The Frozen: Deer Caught in Headlights

Came across this delightful little story regarding a classic "deer stuck in headlights" moment-LITERALLY!

On a Michigan highway, patrol deputy Ryan Swartz responded to a call regarding a small collision between an automobile and a deer. When he showed up on the seen, the deer was still frozen in the middle of the street--literally caught in headlights and unable to move. The poor thing...

Even as Swartz walked up to the deer and pet it, trying to coax in back into the forest, the deer stood still. After about 10 minutes of gentle pats and a strong man's arm, Swartz finally just picked up the deer himself and moved the animal off to the side of the road.

From there the doe eventually regained her composure and ran off into a near by field. But who knows how long she would've stood there in the middle of the road, petrified and frozen with fear if it wasn't for Swartz.

Yay people helping animals!! Read the article and watching the video of this adorable story :)

The Video Hilarity: cat installment

I love cat videos--particularly ones of cats doing ridiculous things or getting caught in ridiculous situations. They've got a great body language that's really expressive and facial movements that really allow me to picture in my mind their "talking bubbles" if they could say things. Today, I wanted to share a few of my favorite ones.















Click here for: Cat stuck on a trampoline and can't get off!






















Click here for: Maru the cat that LOVES boxes of all shapes and sizes! (He's a youtube sensation!!)
















And click here for: the awesome surprise kitty video!!

that's all for now, enjoy :D

The Ugly: 2011!!

It's that time again...ugly dog contests!! (click link to check out more pics!) Hosted annually in Petaluma, CA at the Sonoma-Marin Fair, it has crowned a new champ for 2011!! And yes, it's pretty ugly....

I treat these contests with mixed emotions because sometimes these animals are ugly because of an illness or some past accident and now they're "deformed" in some way. However, it's completely wonderful to see all the pet owners completely in love with their funky-lookin' lovers.

That's why I want a sphynx cat---you know...the hair-less cats that have skin rolls?? LOL it's mostly because I'm allergic to cat fur, but also...I think they're so ugly, they're cute! :)















2011: This year's winner is "YODA" who is a Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix












And this is my future pet. SO CUTE, RIGHT??

The Seals: Public Broadcasting=my cable-less animal planet

A lot of my life revolves around television. It really should NOT be so, I know, I know...but TV just gets me so enraptured (right usage?) that I get seduced into it. Especially these days when I'm tired after a full day's work and I just want to eat food and sit. A lot. On the other hand...I'd like to think that I'm not watching trash--all the time.

I actually quite like public broadcasting (with their catching tunes like "PBS: support from from viewers like you.") Or in my case, channels 6 and 7 on my 13 channel cable-less tv. They've got this show called Animal Emergency that essentially acts like my Discovery Channel or Animal Planet and once I start...I'm hooked!

Today I watched an episode based on The Marine Mammal Center right here in the Bay Area! I've heard of the place before and knew their main goal was wildlife rehabilitation...with a special interest in seals and sealions of the like since we've got a few of those near SF (PIER 39 dock anyone??) Also, I find that seals are one of the funniest creatures ever--they're agile in the water, but so plump and "rollie" when on land that it's almost impossible to take them seriously!!

The episode was so fascinating! People from all over the California coast go to them to drop off orphaned babies, and different research and zoo facilities work together to help save the lives of animals caught in fish lining or got hit by a motor boat.

There was this one harper seal that showed abnormal behaviors, but no one knew why. So they enlisted the help of a clinic for HUMANS (who offered it at $0-so nice!) and got the seal a CT/MRI scan....what the heck??? How cool. As cool as it was...the reports all came back relatively normal, so they still didn't find the cause, but the seal got better on its own after a few weeks!!

It's a shame and wild life rehabilitation doesn't get more press and academic notice. We're so worried for ourselves and we sometimes forget we're part of the circle. The episode talked about a seal pandemic where after consuming a certain type of algae, the seals would effectively get brain damage and get seizures and die slowly....and if people ate this algae, a similar event could happen to us, too!!

