If this article is to be believed a dairy farmer in Somerset has introduced waterbeds for his cows because it helps improve the quality of the milk. Cows at Brue Valley Farms not only have specially designed rubber beds filled with water but are also able to listen to classical music in the milking shed. The farm concentrates on what is best for the cows treating them as individuals and it appears the end result is a better quality dairy product, their Farmhouse Cheddar which is made with the creamy milk.

Researchers have discovered a new species of frog in Borneo. The frog which has been named Microhyla nepenthicola is only one centimetre long making it Asia’s smallest. It lives in the Nepenthes ampullaria plant which it uses as a habitat. The plant lives off decomposing organic matter which collects in its pitcher shaped cavity, and it is this cavity that the tiny frog uses to lay its eggs and hatch its tadpoles.

This is interesting its a new take on the idea of a shark tank but as you see includes crocodiles instead. It’s a new attraction which has opened in   Crocosaurus Cove park in Darwin, Australia. Visitors are able to get a close look at the crocodiles from inside a five inch thick Perspex box. The 10ft box in lowered into the water and chunks of meat are attached to the bottom to attract the crocodiles. The cage has undergone