sniffing toward the end. Beans seemed a lot more interested in making new friends than relaxing, as his owner predicted before the class.

''He likes to nap. He is a cuddle bug, but playing is so much more important,'' Anderson said.

Nearly every dog in the group took at least one break to sniff a canine or human or both, but Bryan seemed pleased with how the class was going and was neither outwardly amused nor flustered when Honey and Shadow crowded onto the mat with her and Gus.

Although her voice was yoga calm, her words showed she shared the other humans' amusement.

''Everyone is being so good -- and the dogs too.''

[Gliondrach]

I wonder if they do the cat pose?

[1vegan]

Elephant Turns Highwayman In India

Wednesday May 30, 2007
Motorists in eastern India are complaining that they are being regularly held to ransom by an unusual highwayman - one with four legs, big ears and a trunk.
An elephant is being accused of blocking traffic and refusing to allow vehicles to pass unless drivers give it food.

The Hindustan Times said the elephant was scouting for food on a highway in the eastern state of Orissa, forcing motorists to roll down their windows and get out of the car.

Local resident Prabodh Mohanty said he had seen the elephant committing hold-ups twice.

He said: "The tusker then inserts its trunk inside the vehicle and sniffs for food.
"If you are carrying vegetables and banana inside your vehicle, then it will gulp them and allow you to go."

If a commuter does not wind down his window or resists opening the vehicle door, the elephant stands in front of the car until the driver allows him to carry out his routine inspection.

Elephants in India are known to block traffic and cause other nuisances.

In October last year authorities in Mumbai suggested microchipping elephants as part of a plan to keep them out of danger and stop them causing mischief.:D

[1vegan]

Guide dog leads chapel's singing
A guide dog is helping to lead the hymns every Sunday at a Welsh chapel.

Teddy has become a member of the small congregation at Rehoboth in Five Roads, near Llanelli, where he is adding his bark to the singing.

The five-year-old has been attending services with his carer Nona Rees since February but in the last month he has started to play a more vocal role.

Mrs Rees said the dog only joins with the rousing hymns and often takes a break to sleep during sermons.

She has been looking after Teddy, a golden retriever and labrador cross, while his owner recovers from illness.

Head down

"Everywhere I go he goes," she said.

"He just used to put his head down and sleep but then one day started to join in - I did not know where to look."

But she said other members of the congregation seemed quite happy with the extra voice so he has continued attending on Sundays ever since.

"It's not every hymn - its the faster ones and the higher ones he joins in," added Mrs Rees

"He's a lovely working guide dog and I will be very sorry to see him go when he returns to his owner."

Chapel organist Jim Jones said the congregation would also miss him.

"I was playing one Sunday and then all of a sudden he started.

"We are only a small chapel - usually there are less than 20 of us - but they are all singing a bit louder so they can be heard over Teddy." :)

[Oracl]

:)

[thevegantwins]

June 20, 2007
Rat, Cats Resuscitated After Idaho Fire
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:23 p.m. ET

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) -- Firefighters resuscitated four cats and an albino rat from a charred apartment in southeastern Idaho.

The animals received oxygen through a special mask designed for small animals that the department got two years ago.

Electrical failure likely caused the fire, which resulted in at least $10,000 in damage, fire officials said. No people were injured.

Firefighter Kirby Jonas, who whisked the rat to safety, said he was astonished anything survived the flames that engulfed the apartment. He found the rat huddled in blackened bedding in a cage.

''If I were betting money, I would have put down $10,000 that anything in that cage was dead,'' Jonas said. Also in the room was a poster of an albino rat with a halo over its head, he said.

One cat didn't survive the blaze.

This is fantastic that rescue personnel are recognizing the importance of rescuing animals as well. I just hope they didn't get back to the firehouse and eat some other species. :( RIP to the cat who died. :(

[dreamer]

I know in my dinky little town the "emergency" workers generally don't even try to rescue animals. It worries me a bit, though I hope it won't ever be an issue for me and my furbabies.

[Oracl]

This is fantastic that rescue personnel are recognizing the importance of rescuing animals as well.
:agree: :yea:

[dreamer]

Domestic cats may have ancient roots
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer
4 minutes ago



Garfield, Morris and the Aristocats get the fame, but look to the origins of today's furry felines and you find "lybica," a Middle Eastern wildcat. Domestic cats can be traced to wild progenitors that interbred well over 100,000 years ago, new research indicates.

"House cats — which includes fancy breeds and feral cats — those cats all form a genetic group that is virtually indistinguishable from ones in the Middle East," said Stephen J. O'Brien of the National Cancer Institute.

"So, domestication, for sure, took place in the Middle East where those cats live today," added O'Brien, co-author of a paper appearing in this week's online edition of the journal Science.

Carlos Driscoll, of Oxford University and NCI, and an international team of researchers studied the origins of those loving and aloof, graceful and finicky pets that entertain or supervise millions of homes.

It's serious research, because cats are a model for some human genetic diseases, such as polycystic kidney disease and retinal atrophy, Driscoll explained in a telephone interview. In addition, the work is expected to assist in conservation efforts for wild cats, he said.

Cats' ancestry was traced to five types of wild cats, but that doesn't mean they were domesticated five times, Driscoll said. Rather, these five types managed to interbreed at various times, with the result being Felis silvestris lybica, which appears to be the ancestor of modern house cats.

"This was an amazing experiment when animals came out of the wild," O'Brien said. "Cats are known for their ferocious, deadly nature," O'Brien said, so this is an extraordinary change for them.

Cats may have been domesticated once or many times, he said, adding that the most likely case is they were domesticated once and other wild cats bred with the domesticated ones.

"I wasn't there, but all the data supports that," he said.

The researchers found wild cats, with DNA identical to domestic cats, in Israel, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

By studying the mitochondrial DNA of 979 domestic and wild cats from Europe, Asia and Africa the researchers concluded that the origins of the species — what O'Brien calls a feline Adam and Eve — developed between 130,000 and 160,000 years ago. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down from mother to child.

Domestication of cats began as long as 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, O'Brien said, as the earliest farmers domesticated grains and cereal. As that occurred, local wild cats adapted to hunting rodents in the grain and developed a relationship with humans.

The earliest archaeological evidence of cats and humans in association dates to 9,500 years ago in Cyprus.

Joan Miller, chair of outreach for The Cat Fanciers' Association, based in San Diego, Calif., said the most interesting aspect of the research "is the finding that some wild cats and domestic cats from the Near East were distinct from the other Felis silvestris subspecies long associated with domestic cat origins."

"Since the DNA samples were taken from cats in remote desert areas there would be less likelihood of hybridization occurring," she said. "I would like to know more about these cats."

"We have evidence of cat domestication by the Egyptians because of their prolific artwork. It would be interesting to try to investigate early artwork from Israel, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain or Saudi Arabia," added Miller, who was not part of the research group.

Other wild cats in the study included the European wildcat, Felis silvestris silvestris; Central Asian wildcat, F. s. ornata; sub-Saharan African wildcat, F. s. cafra; and the Chinese desert cat, F. s. bieti.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

[Gliondrach]

When I began to read it I was wondering why cancer people were interested in cats. I should have known.

[Charmagne]

Isn't this the cutest little thing with the heart-shaped colorings?:colors:

www.thenakedvegan.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=489&stc=1&d=1184615822n=view&current=1559515.jpg

[thevegantwins]

Awwww. He looks sad though. I bet he/she misses his/her mommy.

[Gliondrach]

Very sweet.

[Oracl]

Very cute! :agree: :colors:

[thevegantwins]

July 18, 2007
Teen Claims Spiders Alerted Her to Fire
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:02 a.m. ET

HEMLOCK, Mich. (AP) -- A woman who hates spiders is crediting them with helping save her from a house fire. Danielle Vigue, 18, says she awoke early Tuesday to find spiders in her room, and started killing them. When more showed up, she says she went across the hall and got into bed with her 15-year-old sister, Lauren.

''At first there were five, they were all around the light fixture,'' Danielle Vigue told The Saginaw News. ''I hate spiders, they freak me out.''

A fire, the newspaper said, apparently was smoldering in the attic of the home about 90 miles northwest of Detroit.

A few hours later, Vigue's 48-year-old mother, Debra, and 8-year-old sister, Shelby, smelled smoke, and flames greeted the family when they opened the door to the room Danielle Vigue had earlier left.

''I will never kill another spider again,'' she told WNEM-TV in Saginaw.

Richland Township Fire Chief Gary Wade, a 30-year veteran of the Saginaw County department, was surprised by Vigue's story.

''I've never heard of spiders saving someone from a fire before,'' Wade said.

Unfortunately, I bet the spiders died in the fire. I can't stand when people kill bugs and insects just because they are 'icky'. Many humans are icky but I don't kill them. :rolleyes:

[Bowwowmeow]

Animals are smarter than you think vegantwins. I bet the spiders got out in time.

[Gliondrach]

Let's hope her determination to let spiders live lasts and extends to other animals.

[Ped Ant]

particularly ants. :agree: :beanie:

[1vegan]

From the bbc:

Seagull becomes crisp shoplifter

The seagull has been nicknamed Sam by locals

Shoplifting seagull
A seagull has turned shoplifter by wandering into a shop and helping itself to crisps.

The bird walks into the RS McColl newsagents in Aberdeen when the door is open and makes off with cheese Doritos.

The seagull, nicknamed Sam, has now become so popular that locals have started paying for his crisps.

Shop assistant Sriaram Nagarajan said: "Everyone is amazed by the seagull. For some reason he only takes that one particular kind of crisps."

The bird first swooped in Aberdeen's Castlegate earlier this month and made off with the 55p crisps, and is now a regular.

Once outside, the crisps are ripped open and the seagull is joined by other birds.

'Fine art'

Mr Nagarajan said: "He's got it down to a fine art. He waits until there are no customers around and I'm standing behind the till, then he raids the place.

"At first I didn't believe a seagull was capable of stealing crisps. But I saw it with my own eyes and I was surprised. He's very good at it.

"He's becoming a bit of a celebrity. Seagulls are usually not that popular but Sam is a star because he's so funny."

A spokesman for RSPB Scotland said: "I've never heard of anything like this before.

"Perhaps it tried some crisps in a shiny packet in the street, and was just opportunistic one day at the shop when it saw what was inside.

"As everyone knows, gulls can be very quick and fearless, and clearly this one is no exception."

He added: "We'd discourage people from feeding gulls though, as gulls in towns generate lots of complaints every year, and the availability of food is the only reason they live in urban settings."

[Gliondrach]

Good for Sam. There are sometimes reports of gulls swooping down on people and trying to steal their chips or sandwiches.

[dreamer]

Tiny dog saves baby from rattlesnake
21 minutes ago

Zoey is a Chihuahua, but when a rattlesnake lunged at her owners' 1-year-old grandson, she was a real bulldog.

Booker West was splashing his hands in a birdbath in his grandparents' northern Colorado back yard when the snake slithered up to the toddler, rattled and struck. Five-pound Zoey jumped in the way and took the bites.

"She got in between Booker and the snake, and that's when I heard her yipe," said Monty Long, the boy's grandfather.

The dog required treatment and for a time it appeared she might not survive. Now she prances about.

"These little bitty dogs, they just don't really get credit," Booker's grandma Denise Long told the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald.

[my3labs]

'Andre' The Lobster Lands In Boston Aquarium
Lobster Bound For Boston Aquarium

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Shoppers tried to catch one last glimpse of a South Burlington celebrity, as Andre the lobster was packed into a cooler and began his journey to a Boston aquarium.

Just five days after two friends spotted him while shopping, Andre was sprung from his grocery store tank and had a one-way plane ticket to his new, and much larger digs at the New England Aquarium.

Crystal Bennett and Elaine Cahoon said they couldn't stop thinking about Andre ever since a worker tried to sell him to them earlier in the week. Bennett and Cahoon said they asked Price Chopper to put him on hold until they could raise enough money to buy him.

After their story aired on Newschannel 5, the two said phone calls came pouring in from lobster lovers offering help. Bennett and Cahoon said they got their biggest surprise of all early Thursday morning when someone who owned a plane offered to fly Andre to Boston to eliminate travel time and stress on him.

Bennett and Cahoon said the response from people willing to help was overwhelming.

Cahoon said the New England Aquarium plans to use Andre in an exhibit demonstrating how big lobsters can get.

