Free Republic

“If I were a cat, there would be no better place to live than Disneyland.” - Taylor Roberts, a freelance writer who still remembers his first sighting at the park: a cat darting across a path in Fantasyland A Disneyland spokesman declined to comment on the four-legged inhabitants of the carefully manicured resort, except to acknowledge that they exist, and a woman darted away without revealing her identity when caught feeding one of the favorite felines. But the theme park has been known to care for the cats, who reciprocate by keeping the mice and other rodents at bay. It's...

Timelapse of sunworshipping pussy cats: View post on imgur.com

PHUKET: If you wish to help an elephant in Phuket, jump onto its back. Ride it. Buy it some bananas or sugar cane. If this seems a little demeaning to the elephant, remember its meagre alternatives; begging or going hungry. In Phuket elephants are sometimes seen in the streets, performing tricks to entertain people, begging and even going to sleep hungry. The elephants that carry tourists on short treks through the forest - and get sufficient to eat each day - are the lucky ones. These are not just animals in humiliation, they are beasts in real danger. Some experts...

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A van struck an alligator on I-10 East, police say, triggering an accident that left one man dead. The accident happened just after 4 a.m. Friday on I-10 East near Michoud Boulevard. Officers believe that a van was traveling eastbound in the center lane of the highway when the driver struck a 5-foot alligator on the road. The van came to a complete stop after hitting the alligator and was rear-ended by a second vehicle, New Orleans police say. The driver of the second vehicle, identified only as a Mississippi man, was killed in the accident....

A 55-year-old woman was shot dead by villagers, who mistook her to be a wild boar that they were chasing from a nearby farm at Eravalam Madura Katchikuppam village near Thirukovilur on Tuesday evening. Police booked 16 villagers in connection with the incident and arrested six persons so far, including the man who shot the woman with a country-made gun. Local sources said Parvathy (55), wife of Subramanian of Katchikuppam village was diverting water at her sugarcane farm when a gang of villagers, who were chasing the boar saw it entering Subramanian's farm. The gang surrounded the farm in order...

Game wardens in Central Texas are trying to determine who killed an 11-foot alligator along the Lampasas River. The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department on Thursday announced the investigation in an area above the Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, near Belton. 400-Pound Gator Moved From Texas Pond to Preserve Authorities did not immediately provide additional information on when or how the alligator died or details on the carcass. Texas law requires alligator hunters to be licensed, have permission from the landowner and secure a tag purchased upon harvest of the animal. The alligator must be hunted during open season for the area,...

These incredible photos show the damage caused by a bird strike to a passenger plane. The Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Nevehir in Turkey was on approach to land when it was involved in a severe hit with a unlucky bird. There were 125 passengers on board the Boeing 737-800, and there were not believed to be any injuries suffered on the landing on Tuesday.

A team of researchers working in Italy has found that simply spraying a spider with a carbon nanotube solution can cause the spider to spin stronger webs. In their paper they have uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, the team describes their experiments with both graphene and nanotube solutions and what happened when they sprayed it on ordinary spiders. As the researchers note, while silk production using silkworms has been quite successful, doing the same to harvest silk from spiders has not, (because of their territorial traits, the complex nature of the silk they make and their cannibalistic tendencies) which...

Tusks or no tusks, wild pigs can be dangerous animals. Hunting them can be riskier than many sportsmen bargain for, and trying to wrestle one can be downright foolhardy. This trapper in East Texas found himself a bit out of his element as he tried to wrangle a large sow into a cage. Notice how the pig repeatedly went after his legs. Both male and female hogs use tusks for defense, and if this one had a set, no doubt it would have tried to gore the man. Thankfully, though, the trapper survived the event with little more than possibly...

Sign me up for a crying room if we get Obama-redux in 2016. Japan is already bracing for Progressive Doomsday. Sure we got campus Safe Zones but nothing like the comfy cozy niches that Japan offers the weak-kneed, faint of heart, reality-averse denizens of the new millennium. I might even need a cuddle cafe to calm my nerves. There are even exciting extra cost optionals allowing you to lock eyes with and hair-stroke your lady cuddlemate. Or I can wander into the Owl Cafe where I can be soothed by fluttering birds or go to Maidreamin where pretty girls dressed...

The court was told that the culprit had not slept for three days A 25-year-old Australian man, Nathan Thompson — who brutally bludgeoned to death nine puppies in March while high on meth — has been sentenced to 18 months in jail by a court in the eastern state of New South Wales. Thompson will serve at least a year of his sentence, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports. He is also banned for life from owning animals.

Officials rescued three abused pit bulls in the middle of an illegal dog fight this weekend taking place in a car wash in Paterson, New Jersey. One of the dogs, which was found bleeding and severely injured, has been given a 50/50 chance of living after being whisked away from the fighting pen on Friday. Four men have been arrested after the fight, including the ringleader and landlord who rented out the building. Officials rescued three abused pit bulls in the middle of an illegal dog fight this weekend taking place in a car wash in Paterson, New Jersey. One...

Two of my kitties had a squabble. I got it on video. It's a slow night. Have fun.

Don't give hillary any ideas..

This is too funny, a dog owner has trained her dog to lower the level of noise when it barks. http://faithtap.com/2870/dog-barks-softly/?v=1&m=1

Link only -- AP article.

SIERRA VISTA — A week after an aggressive bear resulted in the closure of Huachuca Canyon on Fort Huachuca, the popular recreation area has reopened after the animal was put down by authorities. Last Thursday, April 23, a brown bear followed and charged hikers in the canyon and later approached cyclists. Initially, fort officials opted to close the canyon to vehicles, hikers and other visitors in the hope that the bear would move on, as other problem bears have done in the past. However, the ongoing aggressive nature and lack of fear of humans necessitated the bear be put down...

A Michigan State University professor was part of an international team of scientists that has discovered a new bird in China. The new bird, the Sichuan bush warbler, resides in five mountainous provinces in central China. The discovery, shared in the current issue of Avian Research, notes that the bird shunned the limelight by hiding in grassy, scrubby vegetation over the years. However, its distinctive song eventually gave it away, said Pamela Rasmussen, MSU integrative biologist, assistant curator at the MSU Museum and co-author on the paper. "The Sichuan bush warbler is exceedingly secretive and difficult to spot as its...

A lost dog and her owner -- who have been living over 1,000 miles apart -- are reuniting after two years thanks to the animal's microchip. Animal rescuers received a call Monday about a dog living in an abandoned house on Long Island. When rescuers arrived at the Medford home, they found the dog living among urine and feces, apparently abused and mistreated. The dog was brought to Save-A-Pet animal rescue center and her story was posted on Facebook. A day later, a woman called and said the dog, named Jessie, was hers and that she had been searching for...

A stranded sea lion pup nicknamed “Rubbish” was walking along a San Francisco sidewalk Thursday morning in what marine mammal rescuers fear could be the “new normal” of a warming Pacific Ocean. The pup was seen waddling about in the Marina District along Divisadero Street before someone spotted the unusual sight and called it in about 7 a.m., according to Laura Sherr, a spokeswoman for the center. Sherr said the male pup was captured by net, put into a doggie-style crate and was whisked off for follow-up care at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. Rubbish is one of 1,800...