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 Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:12 pm
Polar bears find love at first sight
Pair hits it off after being set up on a ‘blind date’ by zookeepers
updated 11:00 a.m. PT, Wed., April 22, 2009
It could have played out like a horrible blind date — with a capital "A" for awkward. But instead, polar bears Bill and Lara swam, played and bear-hugged on their first meeting at Lara’s place, the Zoom Erlebniswelt zoo, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The sweet twosome were set up by zookeepers who had hoped the pair would react just as they did, putting them on the path to happily ever after and — ultimately — to producing a bear cub.
Bill clocked some serious miles to woo this special lady; he came all the way from Zoo Brno in Bruenn, Czech Republic. And the Czechs will definitely miss him: Since their births in 2007, Bill and his brother Tom have been huge hits there. The two were products themselves of an arranged polar bear mating, with mom Cora (who now lives in Brno) and dad Umca in Kazakhstan.
Tom also was sent out to follow the family tradition of being a stud, but his arrival in Prague to meet Berta was a bust. “It was obvious that Tom was very nervous,” the Portal of Prague reported. “He banged his paws on the cage. He had not been given any sedatives for the journey, neither had he been bribed by some kind of treat.”
Lara and Bill have plenty of time to get comfortable with each other before any mating takes place. Prague Zoo spokesperson Vít Kahle says: “We will have to wait for five or six years for the bear to be able to become a father to new cubs.” Bill seems like he’s off to an excellent start.
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Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:12 pm
Pharmacy: Mistake made in polo horse supplement
Updated: April 23, 2009, 12:18 PM EST
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) - An official at a Florida pharmacy said Thursday the business incorrectly prepared a supplement given to 21 polo horses that died over the weekend while preparing to play in a championship match.
Jennifer Beckett of Franck's Pharmacy in Ocala, Fla., told The Associated Press in a statement that the business conducted an internal investigation that found "the strength of an ingredient in the medication was incorrect." The statement did not say what the ingredient was.
Beckett, who's the pharmacy's chief operating officer, said the pharmacy is cooperating with an investigation by state authorities and the Food and Drug Administration.
The horses from the Venezuelan-owned Lechuza polo team began crumpling to the ground shortly before Sunday's U.S. Open match was supposed to begin, shocking a crowd of well-heeled spectators at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington.
"On an order from a veterinarian, Franck's Pharmacy prepared medication that was used to treat the 21 horses on the Lechuza Polo team," Beckett said. "As soon as we learned of the tragic incident, we conducted an internal investigation."
She said the report has been given to state authorities.
Lechuza also issued a statement to AP acknowledging that a Florida veterinarian wrote the prescription for the pharmacy to create a compound similar to Biodyl, a French-made supplement that includes vitamins and minerals and is not approved for use in the United States.
"Only horses treated with the compound became sick and died within 3 hours of treatment," Lechuza said in the statement. "Other horses that were not treated remain healthy and normal."
Lechuza also said it was cooperating with authorities that include the State Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Biodyl contains a combination of vitamin B12, a form of selenium called sodium selenite and other minerals. It is made in France by Duluth, Ga.-based animal pharmaceutical firm Merial Ltd. and can be given to horses to help with exhaustion. It is widely used abroad, but not approved in the U.S.
Compound pharmacies can, among other things, add flavor, make substances into a powder or liquid or remove a certain compound that may have an adverse reaction in different animal species. Only in limited circumstances can they legally recreate a drug that is not approved in the U.S., according to the FDA.
Necropsies of the 21 horses found internal bleeding, some in the lungs, but offered no definitive clues to the cause of death.
FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey said compounding pharmacies cannot legally recreate existing drugs or supplements under patent. In most cases, they are also not allowed to recreate a medication that is not approved for use in the U.S.
On its Web site, the FDA says it generally defers to "state authorities regarding the day-to-day regulation of compounding by veterinarians and pharmacists."
However, the agency says it would "seriously consider enforcement action" if a pharmacy breaks federal law in compounding medications. It isn't yet clear Franck's broke the law.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:05 pm
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:47 pm
Scientists claim to have cloned glowing dogs
South Korean researchers have named all four beagles ‘Ruppy’By Hyung-Jin Kim
Tue. April 28, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean scientists say they have engineered four beagles that glow red using cloning techniques that could help develop cures for human diseases.
