The Animal Blog

This article on CNN.com outlines research conducted at the University of Cambridge in England. According to their observations, there is some evidence of adults actively teaching their young. It is still unknown whether the teaching is a result of the adults realizing to correct the need for ignorance, or if it is just an inherent or instinctual trait.

If only we knew what these animals thought processes were like!

Here is a link to the full article:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/07/13/meerkat.young.ap/index.html

Here is another article from the BBC in regards to the meerkat studies.

The article outlines the process by which adult meerkats will initially introduce their infants to dead prey. As the cubs mature, the adults will gradually transition towards live prey. As soon as three months old, the meerkats have become acclimated enough to be independent hunters.

(Image: Andrew Radford)

Article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5177594.stm

Here's a story from NBC10 in Philadephia about a kitten born with two faces:

"A kitten has been born with two faces and veterinarians don't understand why...It has two mouths that meow in unison, two noses and four eyes that have not opened yet."

Click on the picture about to go to the article and watch the video.

Though this is an extremely rare occurance, this is definitely not the first time this has happened. Some of you may remember this story last year about another two-faced kitten born in Oregon.

Here's a cat named Gizmo who knows how to flush a toilet. And he really likes it!

I wondered afterword why I sat there and watched the entire three minutes, but I know now that my life is better for having seen the whole thing.

A baby penguin chick was born at the Detroit Zoo last week, but here's the good part...

You a chance to name it (if you couldn't already tell be the title of this post)!

My personal choices would be:

• Tux
• Puffy
• Winston
• Domino
• Fuzz

Here's a link to the KUTV article and video:
http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_194124008.html

And here's a link to the Detroit Zoo "Name the Penguin Chick" Contest:
http://www.detroitzoo.org/News%10Events/In_the_News/Name_the_Penguin_Chick_Contest/

You have until July 31st to enter, go get those name in quick!

You'll really appreciate this one if you're into the extreme sports.

Here's a video of a skate-boarding bulldog:

See what I mean? Totally extreme. This dog is already better than I could ever be on a skateboard.

He probably wouldn't agree to it because it would take away from his "extreme" image, but I would like to see that dog in pads and a helmet for safety's sake.

Coincidence or prophetic symbology?

In a small village in Kazahkstan, a chicken reportedly has laid an egg with the word "Allah" inscribed in Arabic on the inside of the shell.

Sadly, there is no picture of this mysterious egg to be found anywhere within the article. Far be it for me to question the integrity of farmer Amantayeva, but I'd like to see some photographic evidence of the egg in question. And how did they know that this was inscribed inside of the egg if they haven't yet broken the egg... hmm???

Anyway, where this to happen in the U.S., I have no doubt that this egg would be commanding bids of $10 grand and up in an eBay auction by now.

Here's the full article at Reuters:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-07-13T120627Z_01_L13421474_RTRUKOC_0_US-KAZAKHSTAN-EGG.xml

Here's an article from Indepenent Online that gorilla. Like many other endangered species, you see the typical culprits of poaching and habitat destruction having a negative impact on the gorilla species.

But there's an underlying root cause that is behind the plight of the gorilla: political strife.

From the article:

"One side effect of the conflict has been the devastating impact on the region's gorillas. Refugees unable to grow enough crops to feed themselves have been forced to kill gorillas and other large mammals in order to survive. Conservationists have not only been powerless to protect the animals, with surveys of the remaining gorilla population and other preservation work proving impossible, but several workers have been killed after they were caught up in militia fighting."

The article suggest within the next few decades, the entire gorilla population will be extinct. The number of gorillas across all species worldwide is currently only in the thousands.

Here's a link to the article:
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1180234.ece

There's some strange pelican activity going on in Laguna Beach, California.

According to the article on CNN, tests were performed on an erratic flying pelican after it crashed into the windshield of a sober driver.

The strange behavior of these birds is reportedly attributed to domoic acid poisoning -- most likely the result of consumption of algae tainted by the acid.

From the article:

"The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center has received 16 calls of strange bird behavior in the past week, and was holding three other birds found disoriented and wandering through yards and in streets, the newspaper reported.

Those birds flew into buildings and pecked several humans."

Pecked several humans??? Stay out of Laguna Beach!

Here's the article from CNN.com:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/24/bird.poison.ap/index.html

Here's an article that I bookmarked a couple of years, but it's still one of my favorites.

It's about a rabit from from Holland named Roberto...

Roberto is almost four feet long and weighs 27 pounds!

Here's a link to the article on local6.com:
http://www.local6.com/news/3547722/detail.html

Sadly the video no longer works, but you can still browse the slideshow of this magnificent marvel or rabbit-kind

The chances of finding a two-toned lobster are extraodinarily small, and the chances of such a lobster popping up on the animal blog... even smaller.

