A closer look at one of the world's strangest animals

Ground pangolins are known as 'Manis temminckii' in Latin but more commonly go by the name scaly anteater and are one of the most endangered mammals in the world are found in Africa. They are endangered and rare to find because they are difficult to spot. They are covered in hard scales made from keratin, are nocturnal, and sleep curled up into a ball.

Recently, Maria Diekmann, rescued a female pangolian that she named Roxy when she was found on the black market. Roxy gave birth to a baby pangolin during her stay at the organization. Maria, who is from Namibia, runs conservation group Rare and Endangered Species Trust (REST).

Maria describes her experience with Roxy, "A shop owner felt sorry for her and bought her and we ended up taking her in. We hoped we could hold her for a few days until we could get a tracker on her before releasing her. But four days after receiving her she crawled slowly to me and sat in my lap and I soon realised that she had given birth."

"About three months later Roxy began begging to be let out. Because she had always returned previously, I let her out. She headed up a mountain and sadly that is the last time I saw her. After many sleepless nights, her abandoned baby started responding well to plain yoghurt, special animal milk formula and his twice daily ant forages."

The baby pangolin, who is unnamed as of yet, has a 10 inch long tongue which can extend up to 27 inches when he is a fully grown adult. The Pangolin's tongue actually starts in its abdomen and is long and sticky so it can extract bugs from nests or rotten trees.


Maria has been caring for the little guy since his mother Roxy abandoned him while only a few days old. According to Maria, "His favorite place was just behind her neck and that is why I believe he still loves to crawl onto the top of my head as I walk around. Thus, I always wear a hat. The photos that I took with my iPhone shows his tongue which is about a long as his body."


Right now the little Pangolin is just being called 'Baby', but he will soon be named following a fundraising competition. 'Baby' can't help but melt hearts with his shy gaze and tiny body. Clutching his hands together, this orphaned baby has definitely won over his surrogate mother and he is sure to win many more fans with his cute looks.

A group trying to preserve the centuries-old Angel Oak near Charleston, South Carolina, is racing against a fall deadline to raise the $3.6 million needed to protect surrounding land from development that environmentalists contend would harm the tree.

The Angel Oak, with a massive canopy stretching more than 1,889 square yards (1,580 square meters) and trunk of more than 25 feet in circumference, has drawn generations of visitors to Johns Island near historic Charleston.

In less than two months, the Lowcountry Open Land Trust has collected almost $700,000 from more than 9,000 donors. With local governments contributing additional money toward the purchase, the land trust still has about $500,000 left to raise by November 21.

Many donations were dropped into jars at local Piggly Wiggly grocery stores, Director Elizabeth Hagood said, but some funds have come from as far away as South America.

"It's amazing the connection people have to this tree," she said. "It's very passionate."


Named for 19th-century rice and cotton plantation owner Justus Angel, the oak stands 65 feet high and is estimated to be between 400 and 500 years old.

While it is not the oldest or the biggest tree in South Carolina's low country, the grandeur of its weighty branches draws about 36,000 people from around the world each year, said Cam Patterson, director of special facilities for the city of Charleston, which owns the Angel Oak and the small park around it.

The tree also has historical significance, Hagood said.


"All during segregation, the Angel Oak was the only public place on Johns Island that was not segregated," she said. "People didn't have air conditioning then, and it was a cool place for a church picnic."

The fundraising effort is part of a fight that began in 2008, when about 40 acres of forest land around the tree and park were slated to become a large commercial and residential village.

Development pressure is strong on the once-rural island, whose roads lead to multimillion-dollar beach houses, Hagood said.


'MY SANCTUARY'

Samantha Siegel, a 31-year-old waitress, said she decided to try to stop the building plan when it appeared to threaten the tree she visited each day on her way to work.

"This was my happy place, my sanctuary, the only place that ever felt like home," she said.

Siegel co-founded a nonprofit organization called Save the Angel Oak, began a petition drive against the development and called on city leaders and environmental groups to take action.

"Nobody really listened to me at first," she recalled as she sat on a bench near the tree last week. "They all said it's a done deal, there's nothing we can do, good luck. It was the penniless nature girl versus the rich developers."


Her nonprofit and the Charleston-based Coastal Conservation League sued to block developer Robert DeMoura's application to fill wetlands for the project. A botanist with the conservation group said filling the wetlands and cutting surrounding forest would alter the water table and disturb the oak's shallow, wide-spreading root system.

