A few months ago, I was coming home on a country road that leads to the suburbs in Niagara Falls.

It was about 3:00am, pretty cold, and what do I see? A mountain lion (also called cougars or pumas) that had just crossed the road in front of me.

It was on the left side of the road on the shoulder going into the brush. I happened to be on the phone with a friend and told them what was going on.

The big cat just looked over it’s shoulder at me as I drove past it slowly.

It was definitely a surreal moment in my life, as I had never seen one of these majestic animals in the wild before.

Well, not many people believed me that I saw a puma running around right near our suburbs about 5 blocks away. This is because it’s certainly a rare occurrence to see a cougar in our area, although these creatures were indigenous in our area prior to the urban sprawl.

A lack of food, and a growing coyote population probably pushed them out even further into the shadows.

I say all of this to tell you what I saw this morning. Large cat footprints in the slushy snow along our home’s walkway and our front porch.

The size of the prints is large, and it’s certainly not a dog-type of footprint, such as those of a coyote, which have been pushed further into the burbs to survive off small pets, animals and anything they are able to scavenge. In fact, they are a commonality of everyday life in a town close to here called Niagara-on-the-Lake.

These prints were large, and the spread between the legs goes to show how large a cat this really was.

This is rather frightening to me since we have so many trees and darker corners on our lot and the homes around us. Not only that, I have small dogs that go outside for a pee at night. Keep your wits about you out there…

This should be a reality check for those of us all over the world, that not only have we pushed these large predators into endangerment, but now we are frightened when they encroach on our paths. I wonder how they feel…

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I hope you enjoyed this Big Cat post on Exotic Animal Lover. Until next time…

Live Exotically!

художник на икониИкони на светци

Cougar in Niagara Falls, Canada is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Today is January 12th, 2012. I live in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and was thinking about how mild and more pleasant our weather is than usual in Januaries of the past.

Yes, it is only a few degrees above freezing, and many of you scoff at that idea because it’s unthinkable to you being from more Southern states or tropical countries, but a few degrees above freezing is mild for this time of year.

I was reminiscing with my mother today about how much snow we used to have when I was a child, especially on Christmas vacation. There were truckloads of snow, so much so that we would make igloos in the backyard, many of the kids in the neighborhood had skating rinks maintained by their devoted parents, and we would make snow angels and snow forts for hours.

It seems snowball fights are a thing of the past and have been in more recent years.

Not that I am complaining about the mild weather for my comfort, and not having to shovel it for hours and hours, only to have it filled in by the time your complete to the end of the driveway. However, I do understand completely why it’s so difficult for polar animals to survive when our planet is warming.

Polar bears are unable to get out onto the ice sheets to hunt over winter months, which is much needed for their survival and their cubs’ survival. All too often, the ice isn’t thick enough for them to travel the kilometers out to sea to acquire their staple food, seals. As well, the ice sheets break or dissolve, leaving them stranded at sea with or without their cubs.

It’s a dire state of things on our planet, and this is just a tiny slice of what’s really going on in response to global warming.

What on earth can we do? What on earth will we do about it?

What are your thoughts?

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I hope you enjoyed this post on the Environment on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically!

A Personal Look at Global Warming in Ontario, Canada is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

USA (EXOTIC ANIMAL NEWS) – Sad news comes to the animal lovers out there, who are concerned about the world’s populations of endangered animals.

66 wolves were initially re-introduced to the Northern Rocky Mountains from Canada back in the middle of the 1990s. Today, there are approximately 1650 in the population.

The issue is that the White House is ready to accept a budgetary bill including an unprecedented lifting of the Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in five US Western states, which has been a law in effect for 37 years, and it being the 1st time Congress has approached a species that’s protected as a target.

These lawmakers are trying to justify this provision in the budget because they’re calling it an intervention to a wildlife problem they are painting to seem as out of control. Apparently, wolf attacks are on an increase on livestock and big game herds in these states, and ranchers & sportsmen are complaining, full of resentment.

Any endangered species acts are typically unpopular entities when it comes to conservatives who feel their existence hinders economic development.

The frightening portion of this story is the future ramifications by setting a precedent for even the most endangered and vulnerable species of animals, fish and plants as negotiation chips when it comes to receiving political pressure.

Unfortunately, states such as Montana and Idaho are reeling and ready with planned public hunts in the works to eradicate these “pests,” who just so happen to be quite endangered and one of the most majestic animals of North America.

Patrick Parenteau, a professor of environmental law from the Vermont Law School, claims:

“The president could have used some political capital to influence this and he didn’t…The message to the environmental community is, don’t count on the administration to be there [for the protection of endangered species].”

Some feel this issue is being passed over too quickly and handled too rashly in the hopes of quickly pushing the budget plan through. However, environmentalists are still hoping that President Obama will stand up for climate change, wilderness preservation, oil and gas exploration, but at this point, they aren’t holding their breath with this new ploy. These hopes came with Obama being elected as president, since these types of laws were much ignored during the Bush administration.