The duo said any extra money they raised from donations will go to the aquarium as a "thank you" for taking Andre on such short notice.

[Gliondrach]

Good for Andre! And the human-types who helped him. Soon may their compassion spread to all living creatures.

[Charmagne]

:cheer:Yea for Andre! As for being bitten by the headless snake - can you say KARMA!:thumbsup:

[dreamer]

Calif. squirrels heat tails for defense
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer
Tue Aug 14, 5:18 PM ET



California ground squirrels have learned to intimidate rattlesnakes by heating their tails and shaking them aggressively.

Because the snakes, which are ambush hunters, can sense infrared radiation from heat, the warming makes the tails more conspicuous to them — signaling that they have been discovered and that the squirrels may come and harass them, explained Aaron Rundus, lead author of a study in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The tail "flagging" places the snakes on the defensive, he said.

Adult squirrels are not the snakes' prey, Rundus said in a telephone interview. The adults have a protein in their blood that allows them to survive the snake venom, and they have been known to attack and injure snakes, biting and kicking gravel at them.

Rather, the snakes are looking for immature squirrels, which they can kill and eat, said Rundus, who did the research while at the Animal Behavior Graduate Group at the University of California, Davis.

Researchers are not sure just how the squirrels cause their tails to heat up, but they think it may be by shunting warm blood from the body core into the tail.

"It's such a new discovery that it leaves a lot of questions," he said.

But apparently it isn't just a reflex, because they only do it with rattlesnakes.

Confronted by gopher snakes, which can't sense heat, the squirrels wave their tails vigorously, but don't bother to heat them up.

So how did they discover that the squirrels heat their tails?

The researchers were studying how squirrels reacted to various predators and noticed that with rattlesnakes they waved their tails even more in dark conditions than in the light.

That prompted the researchers to view the encounters using an infrared camera, and they discovered the squirrels' tails were much warmer than normal when dealing with rattlesnakes.

Learning more about these complex communication methods among animals may help improve understanding of how complex human communications have evolved, Rundus said.

He said it serves as a reminder that to understand more about animal life, we need to pay close attention to how animals act. "There is potentially a lot going on out there that we're not aware of," he said.

___

On the Net:

.pnas.org




Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[1vegan]

Woman pays £1,800 for chicken leg
A woman from Cwmbran, Torfaen took out a bank loan and lived on beans on toast for a year to pay £1,800 in vet bills after her pet chicken injured its leg.

Vicky Mills, 24, was heartbroken when Lily, a Rhode Island Red, got her leg trapped in a barbed wire fence.

Despite the costs, Mrs Mills told her vet to try to save the limb rather than have her put down. When the treatment failed, she paid for an amputation.

Lily was also diagnosed with depression but has now recovered, said Mrs Mills.

The chicken's gloominess was thought to have been brought on by being in the house alone while Mrs Mills and her husband Sam were out at work.

So the couple now leave the television on all day to keep it company and it is a "happy hen again", they said.

Mrs Mills was given Lily, now three-years-old, when it was a two-day-old chick and she now lays up to six eggs a week for her and husband Sam.



The cost of the seven operations was "worth every penny", said Mrs Mills, who has forsaken her holidays this year to pay the vet's bills.

"I love her to bits and it would break my heart if anything happened to her," she said.

"She's much more fun than a cat or a dog.

"She struts about as if she rules the roost - she really thinks she's top of the pecking order in our household."

The couple have taught one-legged Lily party tricks like keeping her balance as she stands on Mrs Mills' head.

Mr Mills, 23, said the couple were "devastated" when Lily's leg got snagged in the barbed wire.

"My wife loves that chicken so much that she could not bear to have her put down," said Mr Mills.

"But now she is a happy hen again and laying eggs regularly for us.

"She is quite happy to hop around on one leg.

"But sometimes she tries to scratch herself with her missing leg and falls over."

Story from BBC NEWS:
://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6960334.stm

just add http to the url, there's a picture of the chicken on that page

[Gliondrach]

Good for the Mills. And Lily. I suppose she uses her wings to help her with balance and hopping.

[Bowwowmeow]

Woman Has Yard Full of Snapping Turtles

http://my.eimg.net/harvest_xml/NEWS/img/20070907/46e0ccc0_3ca7_1552720070907-1499293214.jpg (http://enews.earthlink.net/article/pho?guid=20070907/46e0ccc0_3ca7_1552720070907-1499293214&article_path=/article/str&article_guid=20070907/46e0ccc0_3ca6_15526200709071245157398)

Betty Kratzke, right, peers Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007, into a box containing a clutch of newly hatched snapping turtles that emerged from the soil in her front yard in southeast Jamestown, N.D. John M. Steiner

From Associated Press
September 07, 2007 5:37 PM EDT
JAMESTOWN, N.D.

Earlier this summer, Betty Kratzke noticed that something was disturbing the ground near the flowers that line her driveway. Solving the mystery this week proved to be a snap - when baby snapping turtles started crawling around her yard.

"They just keep popping up out of the hole," said Cliff Hanson, Kratzke's brother-in-law.

The turtles had recently hatched and were no bigger than a half dollar coin, said Darrell Perry, another brother-in-law.

Family members scooped up 44 turtles in all. They were put in a cardboard box and taken to the nearby James River.

"They went swimming away like crazy," Kratzke said.

Snapping turtles live to be decades old and can grow up to 40 pounds, said Gene Van Eeckhout, a biologist with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. They do not make nice pets, he said.

"They're not very friendly to play with," Van Eeckhout said.

Kratzke said she thought some sort of animal was disturbing her flowers. "But it was a long ways from being a muskrat or a raccoon," she said. "They are the cutest little things."

Perry said the experience was one to remember.
"While they were coming out, we just stood there and watched them in amazement," he said.

What a nice lady! Its refreshing to see animal news involving kind, loving people. I wish there was more.

[Charmagne]

Awww......they are cute! She is very nice for saving them and I know first hand they do not make nice pets. I've always been one to stop and pick up a turtle crossing the road to keep him/her from getting run over. About 10 years ago I stopped and picked one up not much larger than your outstretched hand. He didn't bother me when I picked him up and put him in the car or when I put him on the back porch - but when I went to get him the next day to take him to the woods he kind of jumped at me and snapped! :eek::crying: It scared me to death! So I got a box and was trying to push it into the box with a broom and it bit down on the broom and would not let go! I finally shook it off in the box and took it to the woods and turned it loose (or it turned me loose). I remember a friend of my Mother's who lost his index finger up to the first knuckle to a snapping turtle while fishing!(serves him right)

Anyway I still rescue turtles from traffic but am way more careful!:o

[Bowwowmeow]

Yes, I've read that full grown snapping turtles can take people's hands off at the wrist. I remember when I was little the babies were popular pet store "items". :mad:

[Oracl]

Anyway I still rescue turtles from traffic but am way more careful!:o
:) :thumbsup:

[dreamer]

Australian man caught with pigeons in trousers
Tue Feb 3, 2:49 am ET

MELBOURNE (AFP) – An Australian man was caught with two live pigeons stuffed in his trousers as he got off a flight from the Middle East, authorities said Tuesday.

Customs officers body-searched the 23-year-old after he was allegedly found with two bird eggs in a vitamin container in his pocket during baggage checks at Melbourne Airport on Sunday.

"The man was taken to a private interview room and Customs and border protection officers found he was wearing tights with a live pigeon concealed in each leg," Customs said.

The man, who had come off a ten-hour flight from Dubai, was also allegedly carrying plant seeds in a money belt and eggplant samples in his bag.

"Wildlife smuggling is not only cruel to the animals involved, it poses a severe risk to the Australian environment and the health of the Australian community," said Customs wildlife spokesman Richard Janeczko.

The offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and a 110,000 dollar fine (70,000 US dollars).

[thevegantwins]

February 10, 2009
Injured Deer Stumbles Into Ohio Vet Clinic
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:03 a.m. ET

ROSSFORD, Ohio (AP) -- Workers at an Ohio pet shop are used to worried pet owners bringing their animals in to be treated in the store's clinic.

But an unaccompanied visit Saturday by a deer to the PetSmart in Rossfield was a first for the store.

Manager Trudi Urie says the wounded doe was hanging out behind the store and then ran through an open door into a stockroom.

Staff members made sure the animal couldn't enter the shop area and called police and a veterinarian.

Agustin Cuesta had the deer brought into the clinic and closed a wound on its hind leg with dissolvable stitches as assistants held it down.

He says he couldn't tell how the animal got hurt.

The door was reopened and the animal ran back into the wild.

------

:thumbsup: Smart deer. :deer:

[Gliondrach]

Indeed.

[Gliondrach]

Gorillas don't ape each other - they know sign language from birth, say experts.

By Claire Bates
Last updated at 1:36 PM on 09th February 2009

Gorillas are born with an international sign language of gestures that they use to communicate.

The largest scientific study of the great apes revealed they had a repertoire of 102 different signals - more than any other mammal.

Many of these such as 'disco arm shake' and 'tapping other' were common in all the gorillas studied despite being in different continents.

The researchers from St Andrews University also found each gesture was carried out with close attention to their audience: silent signals were only given when other apes could see them.
Lead author Professor Byrne said: 'As we added more populations to the study, most gestures that had seemed specific to one individual or one site almost always turned up elsewhere.

'Any two populations are likely to differ a lot in the repertoire of gestures shown, but all are drawn from a very large, species-wide ‘pool’ of possible gestural signals.'

The team concluded that the gestures do not need to be learnt, because they are already part of the natural gorilla communicative repertoire.

The new work throws light on a puzzle in the behaviour of great apes. Several studies have found that apes are capable of the 'Do as I do' routine that children also enjoy, but their copies of human actions modelled for them are relatively inexact.
Professor Byrne explained, 'Dr Joanne Tanner and I studied a female gorilla that was able to do this, and we found that all her ‘copies’ of apparently novel human actions were really actions she’d done herself, sometimes years before: they matched the demonstrated actions pretty well, but not exactly.
'It was only because of Tanner’s long-term data on the gorillas that we could find out what was going on.

'So we think that, just as in the case of communicative gestures, the fact that apes have a huge repertoire of actions can explain how they imitate human demonstrations and why their copies are usually inexact: they are ‘re-using’ actions from their own repertoire, not learning new ones.'
dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1139644/Gorillas-dont-ape--know-sign-language-birth-say-experts.html

[Gliondrach]

Behavioral Studies Show Baboons And Pigeons Are Capable Of Higher-level Cognition

ScienceDaily (Feb. 12, 2009) — It's safe to say that humans are smarter than animals, but a University of Iowa researcher is investigating the extent of that disparity in intelligence.
And, it may not be as great a gap as you suspect, according to UI psychologist Ed Wasserman, who presents his findings at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting February 12 in Chicago.

One cognitive capacity that is vital to human intelligence is the ability to determine whether two or more items are the same or different - a skill the famous American psychologist William James called the very "backbone" of our thinking. If you have two pennies in your left hand and a nickel and a dime in your right hand, then you can correctly report that the two coins in your left hand are the "same" and that the two coins in your right hand are "different." You can also make similar judgments with any collection of items.

Wasserman's research shows that baboons and pigeons can do that, too. A recent study by Wasserman and UI graduate student Dan Brooks found that both pigeons and people can learn same-different discriminations with visual stimuli that never repeat from trial to trial, thus proving that simple memorization cannot explain this cognitive feat.

In other studies, Wasserman and his colleagues at other research centers took the matter a step further, posing the question: Can animals learn the relations between relations? The answer appears to be "yes."

Wasserman and his associates discovered that both baboons and pigeons also understand the relations between relations - something that only humans were believed to appreciate. For example, the relation between A and A and the relation between B and B is the same: same equals same. So, too, is the relation between A and B and the relation between C and D: different equals different. But, the relation between A and A and the relation between C and D is different: same does not equal different.

Using joysticks and computerized visual images, Wasserman and colleagues Joel Fagot of the French CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) and Mike Young of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale found that baboons also exhibit this level of cognition by solving the so-called relational matching-to-sample problem. Here, the baboons indicated which of two testing arrays of pictures involved the same relationship as the sample array that they had recently been shown. In a follow-up study, Wasserman and colleague Bob Cook of Tufts University repeated the experiment with pigeons; the pigeons learned to peck a computerized touchscreen to accomplish the same feat as the baboons.

