Free Republic 4th Qtr 2025 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $39,084
48%  
Woo hoo!! And we're now over 48%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless.

Pets/Animals (General/Chat)

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • Scientists Have Finally Figured Out Why Bee Colonies Overthrow Their Queens

    11/21/2025 7:23:50 AM PST · by Red Badger · 41 replies
    Scitech Daily ^ | University of British Columbia
    Queen bee standing on a supersedure cell (peanut-shaped structure, center). Within the supersedure cell is a new queen bee that the workers have reared as a replacement. Credit: Shelley Hoover ============================================================================ New research reveals how viral infections in queen bees disturb colony stability and pinpoints a specific pheromone that may help preserve unity and productivity within hives. It may sound like the plot of a medieval drama: a once-powerful ruler, weakened by illness, is overthrown by her own followers. In honey bee colonies, however, such dramatic power shifts are real—and they happen frequently, carrying both benefits and risks for the...
  • Study Reveals That Wild Chimps Consume a Surprising Amount of Alcohol Every Day

    11/20/2025 1:00:25 PM PST · by Red Badger · 31 replies
    Scitech Daily ^ | November 20, 2025 | Robert Sanders, University of California - Berkeley
    Two male chimpanzees eating the plum-like fruit of the evergreen Parinari excelsa tree at Taï National Park in the Ivory Coast in 2021. Credit: Aleksey Maro/UC Berkeley and Taï Chimpanzee Project ========================================================================= A survey measuring the ethanol levels in fruits consumed by chimpanzees suggests that these animals are regularly exposed to alcohol. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, conducted the first direct measurements of ethanol in fruits naturally available to chimpanzees across their African habitats. The findings suggest that the animals could ingest the equivalent of more than two standard alcoholic drinks per day through their fruit-based diet. While...
  • 14,400-Year-Old Paw Prints Are World's Oldest Evidence Of Humans Living Alongside Domesticated Dogs

    11/20/2025 11:37:28 AM PST · by Red Badger · 16 replies
    IFL Science ^ | November 20, 2025 | Benjamin Taub
    The dog may have protected its owners from bears. Exploring new caves during the Upper Palaeolithic was fraught with danger, which is why one group of ancient humans in Italy made sure to take their trusted four-legged companion with them when they stepped into the darkness. Analyzing the fossilized foot and paw prints left behind during this subterranean excursion, researchers say that these 14,400-year-old tracks represent the world’s oldest direct evidence of humans living alongside a domesticated dog. A total of 25 preserved canid prints were discovered in various chambers of the Grotta della Bàsura in northwest Italy. In some...
  • Washington man ‘severely ill’ with ‘unpredictable’ virus never before seen in humans (H5N5)

    11/20/2025 12:16:53 AM PST · by Libloather · 17 replies
    NY Post ^ | 11/18/25 | Tracy Swartz
    In a startling first, a Washington state man has been infected with a strain of bird flu previously only detected in animals. The “severely ill” man was hospitalized with a high fever, confusion and respiratory distress earlier this month and confirmed to have H5N5, a subtype of avian influenza carried by wild birds such as ducks and geese. The Washington State Department of Health described the unidentified patient as being “older” and having “underlying health conditions.” The agency noted that the man has a “mixed backyard flock of domestic poultry” at his home in Grays Harbor County, in the southwest...
  • Frozen 40,000-Year-Old Mammoth Reveals Shockingly Intact RNA and Hidden Genetic Secrets

    11/19/2025 7:22:33 AM PST · by Red Badger · 37 replies
    Scitech Daily ^ | November 19, 2025 | Stockholm University
    A new breakthrough shows that some of biology’s most fragile molecules can persist far deeper into the past than scientists ever imagined. By decoding ancient gene activity from Ice Age remains, researchers have opened a window into the real-time biology of long-extinct animals. Credit: Shutterstock =========================================================================== For the first time, researchers have uncovered Ice Age RNA preserved within permafrost mammoth tissue, offering a rare glimpse into real-time gene activity from tens of millennia ago. Researchers at Stockholm University have, for the first time ever, isolated and sequenced RNA molecules from woolly mammoths that lived during the Ice Age. The team...
  • Woman Is Lit on Fire on Chicago Train After Argument Escalates, Person of Interest in Custody

    11/19/2025 4:14:32 AM PST · by MarlonRando · 21 replies
    People ^ | 11-19-25 | Nicole Acosta
    Police said the woman suffered "severe burns" all over her body and that she remains in critical condition at a hospital, per NBC 5. Firefighters who responded to the scene extinguished the flames before officers arrived, the outlet reported. On Tuesday, Nov. 18, police confirmed they had taken a person of interest into custody but said the investigation remains ongoing, ABC News and NBC 5 reported.
  • Fishermen wanted to catch whoever was looting their underwater crab traps in the act. It was wolves.