Also in the works is a 2012 budget request from the Department of Interior that would put into effect a serious spending cap on a program allowing citizens to petition & list species considered endangered; this program has been used over past decades to list the endangered species that are currently on it!

Kieran Suckling, a representative of the Center for Biological Diversity, explains:

“We are having the worst attack on the Endangered Species Act in 30 years while we have a Democratic Senate and a Democratic White House…They are trying to shut citizens and scientists out of the endangered species process.”

An expert of Endangered Species Act from Florida State University, J.B. Ruhl, believes we should take the wolf provision with a grain of salt, as it was attached to a bill considered a “must-pass,” which was designed & needed to stop the government shutdown that was to ensue otherwise.

“It seems to me the planets had to be aligned just right to make this happen…There might be a wing of the Republican party that would love to see the Endangered Species Act reformed, but I don’t think they are going to be able to ram that through anytime soon.”

We don’t only have the Obama administration to blame, as this idea was first posed during Bush’s administration to lift this wolf’s protection.

Instead of directly answering questions, the White House has directed these to the office of Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar. The funny thing is Kendra Barkoff, a spokesman for the Interior, refused to directly answer any questions regarding this legislation about the Endangered Species Act, touting it as a “critical safety net” that has, over the years, prevented innumerable species from going extinct, but emphatically stated:
“It is our responsibility to continue implementing the law.”

Irregardless, people aren’t happy and they are up-in-arms about it, including Democratic Senators, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Barbara Boxer of California, and Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts. Representative Markey is the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. He is accusing the accused the GOP, aka “Grand Old Party” or Republicans (“Old Boys Club”), of wanting to:

“…kill wolves instead of cutting pork.”

Who exactly can we “thank” for this piece of legislation? Montana’s two Democratic senators, Jon Tester and Max Baucus, which is mind-boggling, since they are democrats. Baucus explains:

“It was a little hard persuading Sen. Boxer and Sen. Cardin that we’re not gutting the Endangered Species Act…They don’t have the same understanding of the wolf problem that we have.”

Fred Cheever of University of Denver: Sturm School of Law, claims:

“It’s a scary road to go down…Everything is a bargaining chip, from bombers to baby care. Riders aren’t limited to the Endangered Species Act.”

Question:

• What’s your take on this provision to life protection of the endangered gray wolf?
• Who is to blame?
• How will you fight back?

photo: wallcoo.netКартиниИдея за подаръкикониикони

Congress Lifts Protection of Gray Wolf, Seen as Precedent? is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

The month of March is a month to celebrate and raise awareness of dolphins globally.

They are extremely intelligent creatures with bubbly personalities.

They are mammals, and are closely related to, but are not themselves, whales or porpoises.

There are so many species of dolphin in our oceans that they are too numerous to name here, but there are a few that I will mention that are commonly misnamed as whales, but are actually dolphins in their own right.

These include the “killer whales” (or orca), pilot whales, and the melon-headed whale. Very interesting indeed.

So varied and marvelous they are, there is even a pink dolphin in the Amazonian Rainforest!

Have you seen dolphins play with bubbles? Be sure to check out that link.

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I hope you enjoyed this Animal News on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more News of all sorts, check out a new website we love, NewsTabulous.com!

Technorati Tags: dolphins, dolphin, Dolphin Awareness Month, Animal news, mammals, marine animals

March is Dolphin Awareness Month is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

I was watching a show on Animal Planet the other day and they had to do a hysterectomy on a polar bear.

The intriguing thing about the surgery was that when they shaved her fur to prepare her, her skin was completely black.

This makes complete sense and is an amazing adaptation for these bears.

Why?

Because their black skin absorbs heat from the sun. Their fur isn’t actually white…it’s clear – this allows the sunlight to penetrate their thick coats and allow their black skin to absorb this heat!

Huh! Who knew?

Nature is such a marvelously designed thing! There is a reason for every feature an animal has, whether we know it or not.

FYI: Did you know that the Polar Bear is a highly endangered species?

Check out this: Polar Bears Mostly Extinct by 2050

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I hope you enjoyed this Bear Information on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Be sure to check out the Exotic Animal Lover Store!Подаръци

Polar Bears Have Black Skin is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Opossum

It’s 12:45 am in Dallas, Texas right now…

I just took our kitchen garbage out to the trash can and noticed one of our neighborhood stray dogs laying in the middle of the street.

As I focused in and started approaching, I noticed that it was sitting next to another animal, also in the middle of the street…I thought it could have been a run over cat or something like that…

…As I came upon the dog, I took a look at what kind of animal was laying there and lo and behold, it was the opossum I’ve been noticing walking through the neighborhood some nights, playing dead – completely still, eyes open and all.

