In Auburn, CA, A three-pound Chihuahua mix named Tink helped police put a fugitive in the clink.
The dog's Christmas Day adventure began when four suspects who were fleeing police crashed a stolen minivan into a hillside in this Sierra foothill town east of Sacramento, and one of them fled.
Tink, a Pomeranian and Chihuahua mix, found him hiding under a neighbor's motor home and chased him into the woods.
Source: AP
New York city’s health code and state law forbid animals in places where food or beverages are sold for human consumption. Fines range from $300 for a first offense to $2,000 or higher for subsequent offenses.But many deli and Bodega owners in New York City are defending their right to keep cats in their stores. The cats keep the rat and mice under control - city inspectors contend the cats pose a health hazard.
Many store owners keep cats despite the law, mainly because other options have failed and the fine for rodent feces is also $300.
“It’s hard for bodega owners because they’re not supposed to have a cat, but they’re also not supposed to have rats,” said José Fernández, the president of the Bodega Association of the United States.
Source: New York Times
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Had all of the 21 puppies in Great Dane Kenya's litter lived, she would have broken the existing record of 20 surviving puppies in a single litter.
Nineteen newborn puppies still make for a lot of feeding and care, so Kenya is receiving some assistance. Half the puppies nurse on Kenya and the rest feed on formula in baby bottles. Then they rotate.
Kenya's owner, Julie Nelson, plans to sell all of the pups, probably for $1,000 to $1,200 each, although she said a couple of them may be sold for more because their markings are so good.
Source: Mercury News
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Quagga mussels, an exotic species native to Ukraine that was first found in the Great Lakes 18 years ago, have been found in a fifth San Diego County reservoir.Quaggas apparently were transported from Europe to Lake Erie in the United States in the ballast water of oceangoing ships, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The mussels grow virtually unmolested because they have no natural predators. They clog pipes and screens at power stations, water treatment plants and agricultural irrigation lines.
Photo: New York Sea Grant
Conde Nast Portfolio.com reports that the biggest trend in pets isn’t purebreds, but specially created hybrids.
For example, this puppy is a Kimola (American Eskimo dog and Lhasa apso.)
Isn't he cute?
We used to call these dogs "mutts" and get them at Animal Welfare for a minimal cost.
Times are changing.
For example, this puppy is a Kimola (American Eskimo dog and Lhasa apso.)
Isn't he cute?
We used to call these dogs "mutts" and get them at Animal Welfare for a minimal cost.
Times are changing.
Most modern-day groups of beetles have been around since the time of the dinosaurs and have been diversifying ever since, says new research.There are approximately 350,000 species of beetles on Earth, and probably millions more yet to be discovered, accounting for about 25% of all known life forms on the planet. The reason for this large number of beetle species has been debated by scientists for many years, but never resolved.
Now a team of scientists has shown that large numbers of modern-day beetle lineages evolved very soon after the first beetles originated, and have persisted ever since. Many modern-day lineages first appeared during the Jurassic period, when the major groups of dinosaurs appeared too.
A tiger escaped its enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo, killing one visitor and mauling two others on Christmas.
Zoo officials were still uncertain how long the Siberian tiger, the same one that mauled a zoo keeper almost one year earlier, had been loose before being killed by police.
The attack occurred just after the 5 p.m. closing time, on the east end of the 125-acre grounds.
The zoo's director of animal care and conservation, Robert Jenkins, could not explain how Tatiana escaped. The tiger's enclosure is surrounded by a 15-foot-wide moat and 20-foot-high walls, and the approximately 300-pound female did not leave through an open door, he said.
"There was no way out through the door," Jenkins said. "The animal appears to have climbed or otherwise leaped out of the enclosure."
Zoo officials were still uncertain how long the Siberian tiger, the same one that mauled a zoo keeper almost one year earlier, had been loose before being killed by police.
The attack occurred just after the 5 p.m. closing time, on the east end of the 125-acre grounds.
The zoo's director of animal care and conservation, Robert Jenkins, could not explain how Tatiana escaped. The tiger's enclosure is surrounded by a 15-foot-wide moat and 20-foot-high walls, and the approximately 300-pound female did not leave through an open door, he said.
"There was no way out through the door," Jenkins said. "The animal appears to have climbed or otherwise leaped out of the enclosure."
Merry Christmas!
Pray for peace.
Pray for peace.
"Fa La La La La..La La La Quack!" uploaded by digicolleen
If your dog begs for chocolate, don't give in! Chocolate contains theobromine, a naturally occurring stimulant found in cocoa beans that can cause vomiting, heart problems, seizures, and even death for dogs.
How much chocolate is too much? It depends on the type of chocolate and the weight of the dog.
Find out how much of each kind of chocolate can harm your pet by consulting the National Geographic Magazine Chocolate Chart.
