Panda Wedding in Thailand

Thousands of people in Thailand came to the wedding party Wednesday, but the nuptial bliss belonged to a pair of animals: the country's only two resident giant pandas.

As Chuang Chuang and his female partner, Lin Hui, have become adults and begin to mate, Thai officials decided it was time for the couple to make it official.

Dolphin games: more than child’s play?

After years of studying dolphins at play, researches have reached some surprising conclusions: dolphin games show remarkable cooperation and creativity. Dolphins seem to deliberately make their games difficult, possibly in order to learn from them. And such pastimes may play a key role in the development of culture and in evolution—both among dolphins and other species, including humans.

Holiday Pet Stationary

This holiday season, R. Nichols will donate 25% of all holiday card sales to the Humane Society Disaster Relief Fund.

Wounded Sergeant Fights for a 'Best Friend'

They had trained together for three years in the military and were deployed overseas side by side. In June, they arrived in Iraq, where they worked as a team scouring houses and villages for hidden explosives. Then, one afternoon, riding back from a mission, a roadside bomb went off under their Humvee.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jamie Dana was critically injured -- bleeding internally, her lungs collapsed, her spine fractured, her pelvis broken. In her last moment of consciousness, she asked in desperation about her comrade. "Where's Rex?" she pleaded. When no one answered, she grabbed a medic's arm. "Where's my dog? Is he dead?"

Quolls Leave the Pouch

In Tasmania, baby eastern quolls born in spring have now left the pouch and are riding around on their mother's back before becoming independent.

Eastern quolls were once widely distributed across much of south-eastern Australia, including NSW, Victoria and South Australia. But they are now thought to be extinct on the mainland - apart from a few unconfirmed sightings around Cessnock, Wyong and Kempsey in recent years. Tasmania is their only remaining stronghold.

Backyard Cat - deter your cat from jumping.

Backyard Cat is a revolutionary system that allows your cat to roam around fenced property without the worry of her jumping over the fence.
(via)

The History of Dogs and Native Americans

Most researchers agree that about 12,000 years ago, a change slowly began to occur in the wolf populations. Some continued to thrive but others began to spend more time with people. It is possible that some wolves tended to be a little more playful than others. These wolves were not tolerated in the structured wolf pack; but this type of personality went well with people.

Perhaps shunned by their peers, these more friendly dogs entered the camps of the Native American. These dogs still looked to a leader for guidance and felt more comfortable knowing their place within a hierarchy. For this reason, the dog readily became an intricate part of the life of Native Americans.

Herring Break Wind to Communicate

Scientists have discovered that herring create a mysterious underwater noise by farting. Researchers suspect herring hear the bubbles as they're expelled, helping the fish form protective shoals at night.

Black Friday Door Buster Sale

Black Friday Door Buster Sale!

Many store chains chalk up more than half their annual sales and profits in November and December alone, hence the term "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving that traditionally marks the season when stores start moving into the black.

What does this mean to shoppers?
Huge crowds.
Crowded parking lots.
No parking spaces.
Hunting through crowded racks for merchandise.
Hot stores, wall to wall tired people.
Long checkout lines.
Sore arms from dragging full shopping bags around.

Here's a better alternative:

Shop on-line at i-pets.com

Excellent selection of treats and gifts for pets.
No need to leave your home.
Shop in your pajamas.
No crowds.
No checkout lines.
Purchases shipped right to your door for only $4.00.
Orders placed by December 16 will arrive in time for Christmas.

What a deal!

Friday Cat Blog

Grace, the basket case

I carry the clean laundry upstairs in a white plastic laundry basket. When the basket is empty, and sometimes even when there are still clothes in the basket, Grace jumps in the basket.

Now the game begins.



I approach the basket slowly, making very sure not to look INTO the basket.
No, there is no cat in there, not Grace, she's not there at all.



I carry the basket back downstairs to the laundry room. Grace sits very still in a little fuzzy ball in one corner. If I sneak a peek, I see a look of total contentment on her face.

Mission accomplished! Free ride downstairs without getting caught.

Sometimes, less often, this game is played in reverse, as well. Grace gets carried upstairs, on top of the clean clothes.

If you'd like to see other posts about pets, visit Friday Ark.

