pets
grrlscientist | November 11, 2008tags: pets, cutest kitten in the world, streaming video
Squeeeeee!! This video shows the cutest kitten in the entire world. No, seriously. If you watch this video and remain unaffected by the cuteness of this kitten, I think you are a prime candidate for psychiatric evaluation [3:01].
grrlscientist | November 9, 2008tags: pets, silly cat, streaming video
This video proves that Japanese cats can be just as .. erm, "furry" as American cats. Oh, yeah, and they can be just as silly as American cats, too. In fact, with a cat like this as a pet, who needs a TV? [1:32].
grrlscientist | November 4, 2008tags: Ringnecked parakeet, Rose-Ringed Parrot, Psittacula krameri, talking parrot, parrots, behavior, streaming video
This video shows Tajj, a male Ringneck parakeet talking with his human. Ring-necked parakeets are also known as Rose-Ringed Parrots, Psittacula krameri, due to the colorful ring on the males' neck. There are four subspecies, distinguished mostly by size, that originate from regions in both India and Africa. This is a sweet video that shows the affection that can develop between a parrot and his human [1:17]
grrlscientist | November 1, 2008tags: Indian Ringneck parakeet, Rose-Ringed Parrot, Psittacula krameri, talking parrot, parrots, behavior, streaming video
This video shows an unnamed male blue color variant of the Indian Ringneck parakeet talking (this species is usually green in color), also known as a Rose-Ringed Parrot, Psittacula krameri, This species has different markings by gender, since adult males have a colorful ring on their neck, while females do not. This is a very talented species of parrot when it comes to talking, and they are quite long-lived too. In the background, you can hear some finches buzzing and a…
grrlscientist | October 30, 2008tags: Riley, talking parrot, Eclectus roratus, parrots, behavior, streaming video
This video shows a conversation with a pet eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus, named Riley. He is very talented, with a large and varied repertoire as well as a nice "voice." I also live with an eclectus, a female Solomon Islands eclectus named Elektra, and I can attest to their talent as talkers. This species of parrot is color-coded by gender: males are emerald green while females are scarlet red [4:33]
grrlscientist | October 25, 2008tags: Weewoo The Talking Starling, Sturnis vulgaris, birds, behavior, pets, streaming video
Mozart had a pet starling whom he thought of as his musical companion. When his bird died, he had a funeral for him and invited his friends. This video should give you an appreciation for how talented these birds are as mimics [3:15]
sporte | October 23, 2008This video from WDSU shows Mr. Green Genes, the transgenic kitty, in the dark and in the light.
There's also an interview with Dr. Betsy Dresser, who very briefly talks about the work at the Audubon Center for Research on Endangered Species.
Other than clips of the cat, and Dr. Dresser, the video mostly shows people taking frozen samples out of liquid nitrogen, but there's an interesting bit towards the end where they show a pipette transferring material into the nucleus of an egg cell. Mr. Green Genes is certainly a cute cat.
You can see more pictures from the Times Picayune: here and…
sporte | October 22, 2008I've heard that all cats are grey in the dark, but I guess that's no longer true in New Orleans. Scientists at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species have made a cloned kitty that glows lime green.
Some of you already know my fascination with glowing fish, fluorescent cats, and cloned puppies. This New Orleans cat is interesting too, partly, because it's the first transgenic cat made in this country, and partly because of the work that ACRES has been doing to try and rescue endangered species.
ACRES has made the headlines before. Dr. C. Earle Pope and Dr. Martha Gomez,…
grrlscientist | October 12, 2008tags: Seattle Washington, Biology Department Greenhouse, University of Washington, poison dart frogs, Dendrobates, Dendrobatidae
Captive-bred Dyeing Poison Dart frog, Dendrobates tinctorius, from the Guianas of northeastern South America.
Image: GrrlScientist 29 September 2008 [larger view].
This is part two of my UW Biology Department greenhouse photoessay. In part one, I showed you seedpods and a lot of flowers (some of which need to be identified), but in this, the second and last part, I am focusing on The Surprise I kept telling you about. As you can see, the surprise discovery I…
grrlscientist | September 22, 2008tags: cats, pets, humor, funny, streaming video
This is a hilarious video of common ordinary cats being .. well, cats! It's humorous way to start your work week! [4:23]
sporte | August 14, 2008Every year people adopt pet dogs, cats, birds, and other creatures and take them to their local veterinarians for all the usual vaccinations and exams. The usual vaccinations protect your pets from diseases like rabies, distemper, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, and Feline Leukemia. But it's not just pets that get protected by vaccines. Agricultural creatures: fish, chickens, sheep, cows, pigs, and horses receive vaccines and increasingly, wild animals are getting vaccinated, too.
