Life in the Fast Lane

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Remember Eclyse the zorse? The animal superstar is off to a kick-start with her new flame Pedro, a Welsh pony (left). The 2 have been paired for mating at Stukenbrock Safaripark in western Germany, and are evidently getting a kick out of each other’s company.

Eclyse has inherited the African temper of her mother. Although she doesn’t appear to be getting along famously with Pedro for the time being, the young zorse remains friendly to visitors. Horses are naturally herd animals, so perhaps Eclyse just needs a little fine romancing as any female would.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that Eclyse will be able to produce baby zorses, as cross-breeds are typically sterile. But at least she’ll no longer be pining for companionship.

If you’re unfamiliar with the history of this story, catch the first post on Eclyse.

The New David Bowie of the Dog World?

The pair of pooches Ziggy and Stardust have an eye on puppy celebrity status thanks to a curious resemblance to rock star David Bowie.

The 6 week old Border Collies were born with a rare eye condition that nature bestowed upon them, leaving each with one blue and one green eye — an anomaly shared by the rock legend himself, reports Metro.

“I just thought it was a strange quirk that would right itself in time, but it seems both puppies will have this condition for life.” said owner Beverley George, from Hassocks, West Sussex. She had noticed the pups’ peculiar peepers when they first opened their eyes.

“Now they have become something of celebrities themselves with all the attention they get.”

Bowie’s differing eyes, a condition known as heterochromia, were caused when he was punched by a classmate at school. Actresses Kate Bosworth and Jane Seymour were actually born with the condition.

Chihuahua verses Rattlesnake — Tiny Dog Wins

You may not envision Chihuahuas as fearsome dogs or contenders, but when a rattlesnake lunged at 1 year old Booker West, Zoey the Chihuahua revealed herself to be pretty badass.

Photo left Horned Jack Lizard, right Wawacrazy

Booker West was splashing his hands in a birdbath in his grandparents’ northern Colorado back yard when the snake slithered up to the child, sounded the rattle and struck. 5 pound (2.3 kilograms) Zoey jumped in the way as if one of the President’s Men, and took the bullet, or bites as the case may be.

“She got in between Booker and the snake, and that’s when I heard her yipe.” said Monty Long, the boy’s grandfather.

Zoey’s head swelled up like a baseball, her eyes puffed up, with nothing visually discernable but her little nose sticking out. The dog required veterinarian treatment and for a time it appeared she might not survive the snake bites. But she’s now reportedly prancing about, says Metro.

“These little bitty dogs, they just don’t really get credit.” Booker’s grandma Denise Long told the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald.

‘Goose Whisperer’ Martin Hof

Martin Hof has become a celebrity in Delft, Netherlands, in part for his ability to communicate with birds, which some say borders on the magical. They call him “The Goose Whisperer.”

A horde of geese have been running rampant in the Hof van Delft Park — honking, hissing and harassing and — making it hard not to notice — scattering droppings everywhere. Whistling softly and gently speaking “tut-tut-tut,” Martin strides straight toward the center of the flock — a place few would dare to tread.

Hof has developed an unusual approach to managing urban geese populations that is gaining supporters in the animal-friendly Netherlands — the first country in the world with an animal rights party in parliament, reports Yahoo News.

“It’s all about respect for the geese.” he said.

The birds have been allowed to overbreed and are clashing with the people whose territory they share, presenting a problem at the Hof van Delft and most other parks. Rather than destroying them, Hof finds new homes for the geese, dividing them along family lines to reduce the trauma of the move.

On the flip side, Hof also works with the people who consider the geese as either pets or pests. That means discouraging feeding the birds and educating city workers on preventing the animals from over breeding in the first place.

“They call them ’silly geese’, but they’re so smart, they learn everything.” says Hof. “We teach them, we silly people, to break through their natural barrier whenever we come up to them with bread.”

After a goose lunges at a passing jogger, attempting to bite his legs, Hof approaches the instigator. To show he’s a friend, he squats to goose level and cups his hand to look like a goose head, forefingers extended like a beak. He raises his arm up and down, mimicking a bobbing goose head — the goose follows it with her own head.

Their conversation is too quiet to hear, but the goose appears calmed and waddles off to rejoin her group.

Hof states the goose wasn’t being aggressive, she was just startled that a stranger ran right into her personal space without warning. That hissing noise geese sometimes make is “Pure stress.” Hof says.

He keeps a database of a hundred or more farms or parks that want a few geese.

They slaughter indiscriminately, which is also cruel to the birds that remain, Hof says. Geese are generally monogamous, and a pair may live together 40 years. Partners that are suddenly split may never recover from the shock. “Some literally die of loneliness.” he says. Survivors may call endlessly for missing family members, increasing noise problems.

Hoff can usually identify families at a glance, but he enacts various tests to be certain. He walks into the middle of a group, whistling and making a kind of clucking sound to imitate their chatter, then observes their reaction.

“Just when I drove them apart, you saw that families started calling each other … they say ‘hup hup hup hup: Here I am! Where are you?’”

Hof says half his job is managing people.

Joke Fransen, walking her dog, complained vocally about goose droppings. “It’s getting worse every year.” she said. “Put them in a pan or make pate out of them, I say.”

But after a few minutes speaking with Hof, she’s beaming and laughing too. She likes the geese, just not so many, and she wholeheartedly prefers relocation to killing them.

Gerard Zwart of the Amsterdam’s public health agency, which has hired Hof’s company for several projects, says the city has been so influenced by his thinking it plans to rename its “Vermin Control Service” to the “Nature Management Service.”

Capturing geese for transport is “the most stressful part.” Hof says. “Yes, yes, yes, girl, I’m not going to hurt you.” he tells one. “Wow, you’re a very tough guy, I can see that.” he tells another that tries to nip him.

He kisses each on the back of the neck before loading them onto his “Royal Geese Carriage” that will whisk them away to a better life.

All Goose Whisperer photos AP – Peter Dejong

Related stories:
A Zorse is a Horse – of Course
Puppy with a Whopping HUGE Heart
Dancing Doggie Style – HOT to Trot
King of the Jungle – No Fear for Lion Whisperer

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