BIRDS OF A FEATHER: Moses and Cassie share a meal in the Collitos' backyard.
In 1999, a kitten appeared in the yard of an elderly Massachusetts couple, and it was so small that Wallace and Ann Collito at first thought it was a rat. The Collitos believed that someone had thrown the black-and-white kitten over the fence into their mobile home park and they worried about its welfare until they noticed the cat’s unlikely caretaker, an American crow.
The Collitos watched in amazement as the crow took the kitten — whom they’d named Cassie — under its wing and began feeding it worms and insects. They couldn’t believe their eyes as they watched the crow they’d dubbed Moses feeding Cassie, protecting her from other animals and cawing to keep her out of the street. They knew no one would believe the remarkable tale unless they had proof, so they began filming and photographing the playful kitten and its watchful winged guardian.
Eventually, the Collitos were able to coax Cassie indoors with cat food and she spent her evenings enjoying the luxuries of indoor cat life, but every morning at 6 a.m., Moses would peck at the screen door looking for his friend, and Wallace and Ann let Cassie out to play. The unlikely friends spent hours frolicking and wrestling outside, and the Collitos filmed the playful pair’s escapades for five years until one day Moses quit showing up. American crows live only seven to eight years in the wild, so it’s thought that Moses passed away.
Ann Colito died in 2006, but Cassie — who’s now 12 years old — still lives with Wallace in their Massachusetts home, and Cassie and Moses’ story will continue to touch lives and teach lessons about friendship for years to come, thanks to a new children’s book by Lisa Fleming. The 48-page book, “Cat and Crow: An Amazing Friendship,” shares the story of Cassie and Moses’ special bond and includes newspaper clippings and photographs of the two. It was released on Oct. 16, which is National Feral Cat Day.
Is this the best thing to happen to Youtube since someone rediscovered Rick Astley? The videos are short, but really cute. It’s a pair of kittens with lightsabers, and so far they’ve done two. The first just has the kittens dueling each other, while the other has them flying an X-Wing and TIE Fighter around before hopping out and dueling.
The makers of the videos are hoping to get enough views of these little guys to make it to the Youtube front page, and for something this cool; they deserve to. So check out both current installments of Jedi Kittens below.
Meet Thriller Cat, the latest mega moggy to light up the interwebs with his jive-tastic moves - so jive-tastic is he, in fact, that Michael Jackson-themed remixes are already popping up in his honour.
Thriller Cat: The new coolest cat on the internet?
Meet Thriller Cat, the latest mega moggy to light up the interwebs with his jive-tastic moves - so jive-tastic is he, in fact, that Michael Jackson-themed remixes are already popping up in his honour.
Thriller Cat: What's cool about this, you say? Watch what he did next... (Pic: YouTube)
The 16-second slice of YouTube awesomeness opens with a seemingly normal moggy sitting on the floor opposite the camera.
Apparently spooked by the recording device, our feline pal gets up to investigate - and here is where his rib-tickling moves make their debut.
Leaping up off the floor, he walks towards the camera on his hind legs in a Grinch-like fashion.
Since being uploaded on July 31 the video has been viewed over 680,000 times and received over 8,000 likes.
Unsurprisingly, the video is being passed around so much that, as of August 2, it was the fourth most shared in the US, sixth most shared on this side of the Atlantic and the second most shared in Australia.
'This is the funniest video I have ever seen on Youtube hahaha. No matter how many times I watch it I can't stop laughing,' posted dubdub20 underneath the clip.
'What an awesome cat,' said Tom80049, while another viewer simply said: 'What the f**king f**k?'
One particular remixed version of the video has also proved to be quite the hit - trust us, just watch it and you'll see why.
Photo: Susan Poag via The Times-Picayune
Scientists at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans have made a genetic-breakthrough of the most adorable proportions -- successfully producing two endangered kittens via in vitro fertilization. With sperm taken from a male African black-footed cat in 2003, the team inseminated an egg in 2005. The embryo remained frozen until last December, when it was finally transferred to a surrogate female named Bijou. Less than three months later, the tiny, fluffy duo were born.
In addition to being one of the world's most threatened species of feline, African black-footed cats are also among the smallest. A fully grown adult will typically be just a fraction of the size of a regular house-cat. Less than 50 specimens are known to exist on the planet -- and 19 of those are housed at facilities in the United States. Experts say that they face threats from weary farmers who try to poison them and from human expansion in their native habitat.
This first successful birth from frozen embryos, however, offers hope for conservationists that the diminutive cats will avoid extinction.
