In 2008, American pet owners spent $43 billion on their animals. Walk into any pet store and it is easy to see how — $60 brushes, $200 designer cat scratchers, $450 midcentury dog beds. But the market for pet gadgets has been dismal, in large part because of the abundance of novelty goods that are more expensive than practical. I mean, who needs a gizmo that can translate your dog’s barks? Read...

photo credit: ~crystalina~ An Australian kangaroo shot through the head with an arrow is expected to make a full recovery, wildlife officers say. The injured kangaroo was found on Thursday in parklands near Melbourne's outer suburb, where it is believed to have survived for up to a week. Melbourne Zoo vet Michael Lynch says he will monitor the kangaroo for the next three weeks but remains optimistic... Read...

photo credit: Axel Rouvin How do ant colonies manage the nutrients in their food? Audrey Dussutour from the Centre de recherche sur la cognition animale (CNRS/Université Paul Sabatier) and Steve Simpson from Sydney University have shown that an ant colony functions like a “collective mouth and gut”. The members of a colony are capable of dealing with the nutritional needs of their social structure...

Birds or Plane? I love seeing depictions of animals in art and pop culture. I think bringing wildlife and pets into our life, even if it is just in photographs or pictures, helps us remember that we're not automatons who always require a connection to Twitter and XBox Live and the Internet to survive - we're living, breathing, feeling organisms, who share a unique, vivacious planet with billions...

photo credit: law_keven [...] On Thursday, the heifer — who evidently escaped from a Queens slaughterhouse on Wednesday before being corralled by police officers — was loaded on a trailer at a Brooklyn animal shelter and transported to her new home: a 60-acre organic farm in Calverton, in Suffolk County, where she can romp with a steer named Wexler and munch on organic hay... Read the full article...