The four dogs, all named "Ruppy" — a combination of the words "ruby" and "puppy" — look like typical beagles by daylight.
But they glow red under ultraviolet light, and the dogs' nails and abdomens, which have thin skins, look red even to the naked eye.
Seoul National University professor Lee Byeong-chun, head of the research team, called them the world's first transgenic dogs carrying fluorescent genes, an achievement that goes beyond just the glowing novelty.
"What's significant in this work is not the dogs expressing red colors but that we planted genes into them," Lee told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
His team identified the dogs as clones of a cell donor through DNA tests and earlier this month introduced the achievement in a paper on the Web site of the journal "Genesis."
Scientists in the U.S., Japan and in Europe previously have cloned fluorescent mice and pigs, but this would be the first time dogs with modified genes have been cloned successfully, Lee said.
He said his team took skin cells from a beagle, inserted fluorescent genes into them and put them into eggs before implanted them into the womb of a surrogate mother, a local mixed breed.
Six female beagles were born in December 2007 through a cloning with a gene that produces a red fluorescent protein that make them glow, he said. Two died, but the four others survived.
The glowing dogs show that it is possible to successfully insert genes with a specific trait, which could lead to implanting other, non-fluorescent genes that could help treat specific diseases, Lee said.
The scientist said his team has started to implant human disease-related genes in the course of dog cloning, saying that will help them find new treatments for genetic diseases such as Parkinson's. He refused to provide further details, saying the research was still under way.
A South Korean scientist who created glowing cats in 2007 based on a similar cloning technique said that Lee's puppies are genuine clones, saying he had seen them and had read about them in the journal.
"We can appraise this is a step forward" toward finding cures for human diseases, said veterinary professor Kong Il-keun at South Korea's Gyeongsang National University. "What is important now is on what specific diseases (Lee's team) will focus on."
Lee was a key aide to disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk, whose breakthroughs on stem cell research were found to have been made using faked data. Independent tests, however, later proved the team's dog cloning was genuine.
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 4:58 pm
Mummified puppy found in Egyptian tomb
2,300-year-old pup thought to be one of world's rarest mummified animals
updated 10:01 a.m. PT, Fri., May 1, 2009
A small bundle found at the feet of an ancient Egyptian mummy whose tomb was inscribed with the phrase "Hapi-Men" contained the remains of a young dog, according to University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology staff who have named the canine "Hapi-Puppy."
The approximately 2,300-year-old puppy, revealed during a recent CT scan, is thought to be one of the world's rarest mummified animals. Early Egyptians often preserved cats, birds and even crocodiles, but not often dogs.
Jennifer Wegner, a senior research scientist in the museum's Egyptian section, explained to Discovery News that unlike some of the other more commonly mummified animals, the ancient Egyptians "had no dog gods, per se, although certain gods, like Anubis, could take the form of a jackal."
"In this case, we think Hapi-Men simply wanted to be buried with his beloved pet," she said, explaining that "Hapi-Men" translates roughly to, "The Apis bull endures," referring to the bull god Apis.
Patients at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania must have been surprised when, just over a week ago, Hapi-Men, Hapi-Puppy were hauled into the hospital's CT scanning room. Computed tomography creates detailed three-dimensional images of objects by compiling multiple photographed "slices."
The researchers had no trouble sliding the mummies into the machine, but the mummies' length required two partial body scans with overlaps.
Janet Monge, acting curator of the museum's Physical Anthropology section, was delighted when the puppy images came through.
"You could see its Jack Russell terrier-type legs, long head and individual toes," she said.
Wegner added that early Egyptians commonly depicted two general types of dogs: a greyhound-looking canine and one that looked more like a corgi. Another researcher, Samantha Cox, and other scientists plan to study Hapi-Puppy to more precisely identify it.
"The ancient Egyptians showed dogs being held on a leash, sitting under the chairs of owners, and they even sometimes listed their names, such as Brave One, Reliable, North Wind and even Useless," said Wegner. "Obviously people enjoyed close relationships with their dogs, and Hapi-Men must have been no exception."
