in the wild

How appropriate that we are seeing so many baby animals this week with Mother's Day just around the corner! First a day-old rhino, then an hours-old baby elephant . . . now we can throw these hedgehogs into the mix! Although these little guys were born last month, they do have an interesting story. In Europe, birthing time for hedgehogs is usually in late May to early June, with hibernation and cold weather keeping them safe inside their burrows. But this litter, born April 26th, is one of the earliest litters of hedgehogs ever seen in Europe, and oh-so tiny – each little one weighs less than an ounce! Elizabeth Dyas, founder of Prickly Ball Farm in Devon (which looks after these animals) is speculating that unseasonably warm weather is what's bringing the hedgehogs out of hibernation early:

"When we first started taking them in about 20 years ago there were harsher winters and they hibernated for much longer periods than they do now. Normally we would start to get small numbers being born at the end of May and beginning of June"

To read more about these adoro hedgehogs, and to see just how tiny they really are, read more

While not many of you were instantly on board with composting dog poop, I thought I'd mention some important information for those feline owners. A common parasite that kitties can get is actually very deadly to wildlife, like these adoro sea otters, when cat litter is not properly disposed! Cat feces can contain Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that commonly gets into feline systems from eating infected rodents, birds, or other small animals. When kitties later expel these parasites in their droppings — sometimes hundreds of millions at a time — each can survive in soil and water for over a year!

Although many different kinds of animals can serve as intermediate hosts for the parasites, cats are the only animals known to shed the parasite's eggs in their droppings. (In fact, this cat-parasite link is the reason pregnant women are advised against cleaning cat litter boxes.) Because of this danger, cat poop should not be flushed because it can then be carried via storm drains and sewage outflows into near-shore ocean waters. But, what about those indoor cats? Find out when you read more

In spirit of Earth Day, I thought we'd tackle a problem with wild animals. Sonoma b is having a big problem with some masked creatures. The very hungry raccoons seem determined to make a mess of her garbage. It's a company-issued, heavy-duty blue industrial plastic "can" filled with plastic kitchen bags. Even though it's emptied once a week, the pesky critters seem to find their way in before then! To hear what she has to say, read more

An ancient relative of the modern elephant may have lived in an aquatic environment. Fossilized teeth were found embedded in a rock in northern Egypt's Faiyum region, which is known to have been a coastal system that changed often from swamp to river and back again.

Little did I know that elephants share a common ancestor with manatees and other aquatic animals, so it makes sense that they would have some sort of water connection. Although the teeth that were found indicate that the ancient animals didn't quite look like we know them today – minus the recognizable trunk and much much smaller in stature (about three feet tall at the shoulder) – this creature would have eaten the freshwater plants that grew in the area. "Essentially it's a hippo-like mode of life. That's the closest animal that we can think of today," said Alexander Liu of Oxford University's department of earth sciences, lead author of recent research on the teeth. No wonder elephants are such good swimmers!

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There must be something in the water in Germany because the country seems full of young and adoro polar bears! We know Knut (Berlin) and Flocke (Nuremberg) . . . so now meet Wilbaer! Unlike the first two cuties I mentioned, this lil cub is actually being raised by his mom, Corinna. Making his home at the Wilhelma Zoo in the southern German city of Stuttgart, Wilbaer was born on Dec. 10, 2007 and made his first outing today! Which means there are pictures! Lots of them! That I'm (of course) sharing with you when you read more