New federal guidelines issued March 15 by the U.S. Department of Justice for the Americans with Disabilities Act, recommended service animals be limited to dogs and housebroken miniature horses.
This leaves Daniel Greene, out in the cold. He told KIRO Radio's Dori Monson Show that his service animal, a snake named Red Rock sits under his jacket when he's in public.
Greene uses Red Rock to detect when a seizure might be coming on. "Red Rock is an early warning sensor for my epilepsy," Greene said, adding that the snake also warns him if he has an anxiety attack coming on.
"Red Rock will give me a gentle squeeze around the neck, and that indicates to me that something is wrong." The five-foot long boa constrictor sits on Greene's shoulders, wrapped around his neck, and sits under his jacket when in public. "It's warm for him, it's comfortable for him, he stays there."
Greene said that when Red Rock was still considered a service animal, he wasn't militant about being allowed in all public places, and that if someone didn't want the snake there, "then it's my responsibility
as the owner to keep him away from you."
He knows that's not the case for all owners with service animals, but argued that "a lot of disabled people are considerate," and would remove their animal if the owner of an establishment asked.
Even though the government has ruled against him, Greene said that the fight is not over. "I'm going to keep using him at places that will accept me in their stores."
http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=458187
Showing posts with label unusual allies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unusual allies. Show all posts
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Dotty the donkey saves sheep from savage dog
 |
| Stanley, pictured with Dotty |
A donkey who saved a sheep from a dog attack in North Yorkshire is to receive an animal bravery award.
Dotty the donkey stepped in when her stable mate, Stanley the sheep, was attacked by a dog in a paddock at Row Brow Farm, near Scarborough.
Dotty will be presented with her award today, by representatives from pets charity PDSA.
Dotty’s owner, Ann Rogers, 63, said: “Dotty saw her friend in distress and charged down the field to rescue him from the dog’s jaws.”
Dotty then pinned the dog to the ground until it let go of Stanley, who was orphaned as a lamb. As a result of the attack, the sheep lost two teeth and suffered facial paralysis.
Ms Rogers said Stanley has now recovered and is never far from his rescuer.
PDSA vet Elaine Pendlebury said Dotty’s behaviour was outstanding.
She said: “Often when faced with a threat, donkeys will rise up to face their enemy, in this case an aggressive dog. Dotty showed herself to be a true protector of the animals she sees as her family.”
See video at: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/8954032.Donkey_to_receive_animal_bravery_award/
(Via Colin Meddings)
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Coyote, black Lab form unlikely partnership in Duluth
 |
| A black Lab and coyote have been seen together near Orange Street in the Piedmont Heights neighborhood. This photo was taken in 2008. (Photo by Steve Owen) |
People in the Piedmont Heights area of Duluth assert that a black Labrador retriever is living a wild life in the woods. And that’s only the half of it. The other half is that the canine has formed a relationship with a coyote.
By: Lisa Baumann, Duluth News Tribune
People in the Piedmont Heights area started talking after the News Tribune reported last month about a black Lab taking down a deer in someone’s driveway.
Sue Hansen, owner of Hansen’s Auto Service on Trinity Road, said she saw the article and couldn’t wait to speak with customer Andrew Frielund when he came into the store.
“I asked why he didn’t write (a letter to the editor) explaining about that black Lab,” she said with a laugh. “He said he didn’t want people to think he was nuts.”
They assert that a black Labrador retriever is living a wild life in the woods. And that’s only the half of it. The other half is that the canine has formed a relationship with a coyote.
“Don’t laugh, because seriously, they exist,” Hansen said. “They were outside on the wood line of my house tearing up a deer about two months ago.”
“They are well-documented in the area,” Frielund added.
He’s seen them twice together in the woods near the antenna farm by Orange Street. He also has seen what he believes could be their offspring — an animal he calls “the creature.”
Bunter Knowles, who lives on Orange Street near the famed ice volcano, has seen the pair several times in the past few years.
In fact, he’s seen them out his window, the coyote sleeping while the Lab stands sentinel.
“There’s no question there’s been a pair of a coyote and a black Lab traveling together. … I’ve seen them 30 yards away with binoculars,” he said. “It’s quite a funny pairing.”
When asked about it Friday, Martha Minchak, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources assistant area wildlife manager in Duluth, said she wasn’t buying it.
“There wouldn’t be a Lab and coyote running around together,” she said.
And then she saw the photos taken by Steve Owen in 2008. He was able to sneak up on the pair as they were lounging in the backyard of his mother’s house at 2328 Springvale St.
