Good News About Animals: April 2009 Archive
Birds show off their dance moves
(Rebecca Morelle, BBC News) Some birds have a remarkable talent for dancing, two studies published in Current Biology suggest. Footage revealed that some parrots have a near-perfect sense of rhythm; swaying their bodies, bobbing their heads and tapping their feet in time to a beat. Previously, it was thought that only humans had the ability to groove. The researchers believe the findings could help shed light on how our relationship with music and the capacity to dance came about. One bird, Snowball, a sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita eleanora ), came to the researchers' attention after YouTube footage suggested he might have a certain prowess for dance - especially when listening to Everybody by the Backstreet Boys.
Check out Snowball's moves in this YouTube video
It's spring, and region is aflutter with hummingbirds
(Seattle Times) Hummingbirds swirl in buzzing clouds, zipping around more than 10 feeders to sip sweet nectar. Here in Hyak, Kittitas County, snow stands 2 to 3 feet on the ground, and the trees are still in the deep freeze, without so much as a bud. But the air is abuzz with a sure sound of spring: rufous hummingbirds. Tiny, tenacious, they cling with claws thin as threads to the rims of feeders or hover in midair, beaks sipping nectar Chris Caviezel rarely lets run dry during the feeding season.
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a ... Flying Chihuahua?
(Sarah Netter, ABC News) It's a story right out of "The Wizard of Oz" except the setting is Michigan, not Kansas. Bystanders at a Detroit-area flea market were stunned this weekend when high winds from a passing storm picked up a couple's Chihuahua puppy and blew her out of sight. After two days of searching and consulting with a pet psychic, Tinkerbell was found almost a mile away in the woods dirty but unharmed.
Living With Brutus, the 800-Pound Bear
(Imaeyen Ibanga, ABC News) Naturalist Casey Anderson and his best friend Brutus have an exceptionally close relationship. It began when Anderson saved Brutus from an uncertain future as a youth and culminated when Brutus served as Anderson's best man in his September 2008 wedding. Brutus didn't get to walk down the aisle, but he was in some pictures and ate wedding cake. What makes the pair's connection unique is the fact that Brutus is an 800-pound grizzly bear.
Saving the mustang, one horse at a time
(Lynda V. Mapes, Seattle Times) He arrived with the restless hand of the wind still in his mane, tangled in witch's braids and wind knots. Fresh from the open range, this horse hadn't been around people. Had never seen a building, let alone a saddle. As he stood in a corral on a recent winter morning, his deep bay coat glowing in the sun, he lifted his head as soon as he saw Tracey Westbury cross the yard. She walked to him, and he nuzzled her barn coat, looking for treats. At first, even these were strange: raised only on grass, she had to push the apple-flavored biscuit into his mouth so he could discover it was food. As she would soon learn, he was a quick study.
Robin's babies get bird's-eye view of power
(Mark S. Smith, AP) This is a story about a fledgling family at America's most famous address, an inspiring saga about new beginnings, the audacity of hope and perhaps even dreams from a father. More specifically, it's about a robin's nest. Associated Press photographer Ron Edmonds first spotted the bird, flitting into and out of a bush immediately to the left of the main door to the White House press briefing room - the room seen on TV most days, the one with the bright lights in which Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gets his daily grilling.
Who’s there? Great horned owl living at The Home Depot
(James L. White, Harrison Daily Times) A lot of people like to go shopping, and gardening supplies are popular this time of year. But at the outdoor garden center at The Home Depot in Harrison, one individual is really having a hoot: a young great horned owl who was hatched there and now apparently calls it home.
They're all ears - and four legs
(Daniel Rubin, Philadelphia Inquirer) I wanted to be prepared before I dropped by the new reading program at Gesu School. It's no secret I'm a sucker for children and animals. So I called Kathy Schultz, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, and asked her to steel my understanding of the pedagogy behind Gesu's experimental approach to emerging readers. "No," she said. "I've never heard of reading to dogs. Dogs?"
New pets-only airline aims to make the skies friendlier, comfier for animal passengers
(William Hageman, Chicago Tribune) Few tasks are more stressful for a pet owner than having to pack up little Spanky or Fluffy and put the furry family member on a plane, knowing the animal is destined to spend the next few hours in a cargo hold. Dan Wiesel and Alysa Binder faced that a few years ago when they and their Jack Russell terrier, Zoe, moved from San Francisco to Florida. Zoe survived the experience -- she's 17 and going strong -- but it got Wiesel and Binder thinking. The result: Pet Airways, an airline designed just for pets.
