Criminal Pig Leaves a Smelly Surprise for Police After He's Apprehended in Michigan

This has to be the best thing I've read all day.  This little piggy went all the way home


http://www.peoplepets.com/people/pets/article/0,,20927280,00.html

Who doesn't love manatees?

Manatees are gorgeous, magnificent creatures. Take a look here!

Here are some fun manatee facts:

(1) These amazing sea bears are herbivores and can eat up to 1200 pounds of seaweed per day!

(2) There are 3 different manatee species: West Indian Manatee, West African Manatee, and Amazonian Manatee. How exotic!

(3) They have extremely low metabolic rates and the West Indian and West African require warm water (of at least 60 degrees).

(4) Elephants are the closest living relatives of manatees and their cousins (known as Dugongs).

(5) Manatees can continuously replace their teeth throughout their lives. 

(6) Manatees can learn basic tasks, are extremely sensitive to touch, and can distinguish colors.

(7) Manatees, along with tree sloths, are the only vertebrates that do not have 7 vertebrae. Manatees have 6.

(8) Manatees have no natural predators.

Open Letter to USDA: Please do not kill Mr. Beaver!

Dear United States Department of Agriculture,

I am alarmed to see that a busy beaver in Washington State (featured here) is wanted by the USDA in order to trap and euthanize. I understand the concerns of citizens of Kitsap County; the animal is causing complications in the man-made portions of the area and I sympathize that it must be an inconvenience to those citizens; however,  I firmly believe that  there is a better solution than to euthanize this beaver.

Beavers are magnificent creatures. According to this documentary, beavers are an integral part of the ecosystem. The dams they build allow water to collect into a pond that serves as a home for insects, fish, and ducks in the warmer seasons. They also create an environment that allows marshland vegetation to grow that allow for larger land mammals such as moose, elk, and even bears to eat. As you can see, beavers are at the center of the ecosystems they built and removing them can cause a butterfly effect of reactions that can be detrimental to the entire environment.

Additionally, beavers are very cute. We cannot deny this fact and they tirelessly work around the clock to build their dams, larders, and lodges. Here are some facts that might allow you to reconsider euthanization:

• Did you know that beavers have both claws and webbed feet to allow them to walk, swim and grab branches?
• Did you know that beaver husband and wife are monogamous? Here is a darling beaver couple from that site:

• Did you know that beavers live as a family unit in these lodges and young beavers learn how to create dams by helping their parents? Here is beaver with baby beaver:

• Did you know that beaver husband and wife work together as a team to build these dams?
• Did you know that beavers contain an oil secreting gland that they groom and rub over their fur in order to remain water repellant and impervious to the cold winter water?
• Did you know that beavers build their dams with sticks, stones to weigh down the sticks, and mud as an insulator to patch holes?
• Did you know that beaver houses contain a ventilation system, several rooms including a kitchen, nursery, and bedroom/living room? Here is a photo:

• Did you know that other animals like deer mice, muskrats etc also lodge in different rooms of the beaver homes to help survive the winter?
• Did you know beavers eat or use almost every part of the tree? They store the leafy parts underwater by jabbing them into the mud. During the winter they will eat the branches and give the babies the leaves. They also like bark and tree pulp. Nothing goes to waste. Here is a cute beaver on Kelly and Michael:

 

Knowing all this, how can euthanization be the answer? Euthanizing this beaver not only affects the ecosystem, but also disrupts other species and an entire family. Let's wax empathetic a little here.How would you like it if someone thought your home was annoying and trapped you and took you away?

Lastly, let's not forget the past. There once was 60 million beavers and now the populations have dwindled to only 6-10 million. Why? The Hudson Bay fur trade. Let's not forget the important lesson that the passenger pigeons taught us 100 years ago. This land is just as much ours as it is the other beautiful creatures that inhabit it and keep the environment in balance. Please, USDA, I urge you to reconsider euthanization of this beaver and consider relocation, zoo, or sanctuary.

-Swimming

Beaver building dam!

http://www.peoplepets.com/people/pets/article/0,,20858370,00.html

This has me a bit outraged as I am a firm believer that everything in nature has an order and its place and trapping and killing this poor creature is inhumane. Please don't kill this cute beaver! They have families and an entire ecosystem that depends on them.

Panda Goes to Dentist

This is the San Diego zoo's panda at the dentist. Reminds me it's my time too!

Also, thank you to all my readers! I have reached the 10,000 viewership milestone. Here's to 10,000 more!

Elephants Dance to Violin

Elephants Dancing to the violin! I love Bach's concerto! (Who doesn't?)
It does concern me that I think I saw in a PETA video many moons ago that elephants sway as a sign of mental distress.

Panda fakes pregnancy--oh my!

Depressed Rhino Befriends Donkey at zoo

How wonderful is this? I love it when animals make friends.

Also, posted this before, but I can't get enough of Mr. G and Jellybean. I can't believe how happy that goat is to see his long-lost buddy.

Swimming's Safari Adventures!

Simon & Garfunkel-At The Zoo

Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo....
What a peculiar day it was for Swimming this past Sunday. Easter Sunday coincided with Swimming's Birthday! To celebrate, she and some buddies decided to head out for a little safari at the zoo. Oh my ears and whiskers the things we saw! I must admit that I am very impressed with the high-profile animals that are staying at Cleveland Zoo. They don't give many facts about them so I decided to look up some facts and posted some below. Here are some pictures of the amazing creatures. Disclaimer: all pictures are zoomed, I was not actually that close to the animals.

Here are some lions. Did you know that Males with darker manes are more likely to attract female lions (lionesses)? Also, they only live to about 12 years old in the wild. I used to think that lions might be my spirit animal and like this woman they'd see me and want to give me a hug. From these ones, however, it does not seem like they want much to do with me other than to eat me.

How good-looking are these elephants? The African Elephant is the largest land mammal. Did you know that an elephant calf often sucks its trunk for comfort like a human baby sucks its thumb?

A Malayan Sun Bear and little baby bear. They have gorgeous long fur and really like honey! They are the smallest of all bear species. These folks are mainly living in Southeast Asia.

Here is Sir Tiger. Most tigers have yellow eyes except the White Tiger which has blue eyes. Also apparently their urine smells like popcorn!

Here is a Giraffe Family. Giraffes usually sleep for 1-12 minutes! They also have very pretty eyelashes. Surprisingly, I felt these creatures were very serene and could easily slide into first place as my new spirit animal.

I'll end with sleeping Koala. Koalas have two thumbs to help climb trees and eat eucalyptus. Along with the kangroos, their babies are also known as Joeys! Here's a great Koala survival story. Apparently they have the best insulating back fur among all other marsupials. This fur is highly resilient to wind and rain and their belly fur can reflect solar radiation. Amazing!

Lastly, as a Birthday present, I've adopted a panda from the WWF. Here is the photo I received--I like how my panda is posing, so chic! In keeping with ancient Chinese tradition I will be naming my panda after 100 days, but look how pretty it is!

All-in-all, Swimming had a very interesting birthday, filled with fun and a few mishaps and a wonderful video card from one of her best buddies playing one of my favorite tunes on the violin! After noticing that I've sprouted a few new gray hairs I've also come to embrace becoming older and transforming into a Golden Girl. 

Panda Cam update

How cute is this! I love the Smithsonian panda cam. Especially since Bao Bao, the newborn baby panda, is on it. Here's a screenshot of Bao Bao stuck in a corner. He's been in that little area for quite some time now.