As part of a settlement last spring after the property fell into foreclosure, the bank that took ownership, Coastal Federal Credit Union, agreed to let a local trust buy 17 acres of land near the Angel Oak, said Dana Beach, executive director of the Coastal Conservation League.

Charleston County voted in July to contribute $2.4 million toward the purchase. The city of Charleston and the nearby beach islands of Seabrook and Kiawah have also donated.

The land trust learned late last week that it has until November 21 to secure the remainder of the money, after the bank granted an extension from the original deadline of Monday.

Hagood said the land trust also hoped to conserve another 17 acres that the bank has optioned to a new developer but has not yet begun raising money for that effort. The trust's planned Angel Oak Preserve would be a forested park and site of educational programs, she said.

"The Angel Oak is emblematic of the history of the Lowcountry," Beach said. "It takes constant, persistent and long-term effort to preserve this landscape."
 SOURCE

Jasmine, a rescued greyhound, cared for more than 50 animals including Bramble, an orphaned roe deer at the Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary.

In 2003, an English policeman discovered a greyhound cowering in a locked shed. The dog was severely malnourished, filthy, and clearly abused.

The policeman took her to the Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, a place founded and run by Geoff Grewcock to care for sick and injured animals. And so an act of fate would change the life of not only a dog and a person, but hundreds of other animals as well.

"When I first met Jasmine, you could tell she had been emotionally devastated but was a gentle dog by nature," Grewcock said. "And soon, she started nurturing the other animals."

Jasmine became famous for playing mother over the years to puppies, foxes, a fawn, 4 badger cubs, 15 chicks, 8 guinea pigs, 15 rabbits, a deer—and one of her favorites, a goose.


"There are certain things only an animal mother can provide, and Jasmine provided it," said Grewcock.

Jasmine passed away in the fall of 2011, an event marked by worldwide donations made in her honor to the sanctuary, which continues to care—if not with Jasmine's personal style—for animals in need.

"Her passing was so sad," said Grewcock. "But she was a legendary animal, and her legacy continues. "
Source

A nice morning massage by senior keeper Steve Klein is decidedly to Voodoo's liking.

Cedar Cove is a non-profit organization devoted to the care and preservation of endangered large cats while educating the public on their behavior, physiology, habitats and the threats & dangers of extinction.

Keepers at Cedar Cove are educated and trained in the care of Large Exotic Felines or "Big Cats.” Our goal is to ensure that all the felines at the facility are maintained in a stress-free environment and are not exploited.

On a daily basis, each and every animal at the park is given one-on-one attention so as to enhance and enrich its life and to make the animal comfortable.(Source)

The jaguar is a near threatened species and its numbers are declining. Threats include loss and fragmentation of habitat. While international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited, the cat is still frequently killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers in South America.


Although reduced, its range remains large; given its historical distribution, the jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of numerous indigenous American cultures, including that of the Maya and Aztec.

Journalist and writer Laura Waterman Wittstock and photographer Dick Bancroft have recorded, written and taken pictures of the American Indian Movement (AIM) for over 40 years.

Their book, We Are Still Here published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, is a testament to that effort.

It includes Wittstock's reflections on covering the native American civil rights movement as a young reporter in Washington, D.C., as well as some of Bancroft's striking and iconic images as the movement struggled for Native independence.

An exhibit of Bancroft's photos opened May 10 at All My Relations Gallery on Franklin Avenue, celebrated by drummers performing the AIM honor song, traditional foods and a gathering of AIM activists, including Clyde Bellecourt and Bill Means. Bellecourt, a member of the White Earth band of Ojibwe, reminded the crowd what it took for them to get to this place.

"Our people were so beaten down," he shouted to the crowd, "We didn't think we could pull ourselves up," he said as he went on to tell people how AIM began as a group of people meeting on the Northside of Minneapolis.


It wasn't just about better living conditions for Native Americans on and off the reservation, but about reviving their culture and demanding the federal government honor its treaties and show native nations the respect they deserved

Photos of the BIA building takeover showed American Indian men and women not as the cowboys and Indians of the John Wayne movie-myth making era, but as anxious and restless souls overturning desks, banging on drums and demanding the ear of federal officials to say that Indians were still here.

Joy is a special-needs Golden Retriever. She was injured as a six-week-old puppy and lost the use of her hind end. Rescued by Retrieve a Golden of Minnesota (RAGOM), she was outfitted with wheelchair and looked after by a loving foster family.