"The newsworthiness of our baboon experiment was to show that nonhuman primates are capable of higher-order relational learning. Understanding the relation between relations was previously believed to be a kind of cognition that sets humans apart from all other animals," Wasserman said. "The follow-up discovery - that pigeons too are capable of such higher-order relational learning - affirmed our suspicion that we've really established a finding of broad evolutionary significance."

Despite obvious anatomical differences, this behavioral evidence confirms Charles Darwin's proposal that "the difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind."

The notion that there might only be a quantitative - not a qualitative - disparity between human and animal intelligence may make people uneasy, Wasserman said.

"What we're really trying to understand is the extent to which cognition is general throughout the animal kingdom. The evidence that we collect constantly surprises us, suggesting that we're not alone in many of these cognitive abilities," Wasserman said. "Why we would believe that humans alone have such capabilities is a peculiar and unfortunate arrogance. That's one reason why I enjoy studying animals; the smarter we discover them to be, the more humble we should be."

In addition to keeping human egos in check by proving we're not the only smart creatures on earth, this research may have practical applications, Wasserman said.

Some of the methods he uses to study baboons and pigeons can be deployed to study human cognition. Currently, Wasserman and colleague Leyre Castro in the UI Department of Psychology are collaborating with Amanda Owen of the UI Communication Sciences and Disorders Department to apply these animal-testing methods to studying the cognitive performance of children with language impairments.

"Because we must invent entirely nonverbal methods to study cognition in animals, these same methods may have particular promise for studying children with communicative disorders, like Specific Language Impairment and Autism," Wasserman said. "These methods may prove to have unique diagnostic and therapeutic significance."

Presenters discussed how scrub-jays can exhibit episodic-like memory and future planning; how chimpanzees can hold in memory extremely detailed environmental information; how monkeys can count and perform arithmetic operations; how pigeons and baboons can learn abstract concepts like same and different; how crows can fabricate and use tools; and, how monkeys and other animals may be aware of what they know and remember.

sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090212141143.htm

[Gliondrach]

Pigeons Show Superior Self-recognition Abilities To Three Year Old Humans

ScienceDaily (June 14, 2008) — Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves even with a 5-7 second delay, thus having self-cognitive abilities higher than 3-year-old children who have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.

Prof. Shigeru Watanabe of the Graduate School of Human Relations of Keio University and Tsukuba University graduate student Kohji Toda trained pigeons to discriminate real-time self-image using mirrors as well as videotaped self-image, and proved that pigeons can recognize video images that reflect their movements as self-image.

Self-recognition is found in large primates such as chimpanzees, and recent findings show that dolphins and elephants also have such intelligence. Proving that pigeons also have this ability show that such high intelligence as self-recognition can be seen in various animals, and are not limited to primates and dolphins that have large brains.

Experimental method and results

The pigeon was trained to discriminate two types of video images in the following method. First, live video images of the present self (A) and recorded video images of the pigeon that moves differently from the present self (B) are shown. When the pigeon learns to discriminate these two images, the video image of (A) is shown with a temporal delay, so that the monitor shows the image of the pigeon a few seconds before. If the pigeon remembers its own movements, it can recognize it as self-image even with the delay.

The pigeon could discriminate (A) with a few seconds delay as something different from (B). This shows that the pigeon can differentiate the present self-image and the recorded self-image of the past, which means that the pigeon has self-cognitive abilities. Video image (A) matches with the movement of itself, whereas (B) does not. Being able to discriminate the two means that the pigeon understands the difference between movements of itself and movements of the taped image. In this experiment, movements of the pigeon itself are in question instead of the mark of Gallup’s mark test (see 2-(1) below for explanation). When there is a temporal delay in the image of the present self, the longer the delay, the more pigeon’s discrimination was disrupted, and this also shows that the pigeon discriminates the video images using its own movements. The important thing is whether it understands the difference between movements in the video image that match with itself and movements in the video image that don’t.

Method of testing self recognition on animals

(1) Gallup’s mirror test (self-recognition test)

The self-recognition test on animals using mirrors was developed by psychology Prof. Gordon Gallup Jr. at the State University of New York, Albany. His papers released in 1970 in the “Science” magazine explaining that chimpanzees have abilities for self-recognition attracted attention. This test is known as the first to test self-recognition on animals. He anesthetized chimpanzees and then marked their faces. When the chimpanzees were awakened, they were confronted with a mirror and they touched the corresponding marked region of their own faces. Most tests of self-recognition are a variation of the Gallup test, and are used to assess self-recognition in a wide variety of species. It is also called the mark test, or the rouge test.

(2) Assessment of self-recognition on pigeons

Self-recognition can be assessed with cross-modality matching. A typical example of cross-modality matching is waving your hand when you see yourself in a video image. With a mirror image or video image of oneself, when information of the propriocepter (how the arms and legs of oneself are moving) and visual information of oneself correlate, this can be considered self-recognition. The Gallup’s mark test is based on the precondition that the subject can touch itself. Unless the subject touches itself, it cannot be proved that it has abilities for self-recognition. However, the test conducted on pigeons is more advanced, as it is based on how the pigeons move, and by memorizing the shown images, pigeons proved that they have self-cognitive abilities.

Self-cognitive abilities tested in pigeons are higher than that of 3-year olds

Through various experiments, it is known that pigeons have great visual cognitive abilities. For example, a research at Harvard University proved that pigeons could discriminate people photographs from others. At Prof. Shigeru Watanabe’s laboratory, pigeons could discriminate paintings of a certain painter (such as Van Gogh) from another painter (such as Chagall).

Furthermore, pigeons could discriminate other pigeons individually, and also discriminate stimulated pigeons that were given stimulant drugs from none. In this experiment, pigeons could discriminate video images that reflect their movements even with a 5-7 second delay from video images that don’t reflect their movements. This ability is higher than an average 3-year-olds of humans. According to a research by Prof. Hiraki of the University of Tokyo, 3-year-olds have difficulty recognizing their self-image with only a 2 second delay.

Journal reference:

Toda et al. Discrimination of moving video images of self by pigeons (Columba livia). Animal Cognition, 2008 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-008-0161-4

sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080613145535.htm

[dreamer]

I have found that, regardless of research which says otherwise, my dog can recognize himself in the above-mentioned mirror test. I know it because when he sees himself in the mirror or on video tape, he doesn't react. If he sees any other dog on TV, he reacts.

[Gliondrach]

These two articles show how mobile 'phone masts (cell 'phones) could be to blame for the reductions in the numbers of bees and various birds. I would say that human baby cot deaths might have a similar cause - either because the babies are exposed after they are born or before they are born. Perhaps many cases of cancer are caused by this radiation, too.

Where did all the sparrows go?
The sparrows have disappeared completely from the cities at least four years ago in Britain, as mobile phones grew in popularity. Third generation (3G) mobile phones were introduced in 2003, and there were over 65 million users in the UK by the end of 2005, more phones than people [1]. Did mobile phone transmitters cause the sparrows to disappear [2]?

Scientists at the Research Institute for Nature and Forests in Brussels, Belgium, have produced the first evidence that mobile phone base stations are affecting the reproductive behaviour of wild sparrows [3]. This finding comes as mobile phones are held suspect in the massive collapse of bee colonies all over the United States and Europe [4] ( Mobile Phones and Vanishing Bees , SiS 34).

Joris Everaert and Dirk Bauwens wanted to know if the low intensity microwave radiation from mobile phone base stations has any effect on the number of house sparrows during the breeding season. They identified 150 locations distributed over six residential districts in Gent, Sint and Niklaas in the province of East Flanders, where they counted the number of male house sparrows and measured the strength of electromagnetic radiation from base stations.

The study areas were similar, with abundant hedges, bushes, and other vegetation between the houses, and one or more GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) base stations nearby. All locations were along small roads within the residential areas and at variable distances from the nearest GSM (mean 352 m, range 91-903 m, about 90 percent at 100-600 m). On days when the weather was favourable, so male sparrows would be out singing, the researchers went to each location between 7 and 11 am, and using binoculars, counted the number of male sparrows within a radius of about 30 m for a period of five minutes.

Simultaneously, they measured the maximum value of the electric field strength (in V/m) from the GSM 900 MHz and GSM 1800 MHz base station antennas during 2 minutes for each frequency band, using a portable calibrated high-frequency spectrum analyser.

Everaert and Bauwens found that the number of house sparrow males varied between zero and four at the different locations. The measured electric field strengths were seldom higher than 1V/m, and most often well below that value. Nevertheless, the spatial variation in the number of house sparrow males was negatively and highly significantly correlated to the strength of electric fields from both the 900 and 1800 MHz frequency bands and from the sum of these bands. This negative correlation was very similar within each of the six districts, despite differences in both the number of birds and radiation levels.

Fewer house sparrow males were seen at locations within relatively high electric field strengths of GSM base stations. For example, the mean number of male sparrows varied from 1.9 at the combined field intensity of 0.13 V/m to 0.8 at a combined field intensity of 0.247 V/m.

The results, though preliminary, do support the hypothesis that long-term exposure to higher levels of radiation negatively affects the abundance or behaviour of house sparrows in the wild. Fewer males singing would mean less breeding success.

White storks breeding success plummets near mobile phone transmitters
Sparrows are not the only wild birds affected. Phone masts were found to actually reduce the breeding success of white storks in Spain.

Alfonso Balmori, a conservation biologist in Valladolid, Spain, reported a significantly lower number of white stork ( Ciconia ciconia ) fledglings in nests close to mobile phone transmitters compared to nests further away [5].

To monitor the breeding success of the white stork population, 60 nests were selected and visited from May to June of 2003. The selected nests had similar characteristics. They were located on the roof of churches and buildings inside urban centres in Valladolid. As the cell phone transmitters are everywhere, very few places had zero background intensity. So nests were chosen that were exposed at very high or very low levels of EMR, depending on the distance from the nests to the antennas.

Thirty nests were located within 200 m of one or several antennae (GSM-900 MHz and DCS-1800 MHz) placed on masts and on the roof of the buildings at a height of 15-30 m. Another 30 chosen were located further than 300 m from any transmitter. The nests were observed with telescopes and the number of young counted. The electric field intensity in V/m was measured.

The average number of fledgling produced per nest in nests located within 200 m of phone antennae was 0.86 + 0.16. For nests located further than 300 m, the number was 1.6 + 0.14. Twelve nests (40 percent) close to the antennae were without young, as opposed to one nest (3.3 percent) among those further than 300 m.

The mean electric field of nests within 200 m was 2.36 + 0.82V/m compared to 0.53 + 0.82V/m for nests further than 300 m.

Balmori also found difference in how the birds behaved close to the phone antennae. Young birds died from unknown causes, and bird couples frequently fought while constructing their nests. Sticks fell to the ground, and the couple failed to make any headway. Some nests were never completed and the storks remained passively in front of the antennae.

Laboratory studies show bird embryos die when exposed to microwaves
The observations in urban sparrows and the white stork population suggest that microwave radiation interferes with reproductive behaviour and breeding success, which would have decimated the wild populations. But that's not the whole story.

Several million birds of 230 species die each year from collisions with telecommunications masts in the United States during migration [6]. Accidents happen mainly in the night, in fog, or bad weather, when birds might be using the earth's magnetic field for navigation, and could be seriously disoriented by the microwave radiation from telecommunication masts.

In the UK, where the allowed radiation level is 20 times higher than in Spain, a decline of several species of urban birds has occurred [2], coinciding with the increasing installation of mobile phone masts.

Birds are good candidates as biological indicators for low-intensity electromagnetic radiation (EMR); they have thin skulls, their feathers can act as dielectric receptors of microwave radiation, many species use magnetic navigation, they are very mobile and possible psychosomatic effects are absent, as Everaert and Bauwens [3] point out.

Another important factor is that chicken embryos subjected to the radiation from a cell phone in the laboratory suffered much higher mortalities than non-exposed controls. Some years ago researchers in Russia showed that continuous exposure of the chick embryos during the 21 days of embryonic development resulted in 75 percent of the embryos dying, compared with 16 percent in the controls [7].
i-sis.org.uk
naturalmatters.net/article-view.asp?article=3171




Mobile Phones and Vanishing Bees

The recent boom in third generation mobile phones may be the main culprit for colony collapse disorder in honeybees. Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

A fully referenced version of this article is posted on ISIS members’ website. Details here

An electronic version of this report, or any other ISIS report, with full references, can be sent to you via e-mail for a donation of £3.50. Please e-mail the title of the report to: report@i-sis.org.uk

Colony collapse a new phenomenon

Bees worldwide have been involved in a disappearing act called “colony collapse disorder” over the past two years [1] (Mystery of Disappearing Honeybees, this series), with little sign of the disease or infestations that have resulted in massive loss of colonies in the past. The bees simply leave the hives and fail to return. Beekeepers and scientists alike are stymied as to the cause of this strange phenomenon.

