What African Critter Am I?

We are a highly intelligent social critter with a very colorful black, yellow and white patchy coat, with a bushy tail that has a white tip on it, and large bat like ears. No two of us are marked exactly the same. We can cover a very large range in the Serengeti, some 900 square miles. We will limit our traveling and hunt closer to the den after a litter is born. We have been poisoned, and shot by farmers, hunters and at one time by rangers. Even though, we like many others play an important role in eliminating the weak and sick animals which helps to maintain a nature balance. Our population is dangerously low.

African Serval

With a variable fur pattern, having the longest legs of all cats relative to body size, 43 inch body not counting its tail, standing 21 inches tall, weighing in at 20-44 pounds here is the closest relative to the African Golden Cat …

Critters in the News - June 7th 2008

Critters in the news:

• Newsvine, Nicholas K. Geranios, Associated Press Writer, June 6^th 2008 …

More than three years after a poacher shot off her upper beak, a bald eagle named Beauty can finally live up to her name — with the help of volunteers. A team attached an artificial beak to the 15-pound eagle in mid-May, improving her appearance and, more importantly, helping her grasp food. … A final beak made of tougher material will be created and attached later, though her saviors don’t plan to release her back into the wild. They say that she has spent too much time with humans, and that the final beak will still not be strong enough to tear flesh from prey. But getting this artificial beak now was key to Beauty’s survival. A wild eagle that must be hand-fed by humans would eventually have to be euthanized, especially since her life span could run four more decades, said Jane Fink Cantwell, who took Beauty to her raptor recovery center in Idaho two years ago. … Beauty was taken to a bird recovery center in Anchorage, where she was hand-fed while her caretakers waited in vain for a new beak to grow. Cantwell in 2007 agreed to take the eagle to her Birds of Prey Northwest ranch. Every day she used tongs to feed Beauty food, such as strips of salmon. … The Boeing Co. and a maker of synthetic skin in California have volunteered to help make the permanent beak.

 

Another Woodstock Update

Hi Everyone, Woodstock here.

First off I would like to thank everyone who sent me all the get well wishes. I need all the help I can get.

Just thought I would give you an update on my latest Vet appointment this week. Sad to say after three weeks in my new splint there hasn’t been any improvement. I have been x-rayed now 4 times over the past 10 weeks, in a cast and a splint. Now I have a new different kind of splint on my leg they say should stay on for 4-6 weeks this time. My OLD bones just aren’t mending like they should. At this time to do orthopedic surgery is questionable. They say they would have to remove the old plate and put in all new hardware as they call it. That might not work either because it has been 10 weeks since I broke my leg. This would also cost my Mom and Dad tons of money over what it did 8 years ago, with no guarantee that it would fix my leg.

Loss of Habitat

Since the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620, more than 500 species, subspecies and varieties of our nation’s plants and animals are known to have become extinct. In contrast, during the Pleistocene ice age, all of North America lost only about three species every 100 years. This recent, catastrophic loss of biological diversity is continuing at an unprecedented rate. Each and every species has a valuable ecological role in the balance of nature and each loss destabilizes that fragile balance. Once a species is extinct, it is lost forever. Experience has proven that many plants and animals have properties that will prove beneficial to humans as sources of food and medicine. With the loss of each species, we lose a potential resource for improving the quality of life for all humanity.^[i]

West Niles Virus and Animals

That time of year is here again when we must think about the critters in our life when it comes to those pesty bugs out there.

In 1937 West Niles Virus (WNV) was first isolated in Uganda. It has been most commonly found in the Middle East, West Asia, Europe and Africa. As of 1999 it has been found in the Western Hemisphere. In 2001 the first infected birds were found in Wisconsin. By 2004 WNV has been found in mosquitoes and birds in every state with the exceptions of Hawaii and Alaska. (read more here)

As of 2005 2,949 cases of disease caused by WNV have been reported in the United States which includes 116 deaths as reported by the Center for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) [Also see Mayo Clinic]

Stoats of New Zealand

I mentioned in my article about the Kiwi how the Stoats are a main predator of the Kiwi and they are by far the most serious threat to the Kiwi’s survival on average they will kill 40 North Island Brown Kiwi chicks a day.

Woodstock Update

Hi everybody Woodstock here.

Just thought I‘d let you know I went to My Vet this week. It was more x-rays and they took my cast off, Yeah! That was nice well, for a little while anyway. Now they put my leg in a splint so it could breathe after having my cast for seven weeks, because I haven’t healed yet.

I heard the Vet tell my Mom that there was only a little improvement over my last visit. They said it was because of my age and that I was old they weren’t sure that it will ever totally heal, weather or not I will be able to use my leg again and if I am able will it just break again.

The Vet said I will have to wear this splint for three weeks, maybe longer. Mom has to call them in three weeks to let My Vet know how I’m doing and I guess we just go from there. I also heard talk about an orthopedic specialist or removing my leg. Remove my leg!

I’m going to have to be really good, do everything I’m suppose to wear this splint thing for as long as I have to and hope my old body as they keep saying starts healing!

Kritter Humor - May 3rd 2008

Diane S., Wisconsin sends some critter humor …

Q:  What do you get by crossing a bear with a sports car?

A:  A Ferroari

Q:  What do you get if you cross cocoa beans with huge antlers?

A:  Chocolate Moose

Q:  What do you get by crossing a pony and a mermaid?

A:  A sea horse

Q:  Why do sharks swim in salt water?

A:  If they swam in pepper water they would sneeze

Q:  What kind of mollusks serve in the Navy.

A:  Snailors

Q:  What fish do you need to complete a band?

A:  A bass

Hi - I’m Woodstock

I just thought, as one of the critters here at Kritter Korner, I would share with you my story…