New Type of Pet

Encountered a pet that I had never seen before at Petco. Can you guess what they are? Hint: They are very quick (my first 4 pictures were blurry) and very curious and very friendly. They like to snack from their hay bag.

These "Skinny pigs" (marketing name) are mostly hairless guinea pigs. Their unique appearance is the result of a spontaneous genetic mutation among a group of lab guinea pigs.
The herd that I saw at Petco seemed to be so much livelier and people oriented than the more familiar guinea pigs with hair housed beside them. Don't know if this is a trait of the skinny pigs or just of this particular group but they were darn cute.

Valois Black Nose Sheep "harassing" hikers in Alps

I had never heard of this breed of sheep before so I looked them up. They don't have your normal sheep personality. Here is a video of them "harassing" hikers in the Alps with their cuteness. As one hiker says, "I think they are not dangerous, they are just following." Somebody needs to adopt some of these critters.

Strandbeest--wind eating beasts on the beach

This is awesome!!! And think about how it would make a wonderful bombproofing exercise for horses.

Socatra Isle of Dragonblood Trees

Here's another destination on my bucket list--Socotra, Island of the Dragonblood Trees, in the Arabian Sea. One third of the plant and animal life is unique to this island which results in some of the most fantastical scenery on earth. Beaches are amazing. Interior tours are done by camel or jeep.

Can Dogs Tell Time Through Scent

Here's a fascinating video investigating if dogs have a sense of time through the fading scent of their owners. In other words, does a dog expect her owner home at 4:40 pm each day because the owner's scent fades out to a certain degree each day.

Amazing Spiders

Who knew about all the marvelous adaptations of spiders--from cartwheeling spider to silkhenge spider to netcasting-ogre-faced spider to the mirror spider to urticating hair flicking spiders to the camel spider which will chase you to stand in your shade. And so many of these spiders have only recently been discovered. Guys be sure and check out any bunches of bananas that you buy because of the Brazilian Wandering Spider.

Female Elk Learn to Avoid Hunters

I am always fascinated by articles on how animals learn. Researchers have found that female elk develop more successful hunter avoidance strategies as they age. After age 10, the females are almost invulnerable. Bulls rarely make it past 5, whereas cows can live up to age 20.

"A team of scientists wanted to know: What makes senior cows so survival-savvy? Is it because these elk are more cautious by nature, which made them better at evading hunters all along? Or is it nurture, and cows can learn to dodge hunters over their lifetime, even if they start out more daring? It seems both factors are at play,..."

One observed strategy is that they will take to rough terrain when pursued by bow hunters. One researcher suspects that male elk could learn also but the males tend to be more heavily targeted by hunters both for trophy reasons and hunting regulations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/science/female-elk-hunters.html?module=WatchingPortal&region=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=5&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F06%2F15%2Fscience%2Ffemale-elk-hunters.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0

Barn Swallow

This summer I found a dead bird in Blessi's runout shed. It was such a pretty bird, dark blue with an orange chest and built for speed. I had to look it up--a barn swallow. When I scooped it up for burial, Blessi was all kind of interested as to why Mr. Barn Swallow was not moving.

Did you know that barn swallows are usually monogamous during the breeding season but can practice polygyny? Perhaps Mr. Barn Swallow wore himself out taking care of multiple wives. Barn swallows nest and raise their young across the US in May through September and then migrate to Central and South America for the winter. Per the Bird Web site, "The killing of Barn Swallows for their feathers was one of the issues that led to the founding of the Audubon Society and the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Hedgehog Day

In 2017, Fufu the Hedgehog at the Portland Zoo predicted an early spring for the Pacific Northwest. As the zookeeper informs us, the hedgehogs have a 50% success rate at predicting the onset of spring. Punxsutawney Phil the Ground Hog predicted a late spring this year, but his success rate is only 39%. So which hog are you going to hedge your bets with?

The Eyes in the Trees

Here's a photo that I took at the Bloedel Reserve, in the Seattle area .  Here's my lesson learned. I would have never observed this remarkably weird, eerie pattern found in the bark of a birch tree by myself. It was only by listening to a friend that I was able to see beyond my narrow focus.

What do you see?  To me.  these look like the weirwood in Game of Thrones.

Geologists Can Rap

Who knew geologists can rap?  I love the hammer drop at the end.

Life is Like Photographing Dragonflies

I have decided that life is like trying to photograph dragonflies. You just need to take the chance and point the camera---the dragonflies will fly into the frame. Of course if you learn about f-stops, apertures, and shutter speed, your photographs of the dragonflies may be sharper.

Harvey the Hawk Finds a Taxi During Huricane Irma

Among all the stress and suffering due to the hurricane in Texas, here is a great story of neighborly behavior. Houston resident William Bruso was startled when a Coopers hawk flew into his taxi and decided to stay despite Bruso trying to shoo the bird away. Bruso drove the hawk to his house but the seemingly healthy hawk refused to leave the car. Bruso eventually picked up the hawk, nicknamed Harvey the Hurricane Hawk, and took it inside his apartment. Harvey spent the rest of the storm watching TV and eating chicken hearts with the guys who were having a beer or so.

Here's a link to a video of Harvey eating a chicken heart snack in front of the liquor cabinet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFkEfAm2Bo0

The next day, the Texas Wildlife Rehab Coalition picked up the bird for evaluation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/harvey-the-hurricane-hawk_us_59a2cd21e4b06d67e33833a9?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

Bruso posted a series of videos of Harvey through the storm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBC9xP65ztQ

Bald Eagles Adopt Baby Hawk

Here's a fascinating experiment happening in the wild in B.C. A bald eagle evidently took a red-tailed hawk chick back to its nest as food for its chicks. One in the nest, Spunky the baby hawk insisted on being fed exhibiting behavior that stimulated the eagle parents into feeding him. Observers have been afraid that Spunky was not going to survive his new family, especially considering the size difference. But, weeks later, the hawk and his foster siblings are almost ready to leave the nest. Interestingly Spunky is exhibiting both observed eagle behavior from his foster parents such as stealing fish but also what must be innate hawk behavior such as pouncing on objects on the ground. The first video is of baby Spunky in the nest. I'll post the most recent video in the comments section.

This article gives more background info.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/…/red-tailed-hawk-adopt…/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDdnS_SuZRg