Oct. 30/2019

Feature:

Why Do Cats Cover Their Faces When They Sleep?

     “Your purring pal sure makes sleep look easy. She passes out on the back of the sofa, while sprawled out in the middle of the living room floor & even on top of that fresh basket of clean laundry. But one thing always makes you raise an eyebrow: She tends to cover her face while snoozing. This is just one of those little behaviors that virtually all cats do.

It’s Comfy

     Think of all the positions you sleep in. You may start out on your back with your arms by your side, but by the time morning rolls around, you're lying diagonal with one arm across your chest & the other one flung up over your head. It's comfortable for you -- plain & simple. Same thing applies in the feline world…because that happens to be the most comfortable position…

Built-In Sunglasses

     If you haven't already noticed, your fur ball will catch some z's anyplace it's warm. Kitties prefer sleeping where it's toasty & cozy. The downfall of zoning out on the rug & catching that one single beam of sun is that it goes right into her sensitive little eyes. Fortunately, her 2 front paws act like sunglasses when she covers her face, shielding her eyes from the sun's painfully bright rays.

Security

     Cats need to feel secure at all times. That's not an easy task during a snooze session… Burying her head in a dark secure spot, gives her a sense of security. She doesn't always feel like hiding under something though -- sometimes she just wants to sleep in her favorite wide-open spot on the couch. The only thing she can do for security is cover her face. It may not look safe, but she feels fully protected.

Too Tired to Move

     Your high-maintenance ball of fur spends roughly 1/3 of her waking hours grooming herself, PAWS Chicago explains. That's a lot of work to stay clean & pretty. So naturally, she gets warn out easily. During her grooming session, she could start to zone out from pure exhaustion while cleaning her face. So her paw just lands right there, over her eyes, because making the extra effort to move it back down towards her body takes too much effort.”

                                                   

Ryan Tronier

 Cuteness.com

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Minette (2012) RIP

Oct. 23/2019

Feature:

Pugs Can Be ‘Busy Little Lunatics

   “It’s the pug’s world & we’re just living in it. A new documentary set to air on CBC probes the craze for these flat-faced fur balls. Directed by Michael McNamara & Aaron Hancox, Pugly: A Pug’s Life tells the story of 3 rescue pugs as they find their forever homes.

     ‘Pugs are hipster dogs,’ says Blanche Axton, a foster coordinator at pugalug Pug Rescue in Toronto. ‘So often people will get a pug only to discover that they can be pretty busy little lunatics.’

     The documentary follows Gunner, a pug getting ready for adoption. Instagram star Miss Pickles shows the glamorous side of pug life. And Titus, a pug with a congenital  condition, reveals that the breed often has serious medical conditions…”

Maggie Parkhill

The Gazette, Montreal

Jan. 7/2019

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Oct. 16/2019

Feature:

Bovine & Feelin’ Fine

   “…Bella & Bonnie are therapy cows living on Mountain Horse Farm, a 33 acre bed & breakfast near the Finger Lakes area of New York. People are welcome to brush, pet, lay with, or talk to the 2 cows for US $75 an hour.

   Known as ‘cow cuddling’, it’s supposed to generate feelings of relaxation & calmness. The animals weren’t trained to be therapy cows- it’s just their personalities, according to the B & B’s website. The pair was purchased last year because of their gentle demeanour & distinct lack of horns, say co-owners Rudi & Suzanne Vullers, his wife. She’s a trained animal therapist focusing on horses.

   The Dutch native discovered ‘koe knuffelen’, or cow hugging, on a return visit 2 years ago…”

Postmedia News

In The Gazette, Montreal

Aug. 17/2019 

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Oct. 9/2019

Feature:

Granby Zoo Jaguar Cubs Living the Easy Life

   “Life appear easy for the pair of jaguar cubs at the Granby Zoo.

   Since being born Aug. 6, the cubs have had one responsibility: to be each other’s playmate. They spend the rest of the day sleeping or having the scruffy black spots along their dark gold fur cleaned by their mother, Taiama, who’s trying to keep them spotless.

   The cubs…have been under the care of their mother in an isolated nesting area, as she raises them without the interference of her male partner, Kuwan, or the zoo’s facility members…

   ‘We need to continue to increase genetic diversity,’ says Shannon Ferrell, the chief of veterinary services at Granby Zoo…

   Jaguars are ‘near endangered’ because of poaching & deforestation…in such places as the Amazon.

