Here’s a short, slow-motion clip of an owl in flight: Not so much about animal intelligence as it is about the beauty and grace of the animal kingdom.
{ 0 comments }
J.D. Roth
Though I suspect many of you have seen this by now, here’s a disturbing story from Coventry, England. Mary Bale was out for a walk when a cat jumped up to greet her. She petted the cat like any normal person would — but then she picked it up and threw it in the trash! [...]
{ 10 comments }
I’ve been swamped at my other sites making preparations for a long vacation, so I haven’t had a chance to share any animal stories, despite the fact that people are sending me them in droves. (Thanks for that, by the way.) However, I did want to take some time to respond to concerns raised in [...]
{ 3 comments }
I’ve always been fascinated by the similarities — and differences — between big animals and their domesticated counterparts. Take cats, for example. Do lions and tigers purr? (Answer: Sort of. Your neighborhood tabby purrs while inhaling and exhaling; big cats purr only when they breathe out.) And while I’ve been reading Animals in Translation, I’ve [...]
{ 9 comments }
My cat Toto is aging, and as she ages, her body is failing her. Mentally, she seems sharp, but after sixteen years, Toto’s hips are causing her obvious trouble. In fact, they make it so that she can’t use a litterbox effectively. She tries to squat, but mostly she just pisses out the back end [...]
{ 20 comments }
In the past, animals with birth defects and physical abnormalities didn’t stand a chance of survival. But modern medicine — and increased animal domestication — has given some of these critters a second leash on life. Here’s the story of Grace, the two-legged kitten. This local news story from April 2008 profiles Amazing Grace, a [...]
{ 2 comments }
Did you know that otters have to be taught to swim? These cute little critters aren’t born with an affinity for water. When they’re about a month old, their mother has to teach them to enter the water, to float, and then to swim. Here’s a video from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in which [...]
{ 1 comment }
If you’re one of those lucky folks who live in London (I love London), look out for a free photography exhibit next week at the Royal Geographic Society. From September 6th through 10th, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust will be displaying photos from three of the world’s best wildlife photographers: Joachim Schmeisser, Michael Nichols, and [...]
{ 0 comments }
Though Animal Intelligence will generally feature fun and interesting stories about animals and their behavior, not all of them will be quite so positive. Recently for Time magazine, Ishaan Tharoor compiled a list of animals that had been pressed into service for human wars. The Time article was spurred in part by reports that in [...]
{ 2 comments }
The San Jose Mercury News reports that a marmalade cat named Christopher seems to have a sixth sense. Christopher lives at the Nine Lives Foundation’s Feline Well-Care Clinic (that’s a mouthful!) and has the uncanny ability to sense when other cats are sick and hurting. From the article: [Christopher] will sit outside the cages of [...]
{ 1 comment }
What better way to kick off the re-launch of Animal Intelligence than a story of inter-species friendship? As long-time readers know (if there are still any long-time readers remaining), and as new readers will soon learn, I have a soft spot for stories about animal odd couples. A cat who is raised by a crow? [...]
{ 3 comments }
After two days of hard work, I’ve managed to massage Animal Intelligence into shape, I think. If you visit the site (as opposed to reading via e-mail or RSS), you’ll see that Animal Intelligence sports a new layout and a few new features in the sidebar. What you see here is just the start, and [...]
{ 2 comments }