Royals appeared to enjoy pets as well. Ruler Intef Wahankh II was immortalized in a stele with his three hunting dogs named Gazelle, Greyhound and Black. Images suggest Cleopatra may have preferred cats, which were also popular.
The scans showed Hapi-Men was 40-plus when he died, a relatively advanced age for his time. He was draped with numerous amulets, including a "wadjet eye" stuck in the middle of his forehead, heart-shaped objects, a scarab beetle, an Isis goddess figurine and objects in the shape of the four Sons of Horus, associated with renewal and healing.
The cause of Hapi-Puppy's demise remains unknown, but the dog's age suggests it was killed upon his master's death.
"We see this as a senseless slaughter today, but in ancient Egypt it would've been viewed very differently," Monge explained. "People then felt life on Earth was very short. Hapi-Men wanted to spend all of eternity with his dog."
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 7:15 pm
Meet Chanel: Almost 21, the world’s oldest dog
She has cataracts and gets cold easily — but there’s life in the old dog yet
updated 7:13 a.m. PT, Wed., May 6, 2009
They say every dog has its day, but this one has had more than most: Chanel, a dachshund mix, is going to be celebrating her 21st birthday (that’s 120 in human years, according to Chanel’s veterinarian). And though she wears “doggles” for cataracts and gets cold easily, there’s life in the old dog yet.
The birthday girl, looking sporty in a pink sweater and the trademark red goggles she wears because of her cataracts, visited the TODAY show set in New York Wednesday with her owner, Denice Shaughnessy.
“She’s doing fine,” Shaughnessy said of Chanel. “The vet says he’s never seen a dog her age do so much.”
Actually, he’s probably never seen a dog her age period, at least not one whose age has been certified as the oldest living pooch on the planet by Guinness World Records.
Legal to drink
The TODAY crew had some fun with Shaughnessy and Chanel, whose wire hair is entirely white with age.
Meredith Vieira joked that now that Chanel’s turning 21, “She can drink whiskey out of a toilet.”
Matt Lauer took advantage of the fact that Chanel is a “wiener dog” to tease Vieira. At the equivalent of 120 years old, he told his co-host, “that makes [Chanel] the oldest hot dog I’ve seen since that barbecue at your place.”
Chanel might not have gotten her place in Guinness World Records had it not been for Denice’s husband, Karl Shaughnessy, who was paging through the record book one day and realized he didn’t see a category for the oldest dog. He called Guinness and sent in Chanel’s birth certificate showing her birth date: May 6, 1988.
On Wednesday on TODAY, one of Chanel’s early 21st birthday presents was her official certificate as the world’s oldest living pooch. She’ll be listed in the 2010 edition of Guinness World Records, scheduled for publication this October.
Dog food company Dogswell is throwing a private birthday bash at the New York Dog Spa and Hotel for Chanel and her family and friends, complete with a giant doggie birthday cake.
Although Chanel is unfazed by her celebrity, the Shaughnessys’ three grandsons are excited to have a world-record holder in the family.
A dog’s (long) life
Impressive as her accomplishment is, Chanel has a way to go to catch the all-time record for canine longevity. The oldest dog ever whose age could be verified was Bluey, an Australian cattle dog that died at the ripe old age of 29 years, 5 months in 1939.
Still, Chanel is undeniably remarkable. At almost 21, she’s in fine fettle, still likes to play, and has just a few physical issues that can be expected at an age that translates to 120 for a human. (Veterinarians say that the first year of a dog’s life is equivalent to 15 years of a human’s. The second year is equal to 10 human years. After that, every year is five human years.)
She always wears a sweater or T-shirt when she goes out, even in summer, because she tends to get chilled easily. Chanel also has cataracts and has to wear goggles with tinted lenses to protect her eyes when she goes out. She’s got a bit of a benign tumor on one hind leg, and wears booties to protect the limb.
She also keeps odd hours and gets up in the middle of the night to get a drink, then has to search for her bed. Chanel actually has two doggie beds and alternates nights sleeping in them.
Chanel is a finicky eater who loves chicken and multigrain pasta — regular pasta just won’t do — mixed in with her dog food.
