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The SPCA and police are still puzzled about why three squirrels were nailed to a wooden fence in a University Park neighborhood. The dead squirrels were found Dec. 23, pinned by their shoulders to the fence, which lines an alley near University Boulevard and Hillcrest Road. Police say they're limited in what they can do because they're not sure whether a crime was committed. "Domesticated animals, such as dogs or cats, are protected by the animal-cruelty law," University Park police Officer Lita Snellgrove said. "Squirrels aren't part of that."

Eastpointe Squirrel Feeder Faces Charges Again Woman's Case Drew Widespread Attention In 2002POSTED: 10:00 am EST November 8, 2005 EASTPOINTE, Mich. -- The city of Eastpointe has hauled one of its better-known animal lovers back into court. Luminita Marinas (pictured, right), 65, faces criminal charges of setting out walnuts for squirrels near her home. She faces a maximum fine of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. In a case that drew widespread media coverage in 2002, Marinas pleaded guilty to littering for feeding squirrels. Marinas was placed on six months' probation and fined $250. City officials worked out...

It seemed like a good idea. Let a lone rat loose on a rodent-free island and then figure out how to kill it. That way, when other islands are invaded by rats, you'll know what to do. Scientists figured they'd trap this foot-long varmint in no time. Eighteen weeks later, they finally trapped it with some fresh penguin bait. On another island. Rodents are a problem just about everywhere. In New Zealand, at least 11 islands have been invaded by Norway rats since 1980, in each case after rats from earlier invasions had been eradicated. The invaders disrupt local ecosystems....

Defend your nuts: a parable on property rights and hippies Suppose you were a squirrel. You would work hard to find the biggest nuts, and then stash those large nuts in secret places. You'd only do so if you had a high degree of assurance that those nuts would be there, unrotted and ready to eat, when your life depended on them. You'd have to depend on other squirrels to not steal your nuts, and assure them that you would do likewise. Now suppose that a pack of liberal chinchillas, calling themselves the Friends of the Forest, came along preaching...

Up to 40,000 people are facing hunger in northern Nicaragua because rats have devoured their crops, officials say. The plague has affected Miskito Indian communities which live by the Rio Coco river on the country's Caribbean coast. Last week, the area - which is also regularly hit by flooding - was declared a disaster area, but the rats have yet to be exterminated. A UN team has visited the area to see how much aid is needed. Nicaragua is one of the world's poorest countries. The UN mission is due to release its findings in the capital, Managua, on Friday...

A Newcastle artist has gone into partnership with her pet gerbil on her latest artwork. Sally Madge's gerbil eating its way through a 1933 edition of the New Illustrated Universal Reference Book. The gerbil, which has no name, is just doing what comes naturally, building its nest, at Sally's home. But it is the unwitting star of an exhibition called A Gerbil's Guide to the Galaxy at Newcastle's Waygood Gallery. On display are remnants of the 72-year old book, an empty cage containing a nest of book fragments and a video webcast of the gerbil in action. Sally says she's...

'Oddball rodent' in Laos takes scientists by surprise By John Noble Wilford The New York Times THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005 They live in the forests and limestone outcrops of Laos. With long whiskers, stubby legs and a long, furry tail, they are rodents but unlike any seen before by wildlife scientists. They are definitely not rats or squirrels, only vaguely like a guinea pig or a chinchilla. And they often show up in Laotian outdoor markets being sold for food. There, visiting scientists came upon the animals and determined that they represented a rare find: an entire new family of...

Furry "pocket pets" like hamsters, mice and rats have sickened up to 30 people in at least 10 states with dangerous multidrug-resistant bacteria, health officials are warning. It is the first known outbreak of salmonella illness tied to such pets and reveals a previously unknown public health risk, officials said. Many of the victims were children; six were hospitalized for vomiting, fever and severe diarrhea. Some passed the illness to others. The germ they had was resistant to five drugs spanning several classes of antibiotics. "This is likely an underrepresentation of how large the problem is," because others who were...

Scientists at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History have discovered fossils of a mouse-size mammal that dug and burrowed in search of tasty insects during the Jurassic Age, 150 million years ago. The extinct species has been dubbed Popeye. Its tastes appeared to favor termites, not spinach as its cartoon namesake. But like the famous Sailor Man, this creature has massive forearms, an adaptation that helped it dig.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pet hamsters are a potential source of serious infection, U.S. health officials warned on Thursday. Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) (CDC) describe the case of a 3-year-old boy from Colorado who came down with tularemia after being bitten by a pet hamster. Tularemia is caused by the bug Francisella tularensis, which is one of the most infectious germs known and for that reason is considered a potential biologic terrorism agent. As outlined in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the boy's family purchased six hamsters...

