Dog washed out to sea has lucky escape!

Pulled from yahoo news

WARSAW (Reuters) – A dog had a lucky escape when a Polish boat rescued him from an ice floe that had carried him more than 100 miles up a river and out onto the icy waters of the Baltic Sea.

“My crew saw… a shape moving on the water and we immediately decided to get closer to check if it was a dog or maybe a seal relaxing on the ice,” Jan Joachim, senior officer aboard the Baltica, told Reuters Television.

“As we got closer to the ice floe we saw that it was a dog struggling not to fall into the water.”

Ship engineer Adam Buczynski managed to scoop the dog off the floe onto an inflatable dinghy and wrapped him in a blanket.

“He didn’t even squeal. There was just fear in his big eyes,” said Buczynski.

The dog was first seen on the ice floe some 100 km (70 miles) inland to the south on the Vistula river but firemen were unable to rescue him. When the Baltica crew found him, he had already drifted some 24 km (18 miles) out to sea.

“We were in the right place at the right time,” said Joachim, noting that they rescued him shortly before night fall.

The crew are now trying to locate the dog’s owner.

Poland is in the grip of bitterly cold weather, with night temperatures in some areas falling as low as -34 Celsius (-31 Fahrenheit).

DOG FACTS

Dogs are pack animals by nature and enjoy companionship.

A dog can hear sounds from 250 yards away.

Dogs are direct descendants of wolves.

The Basenji is the only barkless dog in the world.

There are 701 dog breeds.

HORSE FACTS

a stallion is a male horse
a mare is a female horse
a foal is a baby horse
a filly is a young female horse
a colt is a young male horse
a yearling is a foal after its first birthday
a sire is the word used for the father of a horse
a dam is the word used for the mother of a horse
a pony is not a baby horse. It is a fully grown small horse
a horse’s height is measured in hands. One hand = 4″

DOLPHIN FACTS

Unlike any other mammal, dolphin babies are born tail first.

A dolphin’s dorsal fin is as distinctive as a person’s face.

Some dolphin species can swim up to 25 miles an hour for long periods, more than three times faster than the best human swimmers.

Some dolphins can hold their breath for as long as 30 minutes, while others have to breathe every 20 seconds.

The largest member of the dolphin family is the Orca, which can grow to 30 feet long.

SEA TURTLE FACTS

There are 7 species of sea turtles:
Green
Loggerhead
Kemp’s Ridley
Olive Ridley
Hawksvill
Flatback
Leatherback

A sea turtle cannot retract its limbs, head or neck under its shell like a land turtle. The shell adaptations necessary for retractile limbs would impede rapid swimming.

Sea turtles can live up to 80 years.

During the first year after hatching, many species of sea turtles are rarely seen. This first year is known as the “lost year”.

Green sea turtles can stay under water for as long as five hours.

WHALE FACTS

There are 2 types of whales: baleen and toothed. “Toothed” whales include dolphins and porpoises.

There are 11 species of baleen whales:
Blue Whale
Gray Whale
Bowhead Whale
Fin Whale
Humpback Whale
Minke Whale
Narwhal Whale
Pilot Whale
Right Whale
Sperm Whale
Beluga Whale

Some whales have a lifespan similar to humans. The blue and the fin whales can reach up to 85 years old.

Blue whales are the largest creatures on earth and can be as long a 2 buses. They can produce sounds louder than a jet engine and communicate with other whales up to 1000 miles away.

GIRAFFE FACTS

For a long time people called the giraffe a “camel-leopard,” because they believed that it was a combination of a camel and a leopard.

Giraffes only sleep for a few minutes at a time, usually no more than 20 minutes.

A giraffe is able to clean its ears with its own tongue.

Giraffes can go without water longer than camels can.

Newborn giraffe calves begin their lives by falling 6 feet to the ground

TIGER FACTS

Most tigers have more than 100 stripes, and no two tigers have identical stripes.

A tiger’s roar can be heard up to a mile away.

Tigers walk on their toes.

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

Tigers are largely solitary cats and are most active between dusk and dawn.

PENGUIN FACTS

There are no penguins at the North Pole.

All 17 varieties of the bird are found in nature only below the equator, primarily in the Antarctic.

Penguins in the Antarctic move quickly on the ice by tobogganing on their bellies.

Rare New Year’s Eve ‘blue moon’ to ring in 2010

Pulled from Yahoo news and written by ALICIA CHANG

LOS ANGELES – Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year’s Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don’t expect it to be blue — the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.

A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year’s countdown.

“If you’re in Times Square, you’ll see the full moon right above you. It’s going to be that brilliant,” said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.

The New Year’s Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year’s Day, making January a blue moon month for them.

However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse on New Year’s Eve when part of the moon enters the Earth’s shadow. The eclipse will not be visible in the Americas.