So it seems pretty important to keep tabs on the little guys...because if you think about it...we're all kind of "little guys" in a way.

The Lone Cat: sittin' in a tree, livin' the life

This was another article that I bookmarked a while ago to remind myself that I definitely wanted to blog about it because it's such a sweet story.

Ron Venden has been taking care of a cat (awesomely named Almond!) for about as long as the kitty's been born. The cat makes it's home in the maple tree where it was born and has pretty much never left--literally!!

People in town have never seen paw prints in the snow during the winter...but there really isn't a need to leave in the first place since Venden has built a mini-tree house for the cat and provides it with daily water and food.

I love that Venden never tried to capture the cat to make it a "house pet," but instead decided to leave the cat in his/her natural place of comfort and catered to its needs. So it's not as if the cat roams the streets creating trouble....Almond just hangs out in his/her tree and watched the highway a few miles away and people watch from up above (but who doesn't love to people watch though--REALLY?!?!)

It's nice to know that this man is being nice and caring for the cat just out of the simple love of his heart! I mean....if I was feeding a cat, I better be able to cuddle it or poke its face or something to the like whenever I please!! But I'm a little selfish like that :)

read the full article HERE!!

The War Dogs: oh-so-brave.

Look at me blogging semi-more-regularly and all that! I think it's because I am in the transition period of "job hasn't started-but school ended" period and I've done all the sitting around I can possibly do before I begin to feel my brain melting slowly into my vertebrae (sorry for the imagery).

Anyways, now day I browse the web a lot, reading different articles and social media, did a lot of thinking and brain archiving to the point where there's times I laugh to myself and cry to myself, and then I've read mucho books to keep me intellectually stimulated and so-on-and-so-forth. The one thing I haven't done that I should do is review material for entrance exams, but that feels so "school" related that it almost hits too close to home to do...yet. Must get into gear soon though.

Anyways, while reading the Times, I found this great article on canines used during the various war fares of mankind. Isn't it weird? We're the ones who create the war and then we try to send these four-legged creatures with heightened senses to detect our own bombs and technology that we created to begin with. Humans are nuts!

Anyways...this was a wonderful and very interesting (because I'm a visual person) picture look through the years of how dogs have been employed (and usually very loved) by their man through the years of war. CLICK ME!!

The Bad: Mothers...it happens, but for good reason!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY (1-2 days late) to all the mothers out there. Though most of us don't say it enough or do anything for you enough and sometimes forget to call on weekends when we're out...you know we appreciate and love you.

And in lieu of that...I found this great article that depicts--IN PICTURES--mothers that treat certain babies very poorly. But for goodness sakes, it's for a good reason! Most of the time it boils down to the basic principles of Darwinism: survival of the fittest. Better to have a few healthy, able young than a million weak, unhealthy, unlikely to survive&reproduce later young. Sad, but true.

READ IT. It's entertaining...and weird...and fascinating...and with pictures!!

Which gets me to ask...what do you think would happen if humans each had 10 babies and that was the norm? You think we might begin to eat our young too??

The Ustream: live action 24/7

I've only recently begun to realize the great awesome-ness that is the internet. Although it's definitely got it's scary side, the internet has been a unique tool in getting information out to the world....whenever. wherever.

My friend and I send regular e-mails to each other regarding our life and funny things that happen and she knows I'm a suck for animals. So she sends me this live action link to puppies being born.

Regular people allowing the world to sneak peak on their lives. In this case...a link to a family's rescue dog giving birth to a whopping 12 puppies (2 were stillborns, but 10 live healthy and snuggly!) The 400 some-odd viewers were SO touched by the efforts of this brave rescue mama and her human helpers that people began donating money to the shelter which the animal came from!! How amazing is that?? remarkable!

I browsed the Ustream site a little and found that there's a 24/7 live stream for just about anything! From pets&animals to entertainment and music. All at the push of a button.

This is not the first time that I was introduced to Ustream...a few weeks ago I was introduced to the Decorah Bald Eagles from Iowa that hatched 3 cute little chicks via their live stream---how cool is that??

