Across Southern California, the 5.4 earthquake rattled furry nerves and ruffled feathers–literally.
“My birds felt it first,” reported one reader. “They were all fluffy and upset a few seconds before it happened.”
In Chino Hills, the epicenter of the quake, Alissa Sissung’s 10-year-old daughter, Delaney, was spending the day at a horse camp not far from her [...]
A year after billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley bequeathed $12 million to her dog, Trouble, thousands of California cats and canines may soon be in the money too — though perhaps not so deep — thanks to a measure signed Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The bill the governor signed into law provides for enforcement of “pet [...]
Continue reading about Schwarzenegger signs bill to protect pet trusts
In a study of free-living and parasitic species in three estuaries on the Pacific coast of California and Baja California, a team of researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, the United States Geological Survey, and Princeton University has determined that parasite biomass in those habitats exceeds that of top predators, in some cases [...]
A hawk was found dead along a California highway with the claw of a songbird protruding from its chest.
It’s not clear, however, if the partially digested meal, one claw somehow managing to get back out from a terribly wrong location, had anything to do with the hawk’s death.
On the evening of Sunday, March [...]
Continue reading about Did eaten songbird claw its way through hawk?
Everyone agrees that coyotes — at least two of them — have recently been preying on the scores of feral cats that have lived for decades on the sprawling campus of Cal State Long Beach.
The dispute is over which animals should have to go.
University officials say the cats are attracting the coyotes, and it is [...]
Continue reading about Turf battle at Cal State Long Beach pits cats against coyotes
As The Times noted earlier this year, pinnipeds have a way of getting themselves into some unexpected places. Above, those are two elephant seals near San Simeon, just off California 1. In a story with the unbeatable headline “Where Blubber Meets the Road,” Catherine Saillant described how the elephant seals somehow worked their way onto [...]
Continue reading about Wrangling wandering sea lions and elephant seals
Researchers in California and New Hampshire report the first detailed characterization of the protein composition of the hard, fang-like jaws of a common marine worm. Their work could lead to the design of a new class of super-strong, lightweight materials for use as construction and repair materials for spacecraft, airplanes, and other applications.
In the [...]
Continue reading about Marine Worm’s Jaws Say ‘Cutting-edge New Aerospace Materials’
A dog that sniffed out survivors from under the rubble of New York’s World Trade Center after the 2001 terror strikes is to be cloned, the California-based firm conducting the procedure said.
Trakr, a German shepherd who lives with his owner James Symington in Los Angeles, was picked by BioArts International as the most [...]
Continue reading about 9/11 canine hero to be cloned in California lab
Critics pounced on the concept of part-time pooches during a City Council hearing yesterday, backing Boston’s proposed ban on pet rentals.
But the founder of Flex- Petz, a San Diego firm eyeing an expansion of its canine membership club to the Hub, bit in to those who are blasting her business.
“The strong objection to us comes [...]