“So, I stand corrected and obviously (the dog and coyote) haven’t read the behavior books!” Minchak wrote in an e-mail. “I have no real explanation other than the coyote must have been rejected from its pack for some reason and has obviously taken up with the Lab. It seems like it’s been a successful strategy for both of them if they are catching deer.”
She also said it was possible for the two to breed.
Owen said Friday he knows the Lab is alive and well because he last saw it on Monday.
“He was lying in the grass, sunning himself,” he said. “I didn’t see any coyotes with him.”
Owen said he doesn’t believe the Lab has a human home to visit.
“He was skittish enough the day I took their pictures,” he said. “As soon as the coyote and dog saw me, they went away. It wasn’t like he wanted to come down and look for a treat.”
With an abundance of deer in the city, Minchak also speculated that the dog was on its own — except for the coyote.
“It’s more like the Lab has gone over to the coyote side,” she said.
No one interviewed said they’d experienced any aggressive behavior from either animal, and Duluth animal control officer Carrie Lane said no one has ever reported the animals to her office, whether as a nuisance or a curiousity.
Knowles said he’s been out in the woods nearly every day snowshoeing and although he thinks he hears the Lab bark at his dog, they never approach him.
“I haven’t seen any damage by them so I wouldn’t have any recommendation to make to interfere,” Knowles said. “It’s something that’s unusual … but it’s not as if I’d try to break up a mixed marriage.”
Minchak concurred.
“Before I would have said (the two together are) something from Walt Disney movies, but now I guess I’d say it’s a classic odd-couple pairing,” she said.
She said she’d leave them alone because she didn’t think anyone would be able to rehabilitate the dog.
For her part, Hansen isn’t so sure.
“I don’t like domestic dogs that have gone wild,” she said. “I haven’t walked in my woods since then. It makes me a lot more nervous in that area than I’ve ever been.”
Do you have any pictures?
Send your photos of the black Lab-coyote pair to news@duluthnews.com.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/194848/
Friday, November 26, 2010
Army ants are creators not destroyers of worlds
Army ants have a reputation for annihilating everything in their path as they march through the jungle.By Matt Walker
But the most complete study of its kind has found that army ants are creators of whole worlds, not destroyers.
More than 300 species, ranging from birds to tiny mites, depend in part on a single species of army ant for their survival, scientists have discovered.
That means army ants support a greater number of other life forms than any other known species.
This revelation about army ants is the culmination of more than 50 years of scientific research into their behaviour conducted by naturalist Carl Rettenmeyer and his wife Marian, based at the University of Connecticut, US.
Together with fellow biologists, they generated a comprehensive list of animals known to be found in the company of a single army ant species Eciton burchellii.
This New World species is one of two army ant species that sends out large swarming raiding parties above ground, and it is the only one that creates temporary bivouacs above ground in piles of brush, or inside logs or tree trunks.
Around half a million worker ants belong to a colony.
Each colony sets up home for a period of 20 days, which gives time for ant pupae and newly laid eggs to develop.
During this time, the workers send out daily raids, each time proceeding in a new direction to avoid raiding the same area twice.
Then once the eggs have hatched and the larvae have become adults, the colony becomes nomadic.
During this wandering phase, the army ant colony again raids every day, setting up bivouacs at night.
But while it is well known that army ants kill and eat numerous insects and other arthropods on their raids, less well known is how many animals actually depend on the ants for their survival.
"Only a few studies have focused on collecting army ant 'guests'," says Dr Stefanie Berghoff, who worked with the Rettenmeyers to complete the study.
Some of these "guest" or associate species, as biologists call them, are already known.
So-called antbirds, for example, follow ant raiding parties, picking up arthropods flushed out by the marauding ants.
One species of African army ant even has a snake that follows it.
But until now, no-one has recognised the huge diversity of other species that army ants support.
Carl Rettenmeyer, who died in April last year, and his wife Marian started collecting these associate species in 1952.
The research team, who continued the work after Carl's death in 2009, have now collated data from 1200 coloniesof E. burchellii ants, adding samples from 345 colonies studied by other scientists.
What they found is remarkable: 557 separate species have been recorded associating with this single type of army ant.
Of those, more than 300 are known to depend on the ants in some way for their survival.
"And I think this is only the tip of the iceberg," Dr Berghoff told the BBC.
At least 29 species of bird, including "typical" antbirds, ground antbirds and woodcreepers feed on arthropods flushed out by the ants, such as millipedes, cockroaches and stick insects, rather than the ants themselves.