Then, on Sunday, see the Carnival of the Cats, hosted this week at IMAO.

Were Cats and Dogs on the Mayflower?

The earliest mention of dogs appeared in a 17th century journal called 'Mourt's Relation” about the first years of life in the new world. According to this account, two dogs, an English springer spaniel and a mastiff were brought along by John Goodman, a young man of about 25 years of age.

Video: Chimpanzee Washing Cat

Curious. Aren't cats generally obsessive about cleaning themselves? This one has his own simian grooming companion.
Thanks, Bibi

Turkey Facts

· 2.74 billion pounds of turkey were processed in the United States in 1994.

· 50 percent of U.S. consumers eat turkey at least once per week.

· A 15 pound turkey usually has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.

· A 16 week old turkey is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a young roaster and a yearling is a year old. Any turkey 15 months or older is called mature.

· A domesticated male turkey can reach a weight of 30 pounds within 18 weeks after hatching.

· A large group of turkeys is called a flock.

· According to the 2002 census, there were 8,436 turkey farms in the United States.

· Baby turkeys are called poults and are tan and brown.

· Commercially raised turkeys cannot fly.

· Eating turkey does not cause you to feel sleepy after your Thanksgiving dinner. Carbohydrates in your Thanksgiving dinner are the likely cause of your sleepiness.

· For their first meal on the moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin ate roast turkey in foil packets.

· Forty-five million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving.

· Gobbling turkeys can be heard a mile away on a quiet day.

· Illinois produced 2.9 million turkeys in 2003 and ranked 15th in turkey production in the United States.

· In 2003, the average American ate 17.4 pounds of turkey.

· In England, 200 years ago, turkeys were walked to market in herds. They wore booties to protect their feet. Turkeys were also walked to market in the United States.

· Israelis eat the most turkeys.....28 pounds per person.

· It takes 75-80 pounds of feed to raise a 30-pound tom turkey.

· June is National Turkey Lover’s Month.

· Male turkeys gobble. Hens do not. They make a clicking noise.

· Most of the turkeys raised for commercial production are White Hollands.

· Most turkey feathers are composted.

· Nineteen million turkeys are eaten each Easter.

· Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented a live turkey and two dressed turkeys to the President. The President does not eat the live turkey. He "pardons" it and allows it to live out its days on a historical farm.

· Six hundred seventy-five million pounds of turkey are eaten each Thanksgiving in the United States.

· The American Indians hunted wild turkey for its sweet, juicy meat as early as 1000 A.D. Turkey feathers were used to stabilize arrows and adorn ceremonial dress, and the spurs on the legs of wild tom turkeys were used as projectiles on arrowheads.

· The ballroom dance the "turkey trot" was named for the short, jerky steps that turkeys take.

· The caruncle is a red-pink fleshy growth on the head and upper neck of the turkey.

· The female turkey is called a hen.

· The five most popular ways to serve leftover turkey is as a sandwich, in stew, chili or soup, casseroles and as a burger.

· The fleshy growth under a turkey’s throat is called a wattle.

· The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.

· The male turkey is called a tom.

· The turkey was domesticated in Mexico and brought to Europe in the 16th century.

· The wild turkey is native to Northern Mexico and the Eastern United States.

· Tom turkeys have beards. This is black, hairlike feathers on their breast. Hens sometimes have beards, too.

· Turkey breeding has caused turkey breasts to grow so large that the turkeys fall over.

· Turkey eggs are tan with brown specks and are larger than chicken eggs.

· Turkey eggs hatch in 28 days.

· Turkey feathers were used by Native Americans to stabilize arrows.

· Turkey is low in fat and high in protein.

· Turkey skins are tanned and used to make cowboy boots and belts.

· Turkeys are believed to have first been brought to Britain in 1526 by Yorkshireman William Strickland. He acquired six birds from American Indian traders on his travels and sold them for tuppence each in Bristol.

· Turkeys are related to pheasants.

· Turkeys can see in color.

· Turkeys can see movement almost a hundred yards away.

· Turkeys do not see well at night.

· Turkeys have a long, red, fleshy area called a snood that grows from the forehead over the bill.