One likely culprit is a new class of systemic pesticides, which are not only sprayed on crops, but also used universally to dress seeds in conventional agriculture, and can confuse and disorientate bees at very low concentrations [2] (Requiem for the Honeybee, this series). Another candidate is radiation from mobile phone base stations that has become nearly ubiquitous in Europe and North America where the bees are vanishing; this possibility is considerably strengthened by preliminary findings that bees fail to return to the hives if cordless phone base stations are placed in them.

Simple experiment with dramatic results
Researchers at Landau University in Germany designed a simple experiment for students on the Environmental Science course [3]. Eight mini-hives, each with approximately 8 000 bees were set up for the experiment. Four of them were equipped with a DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunication)-station at the bottom of the hive, and the other four without the DECT-station served as controls.

At the entrance of each hive, a transparent plastic tube enabled the experimenters to watch the marked bees entering and leaving the hive, so they can be counted and their time of return after release recorded for a period of 45 minutes.

The experimenters also studied building behaviour by measuring the area of the honeycomb and its weight.

In the course of the experiment, three colonies exposed to mobile phone radiation and one non-exposed control colony broke down. The total weights of the honeycombs in all colonies, including those at the time of breakdown were compared. The controls weighed 1 326g, while those exposed to the DECT-stations weighed only 1 045g, a difference of 21 percent. The total area of the honeycomb in the controls was 2 500, compared to just 2050 in the exposed hives.

But it was the number of returning bees and their returning times that were vastly different. For two control hives, 16 out of 25 bees returned in 45 minutes. For the two microwave-exposed hives, however, no bees at all returned to one hive, and only six returned to the other.

Cordless phone base station widely used in homes and offices
These dramatic results are of a preliminary nature, but one should bear in mind that the DECT-station is a simple cordless phone base, widely used in homes and offices.

It emits microwave radiation of about 1 900 MHz continuously, which is frequency modulated at 100 Hz. The average power is 10 mW, with a peak of 250 mW. It represents the exposure levels of perhaps tens of millions worldwide living near mobile phone base stations, or have cordless phones in their homes or offices.

The same scientists had carried out an earlier experiment with the cordless phone base on a standby mode, in which the average power is 2.5 mW, and that appeared to have had no effect on the bees [4, 5].

Clearly the present findings need to be taken much further, but their significance should not be downplayed for a number of reasons. The findings are compatible with evidence accumulating from investigations on many other species including humans, showing that mobile phone radiation is associated with a range of health hazards including cancers [6] (Drowning in a Sea of Microwaves, SiS 34). Furthermore, bees are known to be extremely sensitive to magnetic and electromagnetic fields, and there have been many suggestions that they could be used as an indicator species for electromagnetic pollution.

Bees as indicator species for electromagnetic pollution
Experiments dating well back to the last century have documented the phenomenal sensitivity of honeybees to electromagnetic fields. Bees use the earth’s magnetic field to navigate. Free-flying honeybees are able to detect static intensity fluctuations as weak as 26 nT against the background earth-strength magnetic field (average 500 mT) [7]. This has been demonstrated in experiments where individual honeybees have been trained to discriminate between the presence and the absence of a small static magnetic anomaly in the lab. Honeybees can also learn to distinguish between two 360o panoramic patterns that are identical except for the compass orientation. In this case, the difference was a 90o rotation about the vertical axis [8]. The most powerful cue to direction for the honeybee comes from the sky, but discrimination between patterns is possible in the absence of celestial information, as when the sky is overcast. Under those conditions, bees can use a magnetic direction to discriminate between patterns.

The bees’ waggle dance on the honeycomb, which tells hive mates where to find food, can also be misdirected by anomalies in the earth’s magnetic field or very weak pulsed magnetic fields at about 250 MHz applied in the correct direction [9]. Bees can even learn to detect very low levels of extremely low frequency alternating electromagnetic fields [10].

But mobile phones have been around for close to 20 years, so why now? There has been a recent change in cell phone technology that coincides with the current crisis. At the beginning of the present century, 3G (third generation) mobile phone systems became publicly available, leading to a surge in popularity of mobile phones, and many more phone towers [11]. Bees are disappearing in North America, Europe and also Australia, wherever mobile phones are greatly in use. Stay tuned.
i-sis.org.uk/MobilePhonesVanishingBees.php

i-sis.org.uk/DSOM.php

[Gliondrach]

These two bloke bought a lion cub in Harrod's in London Town in 1969. When he started getting too big they took him to George Adamson in Africa. They went to see him a year later.

The first video is a short version the second is a longer one.

zVNTdWbVBgc

cvCjyWp3rEk


-------
They said that domestic cattle in, I think, Kenya have infected buffalos with TB and lions have also become infected. In this country some idiots think that badgers infect cattle with TB when it is obvious that the cattle infect badgers. At least the Kenyans are not blaming lions for the TB in cattle.

[Gliondrach]

They were on Midweek on radio 4 this morning. You can hear it on the Listen Again page on the radio 4 web page.

I was lying on my bed listening to it. I couldn't get up because I was in too much pain. I told myself a couple of jokes about a lion and a bear, and laughed so much that it hurt. Then I rolled over a bit to try to get up. Something clicked and the pain was greatly reduced. Hardly any pain now.

[Gliondrach]

The bear joke:

A bear walks into a pub and goes up to the bar. He said: 'I'd like a pint of bitter and .................................................
.................................................. .................................................. .................................. a packet of crisps, please.'

The landlord said: 'Why the long pause?'

[Gliondrach]

Now you know the answer. Laugh.. chuck out the painkillers.:)

You need a massage...:)


I don't take painkillers. I won't even take herbal ones. Might be dangerous.

[Gliondrach]

No. The worst of it passes if I stay still and think of all the good I've done in the world.

[Gliondrach]

:slappy:

[Oracl]

What are 'crips'? :whistle:

[Gliondrach]

Eh?

[Oracl]

Sneaky!! :rolleyes: You're just lucky we can edit posts on this forum!! :rollingpin:

[Gliondrach]

You should have quoted it. Now you have no evidence.

[Oracl]

I might have taken a screenshot and saved it to use at the court case. :whistle: :cool:

[Gliondrach]

:rubchin:

[Bowwowmeow]

"BILL TO EXPAND CALIFORNIA PROP.2 RULES TO PROHIBIT
IMPORTATION OF FACTORY-FARMED EGGS INTO THE STATE
(The Modesto Bee) --

A state Assembly bill aims to
expand the reach of Proposition 2, which will ban
small hen cages at California egg farms as of 2015.
The bill, endorsed by some of the opponents of the
November ballot measure, would extend the ban to
out-of-state farms for eggs they sell in California.
This would get around one of the main complaints about
Proposition 2 — that California's industry will suffer
if companies elsewhere can use the less expensive
small-cage production. The bill was introduced by
Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and has
support from animal rights groups that were behind the
ballot measure."

[Gliondrach]

Happy story.

Emotional reunion for long-lost mongrel 'Muffy'

A young Australian Friday held an emotional TV reunion with her dog Muffy, who went missing nine years ago before reappearing filthy and flea-bitten 1,250 miles away. Chloe Rushby, now 17, who was given the mongrel on her eighth birthday, stroked and hugged the white-haired Muffy in a meeting shown live by Channel 10's satirical "The 7pm Project."

"Hey Muffy, hey girl," Rushby said, before admitting she was overcome with emotion. "I'm shaking," she added.

Rushby was flown from the eastern Gold Coast region to Melbourne by Channel 10 after Muffy's astonishing reappearance in an unkempt suburban back yard, where she was sleeping on a piece of cardboard.

The teenager's mother Natalie Lampard said that before the disappearance, her daughter and the dog were "pretty much inseparable."

"Just how she got down to Melbourne I guess is a mystery that will never be answered, but she won't be sleeping out in the yard in the middle of winter ever again," Lampard said.

The dog, who was identified by an embedded microchip, was set to be flown back to the eastern Gold Coast in air-conditioned luxury courtesy of specialist transport service Jet Pets.

Muffy will receive her own pet travel consultant, enjoy door-to-door transfers and the comforts of a luxury kennel and doggy transit lounge, all free of charge.

"They are big supporters of the RSPCA and they donated the flights," the RSPCA spokesman said. "For Muffy, they are more than happy to do it."

uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090731/tod-emotional-reunion-for-long-lost-mong-37b0eca.html

[Vinnie]

I hope Muffy remembers them and is happy. Without the chip she would still be a stray.

[Fauxmage]

Squirrel Portrait, Banff
Photograph by Melissa Brandts

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/s/squirrel-portrait-banff-sw.jpg

This Month in Photo of the Day: Animals
My husband and I were exploring Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park-Canada when we stopped for a timed picture of the two of us. We had our camera set up on some rocks and were getting ready to take the picture when this curious little ground squirrel appeared, became intriqued with the sound of the focusing camera and popped right into our shot! A once in a lifetime moment! We were laughing about this little guy for days!!


This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/your-shot/your-shot). Have a great shot? Send it to us (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/your-shot/submit) for possible publication in National Geographic magazine.

:lol:

[Gliondrach]

:D

I didn't know they were so big. They must scare the grizzlies.

[Gliondrach]

Horizon on BBC2 last night at 9 pm was interesting. The Secret Life of the Dog. They looked at dogs' intelligence, how they can understand our emotions and how they developed from wolves. There is a dog in Austria who can understand over 300 words. She can be asked to fetch something from a collection of things and she'll get it. She can even look at a picture of an object and then pick it out of a group of other things.

They said that dogs are the only other animal that can be directed to something by pointing, and that even chimps don't understand about pointing. But they showed dogs being directed to some food that was hidden under an upturned bowl by someone pointing to it. But the dogs might have been able to use their sense of smell to know which bowl to go to. They said that dogs can be directed just by shifting your gaze to where you want them to go.

There was an experiment that started in Siberia about 50 years ago. Some arctic foxes were taken from a fur farm. The most friendly ones were chosen to breed from. Only about 1 per cent were friendly. The others were aggressive. The most friendly of the offspring were then chosen to breed from. In about 7 generations they had foxes that were just like dogs in their friendliness and some behaviours. Now, after 50 years of breeding, the foxes are showing physical changes. Some have floppy ears - like fox cubs. Some have different coloured coats - unlike the natural colour of silver-grey. Some have curly tails or shorter legs. It's thought that when wolves were domesticated to become dogs, the dogs eventually developed in ways like this - keeping some of the characteristics of wolf cubs.

I wonder what happened to the foxes that weren't chosen to breed from? Even the ones that are chosen are kept in wire cages.

You might be able to see it on BBC IPlayer.

Apparently, when people cuddle their dogs they have an increase in oxytocin. I think they said the dogs have an increase, too. New mothers and babies also have an increase when they are bonding.

They showed that dogs have a left gaze bias when looking at human faces. Just like humans are supposed to have. Here's an article about it:

Study Says Dogs Read Human Emotions on Faces

Dogs Have Developed Face Reading Skills to Sense a Person's Mood

Oct 30, 2008 Mia Carter

Virtually every dog owner can tell at least one story of how his dog sensed his mood or emotions. And finally, experts have found scientific evidence that suggests that dogs have evolved and developed "face reading" skills, which means that dogs will look to the human's face for hints about the person's emotions and mood.

The evidence for the claim that dogs can read a human's emotion by looking at the face was published in the October 2008 edition of the U.K. scientific journal, New Scientist. The study was led by Dr. Kin Guo, of the University of Lincoln in the U.K.

This ground-breaking study into a dog's ability to detect human emotions suggests that dogs look to the face for signs of anger, happiness, or sadness - just like humans do.

How Do We Know if Dogs Can Sense Human Emotions by Looking at the Face?
The University of Lincoln study into a dog's ability to read human emotions by looking for subtle changes in facial expression is based on evidence that was first uncovered when studying a phenomenon called "left gaze bias."