A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month — a blue moon — occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year’s Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won’t come again until 2028.

Blue moons have no astronomical significance, said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

“`Blue moon’ is just a name in the same sense as a `hunter’s moon’ or a `harvest moon,’” Laughlin said in an e-mail.

The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer’s Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.

Though Sky & Telescope corrected the error decades later, the definition caught on. For purists, however, this New Year’s Eve full moon doesn’t even qualify as a blue moon. It’s just the first full moon of the winter season.

In a tongue-in-cheek essay posted on the magazine’s Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: “If skies are clear when I’m out celebrating, I’ll take a peek at that brilliant orb as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it’s an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I’ll just howl.”

Pulled from Yahoo news and written by Sue Manning

Pop culture main reason Calif has Chihuahua crisis!

LOS ANGELES – California has more Chihuahuas than it can handle, and it has Hollywood to blame.

There are so many Chihuahuas at shelters in Oakland, they have started shipping the dogs out of state, said Megan Webb, director of Oakland Animal Services. They have sent about 100 to Washington, Oregon and Arizona, she said, “and as soon as they get them, they are ready for new ones.”

Chihuahuas make up 30 percent or more of the dog populations at many California shelters. And experts say pop culture is to blame, with fans immitating Chihuahua-toting celebrities like Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus, then abandoning the dogs.

The problem appears to be specific to California — shelters elsewhere would love to share the wealth, said Gail Buchwald, senior vice president overseeing the ASPCA adoption center in New York City.

“We never have enough supply for the huge consumer demand for small dogs,” she said.

One of Webb’s biggest problems is a lack of money to fly the dogs to other states. Buchwald said she would be happy to help.

“Nothing is outside the realm of possibility here. We have a supply-demand isssue,” she said.

Chihuahuas are the most popular breed of dog in Los Angeles, so it makes sense it is the most abandoned breed, said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. In Oakland, some days, they get 10 of the 5-pound dogs a day, Webb said.

The problem is so bad that shelters all over California that were built for big dogs had to remodel to accommodate the little guys.

Among the reasons for the glut is the breed’s popularity in movies like “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” and as celebrity pets, said Dave Frangipane, senior coordinator for Chihuahua Rescue of Beverly Hills. A cute puppy can grow up to have adult health problems or become protective and aggressive.

There are less glamorous reasons, too, like the high vet bills Chihuahuas can bring. And the biggest spikes in California Chihuahua populations are probably due to puppy mills and backyard breeders, Buchwald and Frangipane said.

Chihuahas are cute, but vulnerable, Frangipane said. “People think nothing of kicking a small, yappy dog. And they can be abused by people of all sizes. A toddler can snap a Chihuahua’s leg in a second,” he said.

pulled from AOL news and written by Michael Crumb

Swine Flu Confirmed in Pet Cat

DES MOINES, Iowa (Nov. 4) — A 13-year-old Iowa cat has been infected with swine flu, veterinary and federal officials said Wednesday in what is believed to be the first case of the H1N1 virus in a feline in the United States.

The domestic shorthaired cat was treated last week at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames and has recovered, officials said. The virus also has been confirmed in two ferrets — one in Oregon and the other in Nebraska — but they died.

“We’ve known certainly it’s possible this could happen,” said Centers for Disease Control spokesman Tom Skinner. “This may be the first instance where we have documentation that transmission occurred involving cats or dogs.”

Waiting For Rocky

The past week’s temperature had been in the 40s. Finally, yesterday was warmer and the sun was shinning. It has been a long time since I have gotten on Lady and I thought that since the day was gorgeous I would go up there before I fed and ride a little.

I have to keep my tack at my mom’s house because my house is too small for all of it. So I stopped by to gather my things, say hello to the pony, and head on over to the field where Lady is. I pull into the drive and noticed that Malin was there with her trailer. She is the woman who is helping me tremendously with Lady and she was the one who set us up three years ago. She told me that she was getting her horse Rocky to bring him to her house for a little bit because the dentist was there for him.

Rocky walked onto the trailer like a gem. The girls on the other hand where screaming. They didn’t know what was going on and why Rocky was leaving. I told Malin that I was going to ride but I knew in the back of my mind that it wasn’t going to happen now that Rocky was leaving. I knew that Lady was not going to behave and the fact that I haven’t ridden her in a long time; it wasn’t going to be a good mix.

Malin gets the trailer all set and ready to go and drives out onto the road. Summer, the other mare in the field with Lady was screaming her head off like it was the end of the world. Lady on the other hand was just standing there watching and listening to the truck. She knew where it was and watched it pass in the distance, she so very smart.

Once Lady could no longer see or hear the truck she flipped which got Summer going too. They ran and ran, bucking and kicking and farting and making a racket. It was fun to watch and it lasted for quite some time but once they calmed down I got Lady’s halter and lead and tied her up to the fence post.