At least 239 butterfly species have been seen or collected at ant swarms, feeding on bird droppings laid by birds that have been attracted by the ants, while springtails run with the army ant columns at night.
Tiny wasps buzz around the ant swarms, seeking out small spiders that flee the raiding parties. These wasps are parasitoids of the spiders, laying their eggs within them.
Thousands of blowflies, flesh flies, tachinid flies and scuttle flies accompany each swarm raid too, belonging to numerous different species.
Many appear to target dead insects or those newly killed by the ants, laying their eggs within the insect carcasses.
Such species flock to each army ant raiding party, but many others frequent refuse deposits left by the ants, or the bivouacs they live in.
Army ants create refuse deposits, or garbage dumps, which contain all the hard bits of prey items, such as insects' legs, that are inedible to them and their larvae.
However, these deposits are teeming with life.
Beetle, mite, wasp and springtail species all depend on them as a habitat and food.
Tens or hundreds of similar small creatures also survive with the bivouacs of E. burchellii.
Many of these associate species are difficult to capture and study.
Because of that, say the researchers, it is likely that many, many more species that depend on E. burchellii will remain to be identified.
"If really well studied, I would think the number of E. burchellii associates could double," says Dr Berghoff.
"It is a bit of a paradox that E. burchellii, bringing death to so many species, has this other role for such a high number of associates," she adds.
Editor, Earth News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9209000/9209345.stm
But the most complete study of its kind has found that army ants are creators of whole worlds, not destroyers.
More than 300 species, ranging from birds to tiny mites, depend in part on a single species of army ant for their survival, scientists have discovered.
That means army ants support a greater number of other life forms than any other known species.
This revelation about army ants is the culmination of more than 50 years of scientific research into their behaviour conducted by naturalist Carl Rettenmeyer and his wife Marian, based at the University of Connecticut, US.
Together with fellow biologists, they generated a comprehensive list of animals known to be found in the company of a single army ant species Eciton burchellii.
This New World species is one of two army ant species that sends out large swarming raiding parties above ground, and it is the only one that creates temporary bivouacs above ground in piles of brush, or inside logs or tree trunks.
Around half a million worker ants belong to a colony.
Each colony sets up home for a period of 20 days, which gives time for ant pupae and newly laid eggs to develop.
During this time, the workers send out daily raids, each time proceeding in a new direction to avoid raiding the same area twice.
Then once the eggs have hatched and the larvae have become adults, the colony becomes nomadic.
During this wandering phase, the army ant colony again raids every day, setting up bivouacs at night.
But while it is well known that army ants kill and eat numerous insects and other arthropods on their raids, less well known is how many animals actually depend on the ants for their survival.
"Only a few studies have focused on collecting army ant 'guests'," says Dr Stefanie Berghoff, who worked with the Rettenmeyers to complete the study.
Some of these "guest" or associate species, as biologists call them, are already known.
So-called antbirds, for example, follow ant raiding parties, picking up arthropods flushed out by the marauding ants.
One species of African army ant even has a snake that follows it.
But until now, no-one has recognised the huge diversity of other species that army ants support.
Carl Rettenmeyer, who died in April last year, and his wife Marian started collecting these associate species in 1952.
The research team, who continued the work after Carl's death in 2009, have now collated data from 1200 coloniesof E. burchellii ants, adding samples from 345 colonies studied by other scientists.
What they found is remarkable: 557 separate species have been recorded associating with this single type of army ant.
Of those, more than 300 are known to depend on the ants in some way for their survival.
"And I think this is only the tip of the iceberg," Dr Berghoff told the BBC.
At least 29 species of bird, including "typical" antbirds, ground antbirds and woodcreepers feed on arthropods flushed out by the ants, such as millipedes, cockroaches and stick insects, rather than the ants themselves.
At least 239 butterfly species have been seen or collected at ant swarms, feeding on bird droppings laid by birds that have been attracted by the ants, while springtails run with the army ant columns at night.
Tiny wasps buzz around the ant swarms, seeking out small spiders that flee the raiding parties. These wasps are parasitoids of the spiders, laying their eggs within them.
Thousands of blowflies, flesh flies, tachinid flies and scuttle flies accompany each swarm raid too, belonging to numerous different species.
Many appear to target dead insects or those newly killed by the ants, laying their eggs within the insect carcasses.
Such species flock to each army ant raiding party, but many others frequent refuse deposits left by the ants, or the bivouacs they live in.