"They haven't reproduced well in captivity at all. This is really prevention, for the future, keeping species from going extinct," says Betsy Dresser of the Audubon Nature Institute. "They're so low in number. If we don't do something, we're going to lose them."
Photo: Susan Poag via The Times-Picayune
A report from The Times-Picayune provides more details on how advances in genetics can help save species like the African black-footed cat:
A goal of the research is to learn how to use much more plentiful domestic cats as surrogate mothers and then spread the technique to other institutions and zoos so the population of the compact, wild cats can be rebuilt and reintroduced in conservation areas, Dresser said.
"We don't know what the future holds for many of these species," said the facility in a news release. "But we do know that by preserving DNA and working on protocol for creating pregnancies and producing babies through cryo-preservation and surrogate mothers, we are giving these species a shot at survival even when their numbers dip to dangerously low levels."
Photo: Lazy Lizard Tales
Few things excite the blogosphere, or human beings for that matter, as much as the discovery of a new species. Especially a strikingly beautiful mammalian one. As such, the news of the Sunda Leopard's discovery -- the "world's newest cat", according to the BBC -- wasted no time in spreading like wildfire (the proverbial kind, of course, that would in no way endanger the new cat's habitat). It's not hard to see why: It's gorgeous -- if also a little eerily extraterrestrial in this photo:
The BBC reports on its discovery, and the unusual fact that the cat has two distinct forms:
The "newest" cat species described to science, the Sunda clouded leopard, actually exists in two distinct forms, scientists have confirmed. This big cat is so enigmatic that researchers only realised it was a new species - distinct from clouded leopards living elsewhere in Asia - in 2007. The first footage of the cat in the wild to made public was only released last year.
Genetic analysis has confirmed that the cats living in Sumatra and Borneo are indeed different forms. So that makes two more additions to the clouded leopard family, which is generally considered to be the most elusive of all of the big cats. See here:
Perhaps he'll be more willing to hang out now that he's received his due recognition from the scientific community.
Their species are mortal enemies, but a mama cat has adopted a baby squirrel in Carthage, Mississippi, nursing it along with her own kittens.
The squirrel, now named Rocky, fell from a tree, so the cat's owner just stuck the little guy in with the kittens. Rocky thrived. Rocky adapted. Now, Rocky purrs. It's a heart-warming tale about acceptance. Or a sign of the apocalypse. One of those.
concierge.com— There's a new breed of hotel staffers—the pets on the payroll. Although these animals-in-residence are fairly pampered and often enjoy celebritylike status, they have a job to do: amping up guest relations and rolling out a new kind of (stain-resistant) red carpet.
Catnip a member of the mint family popular for getting cats high, much like medical marijuana is often confused with marijuana. Big Cat Rescue, a non profit has recently released a video which shows how Tigers, Lions and the like respond to catnip.
Catnip reaction consists primarily of a unique combination of body rolling and face rubbing and is found to be independent of sex. Cats are usually found to return to the source of catnip about once every two hours to get a new dose. While not every cat reacts, interestingly reacting cats show an increase in attention paid to catnip while showing a decrease to rats. Research has shown that the chemosensory stimulus evoking the catnip reaction is mediated through the main olfactory system. Catnip activates behavioral elements associated with several species-specific behaviors, including sniffing and chewing as associated with oral appetitive behavior, rolling and rubbing characteristic of female sexual behavior, batting the catnip source characteristic of play behavior, and a type of kicking associated with predatory behavior. These behavioral reactions have been said to occur randomly and intermittently.
While it has been documented at several sources that most members of the cat family react to catnip, this is the first time there is a single video (embedded below) which shows the reaction of several members of the cat family reacting to catnip.
Also embedded below is a video from Weird Nature (a BBC/DISCOVERY series) which describes in detail about cats reactions to catnip.
This momma jaguar, named Lolo, is playing with her new cub at the Jordan Zoo. The mother is a melanistic, which is why her coat is black and different from her spotted baby. You can tell by her face that she’s still adjusting to being bitten… constantly… (via zooborns, photos by Ali Jarekji/REUTERS)
There are many excellent wildlife photographers, some of whom specialize in snapping shots of specific species. There is a photographer who has a uncanny knack for capturing images of big cats like the tiger, lion, jaguar, and leopard and the smaller “large cats” like the cougar, lynx and caracal. If he is a cat whisperer, wouldn’t all the kitties be clamoring to have this guy take their photo? Akishin Vyacheslav is a Russian photographer who is like a cat whisperer, traveling to zoos and reserves to snap shots that show us “how similar to human emotions” these cats can portray. Most of us have been around small domesticated cats, but using 25 of a cat whisperer’s extraordinary images, here are 10 large cats that we might not otherwise get close enough to say, “here pretty kitty kitty, smile for the camera.”
