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Each Christmas, around the world billions of children sit quietly in their beds at night pondering one of life’s biggest mysteries about a fat man in a red suit; ‘what are the propulsion specs on Santa’s sleigh and what is the relative level of its fuel economy?’ OK, so maybe it’s only the engineering minded children who are wondering that. Still, it’s an important question to consider. We already have a clear answer to how much oil Santa’s sleigh needs to use for backup power in the event that Rudolph and his compatriots succumb to Crazy Reindeer disease (an analog...

Authorities say a toddler found nearly naked in a rainy California park was protected by a pack of dogs. A Victorville police sergeant called to Brentwood Park found the 2-year-old in the rain Wednesday morning. He was wearing only a dirty diaper and was surrounded by seven dogs. Police say they seemed protective of the boy. During their investigation, police said a dog tried to bite a sergeant and was shot. The dog is recovering.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit concluded Monday that police officers are justified in killing citizens’ pets — even if those animals are not attacking or attempting to attack them. Judges MOORE and CLAY (Circuit Judges), and HOOD (District Judge) heard an appeal from the plaintiffs Mark and Cheryl Brown, of Battle Creek, Michigan. The Browns filed a lawsuit against the BATTLE CREEK Police Department, the City of Battle Creek, and officers Jeffrey Case, Christof Klein, and Damon Young for the death of their beloved dogs at the hands of sadistic cops.

As he approached his 50th birthday, Steve Ludwin felt like he might finally be growing out of his long-term habit. For nearly 30 years, he has been injecting himself with snake venom out of sheer curiosity, despite receiving multiple warnings from researchers and medical experts the practice was extremely dangerous and could endanger his life. It instead took some severe bites from a snake – two in the past year – for Ludwin to begin understanding just how reckless his pastime could be. “The pain is like someone has taken a sledgehammer, smashed it on your hand and then holds...

COLUMBUS - The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is hosting a special event open to the public and for the celebration Colo - a famous western lowland gorilla who is turning 60. Tom Stalf, President and CEO of the Columbus Zoo said, “Colo has sent shock waves through the field of gorilla conservation since the day she was born.” He said “Before her, a gorilla had never been born in a zoo, and before her, so much less was known about gorilla care and welfare. It has been our honor to care for this charismatic and history-making gorilla, who has connected...

In 2016, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences added 133 new plant and animal species to our family tree, enriching our understanding of Earth's complex web of life and strengthening our ability to make informed conservation decisions. The new species include one bee fly, 43 ants, 36 beetles, one sand wasp, four spiders, six plants, 23 fishes, one eel, one shark, seven nudibranchs, five fossil urchins (and one fossil sand dollar), one coral, one skate, one African lizard, and an alarming new bird virus. More than a dozen Academy scientists -- along with several dozen international collaborators -- described...

Beneath "pounds" of matted fur laid a cat an animal defense league rescued last week. The Animal Rescue League and Wildlife Center in Pittsburgh shared Facebook photos of a cat brought into their clinic on Dec. 15 after its elderly owner moved into a nursing home. In the shocking photos taken before the medical team began shaving off "pounds" of fur, the cat laid beneath piles of "severe matting" or "dreadlocks." The rescue team estimated the cat had been "neglected for years."

On the first day of winter, Deimos and Misty have found a way to keep warm.

Roman Fedortsov is a deep sea fisherman in Russia. And he’s been taking photos of OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT? Seriously, I just took a quick three-minute scroll through Fedortsov’s Twitter page, and he has photos of ocean creatures that look like they’re from the most twisted Jim Henson movie ever produced.

A 26-year-old woman is in custody after returning home from a night of partying to find her 3-month-old daughter eaten by a group of large rats in Johannesburg, South Africa last weekend, according to The Sun. Noluthando Mtshali, whose family rented out a home to the mother, told The Sun that the woman frequently went partying.

