Archive for the 'Carol's Critter Corner' Category
Carol’s Critter Corner: Must Have One Edition
Posted on May 1, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
Happy the hippo is leaving the National Zoo for Milwaukee, where he will join two female hippos in the zoo’s new hippo home. Zoo staff have already begun practicing for the trip, scheduled to take place this summer. Fortunately, there are still some animals left at the National Zoo, and they are awfully cute!
A horse [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Robot Edition
Posted on April 24, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
A German engineering firm has created a bionic penguin, complete with 3D sonar. The penguin can use its flippers and flexible neck to swim through the water, while a larger helium-filled model can fly. Meanwhile, Paro the robotic seal is finally available for purchase in the US.
A 13-foot python wrapped a man in its coils [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Unusual Friends Edition
Posted on April 17, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
First Puppy-Watch 2009 has officially come to an end: the Obamas have a new dog! Bo is a six-month-old Portuguese water dog and was given to the Obamas by Senator Kennedy.
Firefighters in Maryland rescued a woman and a puppy from a basement well. The woman had gotten stuck in the well trying to rescue the [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Two in a Row Edition
Posted on April 10, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
The National Zoo has determined that the new clouded leopard cubs are boys. If you’re anything like me, you’ll definitely want to check out the latest video.
Rich white people have done it again! Now you can go to dog – yoga with your dog. Meanwhile, a divorcing couple in Michigan is engaged in a legal [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Rainy Day Edition
Posted on April 3, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | 2 Comments
Researchers in Italy have found that baby chicks are able to perform basic arithmetic. Meanwhile, Queen’s University scientists found that hermit crabs can sense and remember pain.
Customs officials at BWI found a dead bird encased in homemade soap in a Nigerian woman’s luggage.
Grey wagtails are wreaking havoc in a UK village: when one of the [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Road Trip Edition
Posted on March 27, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
Need some more leopard cub action? Here’s a video of one of them being fed. Other baby animals in the news this week are a francois langur at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney and a mandrill at the Munich Zoo.
Willie the parrot has been given the Red Cross’ Animal Lifesaver Award for alerting his owner [...]
Stop the Presses! Cuteness Ahoy!
Posted on March 25, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
Huge coup for the National Zoo: two newborn clouded leopard cubs were born yesterday, the first birth in North American zoos in six years. The baby leopards will be hand-raised to prevent their mother from accidentally or intentionally killing them. Statement of approval from Andrew: “they’re almost as cute as a baby panda.”
Sphere: Related Content
Carol’s Critter Corner: Happy Spring Edition
Posted on March 20, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
A new baby anteater was born last Thursday at the National Zoo. This is only the second anteater ever born there; interestingly, the FONZ calendar features a photo of the first baby anteater for the month of March. Meanwhile, a pair of polar bear cubs debuted at the Owehands animal park in the Netherlands, the [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Primate Party Edition
Posted on March 13, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | 3 Comments
Monkeys in Japan were observed teaching their young how to floss, confirming that primates are able to teach their offspring how to use tools. Meanwhile, a “belligerent” chimp at the Furuvik Zoo in Sweden showed that apes can plan ahead: he collected a large pile of rocks one morning to later throw at zoo visitors [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Sleepwalking Edition
Posted on March 6, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
A small but inquisitive octopus at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium disassembled a valve at the top of her tank, flooding the facility with 200 gallons of seawater. Meanwhile, a giant octopus at the New England Aquarium squeezed itself into a very small box in order to retrieve a treat.
The National Zoo needs your help [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Too Much Sugar Edition
Posted on February 27, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
The Obamas have decided to adopt a Portuguese water dog – or have they?!
A British biologist caught an 800-pound stingray in the Maeklong River in Thailand. It took 90 minutes and 13 men to haul the giant stingray – the largest freshwater fish ever caught with a rod – ashore, where she was tagged and [...]
This Just In
Posted on February 24, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
We interrupt your regularly scheduled Andrew programming to bring you a very important announcement. Mystic Aquarium has a penguin-cam! Footage of penguin chicks, born February 3, will be streamed live daily from 9 AM to 5 PM.
Warning: penguin-cam requires Quicktime. If you are like me and cannot download Quicktime because your office is stupid and [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Late Again Edition
Posted on February 21, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
R.I.P. Socks. The 19-year-old former White House cat was euthanized yesterday morning.
The American Humane Association has awarded its own Oscars, for the best animal movies of the year. Among the honorees were The Dark Knight (best movie magic featuring an animal), Marley & Me (most poignant movie illustrating the human-animal bond), and Indiana Jones and [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Just in Time Edition
Posted on February 14, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
Sam, the koala pictured above being rescued from a wildfire in Australia, is recovering nicely at a rescue shelter. She is currently sharing a cage with Bob, another koala with scorched paws, but will soon have her own digs: the firefighter who rescued her plans to bring her the cage that currently houses his daughter’s [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Extreme Weather Edition
Posted on February 6, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
First, a Groundhog Day postscript: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was bitten on the finger after he teased a groundhog with a corn cob. (Note: the above-pictured man is not Mayor Bloomberg.)
It’s a mana-tea party in Florida, where hundreds of manatees are snuggling together for warmth in the record low temperatures. In the U.K., [...]
Happy Groundhog Day!
Posted on February 2, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
Don’t put those scarves and mittens away yet; we’re in for six more weeks of winter.
Carol’s Critter Corner: Runaway Snack Edition
Posted on January 30, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
As PuppyWatch 2009 continues, the Winnipeg Humane Society has offered the First Family a very cute labradoodle puppy, recently born of a mom rescued from a puppy mill. I think the Obamas should go for it. In related news, the Ringling Brothers have a new baby elephant, and they’ve named him Barack.
It appears that the Turritopsis [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Late Edition
Posted on January 24, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
A thousand pardons, animal fans. Due entirely to my own poor time management, I was super busy at work yesterday, and the critters fell by the wayside. Here they are now.
A cold snap in southern Florida caused the region’s iguanas to fall out of trees. When the temperature gets below 40 degrees, iguanas go into [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Obamacalypse Edition
Posted on January 16, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | 2 Comments
New baby gorilla at the National Zoo! Video footage shows mother and baby looking disturbingly human.
PETA successfully convinced a New York restaurant to free a 140-year-old lobster. Caught off the coast of Newfoundland, the 20-pound lobster will be returned to the ocean in Maine. In another campaign, PETA is pushing for the renaming of fish [...]
Carol’s Critter Corner: Cold Edition
Posted on January 9, 2009 by Carol- Filed Under Carol's Critter Corner | Leave a Comment
A hungry harbor seal sneaked into a fish hatchery on Cape Cod, where she proceeded to eat lots and lots of trout before being captured by the Cape Cod Stranding Network and sent back into the ocean where she belongs.
Flocke, the Nuremberg Zoo’s answer to Knut, has a new friend! The one-year-old polar bear, who [...]
