Animal Lover

Where Are The Guinea Pig Documentaries?

rena — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:21:12 +0000

Although I love all animals, I do admit that one species is my favorite — the guinea pig (also known as the cavy). They give us so much, including their lives for research or for our dinners and ask us for so little in return. They could teach us a lot about being better humans.

However, although guinea pigs are popular pets in many countries, there really aren;t any nature documentaries about them anywhere. You never see Sir David Attenborough walking by a Patagonian desert saying “And now we’re in search of the legendary herds of wild guinea pigs” and then see them thundering over the landscape after David produces a plastic bag and rattles it.

No, the closest you can expect from Animal Planet or PBS is something on the capybara (a close relative of the guinea pig and the world’s largest rodent). This needs to change. I think we’ve had our fill of lion and elephant documentaries for the next decade — how about making a guinea pig show, for squeaking out loud? At least, there’s GP TV.

One mystery the show could persue is what wild guinea pig species the domestic is from. This is something science just doesn’t know for sure. Wild guinea pigs have different digestive systems, different coat colors and poop a lot less than the domesticated guinea pig. How did this change happen? I’d love to know.

What we do know is that guinea pigs were first domesticated by the Incas thousands of years ago, for food and for religious sacrifice. It is now our turn to sacrifice for the guinea pig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub3sX3praGE

First Philadelphia Bald Eagle Chick in 200 Years Fledges

rena — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:37:47 +0000

Appropriately, during the July 4th weekend, the first Philadelphia-born bald eagle chick in 200 years flew away from his Philadelphia nest successfully. And this wasn’t at the Philadelphia Zoo. This is a wild bald eagle. The location of the nest has been kept top secret by bird watchers and Fish and Game wardens, with the local press cooperating. The only clue we are given is that the nest was right on the Philadelphia city border.

Last year, the same pair of wild bald eagles set up a nest at the abandoned Philadelphia Naval Yard, but for some unknown reason, the eggs failed to hatch. One thought was that the attention they were getting scared the new parents off from sitting on the eggs.

Bald eagles have a good reason to want to stay far away from humans. Despite being the national bird, they faced extinction when DDT became a popular pesticide. The eagles would eat fish or other game contaminated with DDT and lay eggs that couldn’t stay together, thus killing the embryo before it could develop. Bald eagles also were the favorite target of trophy hunters (and still are).

In 1983, there were a mere 3 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the entire state of Pennsylvania. Canada graciously helped out its southern neighbor by sending 88 bald eagles to Pennsylvania. Banning DDT was also a great step in saving not only birds, but the environment in general.

Good luck to the young all-brown fledgling in finding his new ‘hood. He could try out in a spot for the Philadelphia Eagles football team. They need all the help they can get.

Stagecoah Dog Bed: Circle the Wagons!

rena — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:13:43 +0000

Leona Helmsley would have loved this. It’s called Molle Tache and it caters to ultra luxury doggy goods. Just how luxurious? How about $25,000 for a dog bed? Of course, it’s not just ANY dog bed. It’s a perfect replica of a stagecoach. If I got one for my dog Pony, I bet you she would ignore the bed and play in the box. Although the website does not give out the price for this stagecoach doggie bed, the price tag has been leaked in the Summer 2008 issue of Modern Dog.

This isn’t any assembly-line factory dog bed. Oh, no. It’s a one of a kind piece made by artist Mike Spears, known as “the Dog Designer”. Although the name of the client has not been revealed, you kind of have to wonder if the client was Trouble, Leona Helmsley’s dog. I could see it as a centerpiece in a Pet Hotel or a Dude ranch that allows dogs. I could also see it in a Museum of dog beds…if such a Museum exists.

Just in case you’re wondering, your dog will be perfectly happy sleeping either on his or her usual doggy bed. In the case of my dog Pony, her bed also happens to be my bed. Although my dog Pony doesn’t have a concept of money, some dogs do. Just look at Chloe here, a model dog for Molle Tache. She can probably smell how much a present costs.

