Thursday, May 22, 2008

Rejected baby penguin finds a mom

Caitlin Hume's work doesn't end when she gets home. There is the herring-and-krill formula to prepare, followed by a little peeping and playtime, then bed. For the past few weeks, Hume and fellow New England Aquarium biologist Heather Urquhart have been mothering a Little Blue Penguin that was rejected by its parents after a difficult hatching.
Little Blue Penguins are native to Australia and New Zealand.

Young & Cute

Puppy and Kitten

Puppy wants it

A sand fountain in Saudi Arabia

This 9 meter high sand 'geyser' appeared in in Al Ahsaa City.

Baby squirrel adopts park ranger

As adoptions go, this one is slightly unusual – a baby squirrel has 'adopted' a park ranger after apparently mistaking him for a daddy squirrel.
The rodent, named Oakley Junior, formed a bond with Mark Swift after being abandoned by his family.
The grey squirrel leapt into 43-year-old Mr Swift's arms for a cuddle and became inseparable.
'I put out my hand and he jumped on and looked adoringly at me,' said the ranger.
'Then he clambered all over me.
'He has lost his family and thinks I'm his dad. He's more like a monkey than a squirrel and I'm convinced he thinks he's human.'
Oakley has also won the hearts of staff at Central Park, in Peterborough, where he is given ice cream and cake in the tea room.
The rodent, named after the park's mascot, may have a lucrative career ahead.
'I was going to train him to pick up litter – he'd be happy with the wage, we get peanuts here,' said Mr Swift (let's hope the squirrel's sense of humour is better than Mr Swift's...).
Oakley has been taken in by a local woman but keeps in touch. Mr Swift said: 'I was gutted; he's adorable. But he will come to visit so it's a good arrangement.'

Giant Jigsaw Puzzle

A man took 18 months to complete a giant 18,235-piece jigsaw puzzle - only to find there were five pieces missing.

Malcolm Butterworth, 70, worked on it in a bedroom at his home in Llandudno, Conwy. The 10ft x 7ft puzzle was finally finished after makers Ravensburger sent the missing segments from Germany.

Why Gas Prices Are So High

Diamond Covered Mercedes
Saudi Royal Family


Meet the tiny owl chicks being fed at the dinner table

The feeding method is certainly not conventional, but then again these chicks aren't exactly what you would call your average dinner guests.
In fact, George Hedges has propped his scrawny bald charges, which will eventually grow into fully fledged barn owls, into the wine glasses for feeding time.
Mr Hedges, of Devons Eagles,
finds this the easiest method to give the fragile babies their daily morsels of food - mouse and cockerel chicks.

Lost parrot tells veterinarian his address but not the cops

TOKYO (AP) — When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught — recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.
Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.
He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.
"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.
"We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we've found Yosuke," Uemura said.
The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years.
But Yosuke apparently wasn't keen on opening up to police officials.
"I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me," Uemura said.

It's Your Child