The study revealed that dogs react uniquely when presented with a human face and their method of processing and understanding the human face is very similar to human method. When presented with non-human faces, there was no remarkable reaction; but when presented with human faces, the dogs all consistently exhibited "left gaze bias" - a tendency that's never before been seen in non-humans.

What is Left Gaze Bias and Why is it Significant to a Dog's Ability to Detect Emotion?
According to the findings published in New Scientist, past studies have revealed that human faces are "lopsided" when it comes to displaying emotion due to the differences that exist between the two hemispheres of the brain.

The left side of the brain is more involved with displaying emotion, so the right side of the human face (which is controlled by the left side of the brain) more clearly expresses emotion. The left side of the human face - controlled by the right and less emotional hemisphere of the brain - is more void of emotion.

That said, humans have evolved to focus on the more emotional right side of the face, which appears on the left when one is looking at another person. Humans have evolved to gaze toward the left first when examining another person's face for facial expressions and cues that are suggestive of the person's mood or emotion.

This tendency to first gaze toward the left when looking at another human face is called "left gaze bias."

According to the published study, left gaze bias only occurs in humans when they encounter other human faces; the rule does not apply to objects or animals. Dogs exhibited these very same tendencies.

The Conclusions of This Study on a Dog's Ability to Read Human Emotions
Researchers at the University of Lincoln say that left gaze bias is significant because dogs exhibited this tendency when looking at human faces, and only human faces. This study suggests that dogs are looking toward the left for the same reasons that humans exhibit left gaze bias - to examine the more emotion-rich side of the human face.

No other animal has been found to display this particular behavior before.

Dr. Kun Guo's team of researchers performed their study on 17 dogs, who were presented with images of human faces, dog faces, monkey faces, and photographs of inanimate objects.

Each dog's eye and head movements were videotaped and an analysis of the tapes revealed strong left gaze bias only when the dogs were presented with human faces.

"Dr. Guo suggests that over thousands of generations of association with humans, dogs may have evolved the left gaze bias as a way to gauge our emotions," the New Scientist article concluded.

petcare.suite101.com/article.cfm/study_says_dogs_detect_emotions_on_human_faces

[Gliondrach]

A programme on telly last night (Unreported World, Channel 4) showed how the demand for ivory in China has led to an increase in the killing of elephants in Kenya and Tanzania. They showed a government store where confiscated tusks were kept. These had been taken from illegal traders and smugglers. There were about 6 or 7 tons of them.

The reporter posed as a buyer and contacted some traders who said they could easily get him a ton of ivory. These traders said that they have contacts in various agencies, such as Customs, and that anyone with money can get ivory out of the country.

The leader of one village said that they protect the local elephants because they bring in tourists. But I doubt if they could stop a determined gang of heavily armed killers.

I sometimes think that the only way to stop the killing would be to de-tusk the elephants. But even that would leave part of the tusks below the skin surface. It might still be worthwhile to kill the elephants to get at them. On a similar note, I think that one way to stop the killing of leopards and cheetahs for their fur would be to chemically scar their coats - so they have long streaks all over where no hair grows. That would be interfering with Nature but it's better than letting them be killed off.

[Gliondrach]

Injectable Tuberculosis Vaccine for Badgers authorised

Release date: March 29th 2010
Unrestricted

Defra have announced that the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) issued an authorisation for Badger BCG vaccine on 24th March 2010. This is the first tuberculosis vaccine authorised for use in badgers in the UK.

The research was conducted by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) and the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera). The research was funded by Defra at a cost of £11m over 10 years. The authorisation has been issued following intensive research and testing, which has shown the vaccine to be safe and offer badgers protection against challenge with the bacterium responsible for bovine TB.

The vaccine will be put to use from this summer in the Badger Vaccine Deployment Project. Defra is funding this project to trap and vaccinate badgers against TB for five years in six areas worst affected by bovine TB in England. Contractors will be trained and licensed to carry out vaccination. This will in turn help build up a pool of licensed contractors who can carry out vaccination more widely outside the project areas. landowners outside of the project areas who wish to use the vaccine would have to source and pay for licensed contractors to vaccinate badgers on their land.

ht-tp://ww-w.defra.gov.uk/animalhealth/news/290310-tuberculosis-vaccine-for-badgers.html

[nagev]

Is this to stabilize badger populations? Are they being severely affected by bovine TB?

[Gliondrach]

It's to stop badgers from infecting cattle with bovine TB. Farmers are crying because some of their cattle are infected with TB. They blame badgers for the spread. Badgers can be infected and probably can infect cattle but killing badgers is not the answer.

A report for DEFRA by the Independent Scientific Group said that cattle are the main cause of transmission of bovine TB. I haven't seen the report, though.
==========

How badger culling creates conditions for spread of bovine TB

A stable social structure may help control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (TB) among badgers, ecologists have found. The findings – published online in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology – have important implications for the role of badger culling as part of the strategy to control bovine TB in the UK.

According to the authors from the Central Science Laboratory and the Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegético in Spain: "The evidence suggests that movement of individuals between groups may be instrumental in driving disease dynamics at the population level, and adds further support to the contention that the social disruption of badger populations, for example by culling, is likely to promote disease spread."

They found that TB rates were lowest when there was the least movement of individual badgers between groups.

The results also have major implications for future policy to control bovine TB in the UK. According to the authors: "Past badger culling policies have been accompanied by an inexorable rise in the incidence of TB in cattle. Indeed, it has become apparent that the various strategies may actually have been a contributory factor to the increase in disease through perturbation. The results presented in this paper lend weight to this argument."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-02/bpl-hbc021207.php

Nature. 18/25 December 2003

The study that raised doubts about the 'reactive culling' of badgers thought to be carriers of bovine tuberculosis (TB) on British farms is published in this issue. In an attempt to control bovine TB, more than 20,000 badgers have been killed since 1975 in areas where there were infected herds. This policy was put on hold in 1998 so that a study could assess the effectiveness of the method. The study compared reactive culling, no culling and 'proactive culling', in which badger numbers are reduced across an entire area regardless of the incidence of TB. Trials were due to run until 2005, but when initial results showed the number of infected herds in reactive-culling areas to be 27% higher than in regions without culls, the researchers notified the government of their findings. The rest is history, though why reactive culling did more harm than good is still a matter for debate. Ben Bradshaw, Britain's minister for nature conservation and fisheries, announced on 4 November that reactive culling will no longer be used in the trial.
http://www.nature.com/nature/links/031218/031218-7.html

[nagev]

Ahh, I was wondering. This makes more sense. Sorry, I should have just Googled it.

It seemed odd to me that humans were doing something for another creature and I was questioning the motives. However, it is all in the interest of self-interest.

It saddens me that people, like in this situation, rarely question if the system is warranted and instead just look for another quick fix. By system, in this case I mean the system of domestication of animals, specifically bovines or those being infected with bovine TB, however, in general it would be any system of actions on the part of a person. :(

[Gliondrach]

The people who call for the killing of badgers to prevent disease in cattle are like the idiots who think that foxes need controlling and that they are a danger to sheep and chickens.

[nagev]

So do you think this TB vaccination is a valid approach?

[Gliondrach]

I don't know. Killing them doesn't work but there are still calls for killing. This might reduce the demand for killing.

[ChenLi]

As long as it stops the idiots killing the badgers I'm all for it. But it still doesn't adress the real problem of TB transmission, the poor welfare of the cattle.

[nagev]

Well, nothing much is clear to me. It sounds like while this may decrease the culling, it's not clear to me (maybe there is more detailed analysis in the reports) how it will affect badgers. People are often short sighted on this kind of thing, similar to their reasoning with the culling.

Plus I don't like that the idea is just to continue with the practice of cattle. :pouty:

[Gliondrach]

The vaccine might harm some badgers, just as vaccines harm some humans, but at least they won't be killed - for as long as the vaccination programme continues.

[nagev]

Yeah, possibly, but at what costs? Vaccines for non-human animals only if they affect human interests?

I guess I find it repugnant still since it's more about keeping their cattle alive long enough to sell (and there is the possibility that they'll increase the numbers of cattle since they bovine TB might not be a problem or as much of a problem). So I guess it's badgers or cattle if that's the case.

I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea, it's just difficult for me to accept that the only two options are culling or vaccines, but in either case, continue on with human endeavors as usual.

[Gliondrach]

Yes, that's the way it is. The meat eaters and dairy users think with their bellies and taste buds.

[Bowwowmeow]

The world's largest beaver dam has been discovered in a remote part of Canada.


http://d.yimg.com/i/ng/ne/skynews/20100508/06/2607717479-eager-beavers-build-dam-spotted-space.jpg?x=310&y=231&q=75&wc=321&hc=240&xc=40&yc=1&sig=fGJNgURQcP3i3pXFPInpGw--#310,231 (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100508/img/pod-eager-beavers-build-dam-0f5964ac2e52.html)

Eager Beavers Build Dam Spotted From Space



An ecologist claims he spotted the super-size rodent den while using satellite technology through the internet site Google Earth.
"I couldn't believe it when I saw it - it's a vast, vast area," Jean Thie said.
"There may be longer dams out there, but this, by far, is the largest I have seen so far."
The dam spans 2,788 feet (850 metres) and has been seen by Nasa from space.
"It might be hard to believe, but there are a few things that are visible from space, and beaver dams are among the few animal-made structures that are," the ecologist said.
"It would not have been possible to view it without something like Google Earth."
The dam sits in a corner of a park "the size of Switzerland" in an area surrounded by heavily forested marshland, Wood Buffalo National Park spokesman Mike Keizer said.
Using past Nasa images and park aerial photography, Thie worked out that the beavers began their work four decades ago - meaning the monster construction must have been worked on by several generations.
North American beavers build dams to create deep, still pools of water to protect against predators and to float food and building materials.
A 652 metre structure in Three Forks in the US state of Montana previously held the record for world's largest beaver dam.


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100508/tod-eager-beavers-build-dam-spotted-from-870a197.html

[nagev]

I was just reading about that the other day. It's pretty impressive.

[Bowwowmeow]

I just hope people will leave it alone, now that it has made the news.

[nagev]

That's a good point. I'm sure there will be some who will want to go and see it. I'm sure they will have some kind of impact as well. :(

[Gliondrach]

Kill the cull, not Wales's badgers

Despite no scientific evidence that bovine TB is transmitted by badgers, the farming lobby is hellbent on slaughtering them

Brian May
guardian.co.uk, Monday 12 July 2010

"Causing unnecessary suffering." In this second judicial review, in courtroom number 5 in Cardiff, this phrase leaps out at me. There is a whole mass of human behaviour which clearly, to anybody with a shred of integrity, falls into the category of "causing unnecessary suffering" – to other sentient creatures, human or otherwise. It ought to be clear, and people who know right from wrong should be putting up their hands to stop it. Yet the people who are causing this suffering, time and time again, find reasons to wriggle out of admitting their crime, and use any power or influence to enable themselves to go on causing the suffering. And this could apply to a government that orders the killing thousands of badgers under the pretext of fixing a disease problem in farmed animals.

The modern, intensive farming of cows, with hundreds (and soon thousands) bred and corralled in a small area, fed the same feed, attracts parasites and diseases. They have to be pumped with antibiotics and hormones to keep the diseases in check. This is why bovine TB became a problem in the UK.

The disease reached epidemic proportions by 1950, when cattle were still often bred in urban environments – and then following the introduction of compulsory skin testing, and the imposition of strict movement controls on cattle, which were also allowed more room to graze in the countryside, the problem was vastly reduced. By 1970, the incidence of bovine TB has dwindled almost to nothing. It was at this time that it was discovered that the cattle had infected Britain's ancient badger population with the disease.

At the beginning of the 1980s, the incidence of the disease in cattle began to increase again. There was disruption to the testing programme caused by BSE and the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. Yet the increase in prevalence of the disease was blamed on badgers.

To this day, nobody has been able to prove a mechanism for the transfer of bTB from badger to cow (though the transference from cow to badger is well-documented). The sudden outbreaks of bTB in areas of Britain hundreds of miles apart cannot possibly be blamed on badgers, which never travel more than 3 or 4 miles from their homes in their lifetimes.

Nevertheless, the legend spread among farmers that the badger was the villain – and sections of the farming community (not all, by any means) began screaming for their blood. Until recently, the government of both England and Wales resisted pressure to cull badgers, putting a high value on the lives of these ancient and innocent creatures. But, with the recent resurgence of Conservative-minded politicians, backed by organisations linked with the Countryside Alliance, the farming lobby has become more powerful.