Shelter dog
Denice Shaughnessy was a single mother and a soldier in the U.S. Army 21 years ago when she went to a shelter in Virginia looking for a dog for her daughter, LaToya. She fell in love with two dachshund-mix pups and wanted them both, but couldn’t afford to pay $50 in adoption fees. So she took one of the pups, paid $25, and named the dog Chanel.
Life threw some curveballs at Shaughnessy. Some months after Chanel joined the family, her house burned down; fortunately, everyone got out safely. Later, she was having financial problems and had to sell her car because she couldn’t afford to pay for the insurance. She and LaToya were reduced to living on macaroni and cheese, which they shared with Chanel.
While she was in the Army, she was stationed in Germany and then at West Point in upstate New York. Later, she moved to California to care for her ailing grandparents. No matter where she went or what her circumstances, Chanel was always there.
Finally, Denice met Karl Shaughnessy, fell in love and got married. They settled on Long Island and Denice got a job as a secretary at the Rocky Point Middle School. She has had three other dachshunds over the years.
Chanel has outlived them all.
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 7:17 pm
A man and his best bud — an 800-pound bear
Naturalist chronicles his amazing and wild friendship with a grizzly bear
updated 12:48 p.m. PT, Fri., May 1, 2009
When wildlife naturalist Casey Anderson and his wife, actress Missi Pyle, got married last August, there was one guest in attendance that overshadowed the bride: Brutus, an 800-pound grizzly bear that Anderson had raised after he rescued the cub from an overpopulated wildlife park.
But the bride surely didn’t mind. Seven-year-old Brutus lives on Anderson’s five-acre wildlife sanctuary in Montana — he's part of the family!
You can see for yourself on National Geographic as it offers a peek into Anderson’s passion for the fascinating animal in the special "Expedition Grizzly," airing May 3 at 9 p.m. It documents the year that he spent studying the vulnerable existence of grizzlies in Yellowstone National Park. Brutus went along for the ride, pitching in when he could to enlighten viewers on grizzly behavior and how to avoid conflict with them.
Though he lives in captivity, Brutus enjoys all the activities wild bears do on Anderson's vast acreage, which hosts four other rescued bears. “He digs, swims, wrestles with other bears, he’s a bear,” says Anderson. “But being that he was in my life since he was so little, I’m a huge part of his life.” And there are mutual benefits. “This insight that he’s allowed me to see in him, I’ve learned integral levels of body language that I only could learn by living with him,” says the grizzly expert. “It has helped me out there in the field.”
Brutus is so well-behaved that he’s a star in his own right. He has appeared in films and educational spots. Says Anderson, “This is what he gets to do, be an ambassador to his wild cousins.”
Catch Casey Anderson in "Expedition Grizzly," May 3rd on National Geographic.
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 6:37 pm
Basking Sharks' Hiding Places Found
Emily Sohn, Discovery News
Elusive, Giant Fish | Discovery News Video May 7, 2009 -- For centuries, scientists have wondered where basking sharks go in the wintertime. Now, they have an answer -- and it's full of surprises.
In the western Atlantic, the world's second largest fish swims all the way from New England to the Bahamas and across the equator to South America, a new study finds. Scientists have long thought that basking sharks spent all of their time in cooler waters.
"This is equivalent to finding polar bears in Kansas," said lead researcher Greg Skomal, a marine biologist with Massachusetts Marine Fisheries in Martha's Vineyard. "This was a mind-blowing discovery for us."
Basking sharks have long been shrouded in mystery. These fish, which can measure 35 feet or longer, are known to live in temperate waters around the world. Yet, no one has ever examined a newborn basking shark. No one has seen a pregnant female. No one knows where the animals give birth.
And until recently, no one knew where they spent much of their time, particularly in the winter.
To learn more, Skomal and colleagues attached a new type of satellite tracking tag to 25 basking sharks off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass. Once each tag was attached to a shark, it collected data on depth, temperature and light levels for a preprogrammed amount of time -- from 12 days to more than a year. When its time was up, the device popped off the animal and sent its data back to the researchers.