   According to the World Wildlife Fund, their ‘range has decreased by half in the last 100 years…resulting in reduced & even extinct jaguar populations in some countries.’

   In Canada, there are 11 jaguars in 4 zoos. Granby…is among 236 zoos that are certified under the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, allowing them to participate in Special Species Programs to aid reproduction of certain animals…

   Breeding jaguars isn’t easy, Ferrell says, because you need a pair that is compatible, but don’t share similar genetics. That’s the case for Taiama, 7, & Kuwan, 6, who also produced a litter in 2015…

   The most recent cubs are the 43^rd & 44^th to be born at the Granby Zoo since 1977. They’ll eventually be sent elsewhere, just like the pair in 2015, who were sent to zoos in Palm Beach & Philadelphia…

   Before the cubs go out to start their own families, they’ll be under their mother’s care for at least a year.

   Guests can see them through a live feed beside their indoor enclosure. Ferrell says the cubs won’t go outside till at least the 12-week mark…

   The zookeepers haven’t touched the cubs. Instead they monitor the video feed, because a human scent could alarm Taiama…At the 6-to 8- week mark, the zoo will perform physical assessments, confirm their genders, & vaccinate to prevent such diseases as canine distemper.

   …When Taiama needs to exercise, the zookeepers open her door, leading to an underground enclosure that can be seen by the public through a window…

   To understand the species, the Granby Zoo collaborates with the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary & Jaguar Preserve in Belize, which aims to protect the animals & their environment.

   The jaguar can live in various ecosystems. They’ve been seen in Arizona’s deserts, but they’re most commonly found in tropical forests such as throughout the Amazon…

   ‘Zoos are unfortunately becoming the last stronghold of animal diversity,’ says Ferrell. ‘Our jaguars won’t enter the wild. But when the necessity is really there to have more in the wild, hopefully we’ll have built up the genetic diversity to help.’”

Bryan Meler

Postmedia News

In The Gazette, Montreal

Aug. 31/2019          

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Oct. 2/2019

Feature:

Is Fido Smarter Than the Average Human?

   “Dogs are not that bright after all. So says a team from Exeter & Canterbury Christ Church universities, which has found that dogs are no better than pigs at identifying humans by their smell, no better than goats at following human pointing & no better than pigeons at remembering things…

   As the owner of 2 greyhounds, Velvet & Dash, all I can say is this: tell me something I don’t know…

   Dash is so stupid he doesn’t even know he’s not human. He sighs when he settles himself on the sofa. He tries to join in conversations…If my wife, an interior designer, is doing a photo shoot, he’ll make sure he’s in the shot & cross his paws daintily as if to say ‘Ready for my close-up now, Mr. DeMille.’

   He treats going to the vet as though he were a minor royal on a visit, marching into the surgery, lying on the floor & raising a paw to signal that he’s ready.

   When he barks the house down at 4 in the morning & I go downstairs to let him out, he honestly thinks I’m as pleased to see me. Out walking in a field, he’ll run around & round in circles at top speed while Velvet watches him with a winning mixture of pity & disdain.

   …She’ll stand by an open door & look as though she’s forgotten not just where she was going but the entire rationale behind the concept of doors themselves. In the 6 years she’s lived with us, she’s never been upstairs once…

   Needless to say, none of this matters. They’re loyal, & warm, & funny, & loyal. Besides, intelligence comes in many forms. Like all dogs, they’re incredibly emotionally intelligent. They know when you’re down, & know, too, the value of simple touch, to nuzzle up to you & comfort you with their presence.

   We may have given Velvet & Dash the love they never got in the first period of their lives (they’re both rescue dogs), but the love we’ve got back from them has been many times that.

   …Dash can perform complex calculus, in order to work out precisely where in the kitchen to lie, & in what configuration, in order to cause maximum inconvenience to those preparing Sunday lunch.

   He’s also indulgent of me calling him the same name over & over again: Hoozagoodboy…

   Come to think of it, he & Velvet get to sleep whenever they like, are fed twice a day, & watered, & loved, & generally have nothing to do other than please themselves, while their owners run around working, paying bills, cooking, cleaning, washing & so on.

   Who are the stupid ones now? In my next life, I want to come back as a greyhound- clearly in every way a higher form of being.”

Boris Starling

London Daily Telegraph

In The Gazette, Montreal

Oct. 25/2018       

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