One for the Bird List

This weekend my family and I traveled to Texas for a wedding. Time was fairly tight, so there wasn't any opportunity for strictly critter-related capering, but Mother Nature decided to deliver a treat.

My mom and I spent a morning shopping and, on our way back to the hotel, we saw a peculiar bird pounce on something in a field by the feeder road we were on. Those who know my mom will know that she has a natural reflex which attracts her to critters of all sorts, so our van was quickly diverted on to a questionable dirt "road" that lead to a place near where we had seen the bird go down.

This is the sight we were greeted with:This is a Caracara, more specifically a Crested Caracara (Polyborus plancus), a species of Mexican raptor in the same family as falcons (with a tasty rodent meal). I had seen one flying earlier in the trip, and had not known what it was. They are smaller and lighter than a bald eagle, but larger than a red-tailed hawk. From what I have been able to find, it seems that this was about as far north as one can expect to see this species. What a treat!

Knut is All Grown Up

No longer the little fur-ball that captured the hearts of millions, Knut the polar bear is all grown up....and ferocious! Daily Mail Story. He is a polar bear...I'm not sure what people expected.

Marine Puppy Resuce

Thanks to my brother for forwarding this story!

Marine Send Home Love -- The Iraqi Puppy Rescue

There are some highly adorable pictures in the story.

Skiing Threatening Wood Grouse

The capercaille (wood grouse) is fairly common in central Europe, especially in the mountainous southern state of Bavaria. It appears skiing is threatening its habitat. I have little doubt that the Germans will respond en mass to protect this symbol of Germany.

Genetic Cancer Link Found between Dogs and Humans

Another interesting article: click here

ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2008) — Cancer researchers at the University of Minnesota and North Carolina State University have found that humans and dogs share more than friendship and companionship -- they also share the same genetic basis for certain types of cancer. Furthermore, the researchers say that because of the way the genomes have evolved, getting cancer may be inevitable for some humans and dogs.

Conservation Battlefields

Future Conservation Battlefields Different From those in the Past

In the face of impending global change, some regions are more in need of protected lands than others. The map shows regions color-ranked by how much area is projected to change by 2100 in relation to how much area is currently protected (“Conservation Risk”). Many of the tropical, but not temperate regions with greatest risk (red) are also of highest conservation value as indicated by their higher number of globally unique amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of California - San Diego)

Awkward Moment

The other day I had a client that brought in a pet for a specific complaint that required a bit of bloodwork, etc, to get an answer. No biggie...I probably get at least half a dozen of those a day. This one took a rather awkward turn, though. When reviewing the file with the client to make sure that I had the correct phone number to reach them when I got the results, the owner (a woman) pointed to the names at the top of the file which read "John and Jenny Ruhroh."

"First of all, that number is three years old, as is the address," the woman calmly informed me. "Secondly, Jenny is hopefully resting comfortably in her cold grave."

Apparently, John's wife Jenny had died three year prior and he had moved and remarried.

Yeah, that was a bit awkward. I think I need to encourage people to update their addresses each time when they come into the clinic.