Recently in Nature Category

The only reason I put that under nature is because there isn't a "really cool looking animal" category.

Skin eating fish...

I think it looks like a scorpion and lobster had a fling, and this is what happened because of it.

Yes, I get that it is named the pistol shrimp, but I don't think that they really needed to add the shotgun sound effects in.

In this photo released by Melynne Stone, Jamison Stone, 11, poses with a wild pig he killed near Delta, Ala., May 3, 2007. Stone's father says the hog weighed a staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4 from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. If claims of the animal's size are true, it would be larger than ``Hogzilla,'' the huge hog killed in Georgia in 2004. (AP Photo/Melynne Stone)

Read the story here.

Buffalos Attack Lions. - Watch today's top amazing videos here

The severed lower left arm of a Taiwanese veterinarian is seen in the jaws of a crocodile, Wednesday, April 11, 2007, at the Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung, 350 kilometers (217 miles) south west of Taipei, Taiwan. Chang Po-yu's lower left arm was bitten off by the crocodile when he tried to pull a tranquilizer dart from the reptile's body. The crocodile was shot and killed and Chang went through emergency surgery to have his limb reattached. (AP Photo/Steve Chen)

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/taiwan_crocodile_attack;_ylt=AmLs77mqHsPnMMysXFbjI6TlWMcF

Don't fuck with whales!

My kids are really into fishing, camping, fossils, etc. So I was looking for something that we could could do that's close by yet not too close. That's when I came across geode hunting in Keokuk, Iowa:

Geodes are known from many localities around the world, one of the most productive and famous collecting regions is encompassed within a 35-mile radius of Keokuk, Iowa. Rock collectors commonly refer to geodes from this region as "Keokuk geodes." In fact, the Iowa General Assembly declared the geodes as the official "State Rock" in 1967.

Anyway, I found this great website where you can get info on geode hunting in the Keokuk area and the site has a great picture gallery of nice geodes:

http://www.teresarocks.com/keokukgeodes.htm

Mrs. Manocloth just doesn't seem to share my enthusiasm about doing this.....

via Entensity

BANGKOK, Thailand Chuang Chuang the Panda is just too heavy to have sex.

Thai authorities have put him on a strict diet as part of a long-running campaign to get him to mate with female partner Lin Hui at the Chiang Mai Zoo in northern Thailand.

"Chuang Chuang is gaining weight too fast and we found Lin Hui is no longer comfortable with having sex with him," said the zoo's chief veterinarian, Kanika Limtrakul, adding that Chuang Chuang weighed 331 pounds while Lin Hui is only 253 pounds.

As a result, zoo authorities are cutting out bamboo shoots in the daily meal for Chuang Chuang and giving the obese bear only bamboo leaves, Kanika said.

The diet plan is the latest in an unsuccessful and often strange campaign by zoo officials to get the two bears to mate.

They have held a mock wedding, announced plans to separate the two to spark a little romance and even talked of introducing panda porn — videos of other pandas mating — to get the pair in the mood.

Thailand rented Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui from China for $250,000 in October 2003 for 10 years. They are expected to generate millions of dollars in revenues from Thai and foreign tourists.

There are as few as 1,600 giant pandas in the mountain forests of central China, according to the zoo. An additional 120 are in Chinese breeding facilities and zoos, and about 20 live in zoos outside China.

Pandas are threatened by loss of habitat, poaching and a low reproduction rate. Females in the wild normally have a cub once every two to three years.

http://cbs2chicago.com/watercooler/watercooler_story_016072618.html

A calf with two faces is photographed Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007, at Kirk Heldreth's dairy farm in Rural Retreat, Va. The calf, which was born Dec. 27, 2006, breathes out of two noses and has two tongues, which move independently, according to Heldreth. There appears to be a single socket containing two eyes where the heads split. (AP Photo/Wytheville Enterprise Via Bristol Herald Courier, Jean Farley)

Calf with two faces born at Va. farm - Yahoo! News

via: I Love Bacon

The Oregon Humane Society recovered a 20.2-pound stray cat that was found halfway stuck in a doggie door Wednesday in Gresham, Ore.

The Humane Society said the cat was trying to steal food from a home that had put out food for its own cats.

"I heard quite a ruckus when I went into my garage," said Jadwiga Drozdek, who cares for six cats at her Gresham home. "It was hilarious to see this big cat struggling to get in. I helped him out of the door and gave him a plate of food on the patio."

The cat was described as "unusually large" by the Humane Society and was nicknamed "Goliath."

The Humane Society had planned to put the cat up for adoption, but a neighbor of the owner who saw the report on TV has claimed the cat and said he had been missing for six months. The neighbor was to pick up the cat on Thursday.

"He will sure warm your lap this winter," said Sharon Harmon, OHS executive director, when she thought he was going to be put up for adoption. "People with a king-size bed would be a good fit for this cat."