Dolphins Won’t Leave New Jersey River

rena — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:55:49 +0000

New Jersey beaches are renowned for being tourist traps for people, but apparently they are for a pod of 15 bottlenose dolphins as well. They even brought along the kids — three calves have been spotted in the pod. They’re becoming a tourist attraction, themselves. They wandered into the river at Sea Bright, New Jersey nearly one month ago and haven’t left since. Attempts to chase them back out into the Atlantic have failed.

There is a very genuine fear that a boater will hit one of the dolphins. Sea Bright is a haven for recreational boaters of all levels. Also, there is a worry that some prankster might try to swim with the completely wild dolphins (which are a lot stronger than you might think).

Currently, there is a 50 yard buffer around the dolphins that people are obeying — especially when the Coast Guard comes into view. The dolphins are eating freshwater fish in the Shrewsbury River but who knows how long fish supplies will last.

It is hoped that the dolphins will find their way back to the regular workaday nine to five dolphin world of the Atlantic when there is a projected bigger than usual high tide at the end of July.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWqwpl0LQKM

Russian Dog Adopts Rare Tiger Cub

rena — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:20:58 +0000

The Amur Tiger (once called the Siberian Tiger) is rapidly becoming extinct, so each cub is precious. When one male cub was born to a new mother Amur tigress in a little zoo in Omsk, Russia, keepers had to intervene to keep the mother from kiling the newborn. The mother did not know how to be a mother tigress as she had to be bottle-raised. When she gave birth, she rejected the cub and refused to let him nurse.

All would be lost for the little cub if not for a local mongrel Juchka who had just given birth and had milk (and love) to spare. Not only is she providing milk, she’s also providing grooming, warmth, companionship and needed socialization for the little cub. Her puppies play and wriggle with the cub just as if he’s a strangely-colored pup. However, the cub does snarl at cats. This might cause a wee bit of an identity crisis with the cub, but the keepers will deal with that in time.

As dog’s milk is not nourishing enough for a rapidly growing Amur cub, his diet is supplemented by shakes made of goat and cow’s milk. He has been named May and is doing very well. So is a very proud Juchka. Good dog!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwhCXqwarJM

Biologist And Neighbor Rescue 375lb Bear From Drowning

rena — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:30:42 +0000

Biologist Adam Warwick walks his talk. He not only has a job to help animals in Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Department, but he recently put his life on the line to save a black bear’s life. The bear was found wandering in a residential area and needed to be moved unless there was a human-bear confrontation. In order to move the bear, he needs to be shot with a tranquilzer dart.

After getting shot, the bear just lumbered on — and plunged into the Gulf of Mexico. Too loopy to swim, but giving it a good go, he was sure to be a goner when the drugs fully kicked in.

If not for Adam Warwick. He stripped (WAHOO) jumped in and lifted the bear’s head out of water and dragged him to shore. This is not recommended, as a confused bear may attack you in trying to protect himself. Bears also don’t know their own strength, so a sudden kick out to start swimming could really damage you.

However, I’m so glad that Adam threw caution aside to get the bear. Seeing Adam and the other Fish and Wildlife officers needed help, local neighbor Thad Brett brought out his digger (we all have one) and chugged it into the surf to help lift the bear out of the Gulf.

When it was clear the bear was going to live, newswriters and bloggers from around the world started throwing together all of the bear related puns that they could.

Adam commented that he was far more worried about sting rays than about the bear.

Just when you give up hope for the human species, someone has to go prove that we aren’t all bad news for animals. Well done, Adam and Thad!

We’re More Like Dogs Than We Think

rena — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:02:48 +0000

I just finished a fascinating biography of Charles Darwin called The Origin by Irving Stone. One of Charles Darwin’s favorite animals were dogs. When as a lad, his father would admonish him with, “You care for nothing other than hunting and dogs!” Later on, Charles would get in a wee bit of trouble by publishing his theories that man was decended from an animal like all of the other animals. From Darwin’s diaries, he did believe that man was an animal, just a very talkative animal, although that official view was that man was in a place all by itself in Nature.

