Jacob and Jacob originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Spotted this little guy in Parramatta and crossed the road to score puppy kisses
Staring at a pile of fossilised ichthyosaur bones in the famous Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada, paleontologist Mark McMenamin had a sudden insight. It occurred to him that he might have cracked the great mystery of this ancient Triassic site.
He reckoned that the carefully lined-up bones of the ichthyosaurs, of the shonisaur family, were the work of a kraken, an enormous squid bigger and more intelligent than any other invertebrate that has ever lived. That’s what the professor at Mount Holyoke College told the Geological Society of America, anyway, speaking this week at their annual get together — via redwolf.newsvine.com
This is a short film shot in Perth Western Australia, on my struggle and solution to my problem with neighbourhood cats urinating on my car and property — via YouTube
The Call of Cthulhu by HP Lovecraft. For beginning readers — via deviantART
A species of bee which was believed to be extinct in Britain has been found in East Sussex — 65 years after it was last seen.
A study by entomologist Steven Falk shows the solitary bee, Halictus eurygnathus, is at at seven sites on the South Downs.
Mr Falk said many of the species he recorded were rare and some were doing better than expected.
However, others, including one of Britain’s largest mining bees, were at risk of losing their habitats.
The study recorded 227 bee and wasp species during more than 100 visits to 15 chalk grassland and chalky heath sites — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Success can be a drag. You yearn for it, strive for it, and then, when it finally arrives, it sets off repercussions you never anticipated that sometimes undo that success.
Take the German shepherd. Originally bred to the exacting standards of a German cavalry officer, it became one of the 20th century’s most popular working breeds. But in recent years that popularity, and the overbreeding that came with it, has driven the German shepherd into eclipse: even the police in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, who had relied on the dogs for years, recently announced they were replacing them with Belgian Malinois, because the less-popular Malinois were hardier and more reliable.
But there is good news about this bad news, if you are a lover of the breed, because less visibility, especially in inspiring roles as public servants, is likely to mean less demand for the dogs. That means less reason to produce too many puppies, which is the best thing that can happen to any purebred dogs — via The New York Times
Best Bone Ever, originally uploaded by Red Wolf.
Laika the dog is seriously styling in this AT-AT costume, created by Katie Mello — via Boing Boing
This is the first time a Paca has been hand raised at the San Diego Zoo or the Safari Park. Keepers hope he will one day be an animal ambassador, who does education programs at the Safari Park. The affectionate rodent was born 7 September 2011 — via ZooBorns
Members of a golf club in Australia have something more to worry about than just their swing — playing on what’s thought to be the world’s first shark-infested course.
Water hazards are a challenge for anyone who plays golf, but on the 14th tee at the Carbrook Golf Club in Brisbane there is another reason to be concerned.
Half a dozen man-eating bull sharks live in the lake in the centre of the course where their fins poking through the water have become a regular sight.
The sharks got onto the Queensland golf course when it flooded some years ago after a river broke its banks — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Geraldine de Beco’s ceramic cereal bowls include a little surprise when filled with liquid. When the bowls are empty, they appear to have strange carvings around the edges, but when the bowls have liquid in them, the form of an animal magically appears.
The bowls come with three different animals to choose from — a wolf, a bird and a cat. The silhouetted forms of these animals are expertly crafted and would surely make anyone smile. Not only are the animal forms beautifully designed, but the bowls themselves are gorgeous with bright colors complimenting the outer white gloss. However, these sell for about $317 (240 euros) a piece! How much would you spend on something that holds your breakfast cereal? — via My Modern Metropolis
— originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Australian vets say they are having great success treating arthritic dogs with stem cells and researchers developing arthritis treatments for humans are taking a keen interest in the technique.
The trouble is that some dog owners feel their four-legged friends are getting better treatment than they are — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Santa Rosa CA’s Safari West shared a new picture of their Fennec Fox kits Bella and Bill — via ZooBorns
Madagascar Gold Dust Day Gecko licking nectar from a young noni fruit in Kailua, Hawaii. These geckos were living all around the hale’ we were staying in, enjoying the noni and basking on the railing and sunny steps to our place. They were very shy mostly, except this one must have enjoyed the nectar so much as to let me get a shot of their favourite activity. They seemed to tend the noni very attentively throughout the day — via National Geographic
— via deviantART
Four doctors in Wales rose to fame because of a man who pricked his finger and smelled putrid for five years.
The doctors were hit nose-on with one of the most baffling medical mysteries on record. It all started with a chicken. The case ended happily — yet mysteriously — half a decade later, the stink having vanished. The Lancet published an account of this called, accurately, A Man Who Pricked His Finger and Smelled Putrid for 5 Years.
The report, written by the relieved but puzzled physicians, ends with a plea: We ask assistance from colleagues who may have encountered a similar case or for suggestions to relieve this patient’s odour
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
No More Bullies teaches, with dogs’ help, responsibility, compassion, self-control and integrity. Since its small launch five years ago, teachers and counsellors have become so convinced of the positive impact on kids’ behaviour that it’s booked into the 80-classroom maximum it can handle, and there’s a long waiting list of requests for next year.
The curriculum, developed by ex-teacher Jo Dean Hearn, humane education director at animal rescue group Wayside Waifs, is presented an hour a day for five days by trained volunteers — accompanied by irresistible canines.
The animals are the glue that helps the children stay focused and understand the message,
says Hearn. Children can easily identify with an animal. And it’s easy for them to transition when we ask them to consider how an animal feels (if ill treated) to how the kid sitting near them feels (if poorly treated)
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
These plants can kill.
These ominous words welcome visitors to the Alnwick Poison Gardens. The gardens were established on a small patch of a palatial estate in 2005 by the Duchess of Northumberland who’s affinity for the apothecary gardens of yesteryear inspired the collection of nearly 100 deadly and hallucinogenic plants. The Duchess is not the first royal to grow such a garden however. The nefarious Italian Medici family was infamous for its legendary poisonous botanical gardens, and for the sudden and mysterious death of their enemies — via Atlas Obscura
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