Best Friends
Greg Pike's dog Booger, cat Kitty and white mouse Mousie, rest at the end of a day in Bisbee, Arizona, December 24, 2006. Picture taken December 24, 2006. REUTERS/Jeff Topping (UNITED STATES)
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Greg Pike's dog Booger, cat Kitty and white mouse Mousie, rest at the end of a day in Bisbee, Arizona, December 24, 2006. Picture taken December 24, 2006. REUTERS/Jeff Topping (UNITED STATES)
A turtle given a Christmas treat of Brussels sprouts caused a Boxing Day emergency when it set off an alarm at a sea life centre – by passing wind.
Its bubbles in the water tank were sent up a tube to the surface, where they popped and splashed water on to a sensor.
Marine biologist Sarah Leaney rushed to the 500,000 litre tank in Weymouth, Dorset, assuming it was overflowing.
'Sprouts are a healthy Christmas treat for sea turtles,' she said. 'But they give similar side effects to those experienced by humans.'
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - They've written Christmas carols for him. They've sent him "trees" made of baby organic carrots and green apples. Someone even gave him a Christmas stocking.
The devoted fans of Barbaro see the colt's recovery as a wonder that trumps even the "Miracle on 34th Street," and this holiday season they want to celebrate — no matter how much the colt's surgeon insists the recovery is all about science.
The fence that surrounds the sprawling New Bolton Center where the Kentucky Derby winner has been recovering since May from his breakdown at the Preakness has turned lately into a big Christmas shrine. Its theme: the miracle of Barbaro
"The Miracle is Barbaro's Spirit," reads one.
When rats snuggle up for a nap, they replay "movies" of their daily activities in what scientists suggest is the animal equivalent of dreaming, a new study suggests. The research supports the idea that memories are cemented into the brain during sleep.
"This work brings us closer to an understanding of the nature of animal dreams and gives us important clues as to the role of sleep in processing memories of our past experiences," said co-researcher Matthew Wilson at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
DUBLIN - Staff at an Irish riding school were forced to postpone festivities after Gus the camel chomped his way through 200 mince pies and several cans of Guinness intended for their Christmas party. Gus, starring in the riding school’s Santa’s Magical Animal Kingdom show, helped himself to the feast while staff were getting changed for the party...
Gus appeared well after Monday evening’s feeding frenzy, Fagan said, adding: “We were all looking forward to it, but you couldn’t blame him. He’s really a very gentle, docile sort of camel.”
CHICAGO - Squirrels hit the genetic lottery with their chubby cheeks and bushy tails. It's hard to imagine picnickers tossing peanuts and cookies at the rodents if they looked like rats.
But good looks alone don't get you through Chicago winters. Nor do they help negotiate a treacherous landscape of hungry cats, cars and metal traps.
So how do they do it? And why do they search, huddle, dart, and sometimes forget where they hid their nuts?
Joel Brown aims to find out.
A brown pelican, blown off course by last week's severe winter storms, is recovering from frostbite and hypothermia at the Wildlife Rescue Association in Burnaby.
The bird, which should be spending the weeks before Christmas along the beaches between California and Colombia, was discovered last week in a snowbank in White Rock...
nable to move, let alone fly, the pelican was first taken to the Burnaby SPCA and then moved to its current home where, says WRA animal-care team leader Jackie Ward, it is now making an encouraging recovery.
"It's looking really good," Ward said in an interview Wednesday. "He's very strong and his prognosis is very good." Which means that by next week, the bird should be well enough to make yet another trip -- all the way to a rehab centre in San Pedro, Calif. where it will complete its recovery before being set free.
A seven year old German Shepherd - Timberwolf mixed dog named Shana is quite a canine hero in Alden as the story spreads of her efforts to save her owners during the October surprise storm.
Eve and Norman Fertig, who are both 81 years old, were out treating injured birds in the Wildlife Sanctuary on their Alden property on the night of October 12th. They left as the storm intensified but, were soon trapped by falling trees and heavy snow as they tried to walk back to their home. Eve realized they could die in the bitter cold but, fortunately, Shana was with them.
As the cold and snow chilled them both without heavy coats and gloves, Shana started digging under the snow and trees. The dog actually dug a foot wide tunnel about 20 feet to the home.
Shana barked but, the couple hesitated, so they say the dog came back and tugged on Eve's jacket. She says the 160 pound dog actually pulled her onto its broad back and crawled through the tunnel. Her husband held on as well as they slowly crawled all the way back to their home. They made it back to the back deck, opened their door and fell in to the house exhausted but safe.
Sydney Says: Wow, I am humbled. I obviously must learn from this hero. I have been digging a hole to China in my backyard. I bet that skill will help me also dig tunnels through snow. I'm sure Miss Tammy understand this. Every time she goes in the backyard she asks me, "So, are ya to China yet Little Dog?" I am very lucky to have a supportive mom, but perhaps she also understands the importance of the digging skill. All Hail Shana!
BRIDPORT, Vt. — Marie Audet's cows produce three things: milk, fertilizer and electricity.
The Audets earn less than $13 a pound for the milk, a 25-year low, but 12 cents per kilowatt-hour for the electricity, a 4-cent premium over the market price.
That's why the Audet family and a growing number of other dairy farmers have decided there's money in manure. Power derived from manure is changing from an alternative-fuel experiment to a business, pushed by high oil costs, low milk prices and new laws restricting harmful gas emissions and requiring the use of renewable energy.
Two generators at the Audets' Blue Spruce Farm feed electricity to the local utility. They run on methane gas derived from cow manure. The farm is part of Cow Power, a program of the local electric company, Central Vermont Public Service. Cow Power gives customers the option to pay higher rates to subsidize farm-generated, poop-powered electricity. The 4-cent premium the farmers are paid helps cover the cost of installing an anaerobic digester that extracts methane from cowpies.