The wheelchair was custom modified with neon pink "noodles" to keep her afloat so she can swim and enjoy the water like every other Golden Retriever.

P.S. Joy did end up finding a wonderful forever home - with her foster family. They decided to keep her and she now enjoys swimming, playing fetch and playing with her sister.(Source)

Retrieve a Golden of Minnesota, Inc. has been rescuing Golden Retrievers since 1985. It all started with one homeless Golden Retriever whose time was up at a shelter. Hank and Jane Nygaard took her in and after getting her spayed and all of her vaccinations they found this lucky Golden a new home.

After the first Golden there always seemed to be another that needed to find a home. That is how RAGOM was started. In the past, the group has existed largely due to the selflessness, generosity, energy and boundless love for Golden Retrievers of Jane Nygaard, Chick Myers, Agnes Rambeck, Ardis Brown and others. Please Visit http://ragom.org

In nature most animals seem to play. If nature is inexorably locked in a battle for the survival of the fittest, where did playing come from? Researchers have been puzzling over this for a long time.

Questions such as,"What exactly does play do for a young animal, or "Does play really do anything to help a young or old animal become a fitter survivor, especially considering the energy and risk that it involves?"

If animals play for enjoyment and not to enhance their survival then researchers still do not have an answer to their evolutionarily-biased question. If indeed animals play just to be silly, then Darwinism is at a loss to explain the behavior's origin. If animals have evolved by purely natural forces, then every creature's behavior and features should be purely pragmatic. In other words,fun does not fit this formula.

The answer is not easily answered, but one thing is for certain - that animals experience playtime with the same amount of enjoyment as do humans.

The video below shows a sheep playing with a dog and both are having a great time chasing each other around. The sheep in particular is joyfully jumping and running in this game of tag.

Dramatic still images of a jaguar ambushing an unwary caiman in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands went viral on the web this month.

National Geographic has exclusive video of the attack that reveals what the pictures only hint at.

With one bite, the big cat likely delivered an immediate blow to the caiman's central nervous system, leaving the animal unable to fight or flee, according to Luke Dollar, a conservation scientist who helps manage National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative.

"This guy knew his business," said Dollar. Suffocating an animal with a bite to the neck is a classic big-cat maneuver, but caimans don’t have a discernable neck. So the jaguar—which has the strongest bite of any cat—went right for the skull.

"This guy got right in the thickest part of the brain case and sunk those teeth in," he said. "And that's pretty amazing when you consider a caiman’s brain is probably the size of a walnut."


Kedar Hippalgaonkar, of Berkeley, California, shot the footage while vacationing in Brazil with his wife, Parul Jain. The couple were hoping to spot some jaguars on an eight-hour boat tour of the Pantanal with ecotourism operator SouthWild.

And did they. The jaguar in the video—known to locals as Mick Jaguar—was the third they’d seen that day. When the jaguar went ashore, Hippalgaonkar said it became obvious that Mick was on the prowl.

"He's just crawling first, and then you can see him sort of in hunt mode," he said.


"You know he’s definitely going for something. Which is why we decided to wait there, before all the other boats came."

His footage reveals a predator picking its way along the riverbank in search of potential prey.

"He makes no noise whatsoever, even when he's swimming," he said.

The tour's boatman, who had logged thousands of hours watching jaguars, told Hippalgaonkar he’d never seen anything to rival Mick Jaguar’s stealthy strike.
Source

Nevada Tribe Venture to Build 1.5 Gigawatts of Renewable Power

The Moapa Band of Paiute Indians have formed a joint venture with Terrible Herbst Inc. and Stronghold Engineering Inc. to build as much as 1.5 gigawatts of renewable-energy projects on its land in Nevada.

The first project will be a 250-megawatt solar farm in which the tribe will maintain majority ownership, said Sandy King, director of renewable-energy project development at closely held Stronghold. Excess electricity from the solar farm and future projects will be sold to utilities throughout the U.S. Southwest. The supplier of the solar modules is still being determined and costs aren’t being disclosed, she said.

“This is going to provide a strong economic base for the tribe,” King said in an interview today. The Moapa reservation, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Las Vegas, spans 70,000 acres and “is more than sufficient to support the 1.5 gigawatts of generation,” she said. The tribe also may replace a coal-fired plant with one that’s fueled by natural gas.

