The Heck Brothers

The Lutz and Heinz Heck were two German zoologists who were rather caught up in the lore and romance of German nationalism. Ever since the unification of Germany, German scholars and naturalists were trying to recreate the ancient German animals of the supposed Teutonic Golden Age. The Hecks were responsible for recreating a cow that [...]

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Veterinarians want better understanding of bulldog health

Some veterinarians are trying to increase public awareness of bulldog health issues. This movement was started by Dr. Meredith Kennedy, who had seen too many bulldogs die of relatively common and easily preventable diseases. She has a list of 25 veterinarians who are providing analysis of the bulldog’s unique physical conditions and its various health [...]

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Pond slider mating ritual

The males have these long claws on their front legs. If kept away from a female, he may be seen swimming around his tank while doing this bizarre ritual: Source. For those people who claim this is a dominance ritual– turtles don’t have dominance hierarchies. You have to have a brain larger than a pin’s [...]

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Please don’t tell me you have a St. John’s water dog

Now, I haven’t received any comments or messages yet from people claiming to have a St. John’s water dog, but before I do, I’ll just say it again. The St. John’s water dog died out in the 1980′s. The last two dogs were found. They were both dogs, and they were both ancient. When they [...]

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My Article on the Sea Mink

The sea mink article can be found here.

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Farley Mowat DID try to save the St. John’s water dog!

I knew it! Farley Mowat did breed Albert.  Albert, it turns out, was a very rare find in Newfoundland of those days. Mowat bred Albert to a Labrador, which is the closest thing to a St. John’s Labrador. He hoped the pups would have the big white spot on the chest that Albert possessed. Unfortunately, [...]

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What is the Reed Wolf?

In the south of Hungary, there are extensive swamps of reeds, and in them exists an enigmatic canid. It described as a small wolf, not unlike a North American coyote. However, the native wolf of Hungary is the Eurasian or common wolf (Canis lupus lupus). It is much larger than a coyote, approaching the size [...]

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Farley Mowat’s St. John’s Water Dog

As you may know, one of my favorite authors is Farley Mowat.  I normally hate romantic stories of any sort, but I like Mowat’s writing. Thus, I picked up Bay of Spirits, a memoir about  his courtship of his second wife along the rugged coast of Newfoundland, with more interest in Newfoundland than the actual [...]

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The Russian Tiger Dogs

A recent post on Forteanzoology blog showed some paintings of some dogs baying a tiger. The paintings are from the Edwardian period (1901-1910, the reign of Edward VII). The artist is Helen Fielding, and the setting is a forest near Blackpool in the north of England. The two dogs baying the tiger look to be [...]

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A new species of lizard discovered at the Westfall farm

Let me clarify some things here: the species isn’t new to science. But it is new to my native habitat. It’s a northern coal skink. They normally are found in the higher elevations of West Virginia, but this one has found a nice home on a high ridgetop forest in the middle of the Allegheny [...]

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