Seventeen conservation and wildlife protection groups filed suit this week to challenge the federal decision to lower the status of the gray wolf from endangered to threatened in the lower-48 states. The decision would also ultimately hand over species management to state governments, at least one of which has called for extermination of the species
One of the more artistic case mods, the Spider Case, it’s pretty lights make up for its hefty footprint
The full magnitude of the world’s largest ever rodent has been revealed — the now-extinct monster was the size of a cow. The creature weighed in at 700 kilograms and lived eight million years ago, roaming the lush banks of the ancient Orinoco delta in north-western Venezuela. But the 3m long, 1.3m tall behemoth was an evolutionary cousin of today’s humble guinea pig
Scientists have discovered that when it comes to detecting if you’ve been swindled out of a fair deal, monkeys can be just as sharp as humans
Remember the fad for Care Bears? Adorable little teddy bears that came in a multitude of colours, a clever marketing gimmick that manipulated children into bullying their parents into buying them the whole set.
Here’s a chance to go back to your childhood and kill the little bastards: Liquid Generations’ Evil Care Bears.
After you’ve finished happily slaughtering Care Bears with guns, you can have a shot at the quiz: Which Dysfunctional Care Bear Are You?
I seem to be Gay Bear — comfortable with myself, although the regular
Care Bears think I’m a deviant. And I have a crush on Grumpy.
Had a not uneventful trip walking the beasties yesterday.
Just around the corner from home I spotted a black cat sitting in the gutter. It’s an odd place for a cat, but I’ve seen weirder and didn’t think much of it. There was a sudden flurry of activity and I assumed the cat has just spotted the dogs approaching and done a runner. Nope. It was laying in wait for a bird and proudly swaggered off home with its prize, a Noisy Miner by the feathers, in its jaws.
Up near the local shops a flock of nearly twenty Yellow Tail Black Cockatoos screeched into the pines, scaring even the nesting Magpies away, before heading off back into bushland. I’ve only ever seen one before in the distance, so a whole flock was impressive.
Malamute was disappointed that her fan club of small girls wasn’t around in their usual spot to worship her, but she cheered up when she scared a pair of Red Rumped Parrots. Cute little guys, they blend into the grass really well and are getting cockier around the dogs. If they don’t get some smarts soon, Husky has offered to give them some.
The Police are always saying that it’s dog walkers who find bodies, but it was just birds this time. I live in hope.
Meowmory: the Kitten Memory game. Match the adorable kitties.
Skippy the Goth Kangaroo will bring back memories of what a truly bad and repetitive show this was, but the Brit voiceovers are hilarious.
Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, mushroom, mushroom…
Poachers who have hunted some rhino species to the verge of extinction could soon be tracked down by genetic tests being developed in Britain and Taiwan
Spring has arrived and things are flowering in the garden.
As I have a long line of plant murders in my past, I’ve narrowed things down to some of the tougher specimens. I’m also a big fan of foliage. I figure if something is only going to flower briefly, why have a crappy looking plant the rest of the year, hence the Irises and Cliveas with their strappy green leaves.
The luscious purple Irises came from my great aunt Marj.
The bright orange Cliveas hiding under a tree are from my Nan. Both far better gardeners than I could ever hope to be.
Penelope Corcoran, a Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter, had a chance to try out a Bow-Lingual on Crema, her part-Chihuahua part-Dachshund beastie. The unit didn’t score too well, looking more like an expensive, battery hungry, canine version of a Magic 8-Ball than a true translation device
Scientists studying an unspoiled jungle river wilderness in Venezuela have announced the discovery of 10 new fish species, including a red-tailed tiddler, a ‘punk’ catfish with a spiky head and a piranha that eats fruit as well as flesh
This morning I was awoken by meows of distress coming through the uncovered air conditioning vent in my ceiling. Jasper my kitten had managed to get up into the roof via ladder conveniently placed just below an uncovered manhole. Why do you have so many holes in your ceiling you ask. Well my dad is installing the air conditioning himself at his own pace. He started a couple of years after we moved into the house, he’s taken about three years now and it’s not finished yet. Yes you guessed it, my dad makes a living out of this.
Any how cat in ceiling. Up ladder I went, we have 9 or 10 foot ceilings and I don’t fare well with heights, so that was fun in itself. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to coax him down with food, toys and the promise of a belly rub I got pissed off and left him up there. My brother had a shower and Jasper started getting quite distressed from the steam, and started meowing at the edge of the manhole. Up the ladder I went again and managed to get a hold of the squirmy, dusty little shit. Needless to say there was much clawing at my head and ladder. He momentarily stopped and clamped himself to my head so I could get him and myself down ladder safely.
This episode will be a testament to cats inability to think Hmmm, I can climb up there, but can I get down?
On the plus side, this is the earliest I’ve been to work in months.
Neil Gaiman writes about the shortcomings of a kitten that waits until you’re asleep, then climbs onto your bed, and tries to insert himself into your nose.
Makes my dogs wake-up tactics look tame by comparison.
The Xenoturbella, an enigmatic worm that resides in the mud at the bottom of a Swedish fjord, is identified as mankind’s long-lost relative, after being written off for years as an obscure mollusc
Railway officials in Wakayama, a largely rural prefecture in western Japan, racked their brains for months for a way to keep wild deer from running onto train tracks and getting killed. Finally, inspiration struck: scare them off by spreading lion dung along the tracks
A series of photos of hummingbird eggs and hatchlings. Note the toothpick used as an indicator of the teeny scale of the nest and eggs
A Royal Bengal tiger escaped from a Bangladesh zoo after its keeper left its cage open, but snuck back an hour later after apparently being frightened by the crowds — or possibly knowing when it’s onto a good thing
While I was away recently, the malamute decided to excavate the top layer of one of the dog beds. Before I had a chance to replace the cover, my husky discovered the hole to be a great design improvement — he now has a cosy den-like structure in the lower reaches of the bed, while the taut upper layer serves nicely as a table.
Mobile phone users world-wide will soon be able to dial-a-dolphin if a scheme to record their underwater conversations proves a success
A couple of weeks back I got volunteered as shotgun on a two day flying visit to Inverell with my mother. She drives, I keep her awake with a scintillating selection of CDs ranging from spoken word to punk to swing to gospel. The Elvis gospel CD was Mum’s contribution to the mix, but a surprisingly good listen.
Dropped in to Gilgai to pay a visit to Kramut Kennels and got to meet my husky’s baby sister. The fence is in the way, but when it wasn’t, all the photos show is a blurry husky missile — she’s an adorable beastie, but her attention span is even shorter than mine, making it difficult to grab a good photo. This is where two of the dog scarves have found their new home.
Stayed the night at Inverell with a friend and got to see the feline beasties of the house investigating their new CatMax Pethouse where they can glare menacingly at all and sundry.
On the trip home I amused myself by taking photos from the car which came out better than I expected.
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