Tags came off in a wide range of locations, the scientists reported today in the journal Current Biology, from New England to the coast of Brazil in the Southern Hemisphere. Other locations included the Sargasso Sea, the Puerto Rico Trench, and the Guyana coast.
Five sharks traveled more than 2,400 kilometers (nearly 1,500 miles). One spent a month hanging out near the mouth of the Amazon River.
A closer look at data from six sharks showed that the animals traveled at depths of between 200 meters (650 feet) and 1,000 meters (3,300 feet). Some stayed at those levels for up to five months. The animals appeared to seek out water in an ideal temperature range.
In the eastern Atlantic, recent tagging studies showed that basking sharks that live near the United Kingdom spend their winters hibernating in deep waters offshore. But basking sharks in the western Atlantic appear to do something completely different, according to the new work. Skomal was so surprised by the results, he reanalyzed the data.
"We've opened up a whole new world of implications into the life history and ecology of these fish and how they live," Skomal said. "To be able to do that in the 21st century for an animal that has been studied for eons is what fascinates me."
It's still not clear why some basking sharks travel such long distances. After all, it takes a lot of energy to make the trip, and there is plenty of food closer to home. Skomal suspects that tropical waters aid with reproduction, by offering a safer nursery habitat, a better food supply, or warmer conditions for pregnant sharks and their newborns.
"This is hypothetical," Skomal said, "To the level where I'm just putting my neck out there."
The new findings may help people better protect basking sharks, said Robert Kenney, a biological oceanographer at the University of Rhode Island in Narragansett. The species is currently listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
"If all of a sudden, you are finding that a population is spending part of its life somewhere that you didn't consider," Kenney said, "Then you have to expand what you think about when you are trying to manage them."
The study also helps fill in what has long been a black hole in our understanding of what makes basking sharks tick.
"The more we learn about big fish," Kenney said, "The more we find out they do things we didn't expect them to do."
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 7:11 pm
Surfer saves young kangaroo from drowning
Australian man now a media sensation after rescuing panicked animal
updated 8:39 a.m. PT, Fri., May 15, 2009
An Australian man has plucked a drowning kangaroo from the Queensland surf, as the panicked animal fought against a rip pulling it out to sea.
The extraordinary tale has turned business speaker Neil McCallum into a media sensation following the 6 a.m. rescue on the Gold Coast's Kirra Beach.
The 48-year-old was returning from a early morning run with his 15-year-old son Jazz on Tuesday when a young kangaroo bounded across their path and straight into the water.
McCallum said he was immediately concerned for the kangaroo, given recent shark activity in the area.
The part-time surfer ran home and grabbed his longboard, sparing only enough time to tell his wife what was happening before heading back to the beach and plunging into the surf.
His wife Amanda, still dressed in her pajamas, came along and captured the entire rescue on camera.
He eventually herded the frightened animal back to the shore, where it bounded off.
McCallum said he had never before seen a kangaroo around Kirra, a built-up suburb about 12 miles south of Surfers Paradise, although reports of swimming kangaroos elsewhere are not unusual.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:49 pm
Couple crosses ocean for purrr-fect kitten
After a ton of paperwork, Londoners head back across Atlantic with Sparky
updated 11:03 a.m. PT, Sun., May 17, 2009
HARRISON, Michigan - A British couple traveled nearly 4,000 miles to adopt "Sparky," a black-and-white kitten in central Michigan. Rose and Chris Rasmussen discovered Sparky on Petfinder.com last year and decided to adopt him.
The couple traveled from their suburban London home to the Clare County Animal Shelter in Harrison, where the kitten was an unofficial mascot. They could have had Sparky shipped, but instead decided to make the trip as an adventure, visiting Detroit and Chicgao before showing up to adopt their new pet.
After paperwork, quarantine and other final checks, the Rasmussens were to take Sparky to his new home.
Volunteer Betty Beadle told a local newspaper, The Morning Sun of Mount Pleasant, for an article published Wednesday that Sparky likes to explore and twice destroyed Christmas trees during his roughly nine-month stay at the shelter.
“He took me here on the other side of the Atlantic,” Rose Rasmussen told the newspaper. “I thought they would say ‘you guys are completely mad.’ ”
According to the paper, a tremendous amount paperwork had to be completed by Clare County Animal Control Director Dave Gendregske could let the couple take Sparky home.
