Kangaroo Kid Gets Told Off By His Mum

October 12, 2011

This cheeky young kangaroo won't be misbehaving again after what looked like a stern telling off from his long-suffering mum.

In one picture she grabs the joey by the shoulders in what looks like an attempt to shake some sense into him.

In another she towers over the little chap to show him who's boss - no wonder he's feeling so jumpy.

Rumours that he had been 'roo-d to his ma could not be verified.

The intimate scenes between mum and baby were caught on camera by John Eastcott and Yva Momatiuk.

The couple struck it lucky with the fantastic shots while visiting the Yuraygir National Park in New South Wales, Australia.

In the animal kingdom mums use different methods of rearing their young depending on the occasion.

Three week ago at the National Zoo in Washington DC mum Mei Xiang took drastic action to save baby panda Tai Shan when he fell out of a tree.

The youngster had been balancing on a thin branch when he slipped and left himself clinging on by a paw.

He was about to plummet to the ground when his mother Mei Xiang thrust out an arm and hauled him by the shoulder safely back into the tree.

For the original article, go here.

Cheeky Penguin Caught On Camera Stealing Stones From Neighbour's Nest

October 17, 2011

Penguins and criminality don't usually go together, unless you're thinking of the one from Batman, but one cheeky penguin has been caught on camera stealing from his neighbour's nest.

Captured by the BBC's film crew for the documentary Frozen Planet, the Adelie penguin of Antartica, can be seen grabbing stones from the nest of its neighbour each time the other bird waddles off to find some more stones, totally unaware of what's happening.

Penguins in the region use stones to cover their eggs to protect them from run-off as surrounding ice melts.

Not only are the stones important for protection but they also offer more chance of a male attracting a female, something highly desired amongst a colony of 500,000 penguins.

Spending four months filming out on Ross Island, the documentary crew went to great length to record the penguin's mischievous behaviour.

Cameraman Mark Smith and director Jeff Wilson were determined to get the actual incident on film.

'They're only a foot and a half tall, so you have to get down to penguin level,' Wilson told BBC Nature. 'So poor old Mark, was crawling around and there were adelies constantly looking right down the barrel of his lens.

'It's appealing at first, but when it happens for the hundredth time as you're trying to get the shots you need, you start to lose patience.

'[The colony is] most aurally exhausting place. You're bombarded with sound.

'Adelies are like festival-goers that have had too much caffeine. They're aggressive and hyperactive.'

For the original article, go here.

Your Donkey on the Beat, signing off until next week!

Linus and Lucy

Ostrich Gooses New Safari Park Arrival

October 11, 2011

His mission is to impress the ladies – but Kai the rhino was startled by the attentions of this over-friendly ostrich.

The two-tonne beast’s back legs left the ground when the bird pecked at flies and insects on his hide.

‘Ostriches are known for their lack of intelligence, their brain is smaller than one of their eyeballs, and this bird probably thought it was being friendly,’ said Abi Crowley, marketing manager for Woburn Safari Park in Bedfordshire.

'Kai has never met an ostrich and it's safe to say this encounter startled him.'

Kai, aged ten, is the newest addition to the park, brought in to mate with females Mkuzi and Mtuba-tuba.

For the original article, go here.

Giant Pumpkin That Weighs as Much as a Car is a Halloween Monster

October 11, 2011

Dorset dairy farmer Mark Baggs has grown a pumpkin that weighs as much as a small car.

The 28-year-old used his cows' manure to grow the 605kg (1,334lb) vegetable, which has taken top honours at a show in Netley, Hampshire

The super-squash eclipsed the man's son Jack, two, who was plopped atop the Halloween monster to give an idea of its scale.

Specialist lifting equipment had to be used to move the pumpkin to the site of the annual Pumpkin Festival.

Mr Baggs, who has also grown a world record-breaking marrow in excess of 140lb, grew the orange giant at his home in Wareham, Dorset.

The pumpkin was sadly short of the British record of 1504lb, which is held by twins Ian and Stuart Paton.

The growers, from the New Forest, pocketed a £1,000 prize in 2010 for their astonishing vegetable.

The world's largest pumpkin was grown last year by Wisconsin man Chris Stevens, weighing in at a staggering 1810.5lb.

The average pumpkin weighs between ten and 20 pounds.

For the original article, go here.

Your Donkey on the Beat, signing off until next week!

Dance Tonight - Paul McCartney

'Dog Afraid of Julia Roberts' YouTube Video is Web Hit

October 6, 2011

YouTube users are revelling in one of the latest video clips to light up cyber space, featuring as it does a dog that's just a little bit afraid of Julia Roberts. Yes, Julia Roberts the Hollywood actress.

In the 37-second video, currently being showcased in YouTube's list of most shared clips, the husky approaches its owner, who's wielding a copy of Brides magazine.

All is apparently fine until the mag is flipped to a page that happens to feature a make-up ad with you-know-who as the model.

The pooch is visibly perturbed, whining and recoiling from the picture and refraining from approaching its owner again until he's closed the magazine and the offending image is out of sight.

The routine is then repeated but with a more forceful retreat made by the dog as it confronts its page-based nemesis once again.

'It's the eyes, they burn into your soul,' quipped one viewer of the clip, via reddit.

'Imagine if he showed the dog a picture of Sarah Jessica Parker,' mused another, which prompted the droll response: 'More like Sarah Jessica Barker, am I right?'

Over on YouTube, user Cargo1273 commented blow the clip: 'Dogs have a sense for evil.'

'I think the dog is doing the RUNAWAY BRIDE BIT,' said qinyanggl, invoking a Julia Roberts film hit of yore.

Another YouTube user, autokid15, voiced an oft-repeated sentiment by pointing out the efficacy of the deftly-timed Star Wars 'dark side' theme in the background: 'Imperial March made this even more epic.'

