Dear Gary:
Mt. Diablo Interpretive Association has just published a new booklet: “Common Birds of Mount Diablo.”

This is a companion to the organization’s booklet on wildflowers and the one on trees and shrubs. A convenient size to tuck into your pocket or day pack, each booklet measures 9-inches by 4 inches.
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Hungry big cats are more aggressive.

Thursday, an excellent in-depth KCBS News radio report said Tatiana’s loss of 50 pounds since her arrival at the zoo from Denver two years earlier may have heightened her aggressive behavior.

The report indicated notes in a log by the tiger’s keeper said, “Tatiana frantic for food.”
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This will apparently be the first time any national legislature has called for rights to life and freedom for non-humans.

June 25, 2008, 4:27 p.m. EDT
MADRID (Reuters) — The Spanish parliament’s environmental committee approved resolutions urging Spain to comply with the Great Apes Project, devised by scientists and philosophers who say our closest genetic relatives deserve rights hitherto limited to humans.
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Associated Press, June 24, 2008:
“SAN DIEGO — A police dog was found dead in the back of his handler’s patrol car amid triple digit temperatures.
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This is from the Associated Press on Monday afternoon:

“HONOLULU — Animal rights activists are calling foul over Honolulu’s decision to contract members the Hawaii Gamebreeders Association to remove feral chickens from private residences.
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I suspect this heat wave isn’t over.

Here are some good hot weather tips so the weather won’t cause problems for you and your pets when it heats up again.
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Veterinary Pet Insurance reveals top 10 reasons your pets were taken to the veterinarian in 2007.

There’s no way around it. Sometimes Fluffy gets stuffy and even cats can end up sick as a dog. Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) the nation’s largest provider of pet health insurance, recently analyzed its medical claims received in 2007 to determine the top 10 most commonly claimed conditions for dogs and cats.
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Reviving memories of its huge animal rescue effort following Hurricane Katrina, Best Friends Animal Society today announced that a full animal rescue team is hard at work helping to free companion animals from floodwaters in the tiny town of Oakville, in southeastern Iowa.

I just received this news release from the society:
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I get a lot of mail from readers who want to know what a bobcat looks like.

Sometimes they send me photos they’ve taken of large cats in their backyards that they think are bobcats. They aren’t. Up until now, at least, the photos have always been of large domestic neighborhood cats that have come into their yards.
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The ASPCA has put out a PET POISON ALERT for cocoa bean mulch.

If your dog likes to munch on things in your garden, his treat-seeking nose may lead him to one danger in particular: the sweet-smelling, but potentially harmful cocoa bean mulch. Made of cocoa bean shells and considered desirable for its eventual degradation into organic fertilizer, this gardener’s choice can be toxic to canines if eaten in large quantities.
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