The dog, who’s usually quite skiddish when you come near him, wanted to hold his ground even though I was very close and clapping him away to go home.  He even growled at me.

I’m sure he was deciding whether he wanted to eat his catch or play with it for a while before eating it, but he finally took off down the way to his house – I don’t know what’s up with his owners.

Anyway, now I’m outside in my pajamas waiting on our street corner for this opossum to “wake” back up and get off the road to disappear into the night again.

I’m telling you, I had to wait 10 minutes. I didn’t want to leave for fear someone would run him over at our intersection…so, I waited to protect him.

Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, he cautiously got up and scurried off into the bushes of the nearest house.

I know it was “just a possum”, but did you know that the opossum is only modern marsupial of the “New World”, carrying it’s babies in a pouch? The rest of the infraclass, Marsupialia, are native to Australia.

The thing is, we’ve encroached on it’s habitat and now, we think they’re expendable. They’re not – they’re an important part of our world.

They may not be the “cutest” mammal of them all, but they deserve to be here too, nonetheless.

I just couldn’t fathom letting him be a chew toy for the stray dog or road kill…Plus, the stray dog is completely black in color and he wasn’t giving up his position laying in the middle of the road either – it was dangerous for all parties.

Yeah for playing opossum! They do this in order to disinterest their predator because they’re already dead. They virtually paralyze themselves and you would honestly think they’re dead. However, I knew better – it was just a clever trick! I’m glad he’ll live to see another night!

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Didelphimorphia
Family: Didelphidae

Opossums are nocturnal animals and omnivorous – they’ll eat plants and meat, and may even scavenge for food.

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I hope you enjoyed this Marsupial Info on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Check out this great story about Lucy, a Virginia Opossum:

Lucy: A Virginia Opossum Lucy spends her first months in her mother’s pouch. Soon she is facing outside dangers–animals, cars, and humans

Technorati Tags: opossum, Virginia opossum, possum, North American marsupial, nocturnal animals, playing possum, playing dead, playing opossum

Playing Opossum in Dallas: Saving Our Wildlife is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Catopoly Game

If you’re a cat owner, no doubt you are always on the lookout for great pet cat supplies. Right?

I know it – If you’re anything like me, I’m constantly checking to see if I can’t find a great deal on pet food, cute clothes, games that involve my pets or treats!

What I did find for you cat lovers out there is the neatest cat furniture at Outdora.com in their pet cat supplies section.

Cat Bed from Outdora

Check out one of their adorable beds (left)…too cute – and you could hide some of their toys in the drawer below or treats…

What I didn’t expect to find there, though, were cat safety kits for first aid. Great idea…We often don’t think about how important our pet’s safety is or if you’re prepared for an emergency or disaster with your pet.

Also, something unique I found in their pet cat supplies that I have never seen before were cat memorials. Our pets are so very important to us, don’t you want to make a statement about remembering them? I know our pets are very important members of our family and we honor them with dignity and love…

Cat House

We were at a friend’s house the other day and noticed a piece of furniture with a door in it that their cat kept going in and out of. It matched all of their furnishings in their home and we thought it was just the neatest thing! It is called a cat house.

Now, I’ve seen these before, but they were all “open air”. This one was perfect for their cat that thinks it’s royalty to go into privately and have a siesta or get some “quiet time”! LOL   This site has these sorts of cat houses too.

Cat Tunnel

Whether you’re looking for cat furniture, cat toys, or anything else “cat”, Outdora is a great place to check out that you may not have even thought of.

Plus, ground shipping is free with every order from their website! That’s awesome!

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I hope you enjoyed this Pet Cat post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Exotic Animal Lover Updates are 1 click away!

Technorati Tags: pet cat, exotic cats, cats, pet cat supplies, exotic pets, cat beds, cat toys, cat furniture, cat safety, pets, cat house, cat games

Looking for Pet Cat Supplies? is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

American Cockroach

They’re called water bugs or Palmetto bugs, but they’re actually American cockroaches and they’re huge.

They can fly, they run fast and will even come back to life on you after they’ve been smashed.

When we lived in Louisiana, they were a real problem especially when it rained or got cold as they’d find any tiny hole to get into your home. We actually set mouse traps for them and they worked!

They’re so large, you can hear them shuffling around in cupboards and on tile floors, even though we keep everything really spic and span.

Tonight, we just got rid of our 4th one this week that somehow found a way into our home here in Dallas.

Tough to catch, really smart and super fast, it’s not easy to pick one up to put back outside. They have been clocked at 3.4 mph – that’s equivalent to a human running 205 mpg (50 body lengths per second)!

My husband tried to corale #4 into a brown shopping bag, but it was too smart for all of that…It took a good 3-4 minutes trying to convince it to even step foot on the bag. Then, there was a mad dash to the door because it crawled out of the bag and almost up his arm!