Army ants create refuse deposits, or garbage dumps, which contain all the hard bits of prey items, such as insects' legs, that are inedible to them and their larvae.
However, these deposits are teeming with life.
Beetle, mite, wasp and springtail species all depend on them as a habitat and food.
Tens or hundreds of similar small creatures also survive with the bivouacs of E. burchellii.
Many of these associate species are difficult to capture and study.
Because of that, say the researchers, it is likely that many, many more species that depend on E. burchellii will remain to be identified.
"If really well studied, I would think the number of E. burchellii associates could double," says Dr Berghoff.
"It is a bit of a paradox that E. burchellii, bringing death to so many species, has this other role for such a high number of associates," she adds.
Editor, Earth News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9209000/9209345.stm
Army ants are creators not destroyers of worlds
Army ants have a reputation for annihilating everything in their path as they march through the jungle.By Matt Walker
But the most complete study of its kind has found that army ants are creators of whole worlds, not destroyers.
More than 300 species, ranging from birds to tiny mites, depend in part on a single species of army ant for their survival, scientists have discovered.
That means army ants support a greater number of other life forms than any other known species.
This revelation about army ants is the culmination of more than 50 years of scientific research into their behaviour conducted by naturalist Carl Rettenmeyer and his wife Marian, based at the University of Connecticut, US.
Together with fellow biologists, they generated a comprehensive list of animals known to be found in the company of a single army ant species Eciton burchellii.
This New World species is one of two army ant species that sends out large swarming raiding parties above ground, and it is the only one that creates temporary bivouacs above ground in piles of brush, or inside logs or tree trunks.
Around half a million worker ants belong to a colony.
Each colony sets up home for a period of 20 days, which gives time for ant pupae and newly laid eggs to develop.
During this time, the workers send out daily raids, each time proceeding in a new direction to avoid raiding the same area twice.
Then once the eggs have hatched and the larvae have become adults, the colony becomes nomadic.
During this wandering phase, the army ant colony again raids every day, setting up bivouacs at night.
But while it is well known that army ants kill and eat numerous insects and other arthropods on their raids, less well known is how many animals actually depend on the ants for their survival.
"Only a few studies have focused on collecting army ant 'guests'," says Dr Stefanie Berghoff, who worked with the Rettenmeyers to complete the study.
Some of these "guest" or associate species, as biologists call them, are already known.
So-called antbirds, for example, follow ant raiding parties, picking up arthropods flushed out by the marauding ants.
One species of African army ant even has a snake that follows it.
But until now, no-one has recognised the huge diversity of other species that army ants support.
Carl Rettenmeyer, who died in April last year, and his wife Marian started collecting these associate species in 1952.
The research team, who continued the work after Carl's death in 2009, have now collated data from 1200 coloniesof E. burchellii ants, adding samples from 345 colonies studied by other scientists.
What they found is remarkable: 557 separate species have been recorded associating with this single type of army ant.
Of those, more than 300 are known to depend on the ants in some way for their survival.
"And I think this is only the tip of the iceberg," Dr Berghoff told the BBC.
At least 29 species of bird, including "typical" antbirds, ground antbirds and woodcreepers feed on arthropods flushed out by the ants, such as millipedes, cockroaches and stick insects, rather than the ants themselves.
At least 239 butterfly species have been seen or collected at ant swarms, feeding on bird droppings laid by birds that have been attracted by the ants, while springtails run with the army ant columns at night.
Tiny wasps buzz around the ant swarms, seeking out small spiders that flee the raiding parties. These wasps are parasitoids of the spiders, laying their eggs within them.
Thousands of blowflies, flesh flies, tachinid flies and scuttle flies accompany each swarm raid too, belonging to numerous different species.
Many appear to target dead insects or those newly killed by the ants, laying their eggs within the insect carcasses.
Such species flock to each army ant raiding party, but many others frequent refuse deposits left by the ants, or the bivouacs they live in.
Army ants create refuse deposits, or garbage dumps, which contain all the hard bits of prey items, such as insects' legs, that are inedible to them and their larvae.
However, these deposits are teeming with life.
Beetle, mite, wasp and springtail species all depend on them as a habitat and food.
Tens or hundreds of similar small creatures also survive with the bivouacs of E. burchellii.
Many of these associate species are difficult to capture and study.
Because of that, say the researchers, it is likely that many, many more species that depend on E. burchellii will remain to be identified.
"If really well studied, I would think the number of E. burchellii associates could double," says Dr Berghoff.
"It is a bit of a paradox that E. burchellii, bringing death to so many species, has this other role for such a high number of associates," she adds.