· Turkeys have been bred to have white feathers. White feathers have no spots under the skin when plucked.

· Turkeys lived almost ten million years ago.

· Turkeys will have 3,500 feathers at maturity.

· Twenty-two million turkeys are eaten each Christmas.

· United States turkey growers raised 270 million turkeys in 2003.

· White meat has fewer calories and less fat than dark meat.

· Wild turkeys can fly for short distances up to 55 miles per hour.

· Wild turkeys can run 20 miles per hour.

· Wild turkeys spend the night in trees. They especially like oak trees.

· Wild turkeys were almost wiped out in the early 1900's. Today there are wild turkeys in every state except Alaska.

Scientists Pinpoint Giant Panda's Birthplace

Longgupo of Wushan Mountain in southwest China's Sichuan province may be the birthplace of giant pandas, a recent archaeological discovery suggests.

According to Huang Wanbo, a prestigious Chinese anthropologist and researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science, Chinese and French archaeologists have recently concluded a study of evacuated animal fossils at Longgupo and believe Longgupo is where giant pandas originated.

More than 10 kinds of animal fossils, including fossils of rhinoceroses, antelopes and giant pandas, were unearthed in a 400-sq-m cave there at an altitude of 1,200 meters, he said. The giant panda fossils are about 80,000 to 100,000 years old.

Polar bears face up to warmer future

For the past 30 years or so, people living in Canada's north have been noticing a phenomenon that many scientists now believe is a direct result of our planet warming up.

The waters of Hudson Bay - and many other northern seas - are beginning their annual freeze later each year.

This November, local residents are saying that the waters are up to a month late in freezing up. Similarly, in spring the ice is breaking up earlier.

The net result - polar bears have less time on the solid ice to hunt

The Surprising Origin of Venom Revealed

Scientists used to believe that snakes evolved venom between 60 million and 80 million years ago. Lizards were said to have developed it around 100 million years ago, independent of their legless cousins.

But after comparing the genetic code for snake and lizard venom, Bryan Fry at the University of Melbourne, Australia discovered that the two reptiles shared nine toxins. This supports the idea that snakes and venomous lizards evolved from a common venomous ancestor, and after connecting the DNA dots, Fry and his colleagues traced venom to a single origin 200 million years ago.

World's Largest Aquarium to Open in Georgia

The Georgia Aquarium holds more than 8 million gallons of water to house well over 100,000 fish. It's a leap in size and capacity over the next largest aquarium -- Chicago's Shedd, which holds 5 million gallons of water to support 20,000 aquatic animals.

The $200 million building, designed to look like a ship breaking through a wave, was a gift from Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus.

Tour the aquarium.

What makes an insect an insect?

A small, air-breathing animal characterized by a segmented body with three main parts—head, thorax, and abdomen. In their adult forms, insects typically have three pairs of legs, one pair of antennae, and in most instances, two pairs of wings.

Hymns & Hounds - Dog Friendly Church

Would you like to be able to go to church, but your pooch pouts because you'd have to leave your faithful companion alone, again, after being gone during the week? Or, you'd just like to enjoy your puppy pal's company while you worship? Now there is a solution! Come and enjoy a truly special and unique church service where you and your canine friend will surely be blessed!
(via)

Hamsters seem to have seasonal affective disorder

The darkening days of fall and winter seem to bring on depression and anxiety in hamsters, just as they do for many humans, according to a new study.

"These results in hamsters may provide some insight into the development of seasonal affective disorders in humans," said Randy Nelson, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Ohio State University and co-author of the study. "They do suggest a relationship between season and symptoms of depression and anxiety."

Video: Hawk vs. Rattler

It's a showdown between two of the world's most dangerous desert hunters. A red-tailed hawk, one of the largest hawk species in the world, has its eyes on a western diamondback rattlesnake. The hawk brings to the fight a five-foot (one-and-a-half-meter) wingspan and a surprising tactic for subduing snakes. But the rattler packs a venomous bite that can kill an animal many times its size. Who will win this battle of the predators?

Friday Cat Blog

Our youngest cat, Bandit



This is Bandit in November, 2003.
We had adopted him about two weeks earlier from Animal Welfare. He was a sick little baby. He had fleas, worms, and patches of bald, scaly skin. He had a horrible cough and a runny nose. He would only eat if we fed him mushed up food with a syringe. It was touch and go for a few days, we thought we would lose him.