Doomed dogs get on the rescue wagon to other shelters
(Sharon L. Peters, USA Today) Thousands of death-row dogs are getting reprieves every week, plucked from crowded, high-kill shelters and transported — often hundreds of miles — to places where there are open cages in shelters and open hearts in the community. Shelter-animal relocations, known as "transfers," have been quietly going on for years on a fairly small scale. But the numbers are escalating as growing legions of devoted rescuers organize ever-larger convoys; high-kill shelters initiate partnerships with faraway shelters that have space to accept out-of-luck animals; and large pet-advocacy groups develop strategies to increase the number of pets that are moved and saved every month.
Beekeepers look forward to a warmer summer
(Debra McKinney, Anchorage Daily News) Anchorage may look as springlike as the inside of a spittoon right now, but still, spring it is. We know this because a vital part of Southcentral Alaska's agricultural labor force has started reporting for duty. Just the other day, some 2,250,000 of these migrant workers, fresh off the California almond crop, arrived around 5 in the morning all jet-lagged after a long flight with precious little leg room in compartments no bigger than a half-rack of beer. Which is to say, the honeybees have landed.
Porterhouse sizzles at bulldog beauty contest
(AP) For three years, Porterhouse was so close to the title he could drool on it. Now, the Beautiful Bulldog crown is his to slobber on for the rest of the year. After two runner-up finishes and one "Mr. Congeniality" title, Porterhouse finally nabbed "top dog" honors Monday when he was crowned the winner of Drake University's annual Beautiful Bulldog Contest in downtown Des Moines.
A tale of Jasmine
(Jerry Ledermann, Hughson Chronicle) In 2003, police in Warwickshire, England, opened a garden shed and found a whimpering, cowering dog. It had been locked in a shed and abandoned. It was dirty and malnourished, and had clearly been abused. In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a Greyhound female to a nearby wildlife sanctuary, run by a man named Geoff Grewock and it was known as a willing haven for animals abandoned, orphaned or otherwise in need. Geoff and the other sanctuary staff went to work with two aims to restore the dog to full health, and to win her trust. It took several weeks, but eventually both goals were achieved. They named her Jasmine, and they started to think about finding her an adoptive home. But, Jasmine had other ideas.
A new home to roam: A sale in Clark County aims to find safe homes for 65 mustangs
(Holly Zachariah, Columbus Dispatch) The man knelt in the sawdust and made a peace offering of sorts. The horse, a wild 1-year-old that had been rounded up from government rangelands in Winnemucca, Nev., edged closer. He swished his long tail, gave his mane a toss. He sniffed, then nibbled the offered hay. Quite quickly, it seemed, horse No. 2560 had found a friend.
Happy Birthday, baby hawks!
(Sandy Bauers, Philadelphia Inquirer) Such a simple thing, really: An egg cracked. Then another. Two tiny hawks wriggled free, teetering feebly in their nest on a third-floor ledge of the Franklin Institute. But a webcam was watching and, through it, thousands of viewers. The all-day spectacle yesterday high above the busy streets kept people around the world glued to their computers, from One Logan Square to Missouri to England.
Generosity of humans saves blind dog's life
(Rexburg Standard Journal) The story of Hope, a locally born dog, has touched the lives of many people. Hope has had overcome many obstacles since her birth in August 2008. The first: Hope was born without eyes. In addition to her blindness, she is also hard of hearing. Her story began when she was surrendered to the City of Rexburg Animal Shelter by a breeder unable to sell her. In January, she was taken from the shelter to the Four Paws Pet Adoptions.
Siberian Husky Found 2 Weeks After Fleeing Fatal Car Crash
(AP) While a Siberian Husky named Neo was wandering the ranchland of northern Utah after the April 4 car crash that killed his Kelso, Wash., owner, dog lovers across the West were networking by phone and e-mail in hopes of bringing him home. Lt. Lee Perry of the Utah Highway Patrol suggested volunteers concentrate their efforts where Neo had last been seen, about 10 miles west of this small town near the Idaho border, along State Route 30, which leads west toward Nevada. On Thursday, they found Neo.
Akron Zoo holds naming contest for jaguar cubs
(Donna J. Miller, Cleveland Plain Dealer) The Akron Zoo is asking the public to help name the three jaguar cubs that were born there March 3. They are two girls and a boy.
Pet pantry gets tons of help
(Chicago Tribune) A Mundelein pet-food bank for financially strapped dog and cat owners received its largest donation to date since being profiled in the Chicago Tribune in February, said Cathie Sabin, founder of Pooch Pantry.