Creepy crawlers that are so big, you can’t help but see them run across the floor or on the wall out of the corner of your eye.

Instead of being the typical roach black, they’re rusty in color! Yikes!

Here’s a photo I found of a bunch of them, except the ones we get down South are much bigger!

I guess I’m just not much of a bug person!

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattaria
Family: Blattidae
Genus: Periplaneta
Species: P. americana

Conservation Status: This is not a threatened animal species. In fact, it is joked about that they’d be the only animal to survive a nuclear bomb.

American cockroaches are actually found all over the world due to global shipping and travel.

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I hope you enjoyed this Insect Information on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more information on the American Cockroach, check out this really informative book:

American Cockroach Catherine Chalmers’s second Aperture monograph invites us to meditate on the pleasures and terrors of the common domestic pest, Periplaneta americana, also known as the American cockroach. In three different series of photographs, “Infestations,” “Imposters,” and “Executions,” Chalmers challenges us to reconsider how we distinguish between creepy infestation and acceptable nature. With a slight B-movie quality, the images push us to think carefully about the ways in which we determine some creatures to be lovable and others best squashed under a shoe.

Technorati Tags: water bugs, cockroaches, Texas bugs, Texas insects, Texas cockroaches, roaches, big roaches, Palmetto bugs, American cockroach

Cockroaches 5 Inches Long in Texas is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

A Kentucky man, Kenny Mahoney, has a motion sensor hunting camera in his backyard, which often picks up images of rabbits, turkeys and deer.

What he found was an unidentified mysterious animal (UMA) on the photo raiding his garden. Check out this video:

Skeptical that it could be bigfoot, but unable to rule it out completely, the investigation moves on in the woods of Kentucky for bigfoot.

They say the figure looked to be six feet tall and had black fur, but they can’t be certain it wasn’t a bear, although it didn’t appear to be one. The form looks like it has a gorilla like head and shoulders with it’s arms crossed.

What do you think it was mulling around his back garden? Let us know by leaving a comment below…

* For more information, check out: Kentucky man says photo might show Bigfoot raiding his garden

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I hope you enjoyed this Unidentified Mysterious Animal Sighting on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more information on the history of Bigfoot, check out this really great DVD:

History’s Mysteries Bigfoot And Others Monsters Rated: NA Synopsis: The mermaid, Abominable Snowman, giant squid, and dragons are all parts of myths and mysteries. But are some real? The Komodo Dragon was merely the stuff of local legend–until the dinosaur-like, very real giant reptile with an orange

Technorati Tags: bigfoot, yeti, sasquatch, mysterious animal, cryptozoology, UMA, unidentified mysterious animal, latest bigfoot sightings, bigfoot sightings, bigfoot video, Kentucky bigfoot, cryptid, Kenny Mahoney

Bigfoot Sighting in Kentucky on Film is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

Flag of Papua New Guinea

Scientists from the United States, Great Britain and Papua New Guinea stumbled upon one of the greatest wildlife discoveries ever.

They identified 40 new species of animal never before scientifically recorded in a 1 km deep volcanic crater on Mt. Bosavi in Papua New Guinea.

Among these amazing finds were a species of fanged frog, possibly the largest rat species in the world (Bosavi woolly rat) that had absolutely no fear of humans, the Henamo grunter (a grunting fish that makes noises from it’s swim bladder), a new bat, 2 other fish species, and 15 other frog species.

Animals of the world’s rain forests are proving to be extremely diverse and unique, especially ones that have been in any type of isolation. In this particular area, this crater is 4 km wide and 1 km deep with a volcano that hasn’t erupted 200,000 years ago.

In this “Lost World” there are no big cats or monkeys as the top predators. Instead, at the top of the food chain are giant monitor lizards.

Kangaroos have adapted to living in the trees. Another new species, the Bosavi silky cuscus is a marsupial creature that lives up trees and eats fruits and leaves, had no fear of humans either and came right down to sit on one of the scientists shoulders.

Currently, the rainforest of Papua New Guinea is being destroyed at an alarming rate of 3.5% per year! It’s truly time to stop this destruction to save such endangered species that are not found anywhere else on Earth.

* For more information on this scientific discovery, check out: Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea

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I hope you enjoyed this Indonesian Animal post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more information on the amazing scenery and wildlife of Papua New Guinea, check this out:

Lonely Planet Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea (Lonely Planet Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea) Lonely Planet Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea (Lonely Planet Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea)

Technorati Tags: fanged frog, Papua New Guinea, bushwalking, Mt. Bosavi, Bosavi Crater, woolly rat, grunting fish, Henamo grunter, rainforest, rainforest animals, new species, scientific discovery

News of a Fanged Frog and Other New Species in Papua New Guinea is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover