WEIRD ANIMALS
It’s hardy, contagious, and risky to wild animals and pets. An outbreak last year of rabbit hemorrhagic disease in northwestern Washington state had devastating impacts on both feral and pet rabbits. Now animal health officials are tracking its spread and trying to protect …
It’s not rain, it’s a swarm of flying ants. – By David Williams, CNN Updated 2020 Jul 18 – You can add giant swarms of flying ants to your 2020 scary-sounding insects Bingo card alongside murder hornets and hordes of noisy cicadas. The …
By Guest Writer Animals 2020 Jul 15 – MUTTS Editor’s Note: We’ve received a great deal of feedback since Butchie’s Fatty Snax Deli went plant-based. Although reader responses have been largely positive, there was one common misunderstanding: “Are Mooch and Earl going vegan? …
Lobsters, birds and some primates use quarantine to ward off infections. Credit: Nick Kilner – In Brief – Despite how unnatural social distancing may feel to people, it is very much a part of the natural world, practiced by mammals, fishes, insects and …
Polina Bright / Shutterstock – By Tracey Anne Duncan Updated: 2020 Jul 13 – When my now 10-year-old cat, Cabbage, was but a wee kitten, I tried to teach her to walk on a leash. She would slink under cars and pull and …
Scientists have developed a new formula for calculating the physical age of dogs. pitrs10/Depositphotos – By Nick Lavars 2020 Jul 05 – For a rough idea of a dog’s physiological age, a popular approach is to simply multiply its actual age by seven, but …
In a study of 78 kitties, researchers concluded our feline friends can differentiate their names out of a series of random words. Skippy, the author’s cat, is generally an attentive listener. (Courtesy of Linda Burakoff) – By Maddie Burakoff 2019 Apr 05 – …
Researchers found that wild rufous hummingbirds could remember which flower in a sequence held nectar. A Rufous Hummingbird sips on the nectar from an Orange Justicia plant in California (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times via Getty Image) – By Theresa Machemer, SmithsonianMag.Com …
Possible outbreaks in China and Mongolia have brought bans on hunting and eating the rodents, which can carry the disease. Marmots in western China. Authorities in Mongolia have warned the animals may be carrying bubonic plague. Photograph: Jason Lee/Reuters – Reuters, last modified …
Image from Shutterstock – By Ian M. Mackay, Adjunct assistant professor, The University of Queensland 2020 Jul 01– Researchers have found a new strain of flu virus with “pandemic potential” in China that can jump from pigs to humans, triggering a suite of …