He got better little by little, and each new development was a cause for celebration. This photo was the first time his mischievous personality was apparent. He had a great time destroying the artificial flower arrangement on the dining room table.

Who could be upset? Look at that face!



If you'd like to see other beloved pets, visit Friday Ark.

Then, on Sunday, see the Carnival of the Cats, hosted this week at Scribblings.

Bears find power poles very tasty

Imagine a 300-pound beaver with a propensity for power poles.

That's essentially what they're dealing with at Bigfork in northern Minnesota.

It seems that tough-mouthed black bears there have a strange hankering for wooden power poles. The bruins are standing on their rear feet and chewing the poles to the core about 6 feet above ground, threatening a bear-induced blackout.

About 22 poles owned by North Itasca Electric Cooperative might need to be replaced, at a cost of up to $60,000.

Local officials are stumped.

Otters winning battle of wits

To appease fishermen, Fish and Wildlife banned otters in 1987 from California waters south of Point Conception near Santa Barbara -- with one exception.

Fearful that an oil spill could wipe out otters elsewhere, the agency tried to create a reserve for 150 otters on San Nicholas Island, about 80 miles south of Santa Barbara.

Biologists had thought the otters would stay near San Nicholas, which has plenty of food and is surrounded by deep water that is hard to swim across.

Now, it seems, officials are throwing in the towel.

Tiger, Lion, Elephant, Giraffe On Menu At Zoo Grand Opening

VIP guests at the grand opening for the night safari zoo in northern Thailand will not only get to see exotic animals -- they'll also get to taste them.

The Chiang Mai Night Safari Zoo will open officially on New Year's Day, with the "Exotic Buffet" for the event including tiger, lion, elephant and giraffe.

Video: Squirrel Attacks Deer

Here's a tough little squirrel and a very surprised deer.

Elderly Woman Attacked By Rare Pet Kinkajou

An elderly woman received 20 stitches after being attacked and bitten by a kinkajou, a racoon-like pet that authorities said escaped from a home five miles away.

"He kept biting my hands because I was trying to pry his teeth out of my hands," she said. "I just kept trying to get him off, and he tore up my left arm pretty bad."

Equal time for GOOD kinkajous.

Beer For Dogs! Share a beer with your best friend!

Yes, it's beer! But, it's for dogs.

Non-alcoholic and non-carbonated, our Happy Tail Ale is the ultimate liquid refreshment for your best friend. Our brew is made with choice malted barley and filtered water, featuring all-natural beef flavorings. Plus, it's fortified with Glucosamine and Vitamin E!
(via)

Pets 90210

Beverly Hills, CA, is known almost world wide as an affluent, wealthy community. But lost pets in the City of Beverly Hills are taken to a County run animal shelter in the City of Carson – over twenty miles and 45 minutes away.

Paula Kent Meehan and pets90210.org are encouraging Beverly Hills Mayor, City Council Members, City Manager and staff to develop a plan for a shelter for the pets of Beverly Hills.

Are Chickens Stupid?

(via)

The Adopt-A-Turkey Project

In 1986, Farm Sanctuary began its annual Adopt-A-Turkey Project. This unique effort has saved thousands of turkeys from the slaughterhouse, and encouraged millions of people to be kind to animals. This Thanksgiving, hundreds of families are feeding turkeys, instead of eating them, by adopting feathered friends who live at Farm Sanctuary.

Time picks cloned dog as top invention in 2005

Snuppy, the first cloned dog, is the most amazing invention of 2005, Time magazine said on Sunday.

The puppy, a 5-month-old Afghan hound, was cloned at Seoul National University in Korea by a 45-person team led by Professor Woo Suk Hwang. Snuppy's genes are derived from a single cell taken from the ear of an adult Afghan, rather than the egg and sperm of a mother and father, Time said.

Birthday Party for the Oldest Living Creature in the World

Harriet comes out of her shell for 175th birthday

A birthday party will be held in Queensland today for a giant tortoise that is believed to be the oldest living creature in the world.