With Christmas less than a week away many of us will be feeling our most festive - however, there are a few who are still struggling to get in the mood. While their owners celebrate the many joys that Christmas has to offer their pets are simply not playing ball. These hilarious pictures, compiled by Bored Panda, prove that some pets simply can't wait for Christmas to be over.

Tiger snake found in a woman's Christmas tree in Australia. (Provided by Barry Goldsmith of Snake Catcher Victoria Australia.) It probably wasn’t what she asked Santa for, but a woman in Australia got an early Christmas surprise in her tree this year. According to professional snake catcher Barry Goldsmith, a woman in Melbourne found a tiger snake intertwined with the tinsel on her Christmas tree on Sunday morning. “She’s didn’t panic, she just took a photo and sent it to the snake catcher, me, and 20 minutes later I had the little bugger in a bag,” Goldsmith wrote on...

A visitor to a South African national park captured the moment a group of white rhinoceroses charged at the tour group, sending the visitors running for the bushes. The video, filmed Wednesday in Kruger National Park, shows the tour group and two rangers approaching a crash of white rhinos. The rhinos notice the tourists nearby and apparently feel threatened, leading them to charge toward the humans. A ranger can be hard shouting "Get in the bush," and the tourists comply, causing the rhinos to run right past them. "I could feel the ground moving like an earthquake, we jumped into...

Accident occurred as man was trying to disarm crossbow after a day of deer huntingA man accidentally shot himself in the chest with a crossbow while he was hunting with a group of people in the Marlborough Forest on Sunday night, according to Ottawa paramedics. It happened at about 6 p.m. Sunday in the woods near Dwyer Hill Road and Roger Stevens Drive, north of Merrickville, Ont., and south of Richmond, Ont. The 45-year-old man was trying to disarm the crossbow after a day of deer hunting when he accidentally shot himself, paramedics said. His friends helped him to the...

All a cute, curly haired 10-year-old girl named Gayla Peevey wanted for Christmas in 1953 was a hippopotamus. And amazingly enough, after "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" became the biggest hit song of that holiday season, she actually got one, a 700-pound baby named Matilda. She promptly donated it to the Oklahoma City Zoo, where it lived to be nearly 50, a ripe old age for hippos. As for Peevey's song, it may never die. "That one just really took off, and it's still going strong, stronger than ever. Sixty-three years later! Hard to believe," Peevey, an ebullient woman...

This video exclusively stars Freeper cats. For a free download of "Lucky Cat" click here, click on More, and choose Download. Greg Lake RIP.

Not the world's most exciting cat video, but nevertheless a cat video.

Marine biologists working off the coast of Australia have observed orca whales hunting and killing rare beaked whales—a behavior never before seen in the predatory species. Scientists have seen orcas hunt an assortment of prey, including fish, seals, dolphins, and even the calves of large whales. But beaked whales? That’s a completely new hunting behavior, one that appears to be unique to orcas living near Bremer Bay in southwest Australia. For the past two years, a research team led by Rebecca Wellard of Curtin University in Perth has accompanied commercial whale-watching boats to catch a glimpse of orca whales in...

Josh Robb captured video of a large shark, possibly a great white, savaging a sea lion or seal near Hammond at the mouth of the Columbia on Saturday while crabbing. The video is low quality but contains unmistakable and unforgettable images of the shark attack. The audio portion includes some very salty language, so turn the volume down if you’re offended by cussing.

A British father has abandoned his attempt to become the first person to swim the Atlantic Ocean. Ben Hooper, 38, said it would have been "foolhardy" to try and carry on with his near 2,000 mile challenge after his support vessel suffered damage during a storm. Mr Hooper, from Cheltenham, Gloucs, left Dakar in Senegal, on the west coast of Africa on November 13 to swim to Brazil's Natal - a distance of 1,883 miles. In that time he swam 87 miles after losing 15 days' swimming to a combination of poor weather, medical problems after being stung by a...