The U.S. last year approved a separate 350-megawatt solar farm, the first utility-scale project on American Indian tribal lands, from which the Moapa will receive lease income. The Moapa tribe organized under a constitution approved by the U.S. in 1942.

Terrible Herbst is a closely held Las Vegas-based company that sells gasoline from more than 100 locations in three western states.
SOURCE

A boxer named Simon who was a guide dog for his visually impaired owner, Dave Furukawa, is being hailed as a hero with one final act after being struck by a car recently in Atlanta, Ga. Furukawa, had counted on Simon as his companion and guide for the last four years.

This past Monday, Furukawa was walking his child Will to school with Simon by their side. As they crossed the street, a car suddenly ran a stop sign at a high rate of speed and struck Simon, then his owner, Dave Furukawa.

Although Simon's injuries would prove to be fatal, what he did next according to witnesses was an act of true loyalty and courage. Just seconds after he was struck by the car, Simon, an 80 pound Boxer, got up and pushed his owner's child to safety. According to Furukawa, "What people have said is that Simon either got up or jumped out, and pushed my son out of the path of the car."

Witnesses then lifted Will, the child and ran him down the street to his mother. Simon, although suffering from a broken leg, a large gash on his side and internal bleeding went with them. One he was sure that Will was ok, only then did Simon lay down. Family members rushed Simon to an emergency vet clinic, but sadly the boxer died on the way.

The family is now mourning the loss of their beloved dog but Dave Furukawa says he will move on with the spirit of Simon. He is eternally grateful that because of Simon, he still has his son. Pilot Dogs, Inc., of Columbus, Ohio, who had originally provided Simon to the family will give Dave Furukawa another guide dog.

Dramatic moment is caught on video by tourist Richard Leonard at the Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa

A holidaymaker in South Africa has captured incredible footage of a female elephant rescuing her calf after it became stuck in the mud by a watering hole.

The footage shows a herd of elephants appearing to come the aid of the stricken youngster as it struggles in deep mud in Addo Elephant Park, South Africa.

However, it is mother to the rescue as the mud eventually proves no match for her powerful trunk.

The video was filmed by Richard Leonard earlier this month while on a family holiday.

He said: "It was my first game drive of the trip and it was a wildlife encounter of a lifetime. I was so relieved to see the little one safe and sound. What an experience, what a day!"(Source)

Thousands are in Naperville this weekend to celebrate Native American culture during the annual Harvest Pow Wow at Naper Settlement.

The event is sponsored by the Midwest Soarring Foundation. Special Events Coordinator for the Soarring Foundation Janet Sevilla said she hopes this year will set a record attendance number.

“We have a large number of attractions, native food vendors, children’s games and crafts and performances that we think will appeal to families throughout the weekend,” Sevilla said. “The whole purpose of the pow wow is to educate the public about this part of American culture and share it.”

Many of the attractions from previous years were featured once again including an arrowhead making demonstration, Native American drumming and dancing, and the popular dog sledding demonstration. Sevilla said a highlight this year was the appearance by two-time Grammy Award winner Robert Mirabal, a flautist and also a novel writer, who performed Saturday at 5 p.m.

A special VIP reception for Mirabal was held earlier Saturday afternoon.


Joseph Standing Bear, founder and president of the Midwest Soarring Foundation, seemed pleased with the turnout Saturday afternoon as well as the mild sunshine and slightly cool temperatures.

“The weather is perfect for dancing,” he said with a smile. “The ‘Hoop Dance’ team performed very well today, and it’s great for people to come out and show their talents.”

He also spoke about the “spiritual” state of his people and proclaimed they were ‘healing.”
Source

Dolphins are known to share the ocean waves with humans but it is extremely rare for them to breach the surface and even rarer for the moment to be captured on film. However when surfer Trent Sherbourne zipped up his wetsuit, grabbed his board and headed down to the secluded beach that was the last thing that he thought would be happening to him.

So he was quite surprised when he found himself sharing the surf with a pod of dolphins who had jumped out of the water next to him. In fact a lone dolphin leaped from the wave just in front of Trent. Trent who was a local surfer was completely upstaged by the dolphin racing him down the wave, before losing out to him. Amazingly this was all caught on camera by an amateur photographer, Matt Hutton.

Matt was travelling from Perth to his home in Wickham, Western Australia, in order to add pictures to his portfolio when he decided to stop in the small town of Kalbarri. He had asked locals for some good spots to go and take pictures of surfers but was advised that dolphin sightings were rare. Luckily for Matt, he had bought along a specialist lens and was determined to get some good shots.