See the clip.

For the original article, go here.

Elephant Causes Safari Park Traffic Jam After Taking a Nap in Middle of Road

October 6, 2011

It was the right time for Five the elephant to take a nap but perhaps not quite the best place, as the huge animal caused a traffic jam after snoozing in the middle of the road at a West Midlands safari park.

The 20-year-old African elephant laid across one of the roads at the safari park, much to the amazement of park visitors who were forced to sit in their cars until Five was ready to move.

The out-of-season warm October temperatures are believed to be the main cause of Five's relaxation stunt. However it was not too long until the elephant, weighing in at 11,000Ibs, went on his way to find somewhere less gravelly to rest.

Safari head keeper Andy Plumb snapped Five in his moment of bliss, telling the Daily Mail: 'When I arrived there was a queue of traffic forming and it just got bigger - he's a bit of a character so I'm not surprised he decided to crash out on a road.

'When he eventually woke up I don't think he knew what all the fuss was about. There was a big cheer and he just wandered off looking for somewhere else to sleep.

'We all had a good laugh about it for the rest of the day.'

Elephants have a reputation for causing traffic jams. The US football team were delayed for training during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after one elephant decided to snack on tree leaves.

The team suffered a second incident when another elephant strolled along the road, leaving the team's bus slowly following behind. The players therefore missed the first moments of the World Cup's opening game.

It was reported that the sign outside the team's hotel read: 'Elephants that come close to our fence keep a distance of 30 meters and please be quiet'.

For the original article, go here.

Your Donkey on the Beat, signing off until next week!

Please Mr. Postman - The Beatles

Thumper the Giant Bunny Taken into Care After She's Found in Swindon

September 26, 2011

A giant rabbit named Thumper has been taken into care by vets after she was found hopping through Swindon town centre.

The bunny, larger than most dogs at nearly 60cm long, weighs 8kg (18lb) – and one theory is she was dumped by her owners who couldn’t afford her feed bills.

Nicknamed Thumper by staff at Thameswood Veterinary Clinic who have taken her in, she has had to be housed in its dog kennels because she is so big.

Chris Wood, the clinic’s client care manager, said the four-year-old rabbit is ‘absolutely fine and perfectly fit and healthy’. He added: ‘She has clearly been looked after and well fed. But we have not yet had any contact from  anyone looking for her.

‘We are hoping she has just escaped and not been dumped as she has a  lovely nature and enjoys cuddles with our nurses.

‘She’s in one of our big walking kennels we use for the dogs and she might get fostered by one of the nurses while we try to find her home, unless the owners recognise her and come forward.’

For the original article, go here.

Jack the Sheep Barks, Herds His Own Kind and Sleeps Like a Dog

September 27, 2011

A rescued lamb raised with a springer spaniel is now convinced he is a dog.

Six-month-old Jack is so sure he is a canine he fetches sticks, jumps up on his hind legs and even tries to bark.

The farm in Market Drayton, Shropshire, where Jack was raised is owned by Alison Sinstadt and her partner Simon, who both began to notice the sheep's dog-like behaviour ever since it built a friendship with the couple's dog.

‘He makes this strange half baa, half woof noise which everyone finds hilarious,’ Alison told News Today.

‘Jack doesn’t even recognise sheep as his own kind as he tries to herd them up when he’s in a field with them.’

The friendship between Jack and the springer spaniel has been the main cause of the sheep's new-found characteristics. So much so, that they accompany each other along the canal when going on 'dog' walks and share the same sleeping box.

'He was born one of three lambs, which is quite rare,' explained Alison. 'He was very small and we decided to bring him in the house and put the hairdryer on him and forced him to drink milk.

'He thinks he’s a dog, but he doesn’t eat dog food. He grazes along the canal towpath. He is very much part of the family now. We wouldn’t want him ending up as lamb chops.'

Jack is not the only sheep in Britain to have adopted canine ways. In 2006, Welshman Emlyn Roberts had taught his pet sheep Rolo dog tricks, thanks to its time growing up around collies for five years.

Competing against sheepdogs, Rolo learned to jump through hoops, became used to walking on a lead and developed the skill of herding ducks.

For the original article, go here.

Your Donkey on the Beat, signing off until next week!

Please Mr. Postman - The Beatles

Pair of Parrots Scare Thieves Away by Mimicking a Dog's Bark

September 18, 2011

A pair of parrots are putting the fear of dog into would-be thieves after learning to imitate barking.

Green-winged macaws Elvis and Cilla have been on duty at a security company for the past year.

Owner Trevor Bate, 44, said: ‘They picked it up when we lived in Spain, where our neighbour had a Scottie dog called Bailey and it would bark all the time.

‘His owner would come out and shout at him. Once we returned to the UK, we thought this would be an ideal way of saving money on a guard dog.’

But Elvis, six, and three-year-old Cilla aren’t always angry birds – they can be quite affectionate, squawking ‘give us a kiss’, ‘hello’ and ‘fabulous’ whenever they get a treat.

‘Elvis and Cilla might sound mean at times but they are really friendly birds,’ said Mr Bate’s wife, Louise, 42. ‘They’re part of the family, so I thought it was fair to include them in the family business.’

The birds stand watch outside MP Guarding security company, in Telford, Shropshire, and Mrs Bate hopes they will breed – despite Elvis’s lack of interest at the moment.

‘They usually start breeding aged about four, so Cilla has plenty of time yet. We are keeping our fingers crossed,’ she added.

For the original article, go here.

Kind Polish Farmer Saves Four-Legged Duck From the Dinner Table

September 23, 2011

Your Donkey on the Beat, signing off until next week!

Without You - Sara Gazarek