Last Commented Animals Blogs (472)

....years ago, for a wealthy lady friend, while she traveled, I cared for her two Arabians. So, got to ride them instead of her, with the former being much better. Mostly rode bareback, even though it lead to sweaty jeans, (North Carolina) and always felt much more one with the animals this way. Today, on a TV animal science show, there was this lady showing her research on how expressive these wonderful creatures are. Sure, as with our Bravo, there are many body language communications. But apparently, to those in the know, tons of communicative facial expressions also exist. Who knew? Not me. The only real readable horse talk I recall was the way they always seemed to speed up on their own (or try to do), at the end of a ride, on the last leg to their stalls. Translation into Human-OATS!

Is All You'll see;
If i smile Real Wide!!

But..
its still brighter than,
What You'll find.
Deep inside

I don't know about that. But they do seem to be very friendly to humans
and they seem to display smiles.
Quokkas are evolutionarily related to kangaroos. But, they are much smaller
and not aggressive. They also are very tolerant of humans.
Western Australia has been promoting the idea of taking 'selfies' with them.

While it can be quite relaxing, when used right,
when you are very young, a hammock is not the easiest thing to navigate.
Some balance is needed. It may take some practice.
It's a lot harder to use, if your 2 siblings just won't leave you alone.
But, if you work together, you just might get it right.

See what I mean;

..the lowly horse shoe crab... Yep, an arthropod, but not a crab. Actually said to belong to the spider/scorpion critter group. But still with us, little changed, and amazingly having evolved almost half a billion years BEFORE even the dinosaurs. Read up on the remarkable reproductive styles of these wonders, which populate the Eastern North American coastal regions, and apparently parts of Asia, where it's headed to a list of declining wild populations. But the saga continues. The copper based clear "Blood" of the larger up to 5 Kg females, has important medical uses. And while not having a highly specific innate and adaptive immune system, like our Bravo, and me, (but not present in many liberals), apparently, the blood like substance helps fight the thick soup of a large group of endotoxin elaborating bacteria living all around, and inside them. Probably does much more, but the active substance, LAL (Limulus Ameobocytic Lysate), has been harvested and purified for years, and is essential in various fields of microbiological medicine. Seems, among other things, to coagulate these endotoxins. In the animal, such clotting actions make these dangerous substances targets for the many scavenger amoeba-like circulating cells therein, rendering them yummy, but harmless. A synthetic blend is available, but is costly and apparently only in limited production. Seems that caring ( North American) harvesters withdraw only a quarter of the fluid in each animal, allowing them to survive on return to the bays. Not so with the Asians. But then, kitty cats and puppy dogs are on the menus there as well. Possible declines of 5-10% in populations in parts of Asia. Sure, it's dangerous to read too much into such elaborate evolved processes. But I'd bet on erring on the side of not wiping these miracles out. Not like big Pharma is investing a bunch in newer antibiotics, in the face of scary resistances. But on a personal note, in my youth, our family used to clam and Quahog, on the Masachusetts coast. The scrumptious tiny neck clams squirt through the sand when we walked over them, enabling profitable quick digging. But the quahogs live deeper, so you have to feel for them with the feet, over time learning to differentiate between bivalve and stone. But the tails of these horse shoe crabs always reminded me those on sting rays, and are used often to reright themselves after a role in the surf. Took me a long time to get over the fear. Today, as with ground fish, these fruits of the sea are more rare, for many reasons. But on the coast of Maine, fresh upland river outlets are still lousy with clean mussels. Helpful, harmless wonders of ocean ecology and biology, all.

Hello you can find me on tel or what's 00967775288019

....and now Miss Lilly.... Two cats next door, who lived here, all in the family, with the big dogs, before human, and then animal separations, a decade ago. Several years ago, after a costly diagnostic work up, the vets pronounced Lilly to have a splenic tumor, and was therefore circling the drain, so to speak. They prescribed palliative medication, and a little fluids, and we took her home to die. That was 2016. Tough old girl. But this AM, out of the blue, she was having trouble walking, with other signs of a kitty stroke. Last night spent in the Vet hospital, and after steroids and lab tests, was only a bit better. We'll all go to see here, but are expecting the worst. 16 years old, so a long and happy life. Her pal, Angel, a Maine Coon mix, and 17, and superb huntress, has been on a downward course for several months, daily more cachectic, but still chowing down, and feisty as ever. The crab, no doubt. Brought home a chipmunk a few weeks ago to show off to the ladies, playing with the bedazzled poor little thing, till one of the girls took it away to set free, in total PTSD, we're sure..Hard as it is to imagine any female actually liking me, both did, and I taught them lot's of fun tricks. So now it looks like both will soon be leaving us. One door closes, another opens. The ladies next door watch Bravo, while I'm away, as I've done for their kitties, and they love this big dumb Shepherd. They've expressed interest in adopting him, which he'd certainly love, then getting spoiled in not one, but two households. Frees me up to work overseas again.Oh, well.

Everywhere I go I see the Super Bowl now this lol ..
The Superb Owls....the Great Horned Owl in Spanish Moss looks comfy n cozy...

Photos: Superb Owl Sunday IV—via @TheAtlPhoto

... The vets think it is a lesion in the brain, as apparently older cats get Meningiomas. Her eyesight is down some, but she's walking around with no apparent motor losses. They say that with strokes and such, cats, and some animals "wall point". They walk up to a wall, and just put their noses close and stand there. She did this some for a day right after the event, but now walks about the house, fairly steadily, but occasionally bangs into stuff, with the possible decrease in vision. But eating a bit, and peeing/pooping OK, and clearly recognizes us all. No vocalizations though. Enjoys light brushing, as usual. So all in all, she's not out of the woods by any means, but looks much better than a few days ago. So to me, it might just be a mild stroke, in evolution, hopefully soon to resolve, with only minor remaining disabilities. Angel still treats her like crap, each time they come close to each other, but is wasting away, so Lilly may live longer. Both nice kitties---tough to lose ant pet. Much easier to rid oneself of a woman.

A redtail hawk was raised by a bald eagle pair along with 3 of their own eaglet chicks.
Indeed, originally there were 2 redtail chicks in that nest, but one did not survive.
It became the talk of the town and much wider.

A raptor expert was brought in to battle through the many theories as to how 2 redtail chicks
could have gotten into a bald eagle nest. It turns out, that similar circumstances have
actually been documented 3 times prior to this.

The eagles raised their own and the redtail chick to fledge from the nest and the redtail was quite healthy.
The mayor even announced a day in the town for the bald eagle redtail chick, who is actually male and
retained some eagle behavior.

I hope you enjoy the video;