    11/18/2025 11:37:20 AM PST · by Red Badger · 30 replies
    Not The Bee ^ | November 18, 2025 | Mister Retrops
    Heiltsuk First Nation fisherman in British Columbia kept finding their underwater crab traps looted, even the ones out in deeper waters, so they asked researchers Kyle Artelle and Paul Paquet for help. The pair of researchers set up cameras along the Bella Bella coast to keep an eye on the traps, figuring it must be some marine animal diving for the traps. Here's what they found: Yep, sea wolves (a subspecies of grey wolf that lives on a marine diet) were diving into the water, swimming out, dragging the trap buoys back to shore, and pulling the rope of the...
  • Owning a Cat Could Double Your Risk of Schizophrenia, Research Suggests

    11/16/2025 10:54:34 AM PST · by fwdude · 104 replies
    Science Alert ^ | 16 Nov 2025 | Rebecca Dyer
    Having a cat as a pet could potentially double a person's risk of schizophrenia-related conditions, according to an analysis of 17 studies. Psychiatrist John McGrath and colleagues at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research in Australia looked at papers published over the last 44 years in 11 countries, including the US and the UK. Their 2023 study found "a significant positive association between broadly defined cat ownership and an increased risk of schizophrenia-related disorders."
  • Dog Chewing Back Paw - Looking for Suggestions

    11/16/2025 1:52:37 PM PST · by Mean Daddy · 60 replies
    My yellow lab has been obsessive about chewing the top portion of his back, right paw. The only thing working is a cone with a 3" extension but he keeps plowing into things. We've tried bandaging, salmon oil on his food, probiotics, topical creams, wipes etc. but nothing outside of the cone is working on keeping him from getting at his back foot.
  • Man expected to survive after dog shoots him in back

    11/16/2025 10:20:07 AM PST · by fidelis · 32 replies
    12News Arizona ^ | November 15, 2025 | Gabriella Bachara
    Police say the 53-year-old man was cleaning his shotgun when his dog accidentally set it off, shooting him in the lower back.SHILLINGTON, Pa. — A 53-year-old man shot in the lower back by one of his dogs is expected to survive, police say. The shooting happened Tuesday, Nov. 11 around 11 p.m. in Shillington, Pennsylvania. Shillington Police Department Captain Michael Schoone said the man was cleaning his shotgun when one of his dogs jumped on the bed and the gun went off."He's not sure what stage of cleaning he was in at the time, so it's unsure if the dog's...
  • Why are killer whales attacking boats?

    11/16/2025 8:50:26 AM PST · by Eleutheria5 · 49 replies
    BBC Discover Wildlife ^ | 23/10/23 | Mark Carwadine
    ..... If you were to believe the press and social media, we’re in the midst of a ‘killer whale uprising’. But claims about their murderous intent are blatantly untrue. The evidence doesn’t stand up. Killer whales do attack, and sometimes kill, trainers in captivity (not surprisingly) but, unlike polar bears, great white sharks and many other top predators, they have never killed a person in the wild. How many attacks have taken place? So what’s happening? Since May 2020, there have been more than 500 reported attacks on sailing boats, as well as some fishing boats, RIBs and motorboats. It...
  • Gunman accused of killing Netflix star football coach John Beam pictured... as his stunned brother speaks out

    11/14/2025 10:45:52 PM PST · by MarlonRando · 28 replies
    Daily Mail ^ | 11-15-25 | Max Winters
    Cedric Irving Jr., 27, was taken into custody early Friday morning after allegedly shooting the 66-year-old athletic director dead at Laney College in Oakland. Lee added: 'Gun violence has stolen the life of a man who dedicated himself to building up the young people of this city.'
  • Small alligator rescued in Boston after slithering into the city’s heart on social media

    11/14/2025 2:35:23 PM PST · by DallasBiff · 9 replies
    AP ^ | 11/13/25 | RODRIQUE NGOWI and PATRICK WHITTLE
    BOSTON (AP) — It wasn’t a croc — there really was an alligator on the loose in Boston. And the story of the city’s slithering saurian appears to have a happy ending. The small alligator, spotted along the Charles River in Boston multiple times this week, has been rescued and delivered to safety, wildlife officials in Massachusetts said Thursday.
  • Lindsey Halligan Shows More Receipts