So while it still sounds a little creepy to me that one would want to have a live stream of their own lives continuously broadcast to the world....I could see why people might want to do it. You can send a message so quickly to SO many!

Anyways, this is just a post about my fascination with the many live streams I've been watching today :)

Click here to watch Mayme and her 10 pups wiggle around!

Click here to watch the Bald Eagles take care of their cute chickies!

The fostering: KITTENS!!

Even though I am deathly (might as well be) allergic to cat fur, I always like to keep an eye out and find ways to help out or get my fair share of kittie loving if I can. That's why when I go back to Taiwan, the first thing I do when I walk through the door is hunt down my cat...who is usually hiding in a closet or out sunbathing. And I hug her with both arms outstretched so as to not get any fur in my allergic nostrils.

Now days, I just try to visit friends who have pets or pass the word around between people looking to help foster and people who like animals (and aren't allergic). My friend just received a fresh pair of awesome-ness the other week---fostering kittens! WOOHOO.

I very much feel like a cat aunt in these situations because I always get invited to visit the kittens and play with them--they are adorbs! Baby animals are cute because not only are they just fun to look at, they are so curious about the world around them and they don't realize any danger so they're eager and willing to explore!

They also rarely fight you to be picked up, poked at, petted, having their picture taken, or have you stick them in weird places. It's pretty thrilling to watch a young mind grow--especially when it can barely walk, makes me giddy inside!









<---This is me with kittens, EXCITED!

The Undead: Zombie Ants?

Imagine a world of unique power...out of this Earthly world...but actually still perfectly plausible. That is the world in which we live. So many unknowns that sometimes the norm seems a bit unusual to the untrained eye.

I saved this Yahoo article for a rainy day...and today rained (and hailed near by...and hand a mini-tornado, what the heck? California...where is our awesome weather that makes others jealous?!)


Anyways, it's about fungus. Sure, when we think beyond mushrooms and bread mold it can get a bit scientific with long names like "Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani" and "Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis" . So let's just get straight to the cool part.

This fungus attaches to live organisms, then renders them essentially dead as the fungus begins to grow inside the organism--ultimately killing the living, and becoming king (or queen, who's the say?) of the dead. This article's fateful victim? The ant.

Through the series of semi-creepy, yet slightly artistic in a National Geographic sort of way pictures, we can see the fungus slowly growing out of the ants body about 1 or 2 days after death.

During late stages of infection...the fungus slowly engulfs the ant completely...covering it with soft white "fuzzies." It's an eerie way to die if you think about it, just having something slowly consume you from the inside out before taking over your body completely. YIKES!

Check out the full picture-by-picture story here!

The Sad Song: A Whale's Wrong Frequency

I love browsing sites that have information that's only semi-useful. Mainly, I find these articles and pictures I read to be fulfilling my sanity in a different way than academic papers. It's a learning process that goes beyond books and memorization...it's the best kind of learning...learning by pure fascination.

Today, on one of my whimsical floating of the cyber world...I came across an awesome article that profiled a lonely whale. Yes, A LONELY WHALE. It's funny to read the title because I got weird references of dating websites in my mind, and it turns out, that this whale might actually need to enlist the help of a dating site!! (If only it could...)

The whale is named "52 Hertz" because 1. it's gender is unknown 2. it sings all of its whale songs at 51.75 frequency--and we like to round up, since numbers get complicated, the more you add on after a decimal.

This whale has been singing her song (or his song) at least since it was first tracked tracked back in 1989 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Unlike normal whales who are group animals that live in small families or pods and travel together, this whale is rides solo.

It does not want to be solo (unlike the song...riding solo, riding solo--lalala) but there's a fundamental problem that keeps it from conversing with other whale homies. The problem lies in the song, which whales use as a common form of communication. Normal whale songs are set at a frequency of 12-25 Hz...and here, you can tell the major, MAJOR problem!!

What's one to do when you speak, and no one, but perhaps a land dog, can hear you?!? The difference between 52 Hz and 25Hz is quite great...and scientists are still trying to find a reason for this strange phenomenon. A mutation? A new species? Hard to say.