According to Matt, 'One photographer said that he had been there hundreds of times but only seen dolphins on a few occasions. I was getting some great photos of Trent Sherborne surfing this awesome wave, when a pod of dolphins decided to join him. On the first occasion I captured two dolphins sharing a wave with him and a few separate photos of just the dolphins by themselves.'


Then in the next second he captured an incredibly rare moment when a dolphin breached the surface while sharing a wave with Trent the surfer. These intelligent animals are known to swim with humans, but surfing with them is rare, and even then they stay underwater most of the time.


Matt added: 'It really is a very rare shot and I was so lucky to have been at the right place and right time and in regards to the dolphin and the surfer, Trent said he knew it was him in the photo as it's not everyday you get to eyeball a Dolphin, so it was pretty close!'

Unbelievable moment a golden eagle is pictured swooping on a Deer and trying to fly off with it in its talons 'in first ever photographed case of its kind'

Imagine wandering out to check your camera in the remote Far East of Russia, and finding the hide and skeleton of a sika deer, picked clean by something. In a region stalked by tigers and bears, the death of a deer would at first seem not unusual. But this deer has no tiger prints, nor bear prints, not a trace of any predator to explain the what appears to be sudden death.

This mystery could only be solved because the entire event was captured by the camera trap set up to monitor tigers and leopards by biologist Dr. Linda Kerley and wildlife vet Dr. Misha Goncharuk.

From the Wildlife Conservation Society press release:

"I saw the deer carcass first as I approached the trap on a routine check to switch out memory cards and change batteries, but something felt wrong about it. There were no large carnivore tracks in the snow, and it looked like the deer had been running and then just stopped and died." said lead author Dr. Linda Kerley of ZSL, who runs the camera trap project. "It was only after we got back to camp that I checked the images from the camera and pieced everything together. I couldn't believe what I was seeing."


Co-author Dr. Jonathan Slaght of WCS noted that golden eagles have a long history of eyebrow-raising predation attempts. “The scientific literature is full of references to golden eagle attacks on different animals from around the world, from things as small as rabbits—their regular prey—to coyote and deer, and even one record in 2004 of an eagle taking a brown bear cub.”


The eagle does not succeed to lift off with the 6-7 month old deer, weighing approximately 40-50 kg. But the tracks in the snow tell the further story of what transpired off camera: the deer collapsed about 7 meters away and died from the wounds it received in the attack. The camera subsequently caught images of a cinereous vulture, 2.3 hours after the attack, joined by more vultures, at least one large-billed crow, and a red fox over the next 10 hours, as nature made the most out of one deer's tragic end.
SOURCE

Meet Ratatouille...not only a snowboarding opossum but the world's greatest snowboarding opossum!

Ratatouille is the second opossum to become an unlikely internet star. The first was a video of Heidi, the cross-eyed opossum from Leipzig, Germany that amassed hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube in January last year.

Ratatouille skyrocketed to fame after employees at Liberty Ski Resort in Emmitsburg, Maryland uploaded a video of the snowboarding opossum showcasing his unusual talent. Ratatouille, has been described as ‘the world’s greatest snowboarding opossum’. In the one - minute video he wears a green striped jumper which has already attracted a large following.

He can be seen speeding past other skiers, while occasionally pausing to pose by his snowboard. Spectators take pictures and videos of Ratatouille as he hits the slopes. He flaunts his 2011 to 2012 ski pass, which is registered under the name Ratatouille Bowers.

The video of Ratatouille the snowboarding opossum has become an internet sensation with almost 5,000 hits on YouTube in just one day. Internet users reacted with delight at the hilarious opossum. One person even posted, ‘That guy’s a better snowboarder than my girlfriend.’

Diane Humetewa, a member of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona, is winning praise as the first Native American woman to be nominated for a federal judgeship.

Humetewa has dedicated her career to the law and Indian issues. After working in Washington, D.C., for the Department of Justice and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, she served as U.S. Attorney for Arizona during the second half of the Bush administration and was the first Native woman in such a position.

"Ms. Humetewa’s stellar career, including her position as a federal prosecutor, will serve her well as the first female Native American ever appointed to the federal judiciary and the only American Indian in the federal judiciary,” Mary Smith, the president of the National Native American Bar Association, said in a press release.

Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn, the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said Humetewa's nomination was "historic." "She is tough, but compassionate, and I know that she can gracefully handle the stress of being the first Native American woman to travel this path," he told Indian Country Today.

Humetewa's former boss, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), also welcomed the news. She was nominated to fill one of six vacancies on the federal bench in Arizona.


“The nominees to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Arizona have demonstrated devotion to public service and commitment to justice, and I believe they are uniquely qualified to address the legal issues facing our state," McCain said in a press release.

As part of the nomination process, Humetewa faces a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. If she is approved there, she would be sent to the Senate for final consideration.

Obama's judicial nominees have faced numerous delays on Capitol Hill. But if lawmakers act quickly, as McCain urged in his press release, Humetewa could join the federal court by the end of the year.
(Source)

When Eldad Hagar from Los Angeles-based Hope for Paws came across Cadence in a dark alley, she was covered with bloody wounds.

Because of the extent of her injuries and their various stages of healing, veterinarians believed the pit bull had been used as a dogfighting bait dog.

They cleaned and stitched her up, and within 24 hours the resilient cutie was kissing volunteers.

Watch this uplifting video of Cadence's recovery, a transformation which could be seen as a testament to the power of kindness and second chances.

Cadence is now waiting for someone to adopt her and take her to her forever home.

Cadence now seems pretty comfortable with the viral attention. Her story led to a personal appearance Sunday, according to Hope for Paws' Facebook page.

The video shows Cadence’s rescue and her transformation from an injured bait dog to a healed and happy girl. (Source)

What is today's young Native American's life like? What are the challenges they are facing? How the historical traumas influenced their life?

This short documentary touches on these topics and tells the story of the three unique young Native Americans from Minnesota.

Did You Know?

There are an estimated 4.4 million Native Americans, including those of more than one race. They make up 1.5% of the total American population. (US Census Bureau)

There are about 150 Native American languages in the United States and Canada. About 381,000 people speak a native language at home.(US Census Bureau)

About one-third of Native Americans live on reservations. The rest live in cities and town across the United States.(US Diplomatic mission to Germany)

There are more than 550 federally recognized tribes in the United States, including 223 village groups in Alaska. (Bureau of Indian Affairs) (Source)

This adorable group of butternut golden retriever puppies are ready for their first swim. They’re all eager to get into the water, and while a few are hesitant to jump in, eventually, they all end up taking a dip!

Interesting Facts About the Golden Retriever

*Golden retrievers originated in Scotland in the 19th century. They were originally bred to be friendly towards humans, which makes them such an ideal pet.

*Golden retrievers need a lot of attention of else they will actually get sad and lonely. The are very social dogs and need interaction with people or other dogs frequently.

*Golden retrievers have an instinctive partialness to being in the water. If there is water around, they will want to be in it. This makes bath time for a golden retriever easier than most dogs, but also allows for them to get dirty and wet more often.

*A golden retrievers life expectancy is 12-14 years, but there has been reports of them living for up to 16 years.


*A golden retrievers coat can be short or long and range in color from a pale cream color to a darker redish gold color. Also, long coats can be straight or wavy in texture.

*Golden retriever puppies have a lighter coat than adult dogs. Their coat will darken as they get older.

*A golden retrievers mouth is soft, which makes it easier to retrieve items in it's mouth. This is what contributes them to being a good hunting dog and good fetcher. (Source)

The Homeland is still home. The place "where the old ones walked" includes almost 5,000,000 acres of what is now north Idaho, eastern Washington and western Montana.

The "old ones" were extremely wealthy from an Indian perspective, with everything they needed close at hand. Unlike the tribes of the plains, the Coeur d'Alenes and their neighbors, the Spokanes, the Kootenai, the Kalispel, the bands of the Colville Confederated Tribes and the Kootenai-Salish, or Flatheads, were not nomadic.

Coeur d'Alene Indian villages were established along the Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe, Clark Fork and Spokane Rivers.

The homeland included numerous and permanent sites on the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene, Lake Pend Orielle and Hayden Lake.

These tribes traded among themselves and with scores of tribes far away on the Pacific coast. Ancient trade routes connected the Coeur d'Alenes with the Nez Perce, the Shoshones and the Bannocks to the south and southeast. To the east were the tribes of the Great Plains and the vast herds of buffalo.


With the coming of horses, young Coeur d'Alene men journeyed east to hunt buffalo.