But this guy caught my interest enough to want to share it here with you.

(AP Photo/The Daily News, Abigail Curtis)

Why do I consider this half-cooked wonder of a crustacean terrible you ask? Need I remind you of this character?

Brace yourself world for the havoc this creature has not yet wrought.

Here's a link to the AP article at Yahoo News:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060715/ap_on_fe_st/rare_lobster_5;_ylt=Avn.YCxpIFZEcmCsfleEtOpsaMYA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGVna3NhBHNlYwNzc3JlbA--

This is my favorite of all the cat videos I've posted thus far. Once you get to the end you'll see why.

If not already, this video is poised to become one of the foremost internet legends!

There's a new show coming up on Animal Planet centered around ugly dogs.

Ugliest dogs have been a subject of notoriety lately since Sam's foray into the mainstream media a few years back.

A preview of the show and its contestants is available on the Animal Planet Website:
http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/ugly_dog/uglydog.html

Given this, I'm sure we're not long for shows like "Extreme Dog Makeover". It's all about the rating folks.

By now most of you have seen this video, but I though I'd put it on here anyway for posterity.

This clip captures the incredible camflauge ability of the octopus.

If the comments on Digg are to be believed (and I have no question as to the absolute accuracy of digg postings), this octopus is an Indonesian Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus)

From its wikipedia article, this species of octopus will average about 2 feet in length and its natural colors are brown with white spots. The mimic octopus has the ability to not only camoflauge itself, but to mimic the movements of other underwater creatures such as sea snakes, flounder, lionfish, and flatfish.

There are a few more mimic octopus videos to be found at this site:
http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/indo_malayan_mimic_octopus/

And more info and photos can be found from this National Geographic article:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/09/0920_octopusmimic.html

There have been a rash of dogs with the ability to say "I love you" in the past several years. None of these dogs, however, are as high-profile as this Pug named Odie that made it onto Letterman.

If you can train a dog to say "I love you", just think about some other things you might be able to train it to say:

• "I'm hungry"
• "Walk me"
• "Thank you"
• "Can we go to Red Lobster" or,
• "Oh Don Piano"

Only time (and perhaps technology) will tell what the future holds for dog talking.

I few years ago, I posted this video of Twiggy on my old blog. Needless to say, I was utterly amazed by his talents and wanted to share it with the world (the world meaning the 1-2 people that would actually visit my blog-- including myself).

Whenever I would see anyone water skiing, I would always break out the obligatory "Man, that guy (girl) has got nothing on Twiggy! Twiggy is king of the watersports!"

Buy sadly and to my disillusionment, I recently came across this tragic video.

No... Twiggy didn't go for a shower. He just couldn't hang with the water ski!

Sad, sad day.

Note: I don't believe that this water skiing Twiggy is any relation to surfing Twiggy.

There's a new resident at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

According to the article in the Chicago Sun-times, the not yet named Beluga calf was born on Monday, July 21st at 5:59 PM. Zoo employees are carefully monitoring the development of this calf as the mother of this calf had already lost one its newborns about seven years ago.

Click on the link below for the full article:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-beluga19.html

Beluga whales are also known as white whales or "sea canarys" on account of their underwater squeaks and squeals. The Belugas have an approximate population of 100,000 worldwide.

Ark City? Oh...! Arkansas City.

Wait... Arkansas City?

Anyway, there was a photographer in the right place at the right time in Arkansas City.

The picture above was taken by Donita Clausen, a photographer for The Arkansas City Traveler.

The white furred, pink eyed, and yet unnamed squirrel has claimed residence in a local resident's back yard.

For the complete article on the Ark City Albino, click on the link below:
http://www.arkcity.net/stories/071806/com_0001.shtml

Albino animals are very unusual not only for their skin discoloration, but because of their short life expectancy. Squirrels in general are susceptible to a variety of prey: cats, dogs, hawks, eagles, owls, snakes, racoons, etc... The contrast of their white fur between any environment makes them even more prone to attack.

Here's the second installment of crazy cat clips (CCC).

This time they're rocking out to the President's of the USA song, "Kitty".

Highlights of this one include:

• cat vs. baby
  
• cat vs. cooler
  
• cat vs. box
  
• cat vs. bear!!!
  

Stay tuned for part 3. Enjoy!

Normally this post would just be in celebration of the newborn anteater at the Denver Zoo, but it got me to thinking...

The picture above was taken by the Denver Zoo. This newborn anteater baby named Camilo was born approximately six weeks ago and was recently unveiled to the public.

From the article:

"Baby anteaters typically ride on their mother's back for most of their first year of life, aligning their markings with their mother's, in order to fool predators."

After looking from the picture, I thought to myself, "We do this exact same thing. It must have come from the anteaters!"

