Thankfully some these are only photoshopped
Showing posts with label ANIMALS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ANIMALS. Show all posts
RHINO POOP - THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING !
he International Rhino Foundation offers holiday shoppers a unique way to show their special someones that they care.
The organization is auctioning "endangered feces" on eBay to raise money for conservation efforts.
The rhino poop auction began Friday. Four separate pieces of dung will be up for auction:
The White Rhino: Tied with the Greater One-Horned Rhino as the largest species of land mammal after the elephant. 14,500 left.
The Black Rhino: The population of this rhino decreased 96 percent between 1970-1992. 3,725 are left.
The Sumatran Rhino: Likely, the most endangered of rhinoceros. 275 remain.
The Greater One Horned Rhino: Along with the Southern White Rhino in South Africa, the Indian Rhino is one of two greatest success stories in rhino conservation. 2,619 Indian Rhinos remain.
Sadly, the Javan Rhino is so rare, its feces could not be obtained.
"Not only do rhinos need our help, every aspect of rhino biology is fascinating," the foundation's Web site explains. "Including, pardon us - rhino poop."
The IRF provides a wealth of information about Rhino poop on its Web site that's oddly, utterly fascinating. Here's a sampling of Rhino feces facts:
• Rhinos disperse seeds from trees and shrubs in their feces that will eventually grow into new trees and shrubs.
• Rhinos that poop in water provide food for fish.
• Rhinos use piles of dung to mark their territory.
Each piece has been dried and mounted in a box. The auction ends Sunday to allow time for the packages to get there by Christmas day.
On Friday, the lowest bid was $100 for White Rhino feces. Sumatran feces had the priciest bid at $500. Shipping is $16.
All proceeds benefit the IRF's conservation programs.
PECULIAR NAMES OF ANIMAL GROUPS
22 Peculiar Names for Groups of Animals
by the editors of Publications International, Ltd
Have you ever heard the expression, "a gaggle of geese?" These names for groups of animals are pretty peculiar, too.
1. A shrewdness of apes 12. An exaltation of larks
2. A battery of barracudas 13. A troop of monkeys
3. A kaleidoscope of butterflies 14. A parliament of owls
4. A quiver of cobras 15. An ostentation of peacocks
5. A murder of crows 16. A rookery of penguins
6. A convocation of eagles 17. A prickle of porcupines
7. A charm of finches 18. An unkindness of ravens
8. A skulk of foxes 19. A shiver of sharks
9. A troubling of goldfish 20. A pod of whales
10. A smack of jellyfish 21. A descent of woodpeckers
11. A mob of kangaroos 22. A zeal of zebras
COLORADO WOMAN IS LICENSED BEAVER LOVER
"I love that smell. Don't you just love it? Nothing smells better to me," says Sherri Tippie, inhaling deeply. "I was born for beavers."
FULL STORY OF BEAVER LOVING WOMAN
FULL STORY OF BEAVER LOVING WOMAN
A DOG WITH TWO WET NOSES ! ! !
Explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell has had close encounters with vampire bats and angry bees, but his latest brush has been with a rather odd dog.
He spotted a rare breed of Double-Nosed Andean tiger hound, which has two noses, on a recent trip to Bolivia.
The chairman of the Scientific Exploration Society said the dog, named Xingu, was "not terribly handsome".
He said: "This breed could be used for sniffing out mines or narcotics because they have an enhanced sense of smell."
Colonel Blashford-Snell first encountered a Double-Nosed Andean tiger hound called Bella in 2005 when he was carrying out reconnaissance for this year's expedition in the area near Ojaki.
He told Radio 4's Today programme: "While we were there, sitting by the fire one night, I saw an extraordinary-looking dog that appeared to have two noses.
"I was sober at the time, and then I remembered the story that the legendary explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett came back with in 1913 of seeing such strange dogs in the Amazon jungle.
"Nobody believed him, they laughed him out of court."
He's very intelligent and with a wonderful sense of smell, as you might think
John Blashford-Snell
The dog seen two years ago was Bella, and on a second trip to the area, which began in May and has just ended, the explorer discovered her son Xingu in the village of Ojaki.
He had just produced a litter of puppies with a bitch that had a single nose.
Two of their offspring had double noses, and two had the normal quantity, but the double-nosed pups died after three days.
