Most Liked Animals Blogs (472)

All of the snakes I've ever seen in New Jersey are non-venomous.
I've seen quite a few garter snakes


and the much bigger northern banded water snake



I've read that the banded water snake bites can hurt quite a bit (pun intended),
but generally they are harmless.

New jersey does have some venomous snakes. But, in all my many outdoor travels
I've never seen one (knocking on wood).
But, the main one in my area is the northern copperhead. Not a snake I would like to pet.



Further south there are timber rattlesnakes, especially in the pinelands regions.


Although I've encountered a lot of snakes in Florida,
the only time I've ever actually been bitten by a snake, was in Maine of all places.
It was a 'harmless' garter snake. At the tender age of 7, it made me bleed and scared a mite,
but no real other damage.

The next time I encountered snakes was when I went to college out west in Kansas.
They had one of the few veterinary schools in the country and I originally decided to become a veterinarian. While in college I made a lot of friends out there, and had a lot of fun.
The gals all wore leather belts with their name on the back. It sure made introductions easy.
"Hey Sally, how have you been ?"

Since I was totally unfamiliar with the geography there, I had to rely on the locals for locations of interest. One time a friend recommended climbing a "mountain" to watch the sunset.
I was more than a bit skeptical, as Kansas has to be one of the flattest states in the USA.
Florida is another flat state. So anyway, 4 of us drove to this "mountain" together.
It wasn't a mountain, but it was a very large hill. It took us about an hour to get to the top
and at the top was a radio tower. So, crazy as it was, we climbed the radio tower too,
and then watched the sunset.

After climbing down the radio tower, one of us (not me) decided to challenge the other 3 to a race down the "mountain" and shouted "go". So all 4 of us ran down the mountain and on the way down we took somewhat different paths. At one point, I was running full speed and I came to a gully.
In it I noticed 8 coiled rattlesnakes resting on large flat rocks, peering up at me.



There was no stopping. I was going much too fast downhill.
If I tried to stop I'm sure I would have ended (in more ways than one) right in the gully on them.
So, thankfully, I instantly got the idea of jumping, as high, and as far, as I could.
It was the biggest jump I ever attempted. Literally, the jump of my life.
I sailed over the gully and watched the snake heads following the direction of my flight.
I landed beyond the gully on my feet, and continued running to the bottom of the "mountain"
with my heart beating extra fast from my encounter.

While I arrived first at the bottom, all 4 of us thankfully made it.
It was dark by the time we did.
One (not me) was bleeding from a tree branch. Crazy kids !

Wuhan flu.....
Seems like a third allergenic phenotype of this delightful bug has been detected. These viruses, when under strong selective pressure, as via effective counter measures, preventive or therapeutic, can mutate faster than a Georgia coon hound can chase squirrels up a tree.
But don't take my words for it. Ever had more than one common cold per season?
On the possibly positive side, to be added to flu like prodromal/ full syndromic signs and symptoms, and decreases in smell senses, are two more. Newer bumps on the tongue, and redness on the palms of hands, and soles of footsies. Nice.
Recall that Dr. Fauci was well in the loop, VERY well, of US funding for this PRC CCP viral arms research. The same wannabee who is recorded on again/off again---THREE times---on the logic of wearing the mask. Google it.
One of the highest paid US government Democrat-bureaucrat seat warmers. $400 large per year. Think of all the retirement this will require of US tax payers?
Any of y'all rubes outside of government dis-service, and in the dreaded private sector, have defined retirement benefit and pension plans? No? Didn't think so.
Finally, while he did have some initial supervisory role in the failed and costly, VERY costly, lab bench research for a vaccine to HIV, his training is in internal medicine, not in public health. He wouldn't know epidemiologic thought if it came right up and bit him squarely on the arse. Doesn't it show?

All animals are equal, but some are a bit more equal than others. Tootles, all.

Change your used sailboat's name, you die at sea. Since I'm a bit stuporstitious, I never dared such. But all my dogs are adptees, and I always tried to keep the names the original humans geve them. Usually, these were much better than what I could have come up with. Such as our Bravo. Plus, they are already usually used to these. But folks give their pooches and kitties silly names. Speaking of sails, sorry to take the wind out of yours here, Biff.

I love animals as much as the next guy...maybe more. It might be the reason I was banned from the petting zoo. If I had my way we'd have 'heavy' petting zoos, but I digress.

It seems to me that there are way more 'service' animals than services needed. Dogs aren't allowed on the bus unless of course it's a seeing-eye dog or something of that nature. Ok, I get it. That's actually a thing. Therapy dogs are a thing too, but now we're treading into ambiguous territory. And who's to say where the line is drawn?
No dogs are allowed at the farmers market...well unless it's a cancer-sniffing dog. Hey, I could get cancer any minute so I need to have the dog with me at all times. I just get a cute little doggy jacket and a tag and now my pet is a necessity while at the library.
And why limit these animals to dogs? How about a gluten-detecting squid? An autism armadillo? If I'm so obese that I can't reach my own backside, l could use a butt-wipe orangutan...um

I think Melania Trump already has one.

At this rate, ALL wild vertebrates will be gone in a mere seven years.
But, wait, you'd rather eat your burger, pat your belly, and say "yummy," wouldn't you, you f*cking psychopath?
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Upon arriving to Charles de Gaulle, while the plane was taxiing to the terminal, saw a fox trotting along the runway strip. What was it doing there? Looking for road kill?

In 1926, there were no longer wolves in Yellowstone, once the natural habitat of this species. Between 1977 and the re-introduction in 1995, we have reliable reports of wolves being seen throughout the park. Most of them were either lone wolves or pairs, probably only transiting.


Finally, in 1995, grey wolf packs were reintroduced in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park and Idaho. The effects were more striking than anyone could have expected. The entire ecosystem of the national park transformed and it went so far that even the rivers changed.

How could this have happened? Watch the clip and marvel at the amazing way in which nature works.

Florida has been invaded by Burmese pythons as the result of an intense storm that accidently freed
these captive pets near the Everglades years ago.
Some estimate that there are now over 100,000 of these invasive snakes in the everglades,
where no natural predator has evolved to control them.

They can grow up to 26 feet in length and in that area have decimated the populations
of many mammals such as deer, raccoons, bobcats, rabbits, etc .
In response Florida has hired about 25 professional snake hunters to capture these invasive snakes.

In the following video we get to see one of these snake hunters capture such a Burmese python,
that was in the process of strangling an alligator. They have been known to kill much larger gators.

So, man rescues alligator is perhaps something you never thought you would hear, nor see;

we bought a puppy for my son

For your viewing pleasure...George Orwell's Animal Farm novella on video...Stephen King recognised the novella as a story about a political uprising of farm occupants much like the political rise of the Trump era in America regarding the working class...but careful what you wish for...there is a down ward spiral in regards to the treatment and collective equality on the farm...as they spiral into the abyss...truth is non-existent and power is the new king...submission to such demagoguery is paramount...in the end...the farm animals could no longer recognise the pigs from farmers or the farmers from the pigs...





Enjoy and beware....