2010 is the Chinese Year of the Tiger but there may be as few as 3,200 tigers left in the world. The tiger is the most powerful, largest and heaviest of the Asian big cat species. Above is a tiger wallowing in the snow, licking its paw, and one posed as if playing peek-a-boo with photographer Akishin Vyacheslav. He states, “I have a desire to show beauty and grace of these remarkable animals.”
White tigers are the same species as other tigers, but do not have the orange color due to a recessive gene that creates the pale coloring. Akishin Vyacheslav wants to show us how human these large cats can be. He calls the top left photo “Well do not be angry, Mom.” The pink nose and blue eyes of the white tiger is striking in both pictures of the tiger in the snow and the tiger soaking in the water.
Lions are largest of the African big cat species. The lion is the tallest of the felines and is the second-heaviest big cat after the tiger. The male lion is roaring in the snow as if it is a bit cranky. Only the true “big cats” are capable of roaring. The female lion’s sneer is interpreted by the photographer as the zoo is bothering her, but she may be impersonating Elvis?
The leopard and the jaguar are often difficult to distinguish which is which. The jaguar is third-largest big cat after the tiger and the lion, while the leopard is the smallest of the four big cats. A leopard’s head is not as large as the jaguar’s and the leopard’s spots are smaller and more tightly clustered rosettes without the central spots found on most jaguars. The biggest difference between these two felines is that they live on different continents. The bottom right image is called “Gossips.”
Black panthers can actually be several species of large cats with an increased amount of dark pigmentation. Only two types of big cats are scientifically recognized as legitimate black panthers, the black jaguar and the black leopard. This feline has its typical markings upon close inspection. Often times people will call any large black cat a panther, whether it is a cougar, jaguarundi, bobcat or lynx. Their dark coloring may give them an advantage in the darker, dense regions of the forest where light levels are lower.
The cheetah is the fastest land animal. It is a large cat and considered a big cat by the more expansive definition. The cheetah can accelerate from 0 to 64 mph in three seconds. Besides the narrow waist and deep chest of a cheetah, these felines have “black tears” running from the corners of their eyes. Unlike “real” big cats, the cheetah can purr, but cannot roar.
The puma is also known as the cougar, mountain lion, mountain cat, catamount or panther, depending upon the region where they live. In fact, these slender agile cats hold the Guinness record for the animal with the highest number of names, including over 40 names in the English language alone. Cougars are almost as large as jaguars, but are less muscular and not as powerful. Although pumas resemble the domestic cat, they are about the same size as an adult human. Therefore, other than humans, no species preys upon mature pumas in the wild.
Snow leopards are smaller than the other big cats and have long thick fur, an adaptation to survive the cold mountainous regions where they live. They have stocky bodies, small rounded ears, and thick whitish fur on their bellies, all to help minimize heat loss. Snow leopards have wide feet that help them walk in the snow. They use their thick furry tails like a blanket across their faces when they sleep, again to help them hold in heat.
The lynx have short tails and distinguishing tufts of black hair on the tip of their ears. The baby lynx will stay with its mother for one winter, about a total time of nine months, before going out on their own to survive. The smallest lynx species are the bobcat and the Canada lynx, but a maximum of 88 lbs has been seen in different variations of the lynx species depending upon what area this feline lives.
The caracal is the quickest yet heaviest of all small cats. Males weigh between 28-40 lbs, while females weigh about 24 lbs. These cat are about 2-3 feet long, with another 1 foot of tail. In Africa, caracals are considered a type of vermin that preys on domesticated livestock. They hide well and are rarely seen in the wild. At the Moscow Zoo, this caracal was hybridised with the domestic cat.
You can find more of Akishin Vyacheslav’s (Акишин Вячеслав) photos here.
Crazy “Big Cat” Sounds
Here are more “big cats” so you can hear the funny noises that they make.
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All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.
In 1999, a kitten appeared in the yard of an elderly Massachusetts couple, and it was so small that Wallace and Ann Collito at first thought it was a rat. The Collitos believed that someone had thrown the black-and-white kitten over the fence into their mobile home park and they worried about its welfare until they noticed the cat’s unlikely caretaker, an American crow.
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