A mouse loose in a Somerset County house may have escaped injury early Tuesday morning, but a woman who lives there wasn't as fortunate. State police at Somerset said 43-year-old Donald Eugene Rugg was attempting to shoot the rodent with a .22-caliber handgun inside the home he shares with 35-year-old Cathy Jo Harris, along Chicken Bone Road, in Lower Turkeyfoot Township, shortly after midnight. As he fired the weapon, Harris reportedly walked into the path of the discharged round and was struck in the right arm with birdshot.

Eliot Spitzer may believe he is a hero to the common man. He certainly loves to embark on the highly visible crusade. The medieval imagery is suitable, in this case, because his latest stroke of genious may bring back one of the worst features of medieval European History; vermin-bourne illness. His brilliance is described as follows: THE next time you see rats roaming around public housing units in New York City, think of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. He and a handful of his colleagues in other states are working hard to make the city's public housing safe — for rats,...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. SALT LAKE CITY - It's tiny, with a long tail, two sets of whiskers and powerful jaws. And it may just be the newest species of mouse, found on a Philippine island by a group of researchers that included a Utah man. Eric Rickart, the Utah Museum of Natural History's curator of vertebrates, said the 15-gram rodent with a 4-inch tail and strong, sharp toes is unlike any other mouse found on any Philippine island. "We were lucky to catch it," he said. After a month of study from late April...

<p>As part of an ambitious effort to identify genes that cause disease in dogs and humans, scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle analyzed DNA collected from 414 dogs representing 85 breeds, including some of the most popular. The findings have sent reverberations though the ranks of dog fanciers, who primp and preen their beloved companions for shows and take great pride in their pedigrees.</p>

PEARISBURG, Va. (AP) -- A cargo van filled with cages carrying more than 700 gerbils, rats, mice and other rodents overturned Thursday, sending the animals scurrying onto a highway and sparking a bizarre large-scale rescue of the small animals. The accident occurred when the van, driven by Thomas Marcinko of Zanesville, Ohio, hit an icy patch of U.S. 460 and ran off the left side of the road, hit a guardrail, overturned and slid onto the shoulder. The animals, being transported in plastic cages, made a break for freedom. "We caught probably 20 or 25 outside the vehicle. We caught...

<p>Whenever there is a discussion of energy policy, many environmentalists and their political allies tout wind power as an alternative to burning fossil fuels. Even if electricity from wind power is more expensive than conventional fuel sources, and it is, wind advocates argue its environmental benefits are worth it. In particular, proponents claim increased reliance on wind power would reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.</p>

It happens every year in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. On February 2, members of the Groundhog Club adorned with top hats and tails, surround the home of Punxsutawney Phil one of the most famous rodents of the world. More than just a tourist attraction, there are people that really do believe if Phil the groundhog sees his shadow we will suffer though six more weeks of winter. Phil is just one example. All across the world there are ceremonies just like the one in Punxsutawney — ceremonies, where people trust animal behavior to indicate the future. Move over, Phil! You've spawned a...

BRASSTOWN, N.C. -- For the past 12 years, on New Year's Eve, this Appalachian town has lowered a possum in a Plexiglas cage from the roof of a gas station at the stroke of midnight. It is called the Possum Drop, and hundreds of people pack downtown Brasstown to see it. This time, Baby New Year was awfully still. And as the crowd soon learned, this possum wasn't just playing possum. It was roadkill. With just hours to go before the festivities, Clay Logan, host of the Possum Drop, said he got a call from a national animal rights organization...

The State Department threatened by the rats The diplomats of the American State Department have to prepare to drive back an invasion of rats and mouse which, according to an internal memo, could break in a building of the seat in work. "Unfortunately, of work (in a wing of the building) temporary openings in the external walls caused which are easy access roads for small rodents", it is underlined in this note which was distributed to the diplomats in Washington. "Even if it (State Department) has an internal service of fight against the noxious animals using the least possible...

SAN DIEGO -- A North County man faces possible prison time for allegedly raising 35,000 rats in cruel and filthy conditions. Peter Springer of Encinitas, Calif., will be arraigned next month on a felony charge of inflicting needless suffering and cruelty to the rodents, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Springer, 62, was co-owner of a company called Rats R Us. The company operated for nearly a decade on 1.5 acres on Union Street near Saxony Road. It sold rats to pet stores and zoos, mostly as food. Prosecutors decided to file charges after animal control officers inspected the rat-breeding...