Last Commented Animals Blogs (472)

I have a deaf dog and i think we
have reach a dead end with his training.

Any tips?

If somebody broke in your house would your dog attack or be a wimp?

Someone told me that Naphthalene (moth balls} can be used safely to keep seeds fresh and that its not at all toxic to the bird eating the seeds.
Have heard conflicting reports on this.
Don't want to put my bird at risk.
Anyone have first hand knowledge of this?

Some lay eggs and others lay people...
She laid this one earlier...clever girl....

He is supposedly the best friend of man
he protected us, our farm animals
and more and more he is useless
they vegetate to himself
and hope to find something to eat
This was the picture I've seen in my own country
but what is even sadder in many other countries
the same fate and even worse
therefore heard this day our four-legged friends
because dogs are better people
they are always sincere, loyal, and never resentful

So am I mumified? These beetles, 5 - 8 mm long, are walking here around me, but to me it seems I am still sort of alive, but they should feed on dead animals and their parts like hair and horn only.
They can digest Keratin, which is quite special.
Living in bird nests e.g., they may show up in planting soil fertilized with pieces of horn, too. And this may be the case and the reason here.

The family Trogidae is called "Erdkäfer", soil beetles.

The illegal trade in elephant tusks, fuelled by continuing demand for ivory, drives elephant poaching, where elephants in the wild are ruthlessly shot and their tusks hacked out.

According to the WWF, a new report issued under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) shows that illegal killing of elephants and illegal ivory trade continues to increase.

The report highlights China and Thailand as the two most important raw ivory consuming countries in the world, and indicates that poaching trends can be correlated to increasing affluence in China and tourist arrivals in Thailand.

To me it doesn't matter where the the demand's coming from -- I only wish those who are buying ivory trinkets, ivory jewellery, and other ornamentation carved from elephant tusks could be forced to spend a few hours close to dead elephants that've been shot by poachers and their faces butchered to remove the tusks.


Dead elephant, its tusks hacked out and its hide streaked with vulture droppings, lies in rigor mortis under the African sun after being shot by poachers in Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park.

Another dead elephant, shot at the same time and its tusks also hacked off by the poachers, lies nearby.
And for what? An ivory trinket or ivory carving (below).


For those living in the West, it's easy to become smug and blame the illegal ivory trade on China, Thailand and other Asian countries.

However, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has found a thriving trade in ivory items after a survey of websites in the UK, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and Germany.

"In just two weeks, our survey found more than 660 items with a total advertising value of almost ?650,000 across a variety of European websites. A shocking 98% of adverts failed to comply with website policies of providing evidence of legality," said Kelvin Alie, director of IFAW's prevention of Illegal Wildlife Trade Programme.

"Europeans must realise that what they see as a pretty trinket for sale online is just one facet of an ongoing war against cruelty and for the protection of biodiversity. In Kenya, and across most African range states, elephants are ruthlessly slaughtered by poachers to fuel the illegal ivory trade," Alie continued.

"Any trade in ivory provides a cover for and encourages elephant poaching and illegal trade in ivory. The war on illegal ivory trade and elephant poaching can only be won by removing elephant ivory not just from international trade, but entirely from the global marketplace, " he said.

In 2007 eBay, under pressure from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, banned all international sales of elephant-ivory products. But sadly that's not the case in my own country, where Bid-or-buy.com, a South African online auction site, still lists hundreds of ivory items for sale.

As those advocating a total ban on ivory sales point out, if ivory had no commercial value, there would be little incentive for anyone to kill elephants for their tusks and one of the major threats to their survival would disappear.

So please don't buy ivory of any kind, and tell your friends and family not to buy ivory, especially when travelling in Thailand or South East Asia.

(To supplement my previous blog, this blog shows graphic images of the carcasses of the slaughtered animals.)



(grateful acknowledgement to Scotch Macaskill)

2007 - March 22, 2015

He belonged to one of my girl friends. We parted. She left here, but left this little guy behind.

He was so timid and so small compared to the others. One of my other Tom cats would, if no one was watching or listening, beat him up often the first few months. I sometimes hated going to work in the morning because I knew I would find tufts of fur or even drops of blood somewhere that evening. Sometimes I would just lock him in a room where he could be safe, but then that door started showing scratches where he would try to get out and the other one would try to get in. Eventually they worked out a territory arrangement. The other Tom he had no problems with.

This little guy was both lonely without mommy and super friendly too. You could pick him up by his ears or hold him upside down, either way he would just purr and purr and make no effort to escape. He just wanted to be touched and held. He would come running to me whenever I was around. No one bothered him if I was around. He spent many days slleping on my feet or my lap or just alongside me on the couch, always purring about it for hours.

Last week during a bath I noticed he seemed to be having difficulty breathing and his ribs were bony but his belly seemed swollen. No change in appetite however and he always ate a lot. Often the first one there if the mircowave bell rang or a can was being opened.

Although I had seen him out and about on Saturday, this (Saturday) evening he did not show up for dinner. Upon looking for him I found him under my bed semi conscious and in convulsions.

I have seen this before in both cats and dogs. Abdominal cancer, final hours.

Little Watson crossed over the Rainbow Bridge at about 1am on Sunday, March 22, 2015. Although he was only in my house for two years and I only knew him for three, I will miss him enormously.


Watson on March 17, 2015

It seems that 43 seconds of "belly rubs", just ain't quite enough for GURL!
JOHN~