There's a certain science to mating rare animals at the Queens Zoo
(Lisa Colangelo, New York Daily News) Sometimes, it's not enough to just let nature take its course. Getting certain endangered animals to breed in captivity at the Queens Zoo takes a lot of planning, study and - sorry to ruin the mood - science. "It's not as easy as saying, 'We have a male and a female, let's let them mate,'" said Craig Gibbs, assistant curator of animals at the Queens Zoo.
Homecoming for small Ike victims?
(Moises Mendoza, Houston Chronicle) This week, Texas A&M Galveston professor Andre Landry begins his annual beach expeditions. He and his students will comb the Texas coastline looking for nesting sites of the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. When they find eggs they’ll send them to Padre Island for incubation.
President Obama chooses the First Dog, with help from the Kennedy clan
(Tom Baldwin, Times Online) The secret was among the most closely guarded in Washington. Clandestine meetings were arranged to make sure the decision was correct and America’s most venerable senator lobbied intensely. A training camp was established at an undisclosed location and President Obama agonised over whether he was breaking an election promise.
Reading program offers kindness to animals
(Tom Hennessy, Contra Costa Times, In all respects, Shirley Vaughan seems to be a reasonable person. To my knowledge, she does not bay at the moon. Or talk to flowers. Or imagine she is the Wizard of Oz.Yet, a short time ago, Shirley Vaughan, who founded the Friends of Long Beach Animal, sent an e-mail asking, as seriously as possible, if I would read to a dog. Or a cat. The choice was mine. Further, she asked if I would do this in public, It is all part of a new entity, experiment or exercise called the Pet Literacy Program.
Orangutan population found
(AP) Conservationists have discovered a new population of orangutans in a remote, mountainous corner of Indonesia - perhaps as many as 2,000 - giving a rare boost to one of the world's most critically endangered great apes.
Feeding the Animals at the National Zoo
(Joseph Caputo, Smithsonian.com) It’s 6:00 a.m. and the pandas are getting hungry. Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub, Tai Shan, pad around their wooded pen at the National Zoo as a small truck, packed with 250 stalks of frozen bamboo, backs up to drop off their daily meal. A sticker on the pickup’s hood reads, “The Bamboo Never Stops.”
Spoutta here!
(John Doyle and Adam Nichols, New York Post) Thar she blows! A geographically challenged humpback whale drifted into New York waters and spent about 24 hours in the Big Apple before heading back out to sea last night.
Coast Guard comes to rescue of whale underneath the Verrazano Bridge
(Christina Boyle, New York Daily News) A search is underway for a 20-foot long whale spotted swimming near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Thursday morning. The humpback was seen in a shipping channel, heading south, and the U.S. Coast Guard has set up a safety zone to protect it from passing boats.
The rapture of the raptors on a downtown corner
(Patricia Yollin, San Francisco Chronicle) The corner of Main and Mission streets in downtown San Francisco bears no resemblance to an animal reserve. However, it's currently one of the best spots in the Bay Area to see nature at its rawest and wildest. The creatures in question are a pair of peregrine falcons, dubbed Dapper Dan and Diamond Lil, who have built a nest on top of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. headquarters at 245 Market St.
Five cat lives left for Mission Viejo's Lucky?
(Erika I. Ritchie, Orange County Register) Kerri Hayes never really gave up on Lucky. She knew the 7-year-old outdoorsy, champagne cat had already used up a few of his nine lives – surviving near death as a kitten, getting lost in a move in Rhode Island and being hit by a car. But after Lucky went missing for almost half a year from his Mission Viejo home located in the midst of coyote country – Hayes and officials at the Mission Viejo Shelter didn't hold out much hope.
Uni-flipper turtle gets it straight with swimsuit
(Christopher Sherman, Associated Press) Allison, a green sea turtle with only one flipper, has been going around and around and around for most of her life. But swimming in tight circles is tough for a 5-year-old turtle whose life expectancy is about 150 years. Allison was set straight Wednesday, when researchers outfitted her in a black neoprene suit with a carbon-fiber dorsal fin on the back that allows her to glide gracefully with other turtles.
Akron Zoo welcomes three jaguar cubs
(Laura Johnston, Cleveland Plain Dealer) America's minuscule jaguar population got a tiny bit bigger this week with the birth of three cubs at the Akron Zoo. The zoo announced that one male and two females, each less than two pounds, were born March 3. The cute cats add to 100 jaguars at 49 zoos across the country.
A Tiny Pup in a Cup!