Harriet the tortoise hatched on the Galapagos Islands 175 years ago and it is believed she was studied by famed English naturalist Charles Darwin.

She now lives at a zoo on the Sunshine Coast in south-east Queensland.

Gender Names

A list of animal gender names giving the proper name for both the male and female sex of each animal.

Study: Squirrels Have Complex Language

Squirrels can be very vocal animals, as backyard and park observers know, and now scientists have translated some of their squirrel-speak.

The findings, published recently in the journal Animal Behavior, present some of the most detailed information to date on squirrel vocalizations, which the researchers now believe constitute a complex language that is unique to the animals.

Wanted: Mate for lovesick giraffe in Mexico park

Keepers of a small menagerie at a Mexican park are looking for a mate for a lovesick giraffe after the 15-foot-tall beast tried to make love to a tree and a garden shed.

UF Book of Insect Records

The University of Florida Book of Insect Records names insect champions and documents their achievements. Each chapter deals with a different category of record.
(via)

Lemur Species Named for John Cleese

Known for his work in highlighting their plight, comedian John Cleese has now had a new species of lemur named after him.

The avahi cleesei was discovered in western Madagascar in 1990 by a team of scientists from Zurich University.

Now the researchers have named the primate - which weighs less than a kilo - after the Monty Python star.

Woman Shell Shocked After Finding Turtle In Coffee

Marjorie Morris just wanted to pour coffee into a canister. But what the Ainsworth, Iowa woman found in the package left her shell-shocked. She said she got a jolt even before she made her Folgers coffee.

Marjorie Morris, 77, said when she went to pour the 2-pound package of freeze-dried coffee into a canister last Sunday, she found a dead baby turtle.

Fossil Find: 'Godzilla' Crocodile Had Head Of A Dinosaur, Fins Like A Fish

Researchers have discovered evidence of an ancient sea creature that would have made Tyrannosaurus rex think twice before stepping into the ocean.

Unlike the crocodiles we know today, Dakosaurus andiniensis lived entirely in the water, and had fins instead of legs. But that's not all that made it unusual. Two other features – its hefty size and T. rex-like snout – have earned it a unique place in history – and the nickname “Godzilla.”

Friday Cat Blog

paperwork tires you out
Originally uploaded by corsi photo.

I brought work home. Really. I had every intention of putting in a couple of productive hours. But this bed looked so comfy, I thought I would lay down, just for a minute...



There are plenty of other critters, more alert and awake than this fuzz belly, at Friday Ark.

Then, on Sunday, visit the Carnival of the Cats, hosted this week at Curiouser and Curiouser.

Down for the Count - New York Times

Scientists hope to shed some light on a fundamental question: why sleep exists.

A small but growing group of scientists are pushing sleep research deep into the animal kingdom. They suspect that most animal species need to sleep, suggesting that human slumber has an evolutionary history reaching back over half a billion years.

Cheeta the World's Oldest Chimpanzee

C.H.E.E.T.A. stands for Creative Habitats and Enrichment for Endangered & Threatened Apes. Dan Westfall started the sanctuary when he received custody of Cheeta of Tarzan movies fame. He created a desert sanctuary to provide residence, care, and rehabilitation for homeless or unwanted ex-show business primates.

Video: Golden retriever gives birth to a green puppy named Wasabi.

A green puppy?

Congress Urged to Regulate 'Puppy Mills'

The leader of the nation's largest animal breeding registry joined animal welfare groups Tuesday in urging Congress to expand federal regulation of so-called "puppy mills."

The American Kennel Club, which has opposed changes to the Animal Welfare Act in the past, decided "the time has come to bring under regulation high-volume breeders and brokers who sell at retail or who import puppies in volume for resale," said chairman Ronald Menaker, whose group registers nearly 1 million purebred dogs a year.

Endangered Species: Life on the Edge

Life on Earth is in the throes of a new wave of mass extinction, unlike anything since the demise of the dinosaurs. In the last 500 years, 844 species - like the passenger pigeon, auk, thylacine, and quagga - are known to have died out, and up to 16,000 others are now known to be threatened.

Sri Lanka Candidate Offers Cows if Elected

A wealthy Sri Lankan presidential candidate said he will use his personal fortune to buy a cow for every home if he is elected.

