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What Do You Know About Wolves (Jacob Not Included)?

PetSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:10:31 -0800

In honor of today's big New Moon release, I've been alerted to some (were)wolves - in fact, this whole "wolf pack." Hot. To celebrate the film, take this WolFiction/WolFact quiz and see if you can pick out the wild facts from the wild realities about real wolves.

Take the quiz

This Three-Week Old Marmoset Likes To Cuddle!

PetSugar — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:01:04 -0700

Although marmosets are known to be more primitive than their monkey relatives, they do have one thing in common: they both love to cuddle and snuggle! This three-week old marmoset was spotted cuddling his daddy at the Ramat Gan Zoo near Tel Aviv over the weekend.

Even though marmosets are closely related to monkeys, they have some pretty unique features on their own. They almost always give birth to fraternal twins, have variable breeding habits (females can mate with one or more males, and vice versa), and are very small, with most marmosets coming in at 7 inches long! Additionally, the males in the family carry and nurture the babies rather than the females, which is why this little guy is attached at his daddy's hip. So cute, and so tiny!

Source

Happy World Penguin Day!

PetSugar — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:15:36 -0700

That's right – it's another holiday today! In honor of World Penguin Day, I've created a slideshow to teach you a little more about the 17 species of penguins worldwide. Many times, looking at their heads is the easiest way to tell them apart . . . makes sense because that's what we can see when they pop up from swim time! Source

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The Scoop: Deadly Cat Poop for Sea Otters

PetSugar — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:30:18 -0700

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.

Even cats who don't make it outside could still be at risk from a mouse in the house, for example. In fact, California’s legislature passed a bill in 2006 to protect sea otters, in part by requiring that all cat litter sold in the state carry a warning label advising cat owners not to flush cat litter or dispose of it in storm drains. They recommend that litter always be discarded in trashbags so it will end up in a landfill where precautions are taken to prevent environmental contamination.

Source

Create a Certified Wildlife Habitat in Your Backyard

PetSugar — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:20:42 -0700

The National Wildlife Federation offers some great tips to turn your backyard into a wildlife habitat (and then make it certified). Show your commitment to conserving wildlife and provide elements from each of the five essential areas you'll learn about when you read more. Source

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The Scoop: Froggie Without Lungs Found in Indonesia

PetSugar — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:00:42 -0700

With only a few species of salamanders and worms known to be without lungs, a species of frog – the Barbourula kalimantanensis – was added to that very short list after being discovered in a remote province on Borneo Island. In August of last year, David Bickford, an evolutionary biologist at the National University of Singapore, was one of the few expeditioners to discover the unique amphibian. The small brown spotted frog, found along the fast moving rivers of the island, brings an interesting comparison from the researcher:

"These are about the most ancient and bizarre frogs you can get on the planet. They are flat and have eyes that float above the water. They have skin flaps coming off their arms and legs," describing them as "a squished version of Jabba the Hutt."

Straight out of a Star Wars flick, researchers say that the frog (although totally weird) is not a mistake – the species has evolved to adapt to the cold and oxygen rich rivers that it calls home. And this may sound totally crazy, but I would think that breathing through your skin can't be all that bad. I mean, you wouldn't have to worry about asthma, pneumonia, and lung cancer, but if your pores got clogged, would you have trouble breathing?

Source

Spotted! Baby Western Screech Owls

Pet Community — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:18 -0800

This pretty picture and post comes to us from the Spotted! group from member lauren.

I don't own an animal but thankfully where I live has great wildlife including deer (that love to eat all of my flowers on my deck), birds, raccoons and my all time favorite animal that I spotted was baby Western Screech Owls. They spent the entire summer in a huge oak tree just outside of my house. I don't see them anymore but I can still hear them hoo'ing! This picture was taking about 5 feet away from them while they were learning to fly!

There's lots of fun stuff going on in our community so come play and don't forget to enter your own cute photo captures about town to our Spotted! group - it may be picked as a Site of the Week on PetSugar!

Surf's Up For Little Penguins: Meet North . . . and South

PetSugar — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:45:56 -0700

Stop the presses, there's a new North in town. Granted not my town, and not even my pooch's species, but check out this penguin!

Tiny "North" was rescued along with his pal named – you guessed it – "South" from different beaches along the New South Wales state coastline. The two Little Penguins were taken to the Wildlife Hospital at Sydney's Taronga Zoo (home of Monifa) to be treated – one was found tangled in seaweed. Poor lil guy!

Sometimes called Fairy Penguins, they're the smallest species of this bird type. (If you're fuzzy on the rest, refresh your memory with a slideshow of all the species here).

Both birds were rereleased into the open ocean off the coast of Australia today so see more pictures of North and his pal South hitting the waves when you read more.

View 20 Photos ›

Source

Ed Norton Runs NYC Marathon For Wildlife Conservation: In the LINK of an Eye!

PetSugar — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:00:48 -0700

Ed Norton to run NYC Marathon for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust - People Pets
Francesca and Sharkey visit the Grand Prix - The Daily Wag
Suckling pig skin a tasty DIY dog snack - Dolittler
Mr. Clucky fights for South Beach residency - PetMD
RIP, Baby walrus dies at New York Aquarium - Paw Nation
Kung Fu Corgi kicks cute butt - Wag Reflex

The Spotted Group Needs Your Eagle Eyes!

PetSugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:30:32 -0700

I know you've seen cute pets or crazy wildlife on your travels about town so stop holding out on me! If you ever see something you can't resist snapping - or even questions about guess that breed or find this product, too - forward all your requests to the brand-new Spotted! group. After all, one of the newest features of the PetSugar Community is the ability to mobile blog!

Mobile blogging is simple to get started:

If you're not already a community member, create an account.
Next up, click Join Group on the top right-hand side of the Spotted! group.
After you register, please go to Edit Profile under your member name drop-down, click on the Post by Email tab, and follow the simple instructions on that page.
Now you're free to post piccys straight from your cell phone! Simply send a message with the photo attached, a title in the subject line, and any text in the body of the email to spotted@onsugar.com - you'll get an email back asking you to confirm so just reply and it should show up in just a few minutes! (Get a detailed explanation of how to do this here.)

If you want to know how to post a photograph from your computer, read more.

First of all, join the Spotted! group.
Click the New Post button on the top right.
Enter a Title - like your pet's name - and click Insert Image to upload a picture of your pal.
If you'd like, you can add more details about your animal in the body section.
When you're all done click Create Post to submit content.

So let's all be cute capturers together as part of Spotted! and share our findings with everyone else. They just might end up on the PetSugar homepage as our "Sight of the Week."