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

And case in point:

• "Baby anteaters typically ride on their mother's back for most of their first year of life" ... Check
  
• "aligning their markings with their mother's, in order to fool predators."...
  Example:
  Person 1: I want to take my baby outside, but I don't want anyone stopping to ask to hold him or touch him.
  Person 2: Put him in this baby backpack, people we'll think he's some books.

  ... Check.

Click on the link below for the Baby Anteater article from the Denver Post:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4075614#

What in the world is going on in London?

For the second time in two months, a rare monkey has been stolen from a zoo near London.

This time, it was a Brazilian Squirrel Monkey named Spongebob. Spongebob was stolen during a night time raid of the Chessington World of Adventures near London.

The article from the Telegraph also makes reference to an incident last month where two other endangered monkeys were snatched during another night time raid. It also refers to an incident in December of 2005 in which a baby penguin was stolen.

Click on the link below for the entire article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/18/umonkey.xml

If you've got places you don't want your pet to be, you would think that pet gates would be a perfect solution to your problem.

Yeah, they're great...

• They're practical
  
• They look nice in any setting
  
• They're easy to install
  
• They're sturdy
  
• They allow easy access for people to pass through

But, did anyone mention to you that they're...

EXTREMELY DANGEROUS??

Watch the video to find out what I mean:

Here is an amazing video of a baby Sea Turtle nest. The video follows a newborn sea turtle from the nest to the water. Very interesting to watch the chronical of instinct and the struggle for survival.

I found the clip off Google Video but it appears to be from SubsurfaceMedia.com

If you're an electric blanket, stay out of Ketchum, Idaho.

According the the article, the electric blanket was placed in the 12-foot Burmese Python's (named Houdini) cage in order to keep it warm. At some point, the blanket became entangled with Houdini's rabbit dinner. Luckily, the blanket was not plugged in and Houdini escaped a potentially severe electrical shock. The snake did however endergo hours of surgery in order to remove the blanket.

Click in the link below for the entire article from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/19/python.blanket.ap/index.html

The snake trade is taking off with the excitement of the upcoming movie: Snakes on a Plane.

One woman in Germany recently benefited from the influx in snake demand, selling her 1.5 meter python over the internet. Rather than paying the expensive animal shipping fees, the woman decided to play a little game of deception -- putting the snake in the box and labeling it "attention-- glass".

And the commotion ensued...

Click on the link below to read the entire article from Scotsman.com:
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1081482006

And finally, here is the third installment of crazy cat clips (CCC). This one has a Far East flavor.

If you can get past the sickenly campy music, you'll have a blast with this one. Plenty of crazy cat action!

There's even a couple cat mirror illusions!

Before all of you Australians get all high and mighty and say, "pff... there are kangaroos on the loose everywhere over here", this isn't just any kangaroo.

It's a circus kangaroo...

A trained circus kangaroo!!!!

The Kangaroo, cleverly named "Hoppy" by the locals, broke loose while being transported during a show. The four hour search for Hoppy failed by leaps and bounds.

Click on the link below for the article from Reuters:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-07-20T195828Z_01_L19567920_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRELAND-KANGAROO.xml&archived=False

There's a new king of the waves in town, and his name is Buddy the Surfing dog:

Buddy is from Southern California, the surfing capitol of the world. His versatility on the water allows him to ride the short board, the long board, and the body board.

This pup is clearly serious about surfing, and has ridden this wave of success onto sponsorships and even representation by an agent (athough who in So Cal doesn't have an agent?).

Click on the link below from CBS 3 in Philadelphia for a news story featuring Buddy:
http://cbs3.com/video/?id=28711@kyw.dayport.com

And don't forget to visit Buddy's official website.

Researchers in Borneo found a snake with the chameleon-like trait of color changing deep in one of the islands late last month.

AP Photo

The discoverers of the snake believe that its ability to hide itself is the reason this species had remained undiscovered until now.

Click on the link below for the entire article from cnn.com:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/06/28/chameleon.snake.ap/index.html

The Suberb Lyrebird is known for its incredible adeptness towards mimicry. Its songs can be a mixture of not only other bird songs, but of any sound that it hears in its surroundings.

Watch the video below to see David Attenborough following a Superb Lyrebird which immitates a Kookuburra, a camera shutter, a chainsaw, and a car alarm

See what happens when this little Siberian Hamster underestimates his own speed:

He's shows his resiliency though by getting right back up. What determination! Truly a role model for future hamsters.

There's an ambitious research project underway in Northern Kenya.

Some 5400 elephants were tagged with GPS locators and their movements tracked. The findings?

1. Elephants avoid hills
2. Why? Elephants are big

Earth Shattering!

I completely know how they feel though. After a really big meal and feeling a bit elephantesque, the last thing I want to do is go up an incline.

Click on the link below for the full article from Live Science:
http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060724_elephant_climbing.html