(Rita Delfiner, New York Post) An itsy-bitsy British pup who is only one-third the size of a guinea pig may have a chance to collar the title of world's smallest dog.
After the castaway pet dog our top 10 animal survivals against the odds
(Clare Dickinson, The Mirror) A pet dog that fell overboard on a sailing trip has been returned home after surviving four months on a remote Australian island. But Sophie’s not the first animal to survive against the odds. Check out Mirror.co.uk’s top 10 amazing animal survivals.
Rehabilitated oiled sea otter of Facebook fame returns to the sea
(Santa Cruz Sentinel) Olive, the sea otter with a Facebook following, got the wish of her online fans this week: safe release back to sea. The year-old otter had been recovering for the last six weeks at a Santa Cruz wildlife facility after a run-in with a tar ball. But after veterinarians washed the oil from her fur and hundreds of well-wishers comforted her with Facebook messages like "Hang in there, girl" and "I want to kiss your whiskers," Olive was returned to the wild.
Oregon cops make lost peacock feel most wanted
(Chandler Friedman, CNN) The sheriff's office in Marion County, Oregon, has dealt with countless lost items in the past. This one is a little more special than most. That lost item is a female Indian peacock, properly called a peahen. But to the sheriff's deputies, she's just Cynthia.
Tiny Newfound Frog Fits on a Fingertip
(LiveScience.com) A tiny, "midget" frog that can fit on the tip of a finger — and previously only known by its croaking — has finally been found by researchers. The frog, dubbed Noble’s Pygmy frog (Noblella pygmaea), is the smallest ever found in the Andes and one of the tiniest amphibians in the world.
Australia castaway dog survives life on remote island
(Anne Barrowclough, Times Online) A pet dog believed to have drowned after falling overboard in rough seas off Australia has been reunited with her owners after surviving on a remote island for four months. Sophie Tucker was thrown into the sea as Jan Griffith and her family sailed through choppy waters off northeast Queensland in November. Unable to rescue her, the devastated family were convinced that she had drowned.
Bird found with arrow in it survives, thrives
(AP) A sandhill crane that was captured in central Wisconsin with an arrow through her body was released Wednesday after what a veteran bird rehabilitator calls a truly amazing recovery.
Volunteers help salamanders avoid roadway massacre
(AP) The black salamander with yellow spots sat on the roadside in the dark, ready to make a go of it. But it was not on its own. It got help from an escort - one of 45 people who volunteered on a recent night to carry salamanders, frogs and newts across the road during their annual migration to mate.
Dog owners do look like their pets, say psychologists
(Kate Devlin, The Telegraph) Researchers found that members of the public could predict which breed of dog a person would own almost twice as accurately as they should be able to, just by looking at a photograph of their owners.
Sam bears testimony to generosity
(Gareth Parker, The West Australian) It is an image that has became a symbol of hope — a koala drinking from a fireman’s water bottle in the terrible aftermath of Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires. Two months on, Sam the koala is an international celebrity and well on the road to recovery.
Endangered right whales appear to be on the rebound
(CNN) North Atlantic right whales, sort of the homely underdogs of the whale world, birthed a record number calves this year off the coast of the southeast United States, giving some scientists hope that the uber-rare and often overlooked species can recover. "For me, personally, it is a source of optimism," said Barb Zoodsma, a marine mammal biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "I just think we're on the right track." The record 39 new calves -- each of which weights about 3,000 pounds -- were born off the Atlantic coast of Florida and Georgia.
S.F. Zoo welcomes newborn giraffe
(Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle) The youngest resident of the San Francisco Zoo was already standing tall Thursday within hours of his birth - a good thing, since he is a giraffe. It was the second birth of a giraffe calf at the zoo this year, and caretakers were ecstatic. "He's quite big, actually," said Ingrid Russell-White, the zoo's curator of mammals. "They are normally pretty big when they are born."
Cat On NY TV News Truck's Roof Becomes The Story
(CBS) A stray cat seeking a warm spot to nap made headlines when Long Island police rescued it from a television news truck's rooftop satellite dish.
Asian Dolphin, Feared Dying, Is Thriving
(Andrew Revkin, New York Times) Countering their expectations, biologists working in Bangladesh have found a thriving population of 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins, a species restricted to brackish bays and rivers from southern Asia to northern Australia that marine mammal experts had worried was vulnerable to extinction. The population, many times larger than any other known regional groups of the dolphins, was revealed in 2004 in the first systematic survey for marine mammals along Bangladesh’s coast of waterways, bays and mangrove-fringed islands.