I got her all clean and shinny and looking like new. She’s so beautiful. Her winter coat has come in which has made her super soft. Once she was clean I just stood there with her and we hugged. I was waiting for Malin to come back with Rocky so that I could feed him and while I was waiting Lady and I were bonding.

We stood there for quite some time just cuddling and she started to dose off on my shoulder. I was just petting her softness and telling her that I love her and she’s a good girl. After a while there was a dog in the upper field that ran over and the girls and to go investigate. During this time I thought that it would be a good idea to get Lady’s dinner and get her blanket on for the night since I knew that the temperature was going to drop again.

The grain was in Lady’s bucket and Summer was doing her normal routine of trying to steal it. I had to get Lady’s blanket on and I knew Summer was going to push Lady away from her grain so I got a handful of the tasty stuff and put it in a separate bucket for Summer just to keep her occupied for a moment. I always talk to Lady when I go to put her blanket on because she likes to have an attitude but the most that she does is pin her ears back. But to my surprise she goes to kick me. I was leaning on her hip to get the blanket up and around her back and she kicked. Luckily it was only her hip that got me but I was so mad! This was the first time she has ever even tried to kick me in the three years that I have had her. I ran after her and yelled and screamed at her letting her know that kicking is not acceptable. I told her to go eat and to stop the nonsense. Once she was eating I again put the blanket on her. She tried to have attitude but I made her snap out of it.

Once that whole ordeal was over I was still waiting for Rocky to come back. The girls went up to the round bail at the top of the field and I got Rocky’s grain ready for him for when he arrived. I checked the water and filled it but still no Rocky. I then went up to sit with the girls and finally after another hour Rocky showed up.

Malin and I fed him and she told me how well he did. It was dark out by this time and I was a little tired. Luckily it wasn’t cold yet. Rocky is a great boy. I put him back in the field, locked up the gait and went on home. Maybe today will be a better day for riding.

Feeding Time

Now that Lady is at her new place I have to go feed her and the other horse there named Rocky at night. I like to get there around 6pm but now that it is getting darker earlier I think I have to start getting up there a little sooner.

It’s not just Lady and Rocky in the field, there is another horse there named Summer. She is a trotter and is, well let’s just say she doesn’t need any cookies, she is a little big for her size but she is a darling. All three of the horses there are bay in color. It is funny when you drive by; you have to really look to figure out who is who. I can usually spot Lady right off since she is the smallest at only 15.2 hands. Summer is that size but again, she is much more round in the belly. Rocky is taller and pushing 16 hands.

Due to the fact that Miss Summer is bigger and she could use a diet she doesn’t get any grain. I only have to feed Lady and Rocky. It is sometimes quite difficult with Summer being around. She is always trying to get at Lady and Rocky’s grain and I end up having to chase her away the whole time which is not something is enjoy doing.

I was talking to Summer’s mom about how I always end up chasing Summer away the whole time while I am there and she suggested either tying her up to the fence or just hopping on her back and riding her around the field while the others are eating. I thought to myself “ahh yeah, I’m gonna ride her.” Her mom said to just grab a halter and two lead ropes and jump on. I was a little skeptical at first but I had a good feeling about it. I got the halter and lead ropes and brought Summer over to a stump that was just the right size for getting on her. She was so good for me. She stood right next to the stump and waited for me to hop on.

Once I was on I was still a little nervous because I new Summer wanted to be with the others who were eating, she always tries to steel their grain, she is sneaky. But I made her stand there while I gathered myself up and then I gave her the smallest of smallest squeezes and we walked on. I knew that if I gave her any more of a squeeze or a click she would take off but she was great. I was telling her to teach Lady how to be as good as she was being. We walked around the other horses while they were eating and I gained my confidence with every second that passed. I was having a good time even though we were just walking around.

Lady and Rocky were done eating so I hoped off Summer and told her she was good and as always she ran over to the grain bowl to see if there was anything left that she could munch up. I just watched her and thought “ok, I’m going to do this every time!”

The next day, there I was, on the back of Summer. This time I had more confidence and we walked over to the water buckets to see if they were full enough. I knew on the way back that she was going to go faster to get over to the others who were eating and she did. Her being a trotter it felt like I was sitting on my couch at home, she was so comfortable. Normally a horse’s trot, well at least Lady’s trot, is bouncy but Summer’s is like I was flying. I can’t wait to go tonight to feed them!

ND woman’s 7-foot-long dog could be record holder

Pulled from Yahoo news

CASSELTON, N.D. – Boomer may be a buster: Measuring 3 feet tall at the shoulders and 7 feet long from nose to destructive wagging tail, he might be the world’s tallest living dog. Owner Caryn Weber says her 3-year-old Landseer Newfoundland keeps all four paws on the floor when he drinks from the kitchen faucet in her family’s eastern North Dakota farm house.