A veterinary expert with the group examined Xingu to see if he had a cleft palate, but this was not the case.
"There is a chance that these dogs came from a breed with double noses that's known in Spain as Pachon Navarro, which were hunting dogs at the time of the Conquistadors," said Colonel Blashford-Snell.
"I think it's highly likely some of these were taken to South America and they continued to breed. They're good hunting dogs."
Bella the double-nosed Andean Tiger Hound
Bella is Xingu's mother and was spotted on an expedition in 2005
He added that Xingu was "quite an aggressive little chap" who stood about 16 inches in height and loved salt biscuits but "wasn't a terribly handsome dog".
Xingu's best friend is apparently a wild pig called Gregory, and the two animals "rule the roost" in their village.
"Other dogs snarl at Xingu, because they can sense he's different. He's the smallest dog there but he sees the other dogs off," Colonel Blashford-Snell said.
"He's very intelligent and with a wonderful sense of smell, as you might think.
"The Bolivian Army came and took DNA samples because they're interested in the breed. He's not the only dog like this, there are others in the area."
The Scientific Exploration Society was in Bolivia to investigate a shallow crater about five miles in width.
According to Colonel Blashford-Snell, he has now found evidence that this was caused by a giant meteorite, which struck the Bolivian Amazon Basin up to 30,000 years ago.
He says he has found evidence of human habitation within 50 miles of the blast zone, and believes these people were wiped out as a result of the meteor's impact.
The explorers also carried with them a church organ from Dorset as a gift to local Bolivians in order to secure their help with finding the meteorite.
RARE TIGER CUB TWINS
Cubs Jinliang and Yinshuai aren't any ordinary twins. Workers at Tianjin Zoo, China were shocked when the pair were born - because they arrived into the world in completely different colours - yellow and white.
The furry feline's mother Meimei was a mixed blood tiger - and it seems each of her offspring has unusually inherited each of her different colours.
Zoo workers were stunned when Jinliang (left) and Yinshuai were born with two entirely different colours
The yellow cub has the hue of a common Bengali tiger - but the animal genetics would normally make the birth of his white brother virtually impossible. The twins were born on May 31st.
The Bengali tiger is the most common tiger subspecies and is the national animal of both Bangladesh and India.
CALIFORNIA INVADED BY GIANT SQUID ! ! !
MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) - Jumbo squid that can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 110 pounds is invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations, according to a study published Tuesday.
An aggressive predator, the Humboldt squid—or Dosidicus gigas—can change its eating habits to consume the food supply favored by tuna and sharks, its closest competitors, according to an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
"Having a new, voracious predator set up shop here in California may be yet another thing for fishermen to compete with," said the study's co-author, Stanford University researcher Louis Zeidberg. "That said, if a squid saw a human they would jet the other way."
The jumbo squid used to be found only in the Pacific Ocean's warmest stretches near the equator. In the last 16 years, it has expanded its territory throughout California waters, and squid have even been found in the icy waters off Alaska, Zeidberg said.
Zeidberg's co-author, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute senior scientist Bruce Robison, first spotted the jumbo squid here in 1997, when one swam past the lens of a camera mounted on a submersible thousands of feet below the ocean's surface.
More were observed through 1999, but the squid weren't seen again locally until the fall of 2002. Since their return, scientists have noted a corresponding drop in the population of Pacific hake, a whitefish the squid feeds on that is often used in fish sticks, Zeidberg said.
"As they've come and gone, the hake have dropped off," Zeidberg said. "We're just beginning to figure out how the pieces fit together, but this is most likely going to shake things up."
Before the 1970s, the giant squid were typically found in the Eastern Pacific, and in coastal waters spanning from Peru to Costa Rica. But as the populations of its natural predators—like large tuna, sharks and swordfish—declined because of fishing, the squids moved northward and started eating different species that thrive in colder waters.
Local marine mammals needn't worry about the squid's arrival since they're higher up on the food chain, but lanternfish, krill, anchovies and rockfish are all fair game, Zeidberg said.
A fishermen's organization said Tuesday they were monitoring the squid's impact on commercial fisheries.
"In years of high upwellings, when the ocean is just bountiful, it probably wouldn't do anything," Zeke Grader, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "But in bad years it could be a problem to have a new predator competing at the top of the food chain."
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