In the mean time...52Hz will keep swimming the ocean, making soundless calls that can't be received by any of its fellow mates. Truly, what is a vast world with no friends or loved ones? It is a sad song to be sung.















<<---If a whale date did occur, this might be how it goes down!! Check out the article yourself, READ HERE!!

The No Kill Zone: The Cat House

The Cat House near Kings River in California's San Joaquin Valley is truly a remarkable sight (though I have yet to see it with my own eyes!). It is one of the largest no kill, no cage, adoption sanctuary for cats and dogs. As of the time I read this article...the property estimates to have between 700 cats, 100 kittens, 15 dogs, and 6 goats. How's that for an enormous litter??
It opened in 1992 by Lynea Lattanzio who got the land as part of a divorce slash "awesome place to retire and have an awesome time with animals"...and has grown to become a well oiled machine and boats paid employees as well as many volunteers.

All the cats who have feline immunodeficiency disease are isolated and have their own area. Older cats have their own special area as well. As for the rest...they're free to roam in and out of the house and land. Lattanzio doesn't even live in her own house anymore since about 65 cats started occupying her living room.

A good retirement plan to all? Well maybe I wouldn't go THAT far...but it certainly wouldn't hurt to have some furry friends around when I'm older.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY AND WATCH A VIDEO FROM LYNEA HERSELF

The Love: Happy Valentine's!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!

Sometimes, it's pretty cool how nature comes up with its own way of showing love. Even know the "heart" shape is a man-invention...eventually nature proves that we simply stole it from her (or him, depending on if you believe the world is a guy or girl)....and BAM! Nature at its best.

So on V-day...whether you have someone or are spending it chillaxing on your own, just know that you're not quite alone. The world's got your back in some way, shape, or form...just gotta know where to look!

p.s. these are Damselflies mating :)

The Friend: How They Make Us Strong

Before I begin...I found out that there is actually a real www.pawcorner.com! Hm...I hope they don't think I'm stealing their name or copy-righting their title! Anyway, it's a place that people can put their animal related things up such as classified ads, blogs, polls, you need to sign up though, so I'm not sure when/if I'll do it.

Anyways, today was sort of one of those days, days you want to put behind you and get over quickly, days that you want to roll into bed as soon as possible (ASAP!!)...but alas, I cannot. There are obligations to fulfill before selfish desires.

HOWEVER, I got the bestest surprise of them all when I had a happy puppy jump into my lap!! My house is house-sitting our neighbor's dog while they go to the gym for a few hours...it's truly amazing how much better animals can make you feel, just when you thought you've slowly run out of happy thoughts.

I'm reminded of their warmth, their "smile", their unconditional excitement to meet you day after day as if it were the first, and their unwavering faith and love in you. With animals, you'll never self-doubt, you'll never feel alone, you'll never feel the need to explain or defend, and best of all, you've got the most awesome lap heater in the world--free of charge!

So take note, animal lovers and haters! No matter how you really feel about an animal, you can't deny that they never stop feeling for you.

Isn't Kona adorable? Definitely got that "puppy eyes" down!

The Horror Film Re-Make: Birds dropping from sky??

Here's a truly bizarre story for you all! About 5,000 (YES, COUNT THE ZEROS!) red-winged black birds fell from the sky this past New Years Day of 2011---how eerie!

In a situation currently unexplained by any scientist, some are saying it's connected to the inevitable doom of 2012 or changing from 4th to 5th world...however, you see it.

The latest autopsy report showed that the birds died mid-air in flight and simply dropped from the sky. The bodies show multiple signs of trauma to their vital organs, no known source yet!

Wild Life services has stated that it's actually not that uncommon and scenes like this have occurred before. Some times birds are "electrocuted" during a thunderstorm, pelted to death by hail...or something under go cardiac arrest (heart attack-BAM!) during bad weather or fireworks.

Well, whatever the reason...it sure is strange. And does anyone else feel like it's out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie?? Or that crazy crow horror film where all the crows came darting at people....creepy.

Don't believe the picture? read it for yourself!! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011