In Wales, Elin Jones has already ordered the slaughter of badgers, and in England the same intention has been announced by the new heads of Defra, notably Jim Paice. In Wales, the only reason the killing has stalled for a moment is because the Badger Trust has mounted a judicial review (JR), challenging the right of the Welsh assembly to make such a decision. The first JR failed. This is the second, brought as an appeal against the first's decision that the Welsh government had acted properly.

One fact that emerges during proceedings is that the skin test is not at all accurate, so very often an animal is pronounced suspect, and is killed; then a postmortem is done and it is discovered that the cow was not sick at all. This is a "false positive" test result. One of the judges asked if there are also false negatives – the answer is "yes". So there are many animals infected with bTB whose flesh and milk do go into our food supplies, right now. Luckily for us, it's hard to get TB from eating meat, and the fact that all milk is now pasteurised means that there is pretty much zero chance of getting the disease from milk either.

So, why is it so crucial that bovine TB is eradicated? You might well ask. The true answer is that, health-wise for humans, it is not important at all. It's all about money. The farming laws of Europe dictate that if any herd has had an infected cow in it, the herd cannot be sold in Europe. So farmers are up in arms because the value of their herd is at a stroke slashed as soon as there is a confirmed "breakdown".

But there is more. Farming is one of the most heavily subsidised industries in Britain. Even if the whole herd has to be slaughtered (which is rare), the farmer is compensated for all loss of income. So, again, why the fuss? As far as I can see, it's about the government being able to show a profit from farming: it looks bad if it's subsidising losses all the time. This is a key bit of emotive propaganda that is used to justify culling the poor old badgers. "The government is spending all this money – it can't be allowed to go on …"

Outside the courtroom, in my mind's eye, I see this little drama in perspective – small and puny in context with the glaring monstrous crime about to be committed, by these few people, with piles of paper in front of them, all hinging around small issues of law. They talk about the gain in monetary terms, and they talk about "balance" of the deed of killing against the value gained. What price can you put on the life of just one innocent badger?

The badgers are a protected species – until the government decides they are a pariah.

The Elin Jones's proposed culling operation is a "trial". In other words, this is some kind of scientific experiment. If this weren't so serious, that would be a big laugh. First, the experiment has already been done, by the Independent Scientific Group, reporting to Defra: 11,000 badgers died in order that scientists could come to a clear conclusion that culling cannot work as a control for bTB. Second, there is no way this can be an experiment. The Welsh assembly's package is a mixture of methods – culling, testing, and mostly voluntary controls on the movement of cattle – and there is no control group to show what would have happened if the "experiment" had not been done.

In fact, there is no evidence that this proposed cull will produce any benefit at all.

I also hear from farmers at the other end of the spectrum who, privately, say they will not stand for the eradication of wildlife – who, like us, want to see for their grandchildren a countryside filled with healthy wild animals. The whole world will be watching to see if this government will be able to pull off this sledgehammer move in the face of public opinion. Perhaps this will be what people will look back on as the moment when the tide of cruelty turned – perhaps it will begin in Wales, right here. The JR judges have now declared that they will allow just one week for Welsh assembly ministers to rebuild their case, with session to be resumed on Wednesday 14 July.

I am praying the Welsh will not stand for this carnage. And that the world will listen.

• See, for further details, Save Me, a campaign founded by Brian May to promote decent treatment for animals. Brian has posted a longer account of the proceedings of the judicial review on the Welsh cull on the campaign's Facebook page

Some clickable links on the site.
ht-tp://ww-w.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/12/badger-cull-wales-brian-may

[Gliondrach]

We're too smart for sausages: Why farm animals aren't really as dumb as they look

By Amanda Cable
2nd July, 2010

When TV farmer Jimmy Doherty put his flock to the test to find out he discovered a secret world of cunning pigs, moody cows - and even talking chicken...

Rosie was the first four-legged creature to ever get the better of TV presenter Jimmy Doherty. She would flee when she was called, launch audacious raids to steal food and somehow let herself in and out of gates just by using her nose. She sounds just like a naughty puppy in need of training, but Rosie was, in fact, a truculent piglet.

And now Rosie has inspired an extraordinary new animal programme. BBC2's The Private Life Of... Cows, Pigs, Chickens takes a look inside the minds of creatures we have long dismissed as unintelligent. And it reveals a fascinating world of smart pigs, social climbing chickens and networking cows.

Jimmy came up with the idea for the show after observing the animals on his Suffolk farm - where the BBC series Jimmy's Farm was filmed - and noting signs of keen intelligence. Jimmy, 33, says, I've always known that pigs were bright, but Rosie the piglet was a rule unto herself.

She would find a large bag of food, rip it open and eat the lot. A few times, I caught her going near the food bags and I would tell her off. But she quickly realised that she could sneak around the back of the straw bales and get to the food without being seen. She began to launch commando-style raids. I had never actually known a pig to be this clever. I was outwitted at every turn, and I swear this piglet seemed to be laughing at me.'

Jimmy, who is expecting his first child with his wife, Michaela, 32, recruited a whole host of scientific and animal experts to conduct extraordinary experiments around the farm. 'I knew that Rosie was intelligent, but I didn't appreciate just how complex and well organised pigs can be,' says Jimmy.

'I also discovered that cows can have likes and dislikes, and, just like humans, they can long to be popular. I met one cow that hated the female farmer who tended her - and another who did nothing but network in a bid to get as many friends as she could.

I also saw the different pecks that a hen gives in order to sort out their strict social structure. Working on this series changed the way I look at chickens, cows and pigs.'

COWS
If you think that a cow's expression doesn't change, think again. Cows are emotional creatures, whose moods, facial expressions and fears shift throughout the day. They form lifelong friendships with other cows, and, like humans, they experience a range of emotions, including love and devotion. They also bear terrible grudges, which can last a lifetime - and scientists believe that some cows even worry about the future.

It is known that when they are separated from their fami l ies, f r iends, or even favourite human companions, cows grieve over the loss. Incredibly, mother cows have been known to brea k out of fields and then walk for miles to be reunited with ca lves sold at auction. They are able to track down their

offspring through their excellent senses of hearing and smell. Cows can detect odours from as far away as 5 miles, and can hear high and low frequencies better than humans. It is no surprise, therefore, that the cow is one of the most successful species on earth.

Cows have huge pupils and their eyes can collect more light than ours. Because their eyes are on the side of the head, they can see in a 330 degree arc - so that, in the wild, they can spot potential predators from all directions. Every cow has a flight zone - an invisible ring around the animal. Each cow's zone is different, but if you move within it, the cow will move away.

A cow is only fertile for a single day every three weeks. If a bull attempts to mount her on any other day, he will get the cold shoulder. But when the cow is fertile and therefore receptive to the bull's advances, she emits pheromones. Humans can't smell it, but the bull can. He curls his lip, sucks in the pheromones and passes them over a special sensory organ.

But even if a cow is not yet receptive, the bull can tell when she is likely to become so - and he makes a mental note to return in the future - a bit like a bovine dating diary.

A cow about to calf will distance herself from her herd. As her cervix stretches, it triggers the release of a hormone called oxytocin, which is what makes the mother and calf bond. It helps the mother remember the smell of her calf, which is how she will recognise it throughout its life. It is thought that cows can identify up to 70 other cows - they recognise each other partly by smell and also by markings.

Herds of cows exist in a very strict hierarchy. They like to spend around ten hours a day grazing on grass. Although grass is hard to digest, the cows are able to regurgitate partly digested food and chew it some more, to get the maximum nutrition. They don't stop chewing at night, either. Cows sleep for around four hours out of every 24, and then for just a few minutes at a time. Research has found that they experience a type of sleep called REM, which means that they dream like humans.

PIGS
These creatures excel at computer video games, rarely go out in the sun without putting on skin protection and can recognise objects three years after first being introduced to them. Meet the world's smartest domestic animal.

Research in the 1990s discovered that pigs could be taught to manoeuvre a joystick with their snouts in order to move a cursor on a video screen. Not only did they learn to distinguish between scribbles they had already been shown on the screen and new scribbles, but they also managed to do this as fast as chimpanzees

In further research, a group of pigs were taught the meanings of simple words and phrases, such as jump over, sit by or retrieve. When these were repeated to the pigs three years later, they immediately recalled what to do and happily retrieved the items, leapt over them or sat down obediently beside them.

Scientists know that pigs dream at night, sing to their piglets while they are nursing and have such a good sense of direction that they can find their way back home from miles away.
The earliest ancestor of the pig was the rabbit-sized Diacodexis, the earliest

Evolution drove one branch of the family to become camels; another became whales, while a third branch became wild boars, which in turn developed into pigs.

We first began to domesticate wild boars an incredible 9,000 years ago. As they were deliberately bred for a docile temperament and tasty meat, their characteristics started to change. Their skulls broadened and shortened and their tails curled

Today's domestic pig has a sense of smell which is 2,000 times better than ours, and helps them to pick up scent that comes from deep below the ground. They sweat through their nose, and their snouts contain as many tactile receptors as our hands do.

The pig has an extraordinary mating ritual. First, the bull starts to froth at the mouth, releasing pheromones within his saliva, which excites the sow. He then uses his snout to nudge her repeatedly under the belly, which helps her to produce more eggs, so that more can be fertilised.

Research shows that the pheromone released by a virile boar is made up of the same chemical compound - androstenone - that is given off by truffles, which probably explains why they are so good at hunting and rooting out the delicacy, a fungi found growing beneath the roots of oak trees which can fetch hundreds of pounds on the gourmet food market.

One of the experiments carried out on the show involved burying foods, such as onions, raisins, chestnuts and apples, to see if the pigs would be discerning about what they ate. To a porker, they all selected the apples, chestnuts and raisins, which have a high level of sugar, giving the onions a miss. Instinctively, they chose the food which would give them the biggest boost of energy.
On a hot day, pigs deliberately wallow in mud to cool themselves. But the added bonus is that the mud sticks to their bodies and prevents them from getting sunburnt, and keeps flies and parasites away.

But, despite their fondness for mud, pigs are also incredibly clean. Even a piglet less than a day old will leave its mother's side to urinate away from the nest. In its first hour of life, a piglet will try its mother's teats to find a favourite one. And they will then always find the same teat - the mother's hair points towards the teats, to help the piglets find their way.

CHICKENS
Surprisingly, the chicken is the closest living relative to the Tyrannosaurus rex. They can learn tricks faster than dogs, and also respond more quickly. In past experiments, they have even been taught to play baseball and the xylophone. Because they can't fly or run fast, they have to be aware of everything around them in order to survive, which means they have a keen and sharp brain.

Just as humans can recognise each other by facial features, so can chickens, and they communicate through 24 different cries, which includes an alarm call that warns if a predator is travelling by land or sea and a sound that tells other chickens if food has been found - the tastier the food, the higher the pitch of the call.

Chickens are wonderful problem solvers, too. Incredibly, they understand that when an object is taken away and hidden, it still exists. This complex understanding is far beyond most young children.

Chickens live in social groups and organise themselves into flocks. The term 'pecking order', used to describe a social hierarchy in poultry, was first coined in 1921 by a Norwegian professor called Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe.

He noted that the chickens decided which was the 'top' chicken, the 'bottom' chicken, and where the rest fell in between, which determined who got the food first or had to wait.

Surprisingly, chickens can see movement at double the speed of human vision. Their left and right eyes act independently, with the right concentrating on finding food while the left is on alert for predators or prey. This acute vision makes chickens good predators themselves. They will hunt and kill mice and frogs that stray into the chicken run.

When it comes to mating, cockerels attract hens by saving particularly tasty titbits, and making a special 'tic tic tic' noise to let the hens know what they have got. When a hen comes over to take a look, the cockerel takes the opportunity to mount her.

And even before a chick hatches, it begins to communicate with its mother from inside the egg. The chicks in the nest cheep to each other, and their mother makes reassuring noises to let them know that she is there. So the family bond is established long before they emerge from their shells. When they do hatch, the chicks are feathered and mobile, and are born with open eyes.
Until recently, it was thought that only primates correct their offspring's behaviour, but a study, conducted by Bristol University's Professor Christine Nicol, shows that hens correct the behaviour of their chicks if they are found doing wrong.