All ancient tribal trade routes and paths remain today. In fact, those very same routes are still used all across the country. Today, however, we call those tribal routes "Interstate highways."(SOURCE)

Princess Tiger Lily, a possum, owes her life to a quick-thinking human. Her mother was struck and killed by a car, but luckily the driver thought to check if the mother had any young ones. Now Princess Tiger Lily is alive and well

There are more than 60 different species of opossum, which are often called possums. The most notable is the Virginia opossum or common opossum—the only marsupial (pouched mammal) found in the United States and Canada.

A female opossum gives birth to helpless young as tiny as honeybees. Babies immediately crawl into the mother's pouch, where they continue to develop. As they get larger, they will go in and out of the pouch and sometimes ride on the mother's back as she hunts for food. Opossums may give birth to as many as 20 babies in a litter, but fewer than half of them survive. Some never even make it as far as the pouch.

Opossums are scavengers, and they often visit human homes or settlements to raid garbage cans, dumpsters, and other containers. They are attracted to carrion and can often be spotted near roadkill. Opossums also eat grass, nuts, and fruit. They will hunt mice, birds, insects, worms, snakes, and even chickens.

These animals are most famous for "playing possum." When threatened by dogs, foxes, or bobcats, opossums sometimes flop onto their sides and lie on the ground with their eyes closed or staring fixedly into space. They extend their tongues and generally appear to be dead. This ploy may put a predator off its guard and allow the opossum an opportunity to make its escape. (Source)

Chief Seattle responds to the US President

 In 1855 President Franklin Pierce of the United States made a “request” to Chief Seathl of the Suwamish tribe of Indians (who lived in what is now the State of Washington) to “sell” his land to the government. In reply, Chief Seathl sent the following letter to the President:

The great chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. The great chief also sends us words of friendship and goodwill. This is kind of him, since we know that he has little need of our friendship in return. But we will consider your offer, for we know that if we do not do so, the white man may come with guns and take our land.

How can you buy or sell the sky—the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.

If I decide to accept, I will make one condition. The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. What is man without beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of the spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to man.


One thing we know which the white man may one day discover: Our God is the same God. You may think that you own Him as you wish to own our land. But you cannot. He is the God of men. And His compassion is equal for the red man and the white. This earth is precious to Him. And to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites, too, shall pass—perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. When the buffaloes are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the sacred corner of the forest heavy with the scent of men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wives, where is the thicket ? Where is the eagle? And what is it to say goodbye to the shift and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of dying.

There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the leaves of spring or the rustle of insect wings. But perhaps because I am a savage and do not understand—the clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of the whippoorwill or the argument of the frogs around a pond at night? The Red Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind itself cleansed by the midday rain, or scented with a pine. The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath—the beasts, the trees, the man. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the smell.


We might understand if we know what the white man dreams, what hopes he describes to his children on long winter nights, what visions he burns into their minds, so that they will wish for tomorrow. But we are savages. The white man’s dreams are hidden from us.

And because they are hidden, we will go on our own way. If we agree, it will be to secure our reservation you have promised. There perhaps we may live out our brief days as we wish. When the last red man has vanished from the earth, and the memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, these shores and forests will still hold the spirits of my people, for they love this earth as the newborn loves its mother’s heartbeat. If we sell you our land, love it as we loved it, care for it as we have cared for it, hold in your mind the memory of the land, as it is when you take it, and with all your strength, with all your might, and with all your heart, preserve it for your children, and love it as God loves us all. One thing we know—your God is the same God. The earth is precious to Him. Even the white man cannot be exempt from the common destiny.

(Letter released by the United States Government as part of the Bicentenary celebrations). 

Cape Town residents have to watch out for bandits that are savage, quick and furry.

One grocery shopper in the South African city learned that firsthand when a baboon ambushed the woman as she was leaving a farmers market.

The thieving baboon pounced on the shopper, who had her hands full, and quickly grabbed at the goods, before making off with some vegetables. Photos of the heist were captured by French photographer Cyril Ruoso.

However, it appears, the shopper was not too upset by the daylight robbery; she's seen smiling in one of the photos as the baboon sniffs at its plunder.

Baboons are a common sighting throughout South Africa, where they often live alongside humans. However, experts have warned that the primates are getting out of control, raiding homes and restaurants for food. A YouTube video posted earlier this year shows just that as baboons invade a home in South Africa's Western Cape and ransack the place.