First, Sparky had to be microchipped. There there was a rabies vaccination, a six-month quarantine, and a blood test to ensure Sparky was immune to the disease.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:57 pm
Hello! There’s an 11-foot gator on your doorstep
That’s the call a Tampa woman got from neighbor: ‘Do NOT open your door’
updated 7:14 a.m. PT, Fri., May 1, 2009
Sometimes it’s OK to have neighbors who can’t wait to tell you what’s wrong with your house. Among them would be the ones who phoned Belinda Donaldson to tell her about the unsightly 11-foot alligator on her front porch.
When you live in suburban Tampa, seeing an alligator isn’t any more extraordinary than spotting a deer in upstate New York. So, Donaldson told TODAY’s Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira, she thought the neighbor who told her, “Do NOT open your door, whatever you do,” was being a bit of an alarmist, especially when the neighbor described the gator’s huge size.
But just to be sure, she peeked out the sidelight window by her front door.
What she saw was an 11-foot, 400- to 500-pound monster lazing against her door like the world’s biggest doormat.
“I thought there might have been some exaggeration involved, but that was not the case,” Donaldson said. “We had never seen anything this big.”
Deja vu
This all happened around 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 23. While neighbors gathered to gawk — at a safe distance — Donaldson, who lives in Westchase, a Tampa suburb, called animal control officers, who said they would send an alligator wrangler out to corral the beast.
A dedicated TODAY show fan, Donaldson remembered a story TODAY reported last year about another woman in Florida, Sandie Frosti of Oldsmar, who discovered a big gator inspecting her kitchen. That home invasion had also occurred in late April, when bull alligators are overcome by the urge to set out in search of a nice female gator for the purpose of making baby gators.
It took more than two hours for trapper Mike Fagan to arrive at Donaldson’s home. As time passed, residents began to worry that their children would be coming home from elementary school before the gator was removed.
By this time, Donaldson had left her house by the back door and joined her neighbors on the lawn and street in front of her home to watch Fagan capture the big gator, which had no interest in cooperating with the wrangler.
“We watched it cautiously. There was a little concern. But the gator never exhibited aggressive behavior,” she said. Until Fagan arrived, it looked as if it was perfectly happy to chill out on Donaldson’s porch forever.
A one-hour struggle
Video of the hour-long battle shows Fagan struggling to slip a noose around the gator’s neck, and the big reptile trying to get free by resorting to a “death roll” on Donaldson’s porch.
Fagan dragged it onto the lawn and ultimately had to rope the gator to a tree before he was able to roll it on its back, at which point the beast went to sleep. After Fagan tied its jaws shut and trussed its legs, the neighbors helped hoist it into a cage on a special truck.
In keeping with policy in Florida to euthanize big gators that get too familiar with humans, the animal was later put down.
The comic poet Ogden Nash never wrote about an alligator in such a situation, but he did produce a delightful sestet on “The Panther” that includes some advice about those big cats. Though the animal may differ, the advice Nash offers remains sound for Donaldson and others who may find themselves with an alligator at the door:
“…f called by a panther,
Don't anther.”
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 9:56 pm
Rachel Alexandra wins Preakness Stakes
Updated: May 17, 2009, 2:07 PM EST
BALTIMORE (AP) - Rachel Alexandra became the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes since 1924, holding off a late charge by Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird to capture the middle jewel of the U.S. Triple Crown by a length on Saturday.
A rangy bay who is as big as most of the horses she beat, Rachel Alexandra shot to the front and took a sizable lead before Mine That Bird tested her in the straight. The 9-5 favorite beat him by a length in her first race against the boys.
Calvin Borel, who rode Mine That Bird in the Derby, validated his switch to Rachel Alexandra by guiding her to a sixth straight victory.
Now Borel may get a shot at a personal Triple Crown, if Rachel Alexandra goes on to the Belmont Stakes in three weeks. The 1 1/2-mile (2,400-meter) race is the most grueling of the three.
"I'm not worried about nothing," he said. "It's going to take a racehorse to beat her."