Boomer stares into car windows eye to eye with drivers. A 20-pound bag of dry dog food lasts the 180-pound canine a couple of weeks.

Weber says her furry black and white dog “comes into the house and his tail is so high everything gets knocked around.”

Weber plans to send Boomer’s measurements to Guinness World Records. The previous record holder was a nearly 4-foot-tall Great Dane that died this summer.

Pulled from Yahoo news and written by Mary Pemberton

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Four years after being placed on the Endangered Species List, the dwindling sea otters of southwest Alaska on Wednesday were given an important recovery tool.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated nearly 5,900 square miles as critical habitat for sea otters in the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea and Alaska Peninsula. The designated area includes all nearshore waters.

“Critical habitat has a proven record of aiding the recovery of endangered species,” said Rebecca Noblin, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity, which filed two lawsuits and engaged in years of litigation to get the animals protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The otters in southwest Alaska were listed as threatened in 2005.

“This has been a long time coming,” she said.

Critical habitat gives the sea otters — the smallest of marine mammals — a “fighting chance of recovery,” she said.

Nearshore areas were chosen because most of the creatures that sea otters eat — sea urchins, crabs, octopuses and some bottom fish — are found in shallow waters. Areas close to shore also provide the best protection from marine predators, especially killer whales, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Federal law requires that critical habitat be designated at the time of listing. But when that didn’t happen under the Bush administration, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a federal lawsuit in 2006. The following year an agreement was reached that critical habitat would be designated by this October.

Fish and Wildlife said it needed time to conduct an economic impact analysis on what the designation could mean to southwest Alaska. The agency found that designation would not have a large impact and should not result in any commercial fishing closures.

About 90 percent of the world’s sea otters are in Alaska waters. There were more than 100,000 sea otters in southwest Alaska waters in the 1970s but there are fewer than 40,000 now. Some areas have seen numbers plummet 90 percent.

The reason for the decline is not known but one credible theory is that killer whales are preying on more sea otters, perhaps because other larger marine mammals such as sea lions are also in decline.

Noblin said there isn’t much that can be done about killer whales but there are other stressors than can be addressed such as overfishing, the potential for oil development in Bristol Bay and climate change in the Bering Sea.

Critical habitat gives the animals an extra layer of scrutiny when entities are applying for federal permits in the designated area. However, it does not mean that development will stop, Noblin said.

“It just means the developer has to go through an additional process to determine how what they are doing will impact sea otters,” she said.

Pony’s Time to Move

The very sad day came way too fast! I had Lady in the stall resting her hoof due to her hoof abscess and the pony was not happy about being alone. I knew he had to get used to it so I just ignored him.

3pm rolled around. I could hear the loud roar of the truck coming up the driveway. Malin, my old trainer, had her two horse trailer with her with a big smile on her face. I had a frown. My mom pulled up after her and hopped out to help Malin turn around. I had gotten Lady out to eat some grass and to be around for when the pony was leaving so she could say goodbye.

My mom grabbed his red halter and clipped it on him. He was so happy to be out it the grass and with Lady but he had no idea what was about to happen. I walked Lady up to the trailer so that the pony would fallow. He has only been on a trailer once in his life which was when we had first bought him. He walked right up onto that trailer like he had done it everyday of his life.

I put Lady back in her stall, locked up the door and ran to my car. My boyfriend Jim and I then fallowed my mom and Malin up the street to my mom’s house. The pony was not having a good time. He was jumping and whinnying, he was so upset. Malin had to pull over to make sure that something wasn’t wrong with the trailer; she didn’t know that it was him jumping around.

When we pulled into the driveway of my mom’s that poor pony was exhausted. We unclipped him and backed him out of the trailer. He was soaked in sweat. He nose was flaring from breathing so hard, the poor little guy was so scared. After walking him around for a minute or two to let him cool off we brought him over to the back of the house where there is a patch of grass. He had no interest in it. He was circling around me looking for his Lady. I walked him around to see the place and show him that it was ok.

After leading him around for some time to get him used to his surroundings I brought him over to his new paddock that my mom built for him. It’s a nice small little area, plenty of room for him to walk and run if need be. I let him go and he took a couple of step a shook. Poor little guy. He then walked around the perimeter of his new home and checked it all out, calling out for Lady once in a while but there was no one to call back.

The next day I called my mom to see how he did over night. She said that he did great. He was still calling out for Lady but was doing fine otherwise. He made a path around his paddock; my mom calls it his “merry-go-round” spot, very cute. Lady was also very upset. She ran around looking for him when I put her back out into her paddock. She yelled and yelled for him, hoping that there would be a response but there was nothing. It’s very sad to not have my cute little pony right out back but I know I can go visit him when ever I want or need to get a pony fix and that makes me happy.