Editor, Earth News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9209000/9209345.stm
But the most complete study of its kind has found that army ants are creators of whole worlds, not destroyers.
More than 300 species, ranging from birds to tiny mites, depend in part on a single species of army ant for their survival, scientists have discovered.
That means army ants support a greater number of other life forms than any other known species.
This revelation about army ants is the culmination of more than 50 years of scientific research into their behaviour conducted by naturalist Carl Rettenmeyer and his wife Marian, based at the University of Connecticut, US.
Together with fellow biologists, they generated a comprehensive list of animals known to be found in the company of a single army ant species Eciton burchellii.
This New World species is one of two army ant species that sends out large swarming raiding parties above ground, and it is the only one that creates temporary bivouacs above ground in piles of brush, or inside logs or tree trunks.
Around half a million worker ants belong to a colony.
Each colony sets up home for a period of 20 days, which gives time for ant pupae and newly laid eggs to develop.
During this time, the workers send out daily raids, each time proceeding in a new direction to avoid raiding the same area twice.
Then once the eggs have hatched and the larvae have become adults, the colony becomes nomadic.
During this wandering phase, the army ant colony again raids every day, setting up bivouacs at night.
But while it is well known that army ants kill and eat numerous insects and other arthropods on their raids, less well known is how many animals actually depend on the ants for their survival.
"Only a few studies have focused on collecting army ant 'guests'," says Dr Stefanie Berghoff, who worked with the Rettenmeyers to complete the study.
Some of these "guest" or associate species, as biologists call them, are already known.
So-called antbirds, for example, follow ant raiding parties, picking up arthropods flushed out by the marauding ants.
One species of African army ant even has a snake that follows it.
But until now, no-one has recognised the huge diversity of other species that army ants support.
Carl Rettenmeyer, who died in April last year, and his wife Marian started collecting these associate species in 1952.
The research team, who continued the work after Carl's death in 2009, have now collated data from 1200 coloniesof E. burchellii ants, adding samples from 345 colonies studied by other scientists.
What they found is remarkable: 557 separate species have been recorded associating with this single type of army ant.
Of those, more than 300 are known to depend on the ants in some way for their survival.
"And I think this is only the tip of the iceberg," Dr Berghoff told the BBC.
At least 29 species of bird, including "typical" antbirds, ground antbirds and woodcreepers feed on arthropods flushed out by the ants, such as millipedes, cockroaches and stick insects, rather than the ants themselves.
At least 239 butterfly species have been seen or collected at ant swarms, feeding on bird droppings laid by birds that have been attracted by the ants, while springtails run with the army ant columns at night.
Tiny wasps buzz around the ant swarms, seeking out small spiders that flee the raiding parties. These wasps are parasitoids of the spiders, laying their eggs within them.
Thousands of blowflies, flesh flies, tachinid flies and scuttle flies accompany each swarm raid too, belonging to numerous different species.
Many appear to target dead insects or those newly killed by the ants, laying their eggs within the insect carcasses.
Such species flock to each army ant raiding party, but many others frequent refuse deposits left by the ants, or the bivouacs they live in.
Army ants create refuse deposits, or garbage dumps, which contain all the hard bits of prey items, such as insects' legs, that are inedible to them and their larvae.
However, these deposits are teeming with life.
Beetle, mite, wasp and springtail species all depend on them as a habitat and food.
Tens or hundreds of similar small creatures also survive with the bivouacs of E. burchellii.
Many of these associate species are difficult to capture and study.
Because of that, say the researchers, it is likely that many, many more species that depend on E. burchellii will remain to be identified.
"If really well studied, I would think the number of E. burchellii associates could double," says Dr Berghoff.
"It is a bit of a paradox that E. burchellii, bringing death to so many species, has this other role for such a high number of associates," she adds.
Editor, Earth News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9209000/9209345.stm
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Goldfish the latest weapon to protect world leaders at summit
In addition to thousands of heavily-armed police and troops, six goldfish will put their lives on the line to safeguard world leaders at this week's G-20 summit in the South Korean capital, officials said Tuesday.
The Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul, which is hosting the event, will use the fish to check the purity of the water supply to restrooms.
"The fish also symbolize an eco-friendly water policy, which recycles used water for the restrooms," Oh Su-Young, PR manager at the center, told AFP, adding that they were just part of the inspection process.
The center, which shares its water supply with a neighboring shopping mall and trade center, recycles more than 37 million gallons (142,000 cubic meters) a year at an annual saving of 360 million won (US$322,436).
The Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul, which is hosting the event, will use the fish to check the purity of the water supply to restrooms.
"The fish also symbolize an eco-friendly water policy, which recycles used water for the restrooms," Oh Su-Young, PR manager at the center, told AFP, adding that they were just part of the inspection process.
The center, which shares its water supply with a neighboring shopping mall and trade center, recycles more than 37 million gallons (142,000 cubic meters) a year at an annual saving of 360 million won (US$322,436).
Goldfish the latest weapon to protect world leaders at summit
In addition to thousands of heavily-armed police and troops, six goldfish will put their lives on the line to safeguard world leaders at this week's G-20 summit in the South Korean capital, officials said Tuesday.
The Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul, which is hosting the event, will use the fish to check the purity of the water supply to restrooms.
"The fish also symbolize an eco-friendly water policy, which recycles used water for the restrooms," Oh Su-Young, PR manager at the center, told AFP, adding that they were just part of the inspection process.
The center, which shares its water supply with a neighboring shopping mall and trade center, recycles more than 37 million gallons (142,000 cubic meters) a year at an annual saving of 360 million won (US$322,436).
The Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul, which is hosting the event, will use the fish to check the purity of the water supply to restrooms.
"The fish also symbolize an eco-friendly water policy, which recycles used water for the restrooms," Oh Su-Young, PR manager at the center, told AFP, adding that they were just part of the inspection process.
The center, which shares its water supply with a neighboring shopping mall and trade center, recycles more than 37 million gallons (142,000 cubic meters) a year at an annual saving of 360 million won (US$322,436).
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Unlikely double act attracts attention
A mynah bird and a dog who cannot bear to be parted have become local celebrities in China.
The pair are such great friends their owner has built a special perch for the bird which fits on the dog.
Owner Qaiao Yu, of Jinan in northern China's Shandong province, can now take them for a walk together.
He says the unusual pair always attract attention from passers-by and have become famous locally.
"My two pets developed their super friendship after I kept them both in the same room for a long time," he said.
"Now they want to be together all of the time so I made the frame so the bird could join the dog on our walks.
"If someone tries to approach the mynah, the dog will bark crazily. And when the dog is having a nap, the mynah will catch fleas on the dog and comb its hair."
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Unlikely_double_act_attract_attention
The pair are such great friends their owner has built a special perch for the bird which fits on the dog.
Owner Qaiao Yu, of Jinan in northern China's Shandong province, can now take them for a walk together.
He says the unusual pair always attract attention from passers-by and have become famous locally.
"My two pets developed their super friendship after I kept them both in the same room for a long time," he said.
"Now they want to be together all of the time so I made the frame so the bird could join the dog on our walks.
"If someone tries to approach the mynah, the dog will bark crazily. And when the dog is having a nap, the mynah will catch fleas on the dog and comb its hair."
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Unlikely_double_act_attract_attention
Unlikely double act attracts attention
A mynah bird and a dog who cannot bear to be parted have become local celebrities in China.
The pair are such great friends their owner has built a special perch for the bird which fits on the dog.
Owner Qaiao Yu, of Jinan in northern China's Shandong province, can now take them for a walk together.
He says the unusual pair always attract attention from passers-by and have become famous locally.
"My two pets developed their super friendship after I kept them both in the same room for a long time," he said.
"Now they want to be together all of the time so I made the frame so the bird could join the dog on our walks.
"If someone tries to approach the mynah, the dog will bark crazily. And when the dog is having a nap, the mynah will catch fleas on the dog and comb its hair."
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Unlikely_double_act_attract_attention
The pair are such great friends their owner has built a special perch for the bird which fits on the dog.
Owner Qaiao Yu, of Jinan in northern China's Shandong province, can now take them for a walk together.
He says the unusual pair always attract attention from passers-by and have become famous locally.
"My two pets developed their super friendship after I kept them both in the same room for a long time," he said.
"Now they want to be together all of the time so I made the frame so the bird could join the dog on our walks.
"If someone tries to approach the mynah, the dog will bark crazily. And when the dog is having a nap, the mynah will catch fleas on the dog and comb its hair."
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Unlikely_double_act_attract_attention
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monkey adopts toad
02 August 2010 16:30 GMT
A monkey living in a British zoo tried to adopt a pet toad.
Swoozie - who lives at Paignton Zoo in Devon, England - astounded visitors as it played with the amphibian for hours in her enclosure, even trying to warm it up and cuddling it like a baby.
