Happy New Year everyone! Here’s a wonderful look back at 2010′s most incredible wildlife photos. This one is my favourite…a beautiful mountain hare huddled up against the falling snow.
Scientists have uncovered how the black-tufted marmosets living in urban Brazil have adapted their sleeping habits…to avoid the local cats!
They’ve discovered the cats can’t reach them in the tallest trees with high branches and smooth bark…so out of the thousands of trees in the city park, they return to the same 12 massive (and very safe) trees. In the wild jungle, they tend not to use the same sleeping site as it makes it easier for predators to discover them. However there are over a hundred unwanted domestic cats living in the same parks…tantalisingly just out of reach!
No one said TV was glamorous! Here’re some brilliant shots as the polar bears taking part in the latest BBC series weren’t too impressed with being filmed! Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice gets us up close and personal with these incredible creatures with innovative cameras including one camouflaged as a giant snowball! But in the fight of polar bear vs camera, it was no contest…cue thousands of pounds worth of camera destroyed, but not before it took some stunning shots!
Photo : ExclusivePix
Well, anyone having to get a train may be cursing the freezing British weather, but it seems the return to a more ‘seasonal’ winter is good news for British wildlife!
The National Trust have found that this year, the cold weather enabled animals to hibernate properly, while the pleasant summer led to ideal conditions for insects and crops. The recent spate of mild winters and damp summers was making life difficult for many species…but this return to the traditional seasonal cycle is great news for wildlife, including our puffins!
Meet Chaser, an adorable border collie, with a vocabulary of over a thousand words!
Scientists in South Carolina have been teaching the dog names for different soft toys, getting her to fetch the toy and reinforcing its name in Chaser’s memory. Then groups of 20 toys were chosen out of the whole 1022 toys for her to collect…and out of the 838 times she’s been tested, she’s never got fewer than 18 out of 20.
The National Trust have a brilliant audio guide to help you identify the birds you hear in your garden! From the warbling robin to the excitable wren (who can belt out up to 700 notes a minute!) And don’t forget to help them with any scraps of food this winter!
I’ve been reading a lot from people unsure about what to do to help the birds in their garden with the freezing weather. So, here’s some great advice from the RSPB with all the nutritious food birds love! Our blackbirds, sparrows and little robin all love raisins…and the odd bit of bacon rind! It seems ‘fatty’ foods are especially useful at this time of year…which is bad news for our hamsters as it looks like they’ll be sharing that big bag of sunflower seeds!
I had a touch of insomnia last night which meant I managed to catch a fascinating BBC radio programme discussing whether fish can feel pain…
The scientist Victoria Braithwaite has been studying whether fish have the same pain receptors and neural wiring that detects pain. Her evidence shows that fish are indeed able to detect pain and this affects their behaviour. This could have a dramatic impact on to how we view fish and our current fishing of them.
Well, there’s one good thing about the snow, I’m using it to practice spotting wildlife by the criss-crosses of tracks left in our garden. It’s quite interesting to see how our foxes wander around…much closer to our house than I thought! See what’s been meandering in your garden with this handy Animal Tracks identifier.
