Ricky Gervais Looks Like Cats:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk2bMaz84Cw

New species of rat discovered in Indonesia - Hog-nosed Rat



Story: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/meet-hog-nosed-rat-new-species-mammal-discovered-article-1.2387153

---

~Sue~

Just catching up a bit. Love the deer and rat photos and the story about Pumpkin. Regarding the car accident, I'm so glad it was not worse. Driving is a privilege, not a right. Hope the teenager year old realizes that as she rides the bus for a few years.

---

Damn.

---

~Sue~

whats wrong with the heater?

---

I came down with a bad case of i don't give a crap

Crow snowboarding

Ok Critter People, what do you think of this?

When raccoon kits play, they appear to be establishing dominance. When my cats play, they appear to be honing their hunting skills. When a trained dog rides a bicycle, it appears to be learned behavior reinforced by doggie treats.

This crow, however, appears to be snowboarding for purely recreational purposes.

I knew that crows and ravens were smart, but dang!!!! I didn't know they were THAT smart!!!

---

I wish to direct you to the works of B. F. Skinner.
'SUPERSTITION' IN THE PIGEON:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uPmeWiFTIw

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Skinner/Pigeon/

---

Yes, I am familiar with Skinner's pioneering work in learned behavior. Stimulus - response - consequence. I totally get it. That is how we teach dogs to ride bicycles.

The crow snowboarding just seemed to be quite different to me. As far as I can tell, nobody shaped this behavior in the crow. Even if the crow figured it out totally by accident, the only reinforcement the crow appeared to be getting was pure enjoyment of the "sport", and that appeared to be enough to make it want to snowboard again and again.

You've got to respect the brain-power it takes to hunt, eat, nest, preen, reproduce and still have a neuron or two left over for purely recreational behavior.

---

the only reinforcement the crow appeared to be getting

I only politely would like to point out that the reward
the bird was getting may have been missed by the person
who took the clip.


edit:
I was just politely pointing it out...

---

the only reinforcement the crow appeared to be getting

I only politely would like to point out that the reward
the bird was getting may have been missed by the person
who took the clip.


edit:
I was just politely pointing it out...

Yes. I suppose that we could be looking at a trained crow who was getting a tasty treat from a human trainer.

But what if we are not???!!! That is the part that makes my brain explode!!!

---

I saw two repeated cases of crows apparently playing just for the heck of it, when I lived on Vancouver Island.

1. Our new house, on the edge of town, backed on a large group of old growth trees that were home to a flock of crows. Every night, just before it got dark, the crows would fly around in the trees, at about half the height of the trees, as fast as they could. I could never see any benefit of this behaviour, but it sure looked like fun.

2. My wife's office overlooked an inflatable tennis court cover. Right after a rain, the plastic bubble would be very slippery. Groups of crows would land near the top, where the bubble was more or less flat, and then slide down the bubble, which got steeper and steeper the further down you got. They would partially spread their wings for balance, and then finally fly away just before they lost control. They would do this repeatedly until the bubble started to dry off. Again, can't see any benefit from this behaviour, but it was probably a lot of fun.

---

Oh dear. Thank you, I think... Poor little witch.

---

I saw two repeated cases of crows apparently playing just for the heck of it, when I lived on Vancouver Island.

1. Our new house, on the edge of town, backed on a large group of old growth trees that were home to a flock of crows. Every night, just before it got dark, the crows would fly around in the trees, at about half the height of the trees, as fast as they could. I could never see any benefit of this behaviour, but it sure looked like fun.

Sounds like they were playing musical chairs trees.

2. My wife's office overlooked an inflatable tennis court cover. Right after a rain, the plastic bubble would be very slippery. Groups of crows would land near the top, where the bubble was more or less flat, and then slide down the bubble, which got steeper and steeper the further down you got. They would partially spread their wings for balance, and then finally fly away just before they lost control. They would do this repeatedly until the bubble started to dry off. Again, can't see any benefit from this behaviour, but it was probably a lot of fun.

I've heard that crows are very smart birds. I'd love to have
one as a pet.

---

~Sue~

Little Timmy visited tonight with a litter of three raccoon kits. We thought that little Timmy had fallen down a well... at least that is what Lassie kept insisting. Turns out that Little Timmy is a Timothea and she must have been off somewhere nursing this litter. Timothea visited us tonight as a proud mother of three well grown and very beautiful raccoon kits.

Usually the mamas bring their litters to visit us in the summer. Not sure why Timothea waited until mid-October. I don't think these kits were born late because they are about the right size for this time of year.

Anyway, if you have ever wanted to name a raccoon, this is your big chance.

Please submit your raccoon baby names within the next 48 hours. I will select the three names that I feel are most befitting of such beautiful raccoon kits.

No limit on entries, but I only have three raccoon babies to name, so please don't go crazy. A hint to the wise - unisex names work well because I can't tell for sure if raccoons are boys or girls until they visit with a litter. Case in point, Timmy/Timothea.

Contest starts... now!

---

'Patricia' if a girl, 'Patrick' if a boy,
and just "Pat" until you find out which!


:):)


edit:
Just sayin'...

---

To make Uli happy:
Nyx, Hydra and Cerberus, or alternative spelling Nix, Hydra and Kerberos

Why? Because Timmy changed, just like Pluto changed.

---

Grace is very smart, how smart you ask? I've had to put baby locks on most of the kitchen cabinet doors, not bad, otherwise She'll open them, but then She's a 16lb cat.

I think a couple of my cats are learning how to open kitchen
cabinet doors.

---

~Sue~

Prometheus, Avatar and Serenity. :-) 1st preference Avatar.

---

Looked at a bunch of names. Wrote a bunch down (16). Then shrunk that down again.

Arron: enlightened -- Hebrew
Corey: dweller near a hollow -- Irish
Dakota: allies or friends -- Sioux
Noel: Christmas -- French
Robin: bright fame -- English

Then I thought about the movie Pocahontas. The raccoon was named "Meeko".

---

Ok two more names:
Charlie...
and Billy...
both unisex names!

---