Although Darwin chose the apes as our relatives, we shouldn’t ignore our relationship to other species, particularly the one we live the most with. We are far more like dogs than we admit. Although we share 96% of our DNA with chimpanzees, we also share DNA with the dog.

This isn’t quite a great thing for the dog. They have over 350 of the same illnesses and ailments that we get, including diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. This is the reason why they are so often used as lab animals.

Also, dogs are actually omnivores like humans and not strictly carnivores, as is commonly thought. They live in packs just as we live in groups and like to chase balls across fields, just as we do. They love attention, like we do and can smile just like we can. They can do very complicated problem solving puzzles — like we try do, but usually can’t.

When you get right down to it, there is nothing that seperates us from dogs except our own perceptions. There is no proof that a soul exists, but if there was, it would be the loyal and self-sacrificing dog that would have them and not us.

Now, I told you all that as an introduction to this video clip I stumbled across in YouTube. It’s called, “Dogs That Look Like People”. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FrT8pLUOGU

Legalize Whaling (a Little), Some Conservationists Say

Sparky — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:04:55 +0000

From what i read in this story, it seems that they are planning on doing a bit of population control in the sense of watching those who are illegally killing them as it is. the thought is that if the legalize it the fishery people can do as they do with other sorts of fishing. allowing only so many catches/kills per season.

Good idea if you ask me. if you make sure they only kill say 100 and then either fine heavily or jail if they kill 101 then that’ll keep them inline as far as i’m concerned, then again though everyones going to do whatever they want regardless of rules or regs.

Rats: They Don’t Hold A Grudge

rena — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:58:19 +0000

Recently, South Philadelphia had the Sixth annual Fab Rat and Animal Friends Festival, celebrating the furred, the whiskered and yes, rats. This has grown into a big get-together for area animal lovers, no matter if they have pets or not. Animal rescue groups such as PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Socity) and Have a Heart Guinea Pig Rescue had booths and information for the once rat-only event.

If you’ve never pet a pet rat, do yourself a favor and take up a proud pet rat owner’s request, “Would you like to pet him/her?” Rats prefer to be clean — especially domesticated ones — and groom themselves often. They are very soft and don’t have a strong odor (at least, my nose tells me that they don’t have a strong odor.)

When I was homeless in England, before I got my dog, brown rats were quite a frequent visitor in my homemade shelter. They were comical and never tried to bite. Of course, I never tried to pick them up.

Rats are quite mellow and are open up to be friends with just about anybody. Despite their being treated as pests, food or lab animals, they have no plans to take over the world, although they wouldn’t mind a ride on it’s shoulder. As many rat owners point out, many people drop their prejudice’s against rats when they finally meet one. Learning to rethink rats can help us relate to not only critters with bad reputations, but people we may have preconceived notions about, too.

Rats are always willing to give anyone a chance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsodQmGouJw

What Cow Is That?

rena — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:16:57 +0000

When you look on Animal Lover’s banner (kindly made by the Webble You blog network folks) you see that there is a strange looking brown cow. Perhaps you never saw a cow that looked like that before, espeically if you don’t live in Europe. This is a Highland of Scotland, also known as Hairy Coo or Shaggy Coo.

This is considered one of the oldest known cattle breeds of Europe and perhaps the ancestor of many other breeds. You can’t help but wonder if that coat evolved to withstand the blasts of the Ice Age. And it does still get very cold and wet in Scotland. They were one of the many species of cattle that infamous naturalist Charles Darwin talked about in his monumental On the Origin of the Species.

They also have a really strong smell (if you’re not used to it), but when you’re outside, the smell is not so noticeable. I didn’t get to see any when I lived in southwest England, but I have seen them often at zoos, such as the Philadelphia Zoo (my local zoo).

Another trait of Highland Cattle is that their calves are incredibly cute, as seen in this video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ixi-0vTsxI