Parrot shops online. Subversion from within the home

https://www.thedailybeast.com/lonely-parrot-goes-shopping-online-with-alexa-while-owners-out?source=TDB&via=FB_Page&fbclid=IwAR2spp_sL_Dr00hjgi3lJ64EtuZddsYOjF6Ix4st2pfVEO_dZNkDlgC1Gyw

Orangutans talk of the past

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/orangutans-are-only-great-apes-besides-humans-talk-about-past?fbclid=IwAR12MD7ByIar7qz1w5UAh0ZOprcIQbDTHURsTAdajkHve882Pd23z3AbVIQ

Rebel Cows

https://www.thelocal.it/20170619/a-herd-of-rebel-cows-has-been-living-wildly-in-the-italian-mountains-for-years

A Scottish Dolphin Learns New Language

https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/a-scottish-dolphin-has-learned-to-speak-porpoise/all/

Sexually frustrated dolphin named Zafar terrorises tourists on French beach

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/27/swimming-banned-french-beach-sexually-frustrated-dolphin-named/

Animals roam free on animal crackers box

No More Bars for these tasty simulated animals. It is a subtle turn that makes us rethink the world we live in. Now if only we can get poachers out.

Chickens take over posh housing estate

https://inews.co.uk/light-relief/offbeat/vicious-chickens-terrorise-residents-on-housing-estate/

Fred tries to help others live free

https://nypost.com/2018/08/09/rogue-goat-may-have-helped-dozens-of-farm-animals-escape/

humans-are-dumb-at-figuring-out-how-smart-animals-are

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/humans-are-dumb-at-figuring-out-how-smart-animals-are/

NY Times article: Do Bees Know Nothing

"Researchers say bees understand the concept of nothing, or zero. But do we understand what that means?"

Killers of men

The deadliest animals ain't the ones you think... not sharp toothed, sharp clawed carnivores. Look to the large domesticated animals--esp. cattle and horses. Their size and human contact with them in farming causes the most human deaths. After that come the bees--especially "africanized" honey bees in the South and Southwest. And then there is man's best friend... dogs account for 4.6 deaths per 10 million people. Of course injury by animals is another matter...with about 1% of all emergency room visits do to household pets.
(Thanks to my student Nathan Young) for point out this article.)

"Mirrors have revealed something new about manta rays – and it reflects badly on us"

https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2018/feb/27/mirrors-have-revealed-something-new-about-manta-rays-and-it-reflects-badly-on-us

Nigel, the world's loneliest bird, dies next to the concrete decoy he loved

Bookmarking this sad posthuman, postmodern nature-culture tale:
"Nigel, a handsome gannet bird... lured to Mana Island three years ago by wildlife officials who, in hopes of establishing a gannet colony there, had placed concrete gannet decoys on cliffsides and broadcast the sound of the species’ calls. Nigel accepted the invitation, arriving in 2013 as the island’s first gannet in 40 years. But none of his brethren joined him."

Hunter knocked unconscious by a dead goose that fell from the sky.

In Easton, Maryland near the Miles River goose weighing some 10-14 lbs was killed by a hunter. It being hunting season, humans would rarely regard this event; however, in this case the bird fell earthward and onto the head of another hunter (one Robert Meilhammer) who was knocked unconscious by the carcass. Meilhammer was nailed. He was taken to the University of Maryland Shock and Truama Center where he was treated for head and face injuries. The trauma of dead birds falling from the sky may linger. 

According to a free-fall calculator that the physics of objects in free fall, when the bird hit Meilhammer, it would have been traveling at more than 50 miles an hour. The Maryland Natural Resources spokesperson Candy Thomson summarized the event: "This is highly unusual." Of course, Thomson did not mean killing geese was unusual, just that the body of the animal would have its revenge. 

They came from above with fire

It has been going on since before written history but now we can record it... kites and ravens in Australia take burning wood from a forest fire and carry it abroad to start fires elsewhere. Is it intentional? Yes! Why? To scare out rodents (and perhaps slightly char them for flavor). The birds start a fire then wait for their prey to run out from cover where they are easily snatched for dinner. Tool use among animal, indeed!