It would have never occurred to me that cats like banana peels.

Photo by theogeo.

This goat reminds me of a ballerina with how delicate it looks walking on the front legs.  From The Telegraph,

Yao said, at first, the little goat struggled to learn to walk on its two forelegs, falling to the ground time and time again. “It was so sad. It stood up then hit the ground, then again stood up and hit hard again. Simply looking at it doing that would make you suffer!” However, the goat didn’t quit and Yao decided to help it. Over the next month he helped to train the goat to stand on its forelegs and it eventually learnt how to walk on them.

The back legs of the goat had been run over when it was still a baby goat. Amazing!

The story about the exotic animals released in Zanesville, Ohio right before their owner killed himself is a tragic story, really.  Of the 56 animals released, 50 were killed and only six saved.  My sincere thanks to the Columbus Zoo for taking them in and my sympathy goes to the police officers who had to put the others down. Again, what a tragic day.

Here’s more information from The Columbus Dispatch,

The animals that were killed included 18 tigers, nine male lions, eight female lions, six black bears, three mountain lions, two grizzly bears, one baboon and two wolves, Sheriff Matt Lutz said. The escaped monkey poses a danger because it is infected with herpes, the sheriff said.

The sheriff said it is possible that the missing monkey was eaten by a large cat.

The owner of the farm, Terry Thompson, was found dead last night on his property. Authorities say Thompson opened the cage doors and cut the wires on the cages, then killed himself. He died from a gunshot wound. Lutz said Thompson’s body was “bothered” by the animals.

Forget about jumping the shark!  Riding sharks is much more realistic and exciting!  That’s what Doug Niblack did in Oregon when he went out to surf before work.  According to The Telegraph,

We lost our Pootster almost two years ago after she began having terrible seizures.  We were heartbroken when she passed, so definitely feel for Bill for his loss of “William.”  William was a good cat who lived to be 13 years old. Bill shares his memories,

He was one of three cats I inherited from my ex Jenny in 1998 just before we broke up. I took the entire litter of three cats which I named: Willy, Nilly, and Emma. Emma was the runt of the litter and is now the sole survivor. Nilly ran away after a few years. She was a wild one.

I loved Willy, referred to him as “my only son.”

Our sympathies to Bill in memory of William.

Not in a million years would I have suspected that aloe plants would be poisonous for cats.  I’d always heard poinsettias were bad for them, but who would have thought that aloe would cause the following symptoms in cats: Vomiting, depression, diarrhea, anorexia, tremors, change in urine color.

For a great guide to which plants are toxic to cats visit The Cat Is Out of the Bag,

So here is the epic list of plants that are toxic to cats. You can have roses in your house, that’s about it. Ok, that’s not literally the only plant that’s alright to have around Fluffy but it’s pretty darn close. Of course some cats couldn’t care less about nibbling on plants (like Nutmeg) but some chow down like it’s kitty Thanksgiving (like Gypsy). Note that not all toxic plants are created equal and ingestion does not necessarily warrant a trip to the animal emergency hospital.

Great great resource. Kudos!

Photo by Éamonn.

This great Pyrenees does not like bananas.  I guess his potassium must be in pretty good shape!

Photo by I Can Has Cheezburger.

I just love this photo.  Thanks to my Facebook friend Cece for sharing!

My best onomatopoeia for birds naming their chicks bird sounds are – apparently – squawk and peep!  Those names are better than some names I’ve heard for regular humans, but hey… who am I to judge what people name their babies?

Meanwhile, parrots do name their offspring as proven by Venezuelan scientists.  According to PopFi,

Thanks to video cameras pointed at the nests of green-rumped parrots in Venezuela, researchers from Cornell University discovered that parent parrots vocalize a specific chirp at each chick beginning soon after birth. Those specific name chirps are applied to that individual throughout its life. Like a human teen going from Edward to Ed, the chirp may be altered a bit later in the bird’s lifespan. The scientists believe the names allow the social birds to keep up with who is who within their flock.

That’s just kind of magical!