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September 14, 2006
DOG INTELLIGENCE, Meet Rico!
Creator and publisher of Nature's Corner™ Magazine, Maggie Wright has written an article for the Fall Newsletter of Trips with Pets.
Do you get tired of your friends calling you "silly" when you talk about how your dog understands you? Now, you can tell them that science agrees with you. Specifically, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology have been working with a Border collie named Rico. Rico has a vocabulary of over 200 words where he can associate words with names of objects, such as his collection of children's toys, balls and stuffed animals.
Border collies have always had a reputation for being the smartest of dogs. But Rico has gone one step further. He has demonstrated his ability to deduct that an unfamiliar sound is associated with the name of an unfamiliar object. In other words, he has shown his ability to fetch an unfamiliar object out of his familiar toys, when asked to retrieve the unfamiliar toy object.
You may read the rest of this interesting article here.
Posted by sue at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2006
New Multicolored Bird Found in India
A new bird species has been found in India, the first time such a discovery has been made here in more than 50 years, an astronomer and keen bird watcher said Tuesday.
The multicolored bird, Bugun Liocichla, was spotted in May in the remote Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh near the border with China, said Ramana Athreya, a member of Mumbai's Natural History Society.
Athreya, who found the bird, named it after the Bugun tribe, which lives in the area. The bird has a black cap, a bright yellow patch around the eyes and yellow, crimson, black and white patches on the wings, he told The Associated Press.
Birdlife International, a global alliance of conservation organizations, described it on its Web site Tuesday as "the most sensational ornithological discovery in India for more than half a century."
Athreya caught two of the species, but released them after making detailed notes and taking photographs _ and keeping feathers that had worked loose in his net.
"We thought the bird was just too rare for one to be killed," Athreya said.
"With today's modern technology, we could gather all the information we needed to confirm it as a new species. We took feathers and photographs and recorded the bird's songs," he said.
Though the bird was discovered in May, the news was kept under wraps until it was confirmed that it was a new species.
Athreya said he had first briefly spotted the bird in 1995. "But it was only this year I had a sufficiently good look that we could move into the matter."
Posted by sue at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2006
Help with Study of Human-Avian Bond!
----------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: Pat Anderson
Subject: Help study of the Human-Avian Bond
I urgently need more participants in my study; I will present these results
at the International Society for Anthrozoology (study of human-animal
relationships) in Barcelona, Spain in early October.
Please write me if you are willing to complete a survey on the Human- Avian
bond and I will email you the survey to complete and send back to me. I must
have all analysis completed by last week in September, so am running out of
time.
I thank those gracious and wonderful individuals who have already
participated. Everyone that participates helps me and others who read my
works and hear my presentations to better understand this fascinating and
very important relationship.
The essay is a very important part of the survey and I am delighted,
sometimes saddened and always humbled by what people are willing to share
with me about their birds. This information is always confidential,
including the names of your birds if you wish me to change them.
Sincerely,
Patricia K. Anderson, PhD, Anthropology
(alternate email: PK-Anderson@wiu.edu)
Western Illinois University
If you can help, email her at her job at PK-Anderson@wiu.edu or her home,
patander@macomb.com. She'll email you a Word form. You just fill it out
and email it back to her. It's actually kind of fun!
Posted by sue at 09:15 AM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2006
A popular glue does more that just stick -- it grows when it comes in contact with liquid
So imagine what would happen if it was swallowed. An Oak Harbor pet owner found out first hand, and her dog is lucky to be alive.
On Thursday, Julie Kosmas got to pet her dog Emma Jo for the first time in three days. The black lab is still recovering in an Oak Harbor animal hospital.
She had to undergo surgery after a near-death encounter with a popular glue called "Gorilla Glue."
"When we saw the X-ray it was mind blowing that a dog's stomach could be that big," said Kosmas.
Emma Jo has a knack for knocking things off a counter. That's how she got the Gorilla Glue and swallowed some.
Kosmas knew her dog was in danger. The bottle says to keep away from children and animals. The instructions say get immediate medical attention if swallowed.
What it doesn't say is what would happen.
"This is the abdomen," said Veterinarian, Doris Campbell pointing to an X-ray. "This entire roundish blob is her stomach filled with Gorilla Glue."
A couple tablespoons of Gorilla Glue grew to the size of basketball.
"This stuff, when it hit the stomach, expands, blocks the stomach, and will require surgery to fix the animal," said Dr. Campbell.
The veterinarian took out three pounds of hard brown foam from Emma Jo's stomach.
"Keep this out of reach of your children. If this happened to a child?" wondered Kosmas. "And, I don't want another family to go through this with their dog."
The company does list an emergency phone number on the bottle in case a person or animal swallows the glue.
That's how Dr. Campbell discovered what happens when Gorilla Glue is ingested.
Still, Emma Jo lost 12 pounds, spent nearly a week in the animal hospital and by the time it's all over, the vet bill will be in the thousands.
It gives new meaning to claim on every bottle of Gorilla Glue... "The toughest glue on the planet Earth."
Posted by sue at 08:23 AM | Comments (1)
September 06, 2006
Steve Irwin Tribute
By now you may have heard that Steve Irwin the Croc Hunter died today after being stabbed by a stingray. He pulled the barb from his heart, and then died. Here's a great tribute that was made for Steve.
Posted by sue at 09:04 AM | Comments (0)
September 05, 2006
CPR FOR PETS!
Save a Life:
Learn Animal CPR
For the EMS Provider and Pet Owner
Lori H. Feldman, D.V.M.
Henry J. Feldman, M.D.
(c) 1996
Dr. Feldman is a Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York Licensed Veterinarian and a member of the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society. This document is primarliy aimed at EMS and Emergency Medical personel who may encounter animals in arrest.
Pet owners should consult their veterinarian for specific details on procedures outlined here.
Printable PDF 3 fold Flyer here
Posted by sue at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
September 04, 2006
Happy Labor Day
I guess we all *kinda* know what Labor Day is all about, but the children around here were asking, so I figured I should give them intelligent answers.... so I googled it. =)
The History of Labor Day
Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means
"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."
Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
So it's exactly what you thought it was, but don't you feel better now? =)
~sue
Posted by sue at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)