How To Cuddle With An Elephant Seal

Who knew that these giant ocean creatures were so loving ?

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Animal Hypnotist Is Britain's First 'Rabbit Whisperer'

An animal hypnotist claims to be the country’s first “rabbit whisperer”, treating pets behavioral problems., Cliff Penrose 60, uses a special technique to put rabbits into a trance – leaving them flat on their backs with their legs in the air.

He is able to hypnotise then animals by applying pressure and massaging certain parts of the body, including the belly which relaxes them. Mr Penrose then ”bows” to the rabbit by lowering his head so it does not feel threatened before shutting its eyelids leaving it in a trance.

He regularly hypnotises rabbits before they go to the vet so they can be treated and examined more easily.But he also treats “problem” rabbits with behavioural issues and can make them less aggressive after putting them in a trance.The grandfather-of-two from St Austell, Cornwall, said the hypnotised rabbits often live longer as a result of being de-stressed.

Angelina Jolie Checked Animal's Welfare Before Wearing $5,000 Horsehair Bag

Angelina Jolie is clearly an animal lover!

Before the U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, 34, stepped out with her new Akris ecru horsehair bag — which retails for just less than $5,000 — she asked her stylist to call and make sure that no horses had been harmed in the making of the accessory.

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Twitter For Dogs !!!!!

Twitter has proven itself to be one of the most useful tools ever for time-wasting, inane chatter, and mundane observations. It’s a mystery how anyone survived before following Ashton Kutcher tweets on what he had for dinner. And now, our favorite destroyer of productivity is being taken to the next level: Twitter for dogs.Mattel is working on a device that will allow your dog to automatically update his Twitter account, no typing necessary. Called Puppy Tweets, this smart motion sensor will attach to your dog’s collar and send signals to a USB receiver in your computer, which will then update Twitter with pre-written tweets such as “Somedays it feels like my paw is permanently on the snooze button.”

Impressive. Not even humans can tweet while sleeping.

Now you and all your friends can know exactly what your dog is doing every second of the day, no matter how uninteresting it is. It will be just as compelling as every other tweet you’ve ever read. That is, unless your dog is on some kind of cross-country-traveling, Homeward Bound, Milo & Otis adventure.If they’re smart, Mattel will let users program custom tweets, and then we could have more realistic tweeting from our four-legged friends, such as the following:

“OMG another dog! OMG! OMG! OMG!”

“@fido ur butt smells wonderful”

“So excited to chew on self for next hour”

Expect to see Puppy Tweets in stores this fall for the surprisingly reasonable price of $29.99.

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The Lessons In Courtship We Can Learn From Animal

LOVE IS A DRUG

Most male mice are happy with just a short moment of passion – a quick knee-trembler behind the skirting board with a partner, and then he’s off. But a male Californian Mouse is the opposite: he seems a perfect mouse-husband who stays in to help groom and feed his mousewife, bringing her water, doing the housework and helping to look after their babies.Proof that he’s fallen head over paws in love? No, simply that the clever female has drugged him.She produces hormones in her urine that he finds intoxicating. Something in his brain is triggered by the scent, and he becomes her slave, working to exhaustion.Sound familiar? It should do. Because love is a drug for humans, too. When we fall in love, our brains swim with opioids – a natural intoxicant from the same class of chemical as heroin – and similarly addictive

Animals And Music

Animals just as humans, respond to music; soothing, relaxing tunes seem to calm them too. See more about the experiment in Lincoln Park, Chicago .Beautiful, peaceful music is thought to have a wonderful, even healing effect on man’s mind and spirit. It is know to have a leading effect on the human soul, as it leads it to certain states, either joyful, or sad, more or less profound. The same thing is likely to happen to animals. You might have noticed your cat leaving the room when you listen to a hard rock piece, or see it relaxing on a chill out tune. So what is it with music and living creatures?

If they like that particular music, animals would come closer to the source it produces it, in order to fully enjoy those pieces of art. Music can even have a soothing effect for a suffering, ill animal. The same thing is known to happen to plants, which can blossom to certain beautiful musical works. One explanation to this phenomenon might be that, since we as human beings, plants and animals are part of the same creation, and have the very same Author, we are likely to respond to the same stimuli and to find peace, bliss, beauty and joy in the very same things.