Sheila Hassanein, who was enjoying a day out at the zoo, said: "The monkey was trying to shield it from view, she was treating it as if it was her baby and she was trying to protect it.
"She was rubbing it as if she was trying to warm it up, but of course it's a cold-blooded reptile. It was very strange."
However, the seven-year-old female's plans for a new friend were short lived, when the slippery toad eventually managed to escape.
http://entertainment.stv.tv/showbiz/189664-monkey-adopts-toad/
A monkey living in a British zoo tried to adopt a pet toad.
Swoozie - who lives at Paignton Zoo in Devon, England - astounded visitors as it played with the amphibian for hours in her enclosure, even trying to warm it up and cuddling it like a baby.
Sheila Hassanein, who was enjoying a day out at the zoo, said: "The monkey was trying to shield it from view, she was treating it as if it was her baby and she was trying to protect it.
"She was rubbing it as if she was trying to warm it up, but of course it's a cold-blooded reptile. It was very strange."
However, the seven-year-old female's plans for a new friend were short lived, when the slippery toad eventually managed to escape.
http://entertainment.stv.tv/showbiz/189664-monkey-adopts-toad/
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Seagull thinks he's a cat
8 July 2010A confused seagull is having something of an identity crisis - apparently believing that he is a cat.
Mr Pooh was adopted by June and Steve Grimwood after he fell down their chimney as a baby.
The couple discovered the soot-covered youngster sitting in their fireplace while investigating a strange rustling.
At first they took the chick back outside, placing it on top of the roof of their home in Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex.
However, it soon became apparent that Pooh's mother had abandoned him so they decided to hand rear him themselves.
Mr Grimwood, 52, said the couple's three cats were extremely wary of the new arrival at first.
However, he added, it wasn't long before Mr Pooh was happily eating cat food out of a bowl with them.
Since then the now three-year-old gull has become firm friends with felines Mitzi, Gus and Henry.
Mr Pooh has now flown the coop, setting up home with a female on the Grimwood's roof.
However, he returns to visit his human and feline friends three times a day - at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/news/Seagull_thinks_hes_a_cat
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Llamas act as bouncers for chicks at Merseyside reserve
Tuesday, 27 April 2010 07:42 UKLlamas have been drafted in to protect eggs and chicks of wading birds at a Merseyside nature park.
The two highly territorial camelids, called Willy and Jack, are being used to scare off predators at the Marshside reserve in Southport.
Recruited by the RSPB, the South American creatures are known for their aggressive behaviour when threatened.
Graham Clarkson, RSPB Marshside warden, hopes the llamas will keep animals such as foxes at bay.
He said: "Llamas are territorial and should chase away animals like foxes that can eat lapwing and redshank eggs and chicks.
"We hope it will make a difference to how successful the birds are this year.
"It is particularly important that they do well as the populations of these breeding birds are threatened in the UK, so we will be monitoring the outcome of this experiment carefully."
It is hoped their slightly erratic behaviour, along with the groaning noises and the sound they make when afraid or angry, will be a deterrent. They are also known to spit at and attack each other when provoked, but are gentle creatures when calm.
Lapwing and redshank birds, which nest at Marshside, are among those under threat in the UK.
The llama and its relative the alpaca are already used as livestock guards to protect lambs and sheep from predators.
The Prince of Wales uses alpacas to protect his lambs from foxes during lambing season at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire estate.
Local grazier Gill Baker, who provides the cattle to graze the marsh, said: "The 'boys' are a great hit with locals and visitors to the reserve.
"They will hopefully do a great job looking after the birds and can live quite harmoniously with the cows there."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8645757.stm
(Sumitted by Liz R)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Horse adopts family of ducklings
19th April, 2010This galloping guardian is the mane man in a family of ducklings, who he has been taking care of.
And his neigh-bourhood watch service has proved a real life-saver for the new brood.
Champion horse Topper took the ducklings under his wing – well, hoof – after allowing their mother, Lola, to lay a dozen eggs in his stable.
He kept watch over them for a month before they hatched and then scared away foxes and dogs that got too close.
‘Far from being upset, Topper really likes his little duck family,’ said Kim Stevens, yard manager at the stables in Milland, West Sussex.
‘He was in and out of the stable all the time but every time he came back in, the first thing he did was look around to make sure they were still there.’
It is thought Lola moved in with Topper after her last lot of eggs were eaten by a fox. Before the new batch hatched, staff moved them to a safe corner of the straw so Topper, who was recently ridden to victory at the British Open Indoor Cross Country, did not accidentally squash them.