Musket Man finished third, as he did in the Derby, followed by Flying Private and Big Drama.
The only filly in the 13-horse race, Rachel Alexandra covered the 1 3-16th miles (1,900 meters) in 1:55.08.
The winner earned $660,000 from the purse of $1.1 million.
Papa Clem was sixth, followed by Terrain, Luv Gov, General Quarters, Friesan Fire, Pioneerof the Nile, Tone It Down and Take the Points.
The last filly to win the Preakness was Nellie Morse in 1924. Rachel Alexandra became the second filly to go off as the wagering favorite and win. Whimsical at 8-5 odds was the first, in 1906.
Rachel Alexandra stumbled slightly leaving the gate, then stuck her head in front at the first turn and refused to give way.
Her first challenge was to get rid of Big Drama, a persistent presence from inside down the backside and into the final turn. Once she shook him loose and opened up the four-length lead at the top of the straight, Mine That Bird made a run at her.
"I'm thrilled to death with the race my little horse ran," said Chip Woolley Jr., who trains Mine That Bird. "You have to give that filly credit. She's a great one."
She crossed the finish line to the cheers of 77,850 fans — the smallest crowd since 1983 — at Pimlico Racecourse.
"Awesome," said Bob Baffert, who trains Pioneerof the Nile. "Rachel Alexandra is amazing. She took the heat and kept on going."
The ending was far different from the last time a filly challenged the boys. Eight Belles finished a gallant second in last year's Kentucky Derby, then broke both front legs while galloping past the finish line and was destroyed on the track.
This time, it was all cheers. No tears.
Rachel Alexandra, marked by two white spots on her head, wasn't even supposed to be in the Preakness. Her original owners, who named the filly after a 13-year-old granddaughter, didn't nominate her to the Triple Crown races, believing fillies should run only against their own gender.
After her stunning victory by 20 1/4 lengths in the Kentucky Oaks, the day before the Derby, Rachel Alexandra was sold to Jess Jackson, founder of Kendall-Jackson winery, and Harold McCormick.
They ponied up $100,000 to buy her a spot in the race, and the gamble paid off.
"There was a lot of social criticism and doubt about whether she was capable," Jackson said. "I think I would've taken some heat if she hadn't performed well, so that takes some heat off my shoulders."
Borel had total faith in the filly, making the unprecedented decision to dump Mine That Bird after his stunning Derby victory at 50-1 odds.
"She's the best horse in the country right now, bar none," he said.
Fans hoping for a rematch in the Belmont will have to wait a few days for a decision, although Mine That Bird will definitely run.
"I'll depend on her. The horse always tells you if they're ready," Jackson said. "Would we love to run? Yes. Could she win? We think so. We've already shown she can run with colts. It's a question now of her best interest."
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 8:13 pm
Cat in China grows a pair of wings
Feline was born normal but developed appendages at age 1, family says
updated 1:39 p.m. PT, Wed., May 27, 2009
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a … cat?
A kitty in Chongqing, China, is getting some extra-special attention these days: The furry feline has developed wings! Though born looking completely normal, once the cat hit the age of 1, he began growing wing-shaped appendages on either side of his spine, the U.K.'s Daily Mail reports.
While some think the bony limbs may be a mutation of some kind — or even a Siamese twin growing inside the cat — others speculate it's a genetic change perhaps caused by chemicals ingested by the kitty's mother while she was pregnant.
According to the cat's owners, he doesn't seem to mind his new wings — and he’s loving the attention he's received because of them!
Strange as the case may sound, winged felines are not unheard of. Back in August 2008, the U.K. Telegraph reported that tomcats in China's Sichuan province developed wing-like growths on their backs.
Veterinary experts said then that despite the hard inner core, the "wings" don't harm cats' quality of life or safety. According to the Telegraph's report, scientists believe the appendages developed due to grooming habits, a genetic defect or a hereditary skin condition.
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 7:25 pm
Squirrel at cemetery wraps nest in Old Glory
Brazen critter snatches flag stapled to staff, carries it up a tree to the nest
updated 11:38 a.m. PT, Sat., May 30, 2009
PORT HURON, Michigan - Squirrel. Thief. Patriot.