Apparently tranquility inducing music can ease both physical pain in an animal, and psychological disturbances caused by abandonment, abuse, loneliness, sadness, different traumas or any other negative emotions. It is also said that certain animals that are very fond of their owners are likely to simply absorb their feelings and sicknesses, and music can have a positive influence on the spirit of these loyal creatures as well. It probably comes from the natural environment, where birds of all sorts produce such wonderful, calming and soothing music, which is in perfect harmony with the whistle of the wind passing through the leaves, streams flowing and fresh, pure water springs or waterfalls going down to the ground with such wonderful sounds.

Hammerhead Sharks Could Have The Best Vision In Animal Kingdom

It may be ugly but the distinctive snout of the hammerhead shark means it has some of the best “all round” vision in the animal kingdom, scientists have discovered. Researchers have found that the odd shape of the head allows the sharks, which can grow up to 20 ft long, to have a 360 degree field of vision in all directions.Not only does it have front, back and side vision it can also see vertically and judge depths, claims the study.

“We were very surprised, they really have remarkable vision,” said Dr Michelle McComb, lead author of the study at Florida Atlantic University”At any time when they are swimming they can not only see from side to side, in front and behind but also above and below.”The evolution of the odd shaped head has long puzzled scientists and many reasons such as manoeuvrability, smell and inbuilt “sonar” have been tested.

Indians Throng Nepal's Gadhimai Fair For Animal Sacrifice

Thousands of Indians from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states bordering Nepal swarmedto the Himalayan republic’s southern plainsTuesday to attend a notorious Hindu fair there and sacrifice animals and birds in the hope their wishes would be fulfilled.

While a debate began to grow in Nepal about the Gadhimai Fair in Bara district and the wanton cruelty it inflicted on animals, the festival drew its strength from zealous Indian attendees who have been flocking to it every five years in a bid to circumvent the ban imposed on animal sacrifices in their own states.

The name on everyone’s lips on Tuesday, when the slaughter of buffaloes started, was that of Raman Thakur, a farmer from Sitamarhi in Bihar who sacrificed 105 buffaloes to show his gratitude. The goddess, Thakur said, had answered the prayer he had made five years ago by granting him a son.

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Indians Throng Nepal's Gadhimai Fair For Animal Sacrifice

Thousands of Indians from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states bordering Nepal swarmedto the Himalayan republic’s southern plainsTuesday to attend a notorious Hindu fair there and sacrifice animals and birds in the hope their wishes would be fulfilled.

While a debate began to grow in Nepal about the Gadhimai Fair in Bara district and the wanton cruelty it inflicted on animals, the festival drew its strength from zealous Indian attendees who have been flocking to it every five years in a bid to circumvent the ban imposed on animal sacrifices in their own states.

The name on everyone’s lips on Tuesday, when the slaughter of buffaloes started, was that of Raman Thakur, a farmer from Sitamarhi in Bihar who sacrificed 105 buffaloes to show his gratitude. The goddess, Thakur said, had answered the prayer he had made five years ago by granting him a son.

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Bramble Park Zoo Has New Baby Pallas' Cat Kittens

Topping off the trifecta of cute and cuddly kitty cats are the rare and spectacular Pallas’ Cats. These three were born in July at the Bramble Park Zoo in Watertown, South Dakota. The Zoo is especially proud of these curious little creatures because it has been trying to breed them for years. Well, congratulations!

Can I have one?Pallas’ cats are small brown-spotted cats a little larger than a large house cat. They are found in Central Asian Steppes at elevations of up to 13,000 ft. The cats are highly endangered and are very difficult to breed in captivity, and have young survive, due to disease. “After several years, we have done it and have three viable offspring that are soon to go on to another zoo.”
These offspring are then scheduled to breed once they are mature. The zoo has been participating in a global Species Survival Plan program for this species for about 4 years. This past year, the female gave birth in April, but neither of the offspring survived.