squirrel
dr. dolittle | March 29, 2015
I was very impressed by the graduate and undergraduate students who presented their research at the Scholander poster competition sponsored by the Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology section of the American Physiological Society this afternoon. I am sure the winner of the competition will be very difficult to select.
Some highlights included:
Bridget Martinez, graduate student at the University of California - Merced whose research focused on hormonal changes that occur with fasting in elephant seal pups. In mammals, food deprivation leads to lower thyroid hormone concentrations, which…
dr. dolittle | February 18, 2015Congratulations to Mallory Ballinger, a graduate student from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, who is the 2015 recipient of the Dr. Dolittle Travel Award! The purpose of this award is to recognize an outstanding graduate student or postdoctoral fellow involved in comparative and evolutionary research and to provide assistance for them to attend the annual American Physiological Society Experimental Biology meeting. The application process includes the submission of a blog entry based on their research. She will be presenting her research at the upcoming Experimental Biology meeting in…
dr. dolittle | May 1, 2014Day 4 of the meeting turned out to be pretty exciting for a comparative physiologist as well.
The first session that I went to was called "RNASEQ approaches to understanding extreme physiological adaptations." Considering the Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology section business and dinner meeting was the night before, I was impressed at my ability to make it to an 8:00am session the following morning.
The first seminar from Dr. Brooke C Harrison (Univ. Colorado, Boulder) was on "Extreme cardiac growth and metabolism in the Burmese python after feeding." He spoke about how the cells of…
zooillogix | November 8, 2008Speaking of animals commonly found in the US, we bring you the gray squirrel engaged in a typical fall ritual to prepare for the winter.
zooillogix | December 18, 2007Olney, Illinois is famous for white squirrels. In 1943 there were 1000 of the little guys but by the '90s the population remained constant around 200. The town has implemented a rather strict set of laws to protect them. Dogs are not allowed to roam free anywhere in Olney and in 1997 cats were prohibited from roaming free as well. Running over an Olnean white squirrel, which has right of way on all streets, will get you a $200 fine.
Olney's white squirrel community is a true albino population, which has managed to support itself for over sixty years. According to the White Squirrel Institute…
grrlscientist | November 29, 2007tags: squirrel, behavior, mission impossible, streaming video
I thought I had linked to this video a few months ago, but apparently it disappeared during one of the typical burps that my wifi connection experiences (well, I deserve it since I am piggybacking on someone else's connection, unless I have dragged myself in to the library). Anyway, this video is truly amazing, showing what a squirrel will do to get a nut. It also has a short video clip of another squirrel that has figured out how to steal candy bars from an outdoor candy machine [1:52].
zooillogix | October 22, 2007Hudson County Now reported late last week that a flaming squirrel fell from the sky and blew up a woman's car in Bayonne, NJ. Lindsey Millar, 23, and her brother, Tony, 22, were inside their home when they looked outside and saw Lindsey's car in flames. Local firefighters were called and after extinguishing the flames they found the crispy culprit. Apparently the squirrel had been gnawing on power lines directly above Lindsey's Toyota Camry. After chewing through the power lines' protective coating, the electric current was enough to turn the fluffy squirrel into a flaming comet. In a…
bleimanb | August 21, 2007Squirrels in California have developed a clever method of intimidating rattlesnakes. According to a recent article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, when confronting rattlesnakes, California ground squirrels heat their tails and shake them vigorously.
The process works like this: the snakes rely on sneak attacks to catch their prey and use infrared sensors to feel out their environment. Adult ground squirrels, however, are immune to rattlesnake venom, due to a protein in their blood, so they often attack rattlers by biting and kicking gravel at them. When the rattlers…
zooillogix | July 18, 2007In a story that needs no embellishment, the Iranian state news agency, IRNA, is reporting that fourteen "spy squirrels" were captured infiltrating Iran. According to IRNA: "In recent weeks, intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders. The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services."
Allegedly, the critters were equipped with modern technology including GPS units, cameras, and listening devices. The report also said that the squirrels were trained for espionage…