A brazen squirrel has been grabbing small American flags placed in a Port Huron, Mich., cemetery and carrying them up to its nest, which now looks as if it's bedecked in bunting.
Every Memorial Day, volunteers place the flags next to the graves of nearly 1,000 veterans buried at Mount Hope Cemetery about 55 miles northeast of Detroit. The flags were undisturbed during a Mass held Monday.
The Times Herald newspaper reports that workers at the cemetery on Tuesday noticed several flags had been torn off their wooden staffs, which were still in the ground.
The mystery was solved in front of superintendent Ron Ceglarek's eyes. He watched a squirrel detach a flag stapled to a staff and carry it up a tree to the nest.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:30 pm
Dallas-area Clydesdale has a go at Guinness record for tallest horse
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
By VALERIE WIGGLESWORTH
PRINCETON – A horse is a horse, of course.
Unless it's a Clydesdale named Remington vying for the Guinness World Record as the tallest living horse.
The record is currently held by Radar, a Belgian draft horse in Mount Pleasant, Texas. He stands 19 hands and 3 ½ inches – that's 6 feet 7 ½ inches to the withers (from hoof to top of the shoulder).
Remington's owner, Cheryl Davis of Princeton, believes he can beat that height, though she's never gotten him to hold still long enough to be measured. She thinks he measures more than 20 hands, or 6 feet 8 inches.
Rachel Alexandra, the winner of last month's Preakness, stands at 16.2 hands and is considered a big horse.
There are probably taller horses than Remington out there, but most owners don't bother with a title because of all the paperwork and requirements that Guinness demands, Davis says. "If it's not recognized, it's not official," said Bunny Morrissey, Remington's trainer.
Remington will be measured Friday with his shoes on and again Saturday with no shoes at Frisco's Lake Country Animal Hospital. Photos, videos and witness statements will be sent off to Guinness for consideration. And if he wins, the title lasts only until someone submits the paperwork to beat it.
"If it lasts 10 minutes or 10 days, it will just be something happy to show," said Davis, who took an early retirement from Texas Instruments and is now job hunting. "He draws a crowd wherever he goes."
Davis and Morrissey alternate between describing Remington as a feisty teenager and a big, playful dog. He also has plenty of nicknames: Conan the Destroyer, the Stomach on Stilts, the Woolly Mammoth. Often he's just Remi.
Owning the big lug requires some adjustments. Everything has to be custom-made, from his halters to the steel-reinforced trailer that hauls him around.
Derek Allsop, a third-generation farrier in Celeste, said Remington is his largest customer by far with a size 10 shoe, the biggest premade. The shoe must be heated up in a forge the old-fashioned way because of its size so that it can be specially shaped.
About six months ago, Morrissey stopped at a truck weigh station. She weighed the trailer empty and then with Remington in it. He tipped the scales at 2,900 pounds and is probably more than 3,000 by now, she said.
When he walks in the yard after a hard rain, he leaves craters in the lawn.
His head bumps the 9 ½-foot ceiling on the barn, and his back scrapes the top of the trailer door. He responds when the women yell, "Duck," they said.
Raising Remington has been an adventure, the owner and trainer said. The two women recently started a blog to share his latest antics:
Like the time he put his front feet onto the air conditioning unit and knocked it off the house. Or the time he stuck his nose through the horse stall gate and threw it across the yard. Then there was the time he pulled a small tree out of the ground to play with. And when he scratched his neck on a 4x4 post in the barn and splintered it.
"If you build it, he'll break it, and if he can't break it, he'll eat it," said Morrissey.
Eating is practically a full-time job for Remington, who requires two square bales of hay a day, nine quarts of grains twice a day and 40 gallons of water. He also enjoys a healthy supply of peppermint treats.
Davis bought Remington when he was a year old and a mere 17 hands tall to work with an English shire for the Belle Starre Carriages, a private-for-hire business that Morrissey operates. Remington now pulls a carriage carrying eight people by himself.
At that first meeting 11 years ago, Remington stepped on her foot. Davis spent three months in an orthopedic boot but said it was love at first sight.
"I had a gut feeling he was something special, and he turned out to be a big something special," Davis said.
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