The Oregon Humane Society will add a free bag of low-calorie cat food with the adoption.

http://www.wftv.com/irresistible/10722750/detail.html

In this photo released by Tsunemi Kubodera, a researcher with Japan's National Science Museum, a giant squid attacking a bait squid is being pulled up by his research team off the Ogasawara Islands, south of Tokyo, on Dec. 4, 2006. The research team, led by Kubodera, has succeeded in filming the giant squid live, possibly for the first time, at the surface as they captured it off the remote island of Chichijima, which is about 960 kilometers (600 miles) southeast of Tokyo. About seven meters (24 feet) long squid died in the process of being caught. The photo was made out of the video they filmed. (AP Photo/Tsunemi Kubodera of the National Science Museum of Japan, HO)

A species of moth drinks tears from the eyes of sleeping birds using a fearsome proboscis shaped like a harpoon, scientists have revealed.

Read more: I spy, with my little eye.

Spider Vs Fire Ants - video powered by Metacafe

For the second time in as many months, the ape triggered a fire alarm at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa research center.

The trouble started Wednesday morning, when Panbanisha wanted to go outside but the staff was too busy to let her out, trust officials said. Panbanisha then apparently lost her temper and pulled the alarm, officials said.

It's a trick Panbanisha initially learned in October when she saw a welder start the alarm. It took her less than a day to learn how to duplicate the excitement.

When the alarm sounded the next morning, "I went to check on Pan, and she was sitting there next to it with a smile on her face," lead scientist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh said last month.

Savage-Rumbaugh said she explained the danger of such mischief and Panbanisha promised not to do it again.

Panbanisha is one of seven bonobos at the Great Ape Trust.

Bonobos are one of the most human-like of the great apes and have sophisticated language skills.

Trust officials said they will cover the alarms to prevent a third prank from Panbanisha.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/somethingtotalkabout/141653,ape111806.article

A woman in Cleveland said she made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery of an abandoned kitten with a large cross fur pattern on its back, according to a Local 6 News report.

The woman who found the kitten, Kim Herd, said the 5-week-old kitten was hiding under a home's porch.

"I have a lot of cats and I have never seen such a distinct pattern," Herd said. "I mean you know, you find a cat with a cross that stands out like that every day? No. Maybe once in a lifetime."

She named the kitten Church.

"Anything that has to do with a cross, Jesus or anything else has to be good luck," Herd said.

She said Church and her family dog play well together.

http://www.local6.com/spotlight/10039394/detail.html

An alligator is being taken out of state after popping out of the trees in the south suburbs.

A man was walking his dog recently in Matteson when the alligator leaped out of the trees, startling the dog and owner.

Police officers used a long pole with a special collar to corral the alligator.

The alligator, which was believed to be someone’s escaped pet, will be taken to Florida.

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_278073414.html

A python sits on a road after swallowing a pregnant ewe in the village of Kampung Jabor, about 200 km (124 miles) east of Kuala Lumpur, on September 5, 2006. The six-metre reptile weighing 90 kg (198.5 lbs) was too laden to move, making it easy for firemen to capture it, said a local daily newspaper. Picture taken September 5, 2006. MALAYSIA OUT NO ARCHIVE NO SALES REUTERS/Stringer (MALAYSIA)

A new record has just been set in the category of fastest self-powered strike—and it doesn’t belong to a cheetah, a lizard tongue, or a Nolan Ryan fast ball. According to new research by California Academy of Sciences entomologist Brian Fisher, trap-jaw ants in the species Odontomachus bauri can make all three of these speed demons seem sluggish by moving their mandibles at speeds of up to 64 meters per second, or 145 miles per hour. These remarkably rapid movements help them to capture prey, eject enemies, and catapult themselves to safety. To see an amazing high speed video of these jaws in action click the picture above.

This photo doesn't look real

Pinky and Perky two four week old miniature piglets cool off at Pennywell Farm and Wildlife centre near Buckfastleigh, south western England Wednesday July 19, 2006 in this photo provided by the centre. The piglets were keeping cool with a huge lolly packed with carrots and other vegetables. 'The recent heatwave has been exhausting for everyone and animals are no exception,' said Catherine Tozer, assistant manager of the farm. 'All the animals have been struggling with the heat so we have just tried to do everything we can to make them more comfortable. 'After the initial shock and a bit of investigation, the ice lollies went down a real treat,' she said.(AP Photo/Pennywell Farm and Wildlife Centre, Catherine Tozer)

The mouse eventually finds a home. Click the picture.

In this photo provided by the office of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sen. Murkowski hugs a 63-pound king salmon she caught July 7, 2006, along the Kenai River in Alaska, during the annual Kenai River Classic. The event, primarily attended by senators, corporate executives and lobbyists, raised about $800,000 for river conservation. BP Vice President Peggy Hudson caught the largest fish, a 67-pound king.