Animalia

tags: raccoon, Procyon lotor, mammals, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day Female raccoon, Procyon lotor, named "Brownie", who lives in Central Park, NYC. Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size]. This sweet image is a Christmas/New Year's gift from one of my readers and long-time friends, Bob Levy, to me and to all of you! The photogrpaher writes; I have been saving this image made last March as my Christmas and News Years present to you. I consider it to be the cutest of the cute from my "Almost-too-cute-for-words" file. I call this Raccoon Brownie because her fur is…
tags: researchblogging.org, giraffe species, Giraffa camelopardalis, speciation, evolution, conservation, molecular phylogeny West African giraffe, currently Giraffa camelopardalis peralta. Image: Wikipedia (Creative Commons) [larger view] How many species of giraffes are there? Well, it may surprise you to learn this, but some people have actually thought about this throughout the decades, and they decided that there is only one species, Giraffa camelopardalis. However, a paper published today in BMC Biology convincingly demonstrates that giraffes are actually comprised of at least six…
tags: Friday Ark, blog carnivals This week's edition of the Friday Ark is now available for you to enjoy, and just in time, too, WHEW!
tags: When Housecats Attack, humor, streaming video This is a scary streaming video of a sweet little housecat who suddenly attacks its owner [0:39]
tags: Friday Ark, blog carnivals The 168th edition of the Friday Ark is now available for you to enjoy. This blog carnival specializes in linking to images of animals, although some of these images also have stories that accompany them. They included some of my contributions, too!
tags: eastern gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, mammals, Image of the Day Eastern Gray Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, in Central Park, NYC. Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size]. The photographer writes; I watched this Gray Squirrel dig out an acorn and proceed to gnaw away at it. There was nothing particularly unusual about that. Only after I downloaded the image did I notice the mud all over its meal. The animal made no observable effort to clean the acorn and I imagine that a considerable portion of it must have been ingested. Judging by how enthusiastically the…
tags: madagascar, leapin' lemurs, streaming video This streaming video from the BBC show, Weird Nature: Marvelous Motion compares the movement of Sifaka lemurs to ballet, but it's also reminiscent of a martial arts movie. Remarkably, these animals can jump as far as 30 feet from tree to tree! And they make it look so effortless [1:49]
tags: turtle yoga, duck, reptiles, interspecies communication, Image of the Day Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [Wallpaper size] The photographer writes: This second image (the first appeared yesterday) provides photographic proof of an instance in which a Red-eared Slider and a Mallard participated in the same Yoga session in our very own Central Park. Experienced Yoga practitioners will no doubt immediately recognize the classic Mountain Pose when they see it. Of course the turtle's interpretation is a bit freeform but you have to give credit to a quadruped for trying. So…
tags: dance monkey dance, streaming video An interesting streaming video with words to "Dance Monkeys Dance" by Ernest Cline. [3:53]
tags: blog carnivals, Friday Ark, animal photography The 158th edition of Friday Ark is now available for you to enjoy. This blog carnival, inspired by friday cat blogging, focuses on animal photography. So be sure to go there to see their latest collection of images, some of which are accompanied by stories, including one that I sent to them!
tags: mammals, dragonflies, black rhinocerus, Diceros bicornis, Image of the Day This newborn black rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis, at a safari park in Tel Aviv is the first to have been born in captivity in Israel in 15 years. Image: AP.
tags: blog carnivals, Friday Ark, animal images This week's edition of the Friday Ark is now available. This is a linkfest that focuses on sharing animal images with the public, so if you are in the mood to look at animal pictures (some accompanied by essays), this is the place to go!
The 157th edition of the popular blog carnival, The Friday Ark is now available. This blog carnival specializes in publishing links to pictures of animals so you can enjoy looking at them. Some of these pictures are accompanied by essays, too.
tags: cancer, smokers, pets Maybe this will surprise you but, having worked in cancer research for a few years, it isn't surprising to me to learn that secondhand smoke can cause cancer in your pets as well as in people. I mean, this just makes sense, ya know? However, according to a study study done by the Tufts College of Veterinary Medicine, some of the nuances of this cancer risk might be unexpected. For example, of all pets, cats living with smokers are three times more likely to develop oral cancers (also known as squamous cell carcinoma) because they lick carcinogens from their fur…
tags: kittens, cats,streaming video This video shows "box kitten" finally climbing out of her box. By the way, all kittens found a home in the photographer's neighborhood. Two of them live together with one family and the other three have a family each to themselves. They live happily ever after. [0:56]
tags: kittens, cats,streaming video A delightful streaming video of kittens playing around and in a box. Music called "Sister Jack" by Spoon. The kitten in the background wants to get back in the box soooo bad. But this kitten took over. How did that kitten get out of the box? I'll post that video in an hour. [1:38]
tags: vervet monkey, Cercopithecus aethiops, sexual harassment, Nachu, Kenya, behavior, interspecies communication A young vervet monkey, Chlorocebus pygerythrus. Image: shashamane. If you live in the small village of Nachu in Kenya, watch out, because a group of approximately 300 marauding monkeys is out to steal your food, sexually harass your women and attack and kill your livestock! In a truly amazing incidence of interspecies communication, a group of vervet monkeys, Chlorocebus pygerythrus, is using sexual harassment to intimidate women and children, who are responsible for growing…
tags: animals, photography, blog carnival For those of you who enjoy looking at animal images, the 153rd edition of the Friday Ark is now available for you to enjoy.
tags: house cat, black bear, cat chases bear up a tree Jack, el gato con corazón de león Notice the tiny orange dot at the base of the tree. That's Jack, the house cat. Now, notice the large black bear at the top of the tree, peering down fearfully at the tiny orange dot. On June 4, a black bear wandered into a West Milford, New Jersey, back yard, was confronted by a 15 pound (7 kilogram) declawed house cat ... and the bear promptly fled up a neighbor's tree. Image: Suzanne Giovanetti (AP Photo). I have been chuckling over this story for more than a month now because it proves that…
tags: researchblogging.org, animals, predict death, Oscar the cat, New England Journal of Medicine Oscar the cat provides comfort to the dying. According to an article that was just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a two-year-old cat that lives in Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, can correctly predict impending death among the residents. Oscar the cat has a habit of curling up next to patients who are in their final hours, and so far, he has been observed to be correct in 25 cases. "He doesn't make many mistakes. He seems to…