Professor Nicol trained her chickens to expect to have their mealworms served up in a yellow bowl, so when the hens saw that their chicks were eating from a red bowl that the professor had also put out, they distracted them by picking up titbits from the yellow bowl and dropping them in front of their brood.

They then called their chicks to them and rubbed their beaks on the floor next to the yellow bowl, to teach the chicks which bowl to choose.

ht---tp://ww---w.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1290899/Were-smart-sausages-Why-farm-animals-arent-really-dumb-look.html

That so-called Television farmer - doherty - will still go on breeding them and sending them to the slaughterhouse.

[Gliondrach]

Not exactly news, but couldn't think of where else to put it.

Monkey co-operation and fairness

aAFQ5kUHPkY

[ChenLi]

How sweet !

[Gliondrach]

Do Not Adopt Warning - Cathy Bradford aka Ruth Bradford aka Ruth Ann Bradford

by StubbyDog Project on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 4:57am

For Rescues, Shelters, and Private Adopters:

DO NOT ADOPT:
An indivdual going by the names: Cathy Bradford aka Ruth Bradford aka Ruth Ann Bradford has been attempting to adopt dogs, specifically pit bulls. She is suspected of selling dogs to labratories or for using in dog fights. Her husband is convicted dogfighter.

This individual is attempting to adopt from local shelters and private rescues in Missouri and Illinois, as well as contacting Pit Bull Rescue Central and applying for dogs w/PBRC's online adoption application

Description: She is about 5’4” white, on the heavier side, brown, curly (loose curls), shoulder length hair.
Approximately – 45 to 50 years old.

Bradford uses multiple addresses:
3205 cotton dodd rd. Cuba, MO
1488 Becker Road Cuba Mo 65453

She is willing to drive up to 200 miles (per her application) to pick up a dog.

She consistently lists other pets on her application, but the pets vary. Often she mentions having a Min Pin.
She also lists her husband, the dog fighter, as a resident of her home.

Please do not adopt to this woman or anyone at her address. Do not allow her to transport dogs. Please Cross Post.

[Gliondrach]

A day this elephant will never forget: Anne's retirement begins as campaign to build haven for circus animals is launched

By Jane Fryer

5th April 2011

Anne’s first steps are faltering as, slowly, she shuffles forwards, back legs dragging painfully on the concrete floor, her head bobbing nervously up and down, and breath coming in loud, whooshing blasts. Everything about her looks tired and creaky and sore, from her arthritic joints to her dry, wrinkled skin.

Her dark brown eyes are weepy, her huge yellow toenails chipped and gnarled. Her tail finishes in a sad, knobbly stump — the feathery end chewed off decades ago.

But as she edges further across the lush green grass of her new enclosure, towards a flock of pink flamingos and a herd of eland basking in the spring sunshine, she seems to savour every second.

Every few paces she stops to feel the sun on her back, curl a tuft of grass in her trunk, or have a satisfying scratch against a fallen log.

And, presumably, to revel in her sudden good fortune.

Because, thanks to the Daily Mail — and, more importantly, to the unfailing support of our readers — Britain’s last (and oldest) working circus elephant has finally hung up her undignified feather headdress.

After 54 years of performing and relentless touring, Anne has begun her long overdue retirement in a tranquil, 13-acre enclosure in the beautifully landscaped grounds of Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire.

It couldn’t be more of a contrast to the home where she has lived for the past half century — a corrugated metal compound, littered with animal droppings, owned by the Bobby Roberts Super Circus.

Over the past year, she was shackled by one foot, stabbed with a pitchfork and kicked in her painfully arthritic leg by a monstrous Romanian groom called Nicolae, who has now fled the country.

Anne’s plight was revealed by the Mail last week in secret video footage filmed by animal welfare group Animal Defenders International. Since then, animal welfare experts, safari park bosses, vets and animal charity representatives have been locked in debate over her fate.

How could Anne best be saved? Where should she go to recover from her ordeal? Was she well enough to travel? Or — awful though it sounds — would it actually be kinder to end her suffering once and for all?

All of which seems slightly surreal today, because, from the moment she arrived at Longleat on Sunday, — accompanied for her journey by police, a private vet and an elephant specialist — the 59-year-old Asian elephant has behaved as if to the manor born and obviously desperate to show that, despite being the oldest elephant in Europe, she is anything but on her last legs.

Yesterday, she wolfed down two bales of hay, a small mountain of grain, dozens of apples, countless bananas (she prefers them lightly browned), bags of carrots and the odd handful of wine gums, all washed down with gallons of water — and still had room for her favourite snack of banana or jam sandwiches, on brown.

She has also enjoyed a 45-minute scrub-down courtesy of Longleat resident elephant keepers Andy and Ryan, two stiff blue scrubbing brushes, two huge yellow buckets of warm soapy water, a pressure hose and a constant battle with Anne’s very energetic trunk.

Next on the agenda — after her promenade round her outer enclosure — is a frolic in her very own 40-ton sandpit (spraying sand over her head, neck and back), a cooling paddle in her shallow pond and a quick game of football with an enormous rubber tyre.

Indeed, despite her horrific ordeal, it’s hard to imagine her settling in better.

'An elephant’s eye tells you a lot,’ says keeper Andy Hayton.

‘You can see it in their eyes if they’re in pain: they go dull and sad, rather than bright and beady.

‘And you can hear their mood in their voice. If an elephant is happy, she’ll talk to you — and Anne has been rumbling and purring away to me ever since she arrived.’

While Anne couldn’t look happier to be here, and less like a geriatric old lady by the minute, she will never forget her last dreadful years.

Elephants are very intelligent emotional animals, with very long memories,’ says Andy.

‘They’re not like goldfish; they’re like us. That’s what makes them so special.

‘So Anne won’t just remember what’s happened over the past year, she’ll remember 50-odd years back. She’s got a lifetime of memories in there.’

And sadly, of course, not all of them good.

Anne was just a calf when she was trapped by hunters in Sri Lanka in 1954. From there she was shipped to the UK, and in 1957 sold to Bobby Roberts Super Circus for £3,000.

Since then, she has spent every single circus season performing demeaning tricks, acting as a moving platform for clowns and dancers, rearing up on her hind legs like a four-ton stallion, and standing patiently as thousands of children queued for £6-a-pop photographs with her.

Out of season, she has spent a horrendous portion of her life shackled by chains in her horrid metal shed.

She was bullied by her late fellow elephants Beverly and Janie, who barged her and chewed her tail, and then by the monstrous Nicolae.

And while her 68-year-old owner Bobby Roberts and his wife Moira, 72, today insist they couldn’t have loved Anne more, there can be little doubt that 50 years of being pushed and prodded and poked must have taken their toll on such a dignified and majestic animal.

Which is why Longleat staff are determined that, for once, it will be Anne, not her keepers, who sets the pace for her retirement.

They have vowed to take things at her pace, and not to overdo a planned treatment schedule of hydrotherapy, dust baths, scrub-downs and physiotherapy that would make even the most pampered celebrity jealous.

‘We need to take things at her speed,’ says Jonathan Cracknell, director of animal operations at Longleat. ‘We need to stimulate her and make sure she isn’t bored. But we mustn’t forget that she’s an old lady.

'And just like any old lady, some days she’ll be in the mood to go out and charge round the shops, and others she’ll want to put her feet up and watch Loose Women on telly.’

For now, Anne will be sharing the park’s old-fashioned concrete-floored elephant shed and enclosure with the resident rhino, antelopes, flamingos and pelicans.

But this is very much a stop-gap, and plans are afoot to build a custom-made elephant enclosure, with swimming pool, central heating, wading area, enormous sandpit, proper fencing and umpteen acres that would become the first port of call in the future for distressed elephants from Europe and further afield to recuperate after appalling treatment.

She may be old and grey and badly lame, but there is something very special about Anne.

As Jonathan Cracknell puts it: ‘Elephants have emotions — they feel things and remember things. They’re like people with trunks, who just happen to weigh four tons.’

As I stroke her goodbye (close up, she is warm to the touch, with soft, kind eyes, surprisingly springy skin and a trunk that immediately snakes round my waist), it is impossible to imagine how anyone could treat this wonderful animal with anything other than love and respect.

We can only be thankful that, after half a century of being forced to perform, Anne is finally being given a dignified retirement.
ht--tp://ww--w.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1373415/A-day-Anne-elephant-forget-retirement-begins-Longleat.html

There's an appeal on that page for funds to help build the elephant haven.

[Gliondrach]

I was told The One Show is a special edition and is about Anne the elephant (see the above post). It is on BBC1 tonight at 7 pm.

[Gliondrach]

She was only on for 10 minutes. She looked happy. The two circus clowns (not really clowns, they are the circus owners) came to see her and said she was like one of their children. If they treated their children like that they should have been taken away from them. They didn't beat her but they kept her working for about 53 years. Humans don't have to work that long.

The woman circus owner said she is sure Anne enjoyed circus life because she does. But she chose a circus life. Anne didn't.

After that was a discussion of vegetarian food. Some cook said he likes meat and doesn't like the idea of mock meats because they are highly processed and unnatural. Or words to that effect. Some vegetarian chap said they are no more processed or unnatural than bread, which is wheat that has been milled, mixed with other things and then baked. And no more processed or unnatural than cheese, which is milk that has been allowed to go rancid and then processed.

[Gliondrach]

Here's an easy petition to sign. You just need to put your name to it. No need to give your e-mail address. See the red note below for the petition site.

No 10 blocks plan to ban wild animals performing in circuses

Campaigners' hopes are set to be dashed as Government opts instead for self-regulation

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Friday, 6 May 2011

Downing Street has blocked plans by ministers to ban lions, tigers and other wild animals from performing in circuses, according to animal welfare groups.


For 12 months ministers at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have repeatedly indicated their support for stopping wild animals performing tricks in the big top, but No 10, which wishes to reduce Government regulation, is understood to have vetoed the decision during the past fortnight.

Ministers are expected to announce a system of self-regulation by circuses within days.

Animal welfare campaigners, who say concerns about the size of enclosures, constant travel and loud crowds mean circuses should not keep wild animals, are furious at the U-turn. With the backing of the RSPCA and the British Veterinary Association, which represents 12,000 vets, The Independent today launches a campaign calling for the Prime Minister to rethink and announce a timetable for a ban.

One would ensure that circuses cannot use tigers or zebras now and rule out the future importation of species such as giraffes and bears, which are used in foreign circuses but are not presently on tour here.

Amid widespread public disapproval, the number of circuses using wild animals has fallen steadily from 20 in 1997 to three today. They use more than 20 animals. The Great British Circus is touring with at least five tigers and two camels, and is breeding lions for future performances. Peter Jolly's Circus has four pythons, a zebra, a camel and one horned African cattle called an ankole, while Circus Mondao has two zebras and two camels. All three circuses say their animals are well looked after, travel only short distances and are not harmed by their trainers.

Groups such as the RSPCA say scientific evidence suggests they have only a quarter of the minimum recommended space they would have in zoos, and that their training, transportation and performance is likely to damage their mental wellbeing.

Defra ministers have tended to agree. Labour's Ben Bradshaw announced his intention to ban wild animals from circuses five years ago but it never happened, prompting his successor Jim Fitpatrick to say he was "minded" to introduce a ban last March, after the idea was backed by 94 per cent of more than 10,000 responses to a government consultation.

Since the general election, Conservative ministers have frequently said they are "minded" to back a ban.

Animal welfare organisations say the row over the publication last month of pictures showing a trainer at Bobby Robert's Circus beating Anne the Elephant gave the Government a "perfect opportunity" to act. Yesterday, Defra said of its impending announcement: "We can't really comment on what it's going to cover."

Six countries – Austria, Croatia, Israel, Bolivia, Costa Rica and Singapore – have already banned all wild animals in circuses, while partial bans are in place in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and India. Harvey Locke, president of the British Veterinary Association, said: "Although it affects only a small number of animals, the BVA feels their welfare needs and the needs of future animals could not be met adequately by the environmental conditions of a travelling circus. We would urge the Government to go ahead with a ban."

Liz Tyson, director of the Captive Animals' Protection Society, said: "From an ethical standpoint, there is no justification for people to teach animals tricks or to force them to perform for our entertainment. We regularly get people saying to us: 'I can't believe this is still legal.' People make the assumption that we have got the highest standards for animal welfare in the world but the reality is that we are falling behind – Bolivia introduced a ban on the use of all animals in circuses in 2009."