"Every Sri Lankan home will be gifted with a high milk-yielding cow from 2.5 gallons to four gallons of milk every day," Victor Hettigoda was quoted as saying by The Island newspaper on Friday.

Medieval Lion Skulls Reveal Secrets of Tower of London "Zoo"

Infamous as a place of torture and executions, and home to the British monarch's Crown Jewels, the Tower of London was also one of the world's oldest zoos.

Researchers have been delving into the history of the royal menagerie, using animal remains to reveal the secrets of medieval lions once locked up in the Tower.

Scientists say big cat skulls found in a moat that protected the fortified palace provide clues to when and how these lions were kept. They also reveal insights into the lives of England's early kings and queens.

Holiday Puppies

Happy Holidays!

Dunn's Marsh Labradors and Pugs

Learning about fish from restaurant menus of the past

In the 1920s, a plate of abalone could be had in San Francisco restaurants for the equivalent of $7 in today's money. Today with abalone harvesting commercially banned on the California coast, a similar plate of the slow-growing mollusks, imported from Australia or New Zealand, goes for $60 or $70.

Until the late 1880s, lobsters weren't even on the menu of restaurants in Boston and New York. A pound-sized boiled crustacean went for $5 back then, but by the 1970s, after a century of aggressive lobstering, the same meal was running $30 or more. Today, lobstermen are going out 200 miles or more to bring in 5-pounders or bigger to feed supersized American appetites.

California researchers seek help battling dog flu

California veterinary specialists are hustling to get a handle on a new form of flu that infects dogs, identified only a few weeks ago and which since has been found in pets from coast to coast.

Dog flu first broke out in racing greyhounds in Florida in January 2004. But because no flu strain was known to infect dogs, veterinarians did not know what was sickening and, in some cases, killing the greyhounds.

It wasn't until late September of this year that a team of researchers from Florida, Cornell and elsewhere published research showing dogs are susceptible to a form of influenza almost identical to that of a horse flu strain known as H3N8.

Ruben Donis, a flu geneticist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who collaborated on the research, said this is the first known instance in 100 years of research that a flu strain has became established in a completely new species.

New reality show with gorillas

Big Brother is about to become monkey business.

Inspired by the television reality show, Czech public radio and television broadcasters have announced that on November 7, they will begin airing a new show that will follow the lives of four gorillas living together at the Prague Zoo.

Top 10 states for auto-deer collisions

Auto insurer State Farm estimates that 1.5 million vehicles collide with deer every year, resulting in 150 motorists deaths and $1.1 billion in vehicle damages.

With deer migrating and mating season occurring between October and December, the auto insurer says a higher number of deer are near roads this time of year.

Pennsylvania ranks first among the top ten worst states for vehicle-deer collisions, according to an insurance survey published Thursday.

Friday Cat Blog

Where's our dinner?



I come home from work, and open the door. Any dog would be there greeting me joyfully, tail wagging frantically, thrilled at my return.

What do I get?

"Yeah, yeah, you're home. Big deal. Where's our dinner?"

Bandit sits and waits patiently. He won't eat the canned food, and has dried stuff all day, anyway. But he sits and watches me with those gorgeous yellow-green eyes.

Smoke follows me around. He climbs into the pantry, he jumps on the table, he stretches to reach the silverware drawer when I take out a spoon.

Grace is the fun one at feeding time. She paces. Back and forth, making a strange "Errr, urrr, errr," sound. Sometimes she eats so fast she barfs it all right back up.

"Yeah, yeah, you're home. Big deal. Where's our dinner?"

Now, go look at Friday Ark to see this week's critters, and on Sunday, visit the Carnival of the Cats, hosted this week at Pages Turned.

Jeff's Nudibranch Site and Coral Reef Gallery

Q: What is a nudibranch?
A: A sea slug; "branch" (slang); naked snail; members of the subclass Opisthobranchiata belonging to the class Gastropoda in the Phylum Mollusca; a suborder of molluscs lacking a shell as adults and having external respiratory appendages usually on the dorsal surface. Their taxonomic classification is as members of the class Gastropoda, subclass Opisthobranchia, order Nudibranchia.