    11/13/2025 4:42:39 PM PST · by Racketeer · 18 replies
    X ^ | November 13, 2025 | Mike Davis
    Lindsey Halligan Shows More Receipts
  • Dem 'furry' running for House in Michigan celebrated Charlie Kirk's assassination

    11/12/2025 1:10:32 AM PST · by Morgana · 15 replies
    The Post Millennial ^ | November 10, 2025 | Hannah Nightingale
    A Democrat furry is running to represent Michigan’s 7th district in the US House of Representatives. 36-year-old Samuel Smeltzer, who calls himself "Elyon Badger," has made numerous controversial statements on social media and has celebrated the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Smeltzer is an LGBTQ activist, small business owner, and Michigan Army National Guard veteran, according to his campaign webpage. He is running on a platform that includes universal healthcare, legalizing marijuana, building a high-speed railway system, and free public college and trade school. On Bluesky, Smeltzer has advocated for rounding up "every single red hat wearing...
  • Woman stabbed at Chicago train station just months after Ukrainian refugee died in eerily similar attack

    11/11/2025 9:33:43 PM PST · by MarlonRando · 17 replies
    Daily Mail ^ | 11-11-25 | Melissa Koenig
    The unidentified suspect approached a woman sitting on a bench at the UIC-Halstead CTA Blue Line stop in the city's Near West Side at around 11.14pm on Saturday. He then took a knife out of his backpack and stabbed the woman in the chest. The man then fled the scene northbound on South Morgan Street - but not before being caught on surveillance footage with the apparently bloody knife still in his right hand. Police described the suspect as an African American male who stands approximately six feet tall and weighs between 160 to 180 pounds
  • Black Lesbian Woman vs Gay Scott Weiner on Trans Women in Women's Bathrooms

    11/11/2025 4:02:32 PM PST · by Racketeer · 31 replies
    X ^ | November 11, 2025 | Libs of TIKTOK
    OMG. @listen2tish , the woman banned from Gold's Gym for confronting a convicted male domestic abuser who invaded the female locker room, GRILLS Democrat Scott Wiener on what he's going to do to protect women. HYMAN: "What would you say to women who are seeking assurance that their safety will be protected from men who, by California Law, can self-ID as women in women's only spaces?" WEINER: "We have trans people, both men and women, who are men and women... So if you're a trans woman-- are women." Democrats don't care about women.
  • Toxic 'Hammerhead Worm' Is Invading Texas, Triggering Warnings

    11/11/2025 7:23:26 AM PST · by DallasBiff · 93 replies
    Science Net via Yahoo ^ | 11/10/25 | Tessa Koumoundouros
    "Don't kill it, don't squish it, don't cut it up," Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller warned residents via NBC as a toxic flatworm spreads across North Texas. While this invasive species has been in the US for years, the state's fatally heavy rains, fueled by climate change, are enabling the hammerhead flatworm (Bipalium kewense) to thrive and spread. This brown and black-striped, flattened land planarian with a distinctive half-moon-shaped head can reach lengths of up to 40 cm (15.7 inches). Like many flatworm species, it can regenerate a whole new worm from slices of itself. Decapitating the worm will only...
  • “We Couldn’t Believe How Weird It Was” – The World’s Strangest Dinosaur Just Got Weirder

    11/10/2025 6:14:15 AM PST · by Red Badger · 47 replies
    Scitech Daily ^ | November 09, 2025 | University of Birmingham
    Artist’s impression of Spicomellus afer. Credit: Matt Dempsey Research on fossils reveals that ankylosaurs’ iconic tail weapons evolved much earlier than scientists had previously believed. =========================================================================== The world’s most unusual dinosaur is even stranger than scientists realized… A new study published in Nature reveals that Spicomellus afer possessed a tail weapon more than 30 million years earlier than any other known ankylosaur. It also featured a distinctive bony collar lined with meter-long spikes extending outward from each side of its neck. Spicomellus is recognized as the oldest ankylosaur ever discovered, dating back over 165 million years to the Middle Jurassic...
  • ‘Predator: Badlands’ Set for Box Office Record Amid Series Best Reviews

    11/09/2025 7:56:24 PM PST · by MarlonRando · 24 replies
    Newsweek ^ | 11-8-25 | Samantha Novak
    Even more impressive is that Predator: Badlands" has the highest rating for a film in the franchise, as its current Cinemascore is an A-. This is huge news for the future of the franchise, and the latest chapter in the saga that Trachtenberg is building. As stated, "Prey" helped to revive the franchise when the story took audiences on a journey where a Predator faces off against the Comanchee Nation. The idea of an alien hunter taking on historical warriors was further explored in "Predator: Killer of Killers," which