Authorities in the area have worked to deter baboons from entering urban areas, only putting the animals down in the most extreme cases, South Africa's Independent Online reports. (Source)

After months of intense treatment, a Bald Eagle in the care of the Audubon Society of Portland has made a full recovery from severe lead poisoning. He was released back into the wild Sept. 20 on the bank of the Columbia River near Longview, Wash.

The eagle was originally scheduled for release Aug. 23, but the day beforehand sustained a soft-tissue injury while flying in Portland Audubon’s off-site flight cage. When it became clear this week that the eagle’s injury had healed, Portland Audubon veterinarian Deb Sheaffer scheduled an immediate release.

“It was in the eagle’s best interest to release him as quickly as possible,” said Sheaffer. “He was in excellent health and had once again met all of the standards we set for birds going back into the wild.”

While recovering from his injury, the eagle spent time on the ground and ended up damaging his tail feathers. To get him ready for release, members of Audubon’s animal rehabilitation staff used a method called imping to replace the damaged feathers with healthy ones molted by another eagle.

Found in May near Longview, Wash., the adult eagle likely became poisoned after eating the remains of an animal shot with lead ammunition, ingesting fragments of ammunition along with the carcass. Veterinarians credit a state-of-the-art lead-testing machine provided by the Oregon Zoo for quickly diagnosing and treating the poisoned raptor. In addition to having high levels of lead in its blood, an X-ray revealed metal in the bird's stomach.


“It’s always exciting to release rehabilitated wildlife, but particularly so in this case,” said Sheaffer. “The eagle was just so sick when it arrived at our door, and staff and volunteers have put many hundreds of hours into caring for the bird – it’s very rewarding to see him head back into the wild.”
SOURCE

Video by Veronica Rose and Aaron Nelson.

Washington D.C. now has it's first rehabilitation center dedicated to it's wildlife called City Wildlife. According to Anne Lewis the president of it, "In fact the District has "hundreds of species. "Most people don't realize the sheer diversity of wildlife."

She is of course referring to the fact that D.C. has coyotes, foxes, raptors (birds of prey) and even an endangered, eyeless, colorless shrimp-like crustacean with an 8-year lifespan that isn't known to live anywhere else on earth.

The center, which opened in July of this year, can care for about 1,200 animals per year. So far it has treated about 140 animals, which includes an osprey that was hit by a truck, a turtle found in an abandoned apartment, a lot of pigeons and songbirds (one bird mother has even taken to feeding a couple of orphaned babies from a different species), several opossum and a baby hummingbird that was brought in after being attacked by a cat.

Anne Lewis -- who is unpaid, runs City Wildlife with three staff members, veterinarian Erica Eads as well as Hehmeyer and DeMay, says that caring for hurt or orphaned pigeons and squirrels until they can be released back into nature may seem small potatoes to some. But she goes on to say that, "90 percent of what we're doing is to nurture a humane response in people. People are so relieved to have somewhere to bring animals."

The center is currently funded privately, though funding from the District government is also expected. They take in almost any injured creature found in the District, except for deer and "rabies vector species" like raccoons, skunks, bats, foxes or coyotes.


It's a "dream job," says clinic director Alicia DeMay, getting to "sit around and feed baby squirrels." Meanwhile, everyone's hoping for happy endings, which means being released back in the wild, for all those in the care of City Wildlife.

Hibernation physiology, freezing adaptation and extreme freeze tolerance in a northern population of the wood frog

Rana sylvatica is a species of wood frog whose special abilities boggle the mind. A study recently published in The Journal of Experimental Biology explains how they manage to be frozen, but not to death.

National Geographic reports, "The tiny amphibians can survive for weeks with an incredible two-thirds of their body water completely frozen—to the point where they are essentially solid frogsicles.

Even more incredible is the fact that the wood frogs stop breathing and their hearts stop beating entirely for days to weeks at a time. In fact, during its period of frozen winter hibernation, the frogs’ physical processes—from metabolic activity to waste production—grind to a near halt. What’s more, the frogs are likely to endure multiple freeze/thaw episodes over the course of a winter."

The frogs have cryoprotectants, or solutes in their blood that dramatically lower their freezing temperature. It protects the body's cells and limits the amount of ice that can form in the body.

By having a higher concentration of these cryoprotectants in its blood, this species of wood frog can survive being frozen even multiple times in a single winter. (Source)