Pet Scoop: Loyal Dog Protects Missing Toddler, Baboon Gets Personal With TV Reporter
Published on September 27, 2013
Sept. 27, 2013: We've scoured the Web to find the best and most compelling animal stories, videos and photos. And it's all right here.
Missing Boy Found With Dog
It was dinnertime on Tuesday when Brandi Mumaw realized her two-year-old son, Jakob Heintzelman, had disappeared from his Virginia home with their dog, Chance. Mumaw immediately called the police because she knew it would be getting dark soon. After a 10-hour search, a sheriff’s deputy and his bloodhound located the boy and his yellow Labrador Retriever, who’d stayed by Jakob’s side the whole time, at 4 a.m. Because the two were only about ½ mile from their home, Mumaw believes Chance could hear her calling for him but didn’t want to leave little Jakob. “He was indeed protecting him,” she said. — Watch it at Life With Dogs
Clinton Pushes Plan to Save Elephants
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea on Thursday announced the Clinton Global Initiative’s 3-year, $80 million effort to protect African elephants from being poached for their valuable ivory. "Unless the killing stops, African forest elephants are expected to be extinct within 10 years. I can't even grasp what a great disaster this is ecologically, but also for everyone who shares this planet," said the potential presidential candidate. The leaders of six African nations joined the Clintons at the event, pledging their cooperation. — Read it from the AP via Yahoo
Mice Sing to Avoid Fights
Two species of singing mice who live in the cloud forests of Central America establish their territory and avoid battles with each other by belting out tunes. The Alston’s singing mouse and the Chiriqui singing mouse use vocalizations that are barely audible to humans to ward off rivals and attract mates within their own species, but new research shows that their high-pitched songs work across the two species as well. Dominant Chiriqui males sing in response to potential intruders of both species, while Alston’s mice, who are smaller, will stop singing and flee if they hear the song of the Chiriqui mice, to avoid confrontation. The study was published in The American Naturalist.— Read it at Live Science
Baboon Gropes Reporter on Air
During a live shot from the Lodi Grape Festival earlier this month, Mickey the baboon got a little extra friendly with Sabrina Rodriguez, a reporter for Fox 40 Sacramento. Right after his introduction, the monkey grabbed the reporter’s breast while he grinned at the camera. But Rodriguez took it all in stride, laughing, “He’s trying to cop a feel, a little bit.” Rodriguez, 29, is an Emmy Award winning reporter who covers northern California. The festival she was reporting on includes a “Wild About Monkeys” show that Mickey stars in. — Watch it at the U.K.’s Daily Mail
Huge Rubber Duckie Debuts in U.S.
Forty-foot yellow rubber ducks have appeared in harbors all over the world, but the first U.S. version of the duck will appear in Pittsburgh on Friday. The ducks are the creation of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, and each city builds its own inflatable using his plans. The massive duck has been built in secret for the last several months, and includes huge pontoons to inflate and deflate it. The duck will be moored in downtown Pittsburgh for most of the month of October as part of the city’s International Festival of Firsts. — See photos from AP via Yahoo
More on Vetstreet.com:
* Top 10 People-Pleasing Dog Breeds