Now the wonder horse is facing up to empty-nest syndrome. Lola recently moved to a nearby pond, with the lucky ducklings trailing behind her.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/822386-horse-adopts-family-of-ducklings
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Hen thinks it's a dog and adopts puppies
March 4, 2010 3:57 PMA farmyard hen which thinks it is a dog has adopted a litter of puppies and started nesting on top of them in their dog basket.
Owners Edward and Ros Tate say the batty bird took a shine to the pups at the Shrewsbury farm when their mother left them alone.
Mabel, who is kept as a family pet, hopped on top of the dogs in their basket and put her wings over them to keep them warm.
Since then she has treated them as though they are her own chicks and even become protective of them if anyone approaches.
The pups natural mother Nettle would be forgiven for being in a fowl mood when this happened but doesn't appear to mind being hen-pecked.
http://newslite.tv/2010/03/04/hen-thinks-its-a-dog-and-adopt.html
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Africa: warthog befriends hornbill for grooming favour
Friday, 26 February 2010By Jody Bourton
Earth News reporter
A warthog has been pictured being groomed by a huge bird known as a ground hornbill.
The warthog approached the southern ground hornbill seeking the favour, and the bird obliged by removing parasites from the warthog's body.
Similar interactions occur between warthogs and other animals such as banded mongooses.
But hornbills are not known to groom in this way, say scientists who photographed the incident.
Details of the behaviour are reported in the African Journal of Ecology.
"The warthogs approached the hornbills and then lay down on their sides to be cleaned," explains Dr Hendri Coetzee of North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
"The warthogs were very nervous, because this behaviour most probably makes them more vulnerable to predation."
Opposites attract
Dr Coetzee says he repeatedly observed similar interactions between common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) and southern ground hornbills (Bucorvus leadbeateri) in the Mabula Game Reserve in South Africa's Limpopo Province.
The arrangement is mutually beneficial: the warthog gets a cleaning service and the ground hornbill a nutritious and easily obtainable food source.
Other animals will also groom warthogs, picking off parasites from the wild pig's body.
For example, banded mongooses remove ticks from warthogs, in what is believed by scientists to be the only symbiotic relationship between two mammal species.
Oxpecker birds also regularly clean the skins of a number of African mammals, including zebra and hippos.
But the interactions with the hornbills stood out because the warthogs usually initiated the grooming.
Southern ground hornbills are large black plumaged birds, with powerful beaks that can kill tortoises and large snakes.
"What surprised me was how delicately they were removing parasites from the warthogs," says Dr Coetzee.
"Adult warthogs even tolerated the ground hornbills probing their ears and around their more delicate areas under their tails."
Dr Coetzee speculates that the animals might be behaving this way in part because they are living on a game reserve, where they might be less threatened and more relaxed.
"It is most likely the result of learned behaviour and regular contact between the same individuals living under somewhat artificial circumstances, where the risk of predation is reduced," he explains.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8534000/8534844.stm
Friday, April 3, 2009
Baby twin leopards have soft spot for orangutan
THESE adorable twin leopards might have a surrogate mother at the conservation centre where they were born – but that hasn’t stopped them seeking out a more unusual carer.The cheeky pair – Solka and his sister Chant – have teamed up with friendly orangutan, Rishi, seeking comfort in the one-year-old’s long fur.
The African leopards are being hand-reared by carers at The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Rajani Ferrante, who gives the cubs round-the-clock care said: “Solka and Chant came away from their mother, Kirean, 10, around ten days ago.
“The babies are fed every four hours with a special formula made from vitamins, fresh yogurt and goats milk.”
She added: “In the wild the mothers are usually very attentive for around one month, after which they leave the babies to fend for themselves.”
The cute leopard twins now weigh around two pounds and stand at six inches tall and measure 12 inches from tail to nose.
When they are fully grown they will reach 80cm high and weigh about 180 pounds although females are lighter at 120 pounds.
Rajani, 35, who has worked for the Institute for 12 years, said: “These guys will never be going into the wild and so to form a relationship with them they need to be hand raised by us.
“It will be several months before they can be re-united with their 10-year-old mother and 15-year-old father, Chance.”
But in the meantime they are content spending time with orangutan, Rishi, who will be their playmate for the next six to eight months.
Rajani said: “Leopards are the most intelligent of the big cat family and Rishi is having a good time teaching them a few things.”
http://www.thelondonpaper.com/thelondonpaper/weird/baby-twin-leopards-have-soft-spot-for-orangutan
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