Sophie Coles, spokeswoman for Peter Jolly's Circus said their animals were well looked after. The circus did not use lions or tigers but could consider using them in future, she added.

She said: "We travel short distances, usually no more than 20 miles. They [the animals] come out and they just go into a field. They are in their travelling lorries for a short time. It's in our business interests to look after them."

A spokesman for Martin Lacey, who runs the Great British Circus, said: "If there was anything wrong, the RSPCA would prosecute, the same as anyone who keeps cats or dogs. He has been in the business for more than 40 years. He has never had a problem. The message to all the animal welfare people is instead of going to the papers, go through the proper channels."

He added: "The last Government was talking about it. They're always talking about it."

To sign the petition calling for a ban on wild animals in circuses visit:
http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/circusanimals


Q&A

Why ban wild animals in circuses?

They have less space than they have in zoos, travel the country in cramped transportation and perform in front of loud crowds. In 2009, Bristol University reviewed the scientific studies and found many animals, particularly large wild ones, exhibited repetitive behaviour such as repeatedly pacing. They concluded: "We argue there is no evidence to suggest that the natural needs of non-domesticated animals can be met through living conditions and husbandry offered by circuses."


What species would be banned?

Elephants, lions, tigers, zebras, crocodiles, camels and other wild animals. The ban would not affect domesticated species such as dogs and horses.


What would happen to the animals?

The RSPCA is very confident it and other groups could rehome the 20 or so wild animals used in circuses in sanctuaries, private collections and wildlife parks where they would have more space and less stress. Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire took in Anne the Elephant last month within days of footage showing her being beaten by her circus trainer.


Does the public support a ban?

Yes. Polling by reputable organisations has repeatedly shown widespread support for a ban. Over the past 10 years the level of support has ranged from 63 to 80 per cent. During the public consultation published last year, 94.5 per cent of respondents supported a ban.


What does the Government say?

Ministers at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have repeatedly said they are "minded" to back a ban. Yesterday Defra said it would not express its intentions before its announcement, expected in two weeks.

Martin Hickman

[Gliondrach]

I hope he runs a sanctuary and not a farm. It sounds more like a sanctuary.

O' Grady rehomes wheelie bin lamb

23 May 2011

A lamb which was dumped in a wheelie bin has found a new home - with comedian Paul O'Grady.

The month-old lamb, named Winston, was found in the rubbish in Manchester on April 18.

After hearing about it's plight, O'Grady, who already has a small flock of sheep, volunteered to re-home the animal.

The lamb received treatment for an ulcerated eye but was otherwise unharmed.

It was bottle-fed by a fosterer around the clock before being transported to O'Grady's property in Kent last week.

The comedian and television presenter said: "Winston is a big, strong, healthy boy now - nothing like the state he was in when they found him.

"He's skipping around and has got his own barn so he is very happy. He's very friendly and loves human company. He's in his element."

RSPCA inspector Caroline Hall said: "We still need to find out who was behind Winston being dumped, but it's so nice to see him gambolling around in his new home.

"We are very grateful to Paul and his animal care staff for helping to give Winston such a great new start in life after his unhappy beginnings."

Anyone with information about how the lamb came to be abandoned can contact the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.

http://news.aol.co.uk/uk-news/story/o-grady-rehomes-wheelie-bin-lamb/

[Bowwowmeow]

What's great about this story is that they can't kill the snakes. :)

http://finance.yahoo.com/loans/article/112850/idaho-foreclosure-snake-home


Commentary: Oh, serpents! Thought you said it had servants

http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/6/c0/6c01a6344b95cc9b358e67b7b6e9fcbb.jpeg

For sale: Nice house, large kitchen, several thousand snakes included.

They say there are snake pits on Wall Street.

Chase has learned there are snake pits on Main Street too.

Last year, the J.P. Morgan Chase banking unit foreclosed on a home near Rexburg, Idaho, that is infested with garter snakes.

They slide through the yard, the crawl space, the walls, the ceilings, even across the floors. Sure, they're harmless, but there are perhaps thousands of them. They give off malodorous secretions when alarmed, and can even leave the well water tasting a bit like the way they smell.

Two families have fled the house in scenes reminiscent of horror-film classics. One turned to a local TV station in 2006 to document the infestation, complaining of not being able to sleep at night. The video is still available on YouTube and is doing absolutely nothing for sales.

The next family appeared on TV's "Animal Planet" earlier this year. They said they were told the previous owners came up with the snake story to explain why they stopped paying their mortgage. But, it turns out, the story was true.

Search "Idaho snake house" on the Internet and several intriguing posts emerge. Zillow.com offers a sales description that mentions "a large kitchen with center island," but nothing about snakes on the kitchen floor.

The house, built in 1920 and remodeled about five years ago, has somehow become a hibernaculum, where snakes gather en masse for winter. It's so famously infested that Chase has taken it off the market.

Earlier this year, the five-bedroom home at 675 W. 5000 North was listed for $109,200. That's about $66,000 below its market value. But somehow there were no takers, even in a region known for its Snake River.

Chase is now in the unenviable position of having to be delicate with snakes that continue to live in the home despite a defaulted mortgage. Once a house has been featured on "Animal Planet," you can't just burn it down or otherwise slaughter its reptilian residents. You have to be nice to snakes. It's just good business.

"We have contracted to have the snakes trapped and released," said Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot, a Chase spokeswoman in Seattle.

"We plan to seal the foundation and install a barrier around the foundation to help prevent future access," she said. "A report will be issued by the contractor to be provided to any potential buyers."

Possible buyers might include some guy with a flute and a turban, or maybe a slippery salesman looking to replenish his line of proprietary oil. More likely, though, Chase is going to be stuck with the Idaho snake house for a long time.

Protesters recently appeared in Ohio at the annual meeting of Chase's parent, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., to complain about the company's foreclosure practices. There have been similar protests at all major banks, as if these institutions actually love foreclosing on homes.

Banks currently have about 1.9 million homes on their books or in foreclosure proceedings, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate market researcher.

Imagine all the disrepair, the pet-fouled carpets, the mold, the bugs, the rats and the snakes.
Foreclosures have slowed in recent months, but that trend is largely attributed to legal delays, including banks' dubious use of "robo-signers" on court documents.

Yes, major banks have major problems. But they're still swamped with more foreclosures than they can handle, and Americans are still slithering away from their homes like it's not a snake-like thing to do.

The Mortgage Bankers Association recently reported that about 8.3% of homeowners missed at least one mortgage payment in the January-March quarter. In a healthy market, that figure holds at about 1.1%.

Foreclosed homes made up 28% of all U.S. home sales in the quarter, according to RealtyTrac. And 2011 is on track to be another record year, with about 1.2 million foreclosures expected. This dashes any hope for a housing market recovery any time soon.

The snakes are just starting to awaken at the Idaho snake house. Chase can't chase them out just yet.

"Hopefully, in a few weeks," Donahoe-Wilmot said. "The contractor feels there is not yet enough activity to perform the capture."

[Gliondrach]

I saw tory MP Mark Pritchard on telly yesterday as he addressed the House of Commons. He has introduced a motion to ban wild species from British circuses. He said he had been offered some minor job if he dropped or watered down his proposals. He didn't accept. He said that later someone from the Prime Minister's office 'phoned him and said Cameron would take a very dim view if he went ahead. He ignored that threat as well.

Perhaps Cameron doesn't want any more progress in Animal Rights in case it harms his plans (I'm sure he has plans) to make hunting with dogs legal again.

[Gliondrach]

Monarch butterflies use medicine to cure themselves and their offspring of disease.

Ecology Letters
Volume 13, Issue 12, pages 1485–1493, December 2010
Evidence for trans-generational medication in nature
Thierry Lefevre, Lindsay Oliver, Mark D. Hunter, Jacobus C. De Roode

Abstract
Parasites pose a serious threat to host fitness, and natural selection should favour host traits that reduce infection or disease symptoms. Here, we provide the first evidence of trans-generational medication, in which animals actively use medicine to mitigate disease in their offspring. We studied monarch butterflies and their virulent protozoan parasites, and found that neither caterpillars nor adult butterflies could cure themselves of disease. Instead, adult butterflies preferentially laid their eggs on toxic plants that reduced parasite growth and disease in their offspring caterpillars. It has often been suggested that sick animals may use medication to cure themselves of disease, but evidence for the use of medication in nature has so far been scarce. Our results provide evidence that infected animals may indeed use medicine as a defence against parasites, and that such medication may target an individual’s offspring rather than the individual itself.
htt--p://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01537.x/abstract

6Mjs39mF17I

[KRITER]

I red turtles can breeth thru thair butts,surenuff.I wish I could do that.I would whistle duets.

[Gliondrach]

Not quite the same as making a noise from both ends, but I can whistle and hum at the same time.

[KRITER]

On MSN there animal stories of 2011.I dont rember seeing anything bad.I rember some real good stories.A whale shark fixing to swallo a diver and a littl girl puppy that wasnt supose to live but a lady took her home helped her thru what was wrong with her.Penquins with sweters.It was kind a cool.Just thawt Id share that incase anybody had time to look on MSN.

[Gliondrach]

I'll have a look later, thanks. Surely the penguins aren't cold!

[KRITER]

The penguins got oil on thair feathers.And the folks that was around there didnt want the penguin swalloing oil.They littl rascals.They rite funy with these hand made turtle neck sweters.

[Gliondrach]

Right. I couldn't find those items on msn.

[Bowwowmeow]

Zookeepers at Pocatello Zoo, Idaho, were worried when they noticed Shooter, a four-year-old elk, acting strangely at his water trough.Baffled, they watched as the animal – which is so massive some keepers are afraid to even enter his enclosure – tried to dip his hooves into his drinking trough, before attempting to dunk his whole head in the water. But they were amazed as 10ft tall Shooter lifted his head from the trough clutching a tiny marmot – a kind of large squirrel – between his jaws.
http://n7qvc.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/article-0-0ccc098b00000578-825_634x620.jpg?w=510&h=498 (http://n7qvc.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/article-0-0ccc098b00000578-825_634x620.jpg)
Mammoth: Shooter the elk stands 10ft tall from his hooves to the tip of his antlers
http://n7qvc.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/article-2009820-0ccc18d600000578-124_634x532.jpg?w=510&h=427 (http://n7qvc.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/article-2009820-0ccc18d600000578-124_634x532.jpg)
To the rescue! Shooter pulls the hapless marmot from his water trough
The gentle giant placed the hapless rodent down and nudged it with his hoof, as if checking it for signs of life, before calmly watching it scamper off into the bushes.
Zoo staff caught the entire rescue on camera. It really was amazing, said Kate O’Conner, Pocatello ‘s education co-ordinator. Shooter is such a huge animal – he stands at six feet tall without his antlers – which are another four feet, and he’s pretty scary.
Some of the staff don’t like going in his enclosure with him – he’s punctured car tires with his antlers before, so to see him being so gentle with a little animal was heart-warming.
We all know he’s a real character, but I think he must have a soft side we didn’t know about.
He was trying to dunk his head in the water, but his antlers kept getting in the way.
Nobody could figure out why he was trying to get his head in, and then he started dipping his feet in. We were all completely confused, until we saw the marmot in his mouth.
I think he had nudged the animal away from the edge of the bucket with his antlers and hooves so he could reach it with his mouth without his antlers getting in the way. It was very sweet.
http://n7qvc.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/article-2009820-0ccc1aa900000578-327_634x533.jpg?w=510&h=428 (http://n7qvc.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/article-2009820-0ccc1aa900000578-327_634x533.jpg)
Down you go: Shooter gently lowers the tiny rodent to the ground
http://n7qvc.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/article-2009820-0ccc1e3800000578-885_634x397.jpg?w=510&h=319 (http://n7qvc.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/article-2009820-0ccc1e3800000578-885_634x397.jpg)
Safe, but soaked: Somewhat shell shocked, the lucky marmot seems happy to be back on dry land
Zoo keeper Dr Joy Fox added: We think Shooter sensed that the animal was in distress and decided to help. The zoo plans to auction off Shooter’s incredible antlers when they are shed later in the year.


From http://n7qvc.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/elk-stuns-idaho-zookeepers/

[Gliondrach]

A wonderful story showing that not only humans have compassion. Yet some people would think nothing of killing him for sport.