One example comes from the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. They are looking at ways to…
grrlscientist | July 6, 2008tags: emergency pet care, hospitals, companion pet issues
Elektra is one of the survivors.
My companion female Solomon Islands eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 April 2008 [larger view].
I want to talk about something that has bothered me ever since I spent nearly five months in the hospital: what happens to your companion animals when you are suddenly not there to take care of them? If you live alone and don't have a local support system, as is true for me, then this is a very real problem, as I became painfully aware of nearly two years ago.…
grrlscientist | July 4, 2008tags: companion parrots, Solomon Islands eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis, hawk-headed parrot, red fan parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus accipitrinus, Friday Parrot Blogging
Elektra (left), a 5-year old female Solomon Islands eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis, and
Orpheus (right), a 1-year old male hawk-headed (red fan) parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus accipitrinus.
Images: GrrlScientist 4 July 2008
[Elektra, larger view and Orpheus, larger view].
Orpheus, especially, is camera-shy, and always manages to turn his head or turn his back on me when the camera comes out.…
sporte | June 16, 2008Pet cloning is back!
Pets are funny things. Some owners find their pets to be closer than some human friends, other owners never really bond with their pets at all.
BioArts, a California biotech company, founded by ex-CEO of the now defunct Genetic Savings & Clone, is counting on the strength of those human-dog emotional bonds .
I've had several pets during the course of my life; dogs, cats, fish, scorpions, spiders, frogs, turtles, gerbils, and a hermit crab. Some pets were really easy to train and live with and some - well, let's just say some were more challenging. So, I…
grrlscientist | May 21, 2008tags: pets, insects, beetles, coleoptera, hercules beetle, neptune beetle
Male Hercules beetle, Dynastes hercules hercules,
from South America. This is a popular pet throughout Asia, especially in Japan.
Orphaned image.
What constitutes a pet? Different people keep pets for different reasons, although I'll guess that companionship is likely the top reason for keeping pets. While I do enjoy the companionship of my pets, I enjoy keeping interesting animals as pets, and that means that, in addition to the large variety of mammals, birds, fishes and the few reptiles, amphibians and…
grrlscientist | May 15, 2008tags: golden hamster, pets, behavior, humor, streaming video
I love hamsters. In this streaming video, we get to see something that I loved to do with my pet golden hamster, Caesar, when I was a kid; I would see how much food he could stuff into his face. I would actually count the number of seeds he crammed in there. Watching this video makes me want to get .. you guessed it .. another hamster! AIIEEE! [2:07].
grrlscientist | May 6, 2008tags: National Pet Week 2008, companion pets, birds, parrots
Orpheus, preening his feathers.
Hawk-headed (red fan) parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus accipitrinus
(if you look closely, you can see a pale bare spot where the feathers that cover his ear are located).
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
In honor of National Pet Week, and in response to one of my readers, I am writing a little about what makes a parrot a good pet, because I wrote an essay about some of the drawbacks of living with a parrot.
So please keep in mind that describing why a parrot makes a good pet is much like…
grrlscientist | May 5, 2008tags: National Pet Week 2008, companion pets, birds, parrots
Odysseus, screaming his fool head off.
Yellow-bibbed lory, Lorius chlorocercus
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
Okay, as I promised yesterday, I am going to write a series of articles about parrots as pets. Even though I have lived with, bred, raised, trained and researched a variety of birds, I am focusing on parrots as pets because they are generally what people think of first when they talk about pet birds.
The first thing to consider before you ever add a parrot to your household is whether a parrot would make a…
grrlscientist | May 4, 2008tags: National Pet Week 2008, companion pets, birds, parrots
It seems that every day of the week, every week and month of the year are set aside to commemorate something or other. But this week should be special to millions of Americans because it is National Pet Week. National Pet Week was set aside to celebrate the more than 172 million pets that live in the United States, to honor the strong bond that exists between people and their pets, and to recognize how animals, especially our pets, enrich our lives.
American National Pet Week this year is May 4-10 (the UK dedicated an entire month…
grrlscientist | May 1, 2008tags: eclectus, Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis, parrots, birds, photograph
Elektra.
Female Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis, April 2008.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
Last night, I was feeling rather depressed, so instead of writing, I watched The Golden Compass on DVD with my parrots. I crawled into bed and under the covers because it was cold, and Orpheus sat in front of my laptop screen, watching the movie while Elektra snuggled down on my side and pulled the blankets around herself into a cup nest there. She made…