A giant three-tiered mushroom which measures a metre across and was found in the tropical forests of the Republic of Congo has left experts in the capital Brazzaville scratching their heads
Peru has launched a campaign to implant microchips in hundreds of pedigree alpacas to try to stop the best animals being smuggled out of the country. Officials say they know alpacas are being sneaked across Peru’s borders
It is the Holy Grail
of horticulture and soon it could make the perfect present for Mother’s Day: scientists have found a way to produce a blue rose. A chance discovery in a laboratory means that they will be able to create the blue rose within a year
and it is expected to go on sale to the public soon after that
British intelligence agents secretly discussed plans to attack the Soviet Union with pigeons armed with biological weapons, documents made public by the National Archives reveal. The bizarre Cold War scheme was hatched by Wing Commander WDL Rayner, a Royal Air Force officer who, in the aftermath of World War II, saw suicide pigeons as the future of warfare
There is a renewed call for the Tasmanian devil to be nominated as a threatened species. Research is continuing to determine the cause of the cancer-like disease that has wiped out up to 85% of devil populations in some areas. Greens Senator Bob Brown says the State Government has allocated nothing further in this week’s Budget for programs to save the marsupial
The new study of purebred dogs says among those closest to their wild wolf ancestors are the Siberian Husky, Chinese Shar-pei and African Basenji. Two branches of the canine family tree were the earliest to diverge from the wolves, the study found. One branch includes the oriental breeds Shar-pei, Shiba Inu, Chow Chow and Akita; the other the seemingly diverse breeds of African Basenji, Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, Afghan Hound and Saluki
The critically endangered population of red wolves got a little bigger when a wolf at Ross Park Zoo unexpectedly gave birth to a litter of three
The dangerous profession of anti-personnel mine detection is getting a surprising new tool: giant Gambian rats [BugMeNot]. Some resourceful Belgians have figured out how to train these 30-inch rodents to hunt out land mines. They are cheaper and work harder than dogs and are more reliable than metal detectors
Lemurs, once believed to be cute but basically stupid, show startling intelligence when given a chance to win treats by playing a computer game
Misbehaving dogs are soothed by a chemical scent that evokes their puppyhood, according to new research. The chemicals could help relax dogs living in stressful environments such as animal shelters or working for the military. Researchers in Scotland conducted the largest-ever study on the effects of dog-appeasing pheromone
(DAP) on dogs in an animal shelter. DAP is a synthetic chemical that appears to mimic those secreted by lactating bitches three days after birth to create a comforting setting for puppies
Husky had a cut on his knee that I noticed last week that was no doubt caused, either directly or indirectly, by Malamute. This is nothing unusual. I grabbed the Betadine and sprayed the wound and that should have been the end of it.
Saturday night I noticed the shadow line in his fur where the cut was had gotten bigger. I had a closer look and it, while the wound had healed, there was a sizeable lump. My first thought is an abscess. So it’s a trip to the vet on Sunday morning.
The pods were well pleased with scoring a bonus car ride and they got to ingratiate themselves to a little girl in the waiting room.
They were fairly well behaved, until the little girl’s dog came out of the vet’s office and my pods decided to vocalise — they don’t really bark, but Huskies and Malamutes do have a surprisingly wide range of vocalisations. The little guy who came out was unfortunate enough to have a flea allergy and had gotten himself a rather tragic rear end shave job. Perhaps my pods were laughing at him. The vet sent Husky into her office, while Malamute went for a walk outside.
Husky was quite happy to investigate the office and more than happy to see the vet. However, he wasn’t too keen on getting his temperature taken and spent the rest of the visit trying to keep his rear end as far from the vet as possible.
It turns out the lump isn’t an abscess, it’s a hot spot, caused by the little bastard (or Malamute) licking the cut until it was inflamed. He now sports a sexy shaved spot on his knee and I get to rub ointment into it three times a day — which he tries to lick off, which is how this all started in the first place.
I was at the counter paying when a guy walks out with two cat boxes. Husky is on alert and starts making yummy faces at the boxed cats. Fortunately he didn’t bark at them and we got out there without an embarrassing incident.
A fun time was had by all.
It was the mysterious rattling sound from the 18-month-old German Shepherd’s stomach which first alerted the British vet to what might be wrong. A subsequent operation removed no fewer than 28 golf balls from the dog’s belly and — unsurprisingly — the mystery ailment which made her stop eating has been cured
A mammal that is the daughter of two female parents has been created for the first time. Until now such a feat had been considered biologically impossible. But the mouse, called Kaguya, was born without the involvement of any sperm or male cell — only female eggs were needed — via GeneWeb
German police have detained a man and confiscated an axe he was throwing for his dog to retrieve. Passers-by spotted the barefoot 36-year-old enjoying his dangerous game of go fetch
in a park and alerted police
A University of Illinois research team is working on turning pig manure into a form of crude oil that could be refined to heat homes or generate electricity. Years of research and fine-tuning lie ahead before the idea could be commercially viable, but results so far indicate there might be big benefits for farmers and consumers
A family garage and most of its contents have been saved in the Victorian town of Sunshine, thanks to the efforts of the family dog. Hudson, a short-haired German pointer, started barking just before 3:00am AEST and alerted his owners to a fire burning in their Hall Street garage
Scientists have detected the first signs that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) may have crossed into sheep in a study that is likely to rekindle anxieties over the safety of lamb and mutton
Regular doses of worms really do rid people of inflammatory bowel disease. The first trials of the treatment have been a success, and a drinkable concoction containing thousands of pig whipworm eggs could soon be launched in Europe. At the moment the concoction cannot be stored for long, so doctors or hospitals would have to prepare fresh batches of the eggs for their patients. But a new German company called BioCure, whose sister company BioMonde sells leeches and maggots for treating wounds, hopes it will soon solve the storage problem
Rabies-carrying vampire bats killed at least 13 people in a remote Amazon town in Brazil’s northern state of Para last month. The state health care department said the thumb-sized creatures had attacked about 300 people — an unusually high number — since 2 March in the riverside Portel area, next to the world’s biggest estuarine archipelago of Marajo. Government scientists suspect the attacks are linked to a change in the bats’ migration pattern caused by deforestation — via Oft Quoted
Researchers have found new colonies of endangered species in a wildlife survey in Sydney’s water catchment area. Thirty species not previously recorded in the area were found as part of the survey, which aims to help the Department of Environment manage the area better
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