Scroll on the page to change the weight of the dog and the type of chocolate.
How much chocolate is too much? It depends on the type of chocolate and the weight of the dog.
Find out how much of each kind of chocolate can harm your pet by consulting the National Geographic Magazine Chocolate Chart.
Scroll on the page to change the weight of the dog and the type of chocolate.
Mary Hartman, 91, slipped on a patch of ice as she was attempting to deliver cookies to a nearby neighbor.Hartman called for help, but it was a cry that only neighbor Judy Sawatzki's Jack Russell terrier mix, Taz, could hear.
"He would run to the window and come back to me," Sawatzki said. "He would whine and bark, and then go back to the window again."
That's when Sawatzki let Taz outside, and the terrier mix shot down the driveway barking for her to follow. Taz led her to Hartman, who was crying for help on the icy driveway.
Dogs possess such an extraordinary sense of smell that they can distinguish among the feces of 18 species at once, making them ideal tracking aids for conservation biologists hoping to cover a lot of ground. Or water.Beyond helping document grizzly and black bear behavior in Alberta’s vast Jasper National Park, the dogs have located floating feces from endangered North Atlantic right whales in Canada’s Bay of Fundy and from the Pacific Northwest’s declining orca population. Remarkably, some of the poop snoopers perched on the bows of research vessels have tracked down whale scat more than one nautical mile away.
Among the growing number of scat-detection dogs used to track wildlife by land or by sea, the canines employed by the University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology are showing that no technology can yet outdo their know-how for doo-doo.
Samuel Wasser, the center’s director, said feces is the easiest part of an animal to collect and a “treasure trove” of vital information. Apart from diet, scat can reveal the species, sex and identity of an individual through DNA, while released hormones can record an animal’s nutritional state, reproductive status and stress levels.
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Beginning at 2:00 am MTN on Christmas Eve, you can track Santa Live as he makes his historical journey around the world!
This is exciting, as Santa travels fast and NORAD Santa Cams take photos of Santa and his reindeer!
NORAD has been tracking Santa and that “nose so bright” for more than 50 years.
This is exciting, as Santa travels fast and NORAD Santa Cams take photos of Santa and his reindeer!
NORAD has been tracking Santa and that “nose so bright” for more than 50 years.
Just one night each year, nine tiny magic reindeer pull Santa and his toy-filled sleigh around the world. They are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph, and it’s said that these mythical animals are the only reindeer that can fly.Dr. Perry Barboza is a physiologist at the Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska at Fairbanks, who studies reindeer and their closest cousins, caribou.
He points to the fact that male reindeer shed their thick antlers at the end of mating season in early December. The females also have antlers, but their thinner version stays with them throughout the winter. This means that Rudolph and Santa's team are all females.
What about the non-magical reindeer, the ones which don't fly?
At the start of winter, females may be as much as 50% body fat. The fat, which can be a couple of inches thick on their rumps, insulates them from months of cold -- as low as minus 45° F.
Males go into winter with much lower fat stores than females, as low as 5%, because they use so much energy during the fall mating season. So, losing the weight of their antlers is probably an energy saver.
Reindeer have specially designed coats with hollow hairs that help maintain body heat.
"santa8s" uploaded by nika_gagarina
"Christmas lizards" uploaded by gerad
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"Merry Christmas from Rabi&Marron" uploaded by tomo1203
"SANTA HORSE" uploaded by Mausebärchen
"Santa's new helper" uploaded by lipstickcat
Vacuum cleaners kill fleas just as well as any poison, surprised U.S. researchers found.
They said a standard vacuum cleaner abuses the fleas so much it kills 96 percent of adult fleas and 100 percent of younger fleas.
Glen Needham, associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University, suggested that the vacuum brushes wear away a waxy outer layer on insects called the cuticle. Without it, the fleas, larvae and pupae probably dry up and die, he said.
The findings were so surprising that the researchers ran their experiment several times.
They said a standard vacuum cleaner abuses the fleas so much it kills 96 percent of adult fleas and 100 percent of younger fleas.
Glen Needham, associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University, suggested that the vacuum brushes wear away a waxy outer layer on insects called the cuticle. Without it, the fleas, larvae and pupae probably dry up and die, he said.
The findings were so surprising that the researchers ran their experiment several times.
"Santa Biggie" uploaded by *Kendall*If you like this kind of stuff, don't miss our outstanding collection of
Cats in Hats for Christmas
Cats in Hats for Christmas
A mechanical cow that breaks wind on the hour has become Edinburgh's latest tourist attraction.The bovine backside has been attached to the side of the Rowan Tree pub in the city's historic Old Town.
It lifts its tail and shoots out a cloud of white smoke at passers-by throughout the day.