30 Interesting Facts About Domestic Cats

1. A group of cats is called a "clowder".

2. Cats have over 20 muscles that control their ears.

3. Cats sleep 70% of their lives.

4. When cats "grimace", they are usually "taste-scenting". They have an extra organ that, with some breathing control, allows the cats to "taste-sense" the air. 

5. Cats can't taste sweetness.

6. Evidence suggests domesticated cats have been around since 3600 B.C., 2000 years before Egypt's pharaohs.

7. Cats are often lactose intolerant, so do not give them milk...

8. In the 1960's the CIA tried to turn a cat into a "bonafide" spy by implanting a microphone into her ear and a radio transmitter at the base of her skull. She somehow survived the surgery but got hit by a taxi on her first mission.

9. The technical term for "hairball" is "bezoar".

10. Female cats are typically right-pawed while male cats are typically left-pawed.

11. Cats make more than 100 different sounds whereas dogs make around 10 different sounds.

12. A cat's cerebral cortex (the part of the brain in charge of cognitive information processing) has 300 million neurons, compared with a dog's 160 million neurons.

13. Cats have a longer-term memory than dogs, especially when they learn by actually doing rather than simply seeing.

14. It was illegal to slay cats in ancient Egypt, in large part because they provided the great service of controlling the rat population.

15. In the 15th century, Pope Innocent VIII began ordering the killing of cats, pronouncing them demonic.

16. A cat has five toes on his front paws, and four on the back, unless he's a polydactyl.

17. Original kitty litter was made out of sand but it was replaced by more absorbent clay in 1948.

18. Abraham Lincoln kept his four cats in the White House.

19. Isaac Newton is credited with inventing the cat door.

20. A cat can jump up to six time its length.

21. When cats leave their poop uncovered, it is a sign of aggression to let you know they don't fear you.

22. Cats can change their meow to manipulate a human. For example, they often imitate a human baby when they need food.

23. Cats use their whiskers to detect if they can fit through a space.

24. Cats only sweat through their foot pads.

25. The first cat in space was French. She was named Felicette, or "Astrocat". She survived the trip.

26. Cats have free-floating clavicle bones that attach their shoulders to their forelimbs, which allow them to squeeze through very small spaces.  

27. Hearing is the strongest of cat's senses: They can hear sounds as high as 64 kHz - compared with humans, who can only hear as high as 20 kHz.

28. Cats can move their ears 180 degrees.

29. They can also move their ears separately.

30. A cat's nose is ridged with a unique pattern, just like a human fingerprint.

(For many more astounding facts about cats go to BuzzFeed)

Elephants Endangered

Elephants are endangered animals and that is a statement that all of us need to take very seriously. They are enormous animals and one that many cultures hold in high regard. Yet the number of them in the wild continues to plummet at an alarming rate. It is going to take educating the public, plenty of aggressive conservation efforts, arresting poachers, and protecting the natural habitat of these animals if we are going to help them to survive.

There are a couple of main reasons why elephants are endangered – illegal killing of them and the destruction of their habitat. Most elephants are illegally killed to take their ivory tusks. They are sold for an unbelievable amount of money which makes engaging in that activity so enticing. These elephants are killed, the tusks removed, and the bodies left to rot. It is a very sad scene to come upon for those that are working hard to bring the elephants back from the brink of extinction. 

(read more at elephant-world.com ...)

A Tribute To Elephants - Beautiful Phrasas

“Of all African animals, the elephant is the most difficult for man to live with, yet its passing – if this must come – seems the most tragic of all. I can watch elephants (and elephants alone) for hours at a time, for sooner or later the elephant will do something very strange such as mow grass with its toenails or draw the tusks from the rotted carcass of another elephant and carry them off into the bush. There is mystery behind that masked gray visage, and ancient life force, delicate and mighty, awesome and enchanted, commanding the silence ordinarily reserved for mountain peaks, great fires, and the sea.” ― Peter Matthiessen.

“But perhaps the most important lesson I learned is that there are no walls between humans and the elephants except those that we put up ourselves, and that until we allow not only elephants, but all living creatures their place in the sun, we can never be whole ourselves.” ― Lawrence Anthony.

“If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected.” – Chief Seattle.

“If elephants didn’t exist, you couldn’t invent one. They belong to a small group of living things so unlikely they challenge credulity and common sense.” – Lyall Watson.

“When animals express their feelings they pour out like water from a spout. Animals’ emotions are raw, unfiltered, and uncontrolled. Their joy is the purest and most contagious of joys and their grief the deepest and most devastating. Their passions bring us to our knees in delight and sorrow.” ― Marc Bekoff.

“Let us remember that animals are not mere resources for human consumption. They are splendid beings in their own right, who have evolved alongside us as co-inheritors of all the beauty and abundance of life on this planet” ― Marc Bekoff.

“The world’s wildlife, both on land and in our waters, is such a precious resource, but it is also a limited one. It cannot be manufactured. And once it’s gone, it cannot be replenished. And those who profit from it illegally are not just undermining our borders and our economies. They are truly stealing from the next generation.” – Hilary Clinton.

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant – An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent!” – Dr Seuss.

“Where will your tusks go? They will leave Africa, hidden in dirty sacks, in boxes, trucks, and stores, changing hands from man to man. No one will know who you were, where you lived. You will be like thousands of others, unknown, abused, and used. One day, a piece of you will be cut into myriad items.” – Oria Douglas Hamilton.

“If we’re destroying our trees and destroying our environment and hurting animals and hurting one another and all that stuff, there’s got to be a very powerful energy to fight that. I think we need more love in the world. We need more kindness, more compassion, more joy, more laughter. I definitely want to contribute to that.” – Ellen DeGeneres.

“We admire elephants in part because they demonstrate what we consider the finest human traits: empathy, self-awareness, and social intelligence. But the way we treat them puts on display the very worst of human behavior.” – Graydon Carter.

(Source National Geographic)

Elephant Refuge In North America

Elephant Refuge North America (ERNA) will be home to as many as 10 beautiful female elephants retired from zoos and circuses.

Located in Attapulgus, Georgia, ERNA spans 850 acres of gentle rolling hills, lush pastures, dense forests, spring-fed lakes, creeks and streams, with a climate that will allow elephants to remain outdoors 24/7 almost all the year. It is the perfect place for elephants to regain their “elephantness” and develop loving bonds with other elephants and caregivers.

Each elephant will receive individualized care and rehabilitation that takes into account her past traumas and life-shaping experiences. The elephants will have autonomy and the ability to choose where and with whom they spend their time. At the same time, we will support them in developing the confidence and skills required to bond with other elephants, each at her own pace (read more...)

The Importance of Elephants

Elephants are among the most intelligent of the creatures with whom we share the planet, with complex consciousnesses that are capable of strong emotions. Across Africa they have inspired respect from the people that share the landscape with them, giving them a strong cultural significance. As icons of the continent elephants are tourism magnets, attracting funding that helps protect wilderness areas. They are also keystone species, playing an important role in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystems in which they live (read more ...)