Do elephants walk or run?

Elephants can walk and run both at the same time

With their awkward, lumbering gait, elephants moving at high speed are not the most graceful of animals - but are they walking or running?
Now scientists believe they have an answer: new research confirms that they do both - at the same time.
By observing elephants moving across a hi-tech track, the team found the hefty creatures run with their front legs but walk with their back legs.
VIDEO

'Watering Can Man' leaves 3,000 watering cans to niece

Hilary Taylor was left a rather unusual part of her uncle’s estate when he died – 3,000 watering cans.
Ken Stickland – known as Watering Can Man – filled his shed, greenhouse, garden and even an entire floor of his house with his beloved collection.
Mr. Stickland – who died last month, aged 78 – even kept a meticulous record of every watering can, including many he made himself.
‘I have heard of people collecting teapots or stamps... but this?’
‘He was such a fascinating person. He started his collection in 2001 but I have no idea why. I suppose it kept his mind occupied and he had something to get up for.
‘Nearly every charity shop in the area knew him because he was always looking for watering cans.
‘He did not have a favorite, he just loved them all. Sometimes he would come home to find people had left them on his doorstep.’
Mrs Taylor admits she doesn’t know what to do with the collection and may sell it in aid of charity.
One particular can will be always special though – as her uncle’s ashes are held in it.

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Only worth sixpence, but it cost one man his job

He only misplaced a single letter but it was one “L” of a costly mistake for the general manager of the Chilean mint.
Gregorio Iñiguez and several other employees have reportedly been sacked after they minted a set of 50-peso coins with the name of their nation spelt incorrectly.
The coins were released into the circulation
with C-H-I-I-E stamped on the front where it should read C-H-I-L-E.
The coins have since become collectors' items and the mint says it has no plans to take them out of circulation.
People have reportedly been hoarding the coins in the hope their value rises.
But the mistake has cost the mint's general manager, Gregorio Iniguez, and several other employees, their jobs.
It is not the first embarrassing blunder at the Chilean mint. Last October, someone there sold a rare medal, which should have been housed in the institution's museum, to a coin collector.
A month later, another medal - this one bearing the face of the country's then President Michelle Bachelet - was inadvertently sold on the open market.
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Missing cat poster brings £75 graffiti fine

A teacher who put up "missing" posters in a bid to find her beloved cat Fluffy was astonished to be hit with a £75 for graffiti by her local council.
Lynda Dyson was overjoyed when the A4 computer print-outs she taped to trees and lampposts near her home in east London helped to reunited her with the three year-old, black Persian cat.
But her delight was short-lived after a demand for £75 from the local council's enforcement department landed on her doormat.
The fine was issued under Section 43 of the Anti-social Behavior Act, which polices fly-posting and graffiti.
Mrs. Dyson said home-made posters have helped people to find missing pets for centuries and should be treated differently.
"In a world where there is less and less community spirit, to impose a law and fine me for something like this is horrible," she said. “Pets are a very important part of people's lives. Without those notices, I would never have got her back.
“I don't see it as being anti-social behavior at all. Fluffy is outraged.”
A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council said the fine, issued last month, was given "in error" and later cancelled.
"In this case a mistake was made and we would like to apologize unreservedly to Ms Dyson for any offence or alarm that was caused," he said.
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Dog Allergic to Pet Food

A dog which is allergic to pet food, going for walks and even chasing cats has been put on a strict diet and given antibiotics to help ease his pain.
Joey, an Alsatian-Collie cross, had been constantly breaking out in a rash.
His owner, Scott Muirhead, from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, took him to vets at Taylors Practice in Glasgow who diagnosed numerous allergies.
Since the poorly pooch began his new medication his condition has vastly improved.
Mr. Muirhead, 36, told the BBC Scotland news website: "We've spent the past year trying to figure out what was wrong with him.
"His skin was terrible. He was breaking out in boils and scratching all the time.
"We have been trying special diets but really weren't getting anywhere."
Vets at Taylors eventually carried out blood tests on Joey and were astonished by the results.
"He was basically allergic to everything," said Mr. Muirhead.
"We were given a list and it included all types of meat, dairy produces, long grass, daisies, dandelions, cat hair and other dog hair."
Scott Muirhead, and his partner Lisa McCormack, 25, have had Joey, who turns five next week, since he was a puppy and were baffled by the fact that up until last year he had never had any problems with his diet.
"We used to feed him everything and anything but now Joey can't have any treats, "said Mr. Muirhead.
"We were told he could only eat things like potatoes, porridge and barley."
The couple hopes a new medication they are trying Joey on might give him a new lease of life.
Mr Muirhead added: "His hair is starting to grow back and his skin seems to be in better condition. "It is still early to tell but he seems to be picking up and it does seem to be making a difference."

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What Big Eyes You Have

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Open Up

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Injured duckling helps teach young boy to walk

He was expected to spend his life in a wheelchair, but here's Finlay Lomax taking his first steps after learning to walk by copying a disabled duckling.
The four-year-old suffered a stroke as a baby and developed cerebral palsy. Doctors told his mum Becci he'd never be able to stand on his own two feet.
But he began studying the way pet duckling Ming-Ming walked with a splayed leg and started mimicking him. He told astonished Becci: "I walk like the duck mummy."
She said: "I had been told Finlay might never be able to walk so it's amazing to think he is taking steps thanks to the duckling.
"He's been having physio all his life but never really responded until we got the duckling."
Becci, 29, took in tiny Ming-Ming after a farmer friend told her the duckling struggled to walk because of his bad leg and was going to be put down.
A vet gave the duck physiotherapy and fitted him with a splint. He began to ' home as his leg strengthened. Single mum Becci, of Plymouth, Devon, added: "As soon as Ming-Ming started physio and began walking so did Finlay. I was brimming with pride. Finlay has really taken to him. He is now much stronger and it's great to see him walking.
"I've told him if he works hard then one day he will be able to take Ming-Ming for walks on a lead. That is what he is really working towards."
Finlay can now manage to walk five yards at a time with the help of a Zimmer frame.
Becci added: "Basically when Ming-Ming laid or sat down, his leg was right up near his head and he was unable to walk.
"I was told the duckling was to be put down.
"I was trying all over to find a vet that knew about ducks. At first I didn't think he would make it, I felt sick.
"The most amazing thing is, in helping the duckling; Finlay has also taken his first steps."
Finlay suffered brain damage as an infant and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy - which affects the way the brain co-ordinates movement in the body.
Law student Becci rescued Ming-Ming - named after a character in TV show Wonder Pets - when he was just a day and-a-half-old.
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Praying Mantis preys on cursor

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Colorado Springs cuts into services considered basic by many

This tax-averse city is about to learn what it looks and feels like when budget cuts slash services most Americans consider part of the urban fabric.
More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled.
The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter.
Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that.
Water cutbacks mean most parks will be dead, brown turf by July; the flower and fertilizer budget is zero.
City recreation centers, indoor and outdoor pools, and a handful of museums will close for good March 31 unless they find private funding to stay open. Buses no longer run on evenings and weekends. The city won't pay for any street paving, relying instead on a regional authority that can meet only about 10 percent of the need.
"I guess we're going to find out what the tolerance level is for people," said businessman Chuck Fowler, who is helping lead a private task force brainstorming for city budget fixes. "It's a new day."
Some residents are less sanguine, arguing that cuts to bus services, drug enforcement and treatment and job development are attacks on basic needs for the working class.
"How are people supposed to live? We're not a 'Mayberry R.F.D.' anymore," said Addy Hansen, a criminal justice student who has spoken out about safety cuts. "We're the second-largest city, and growing, in Colorado. We're in trouble. We're in big trouble."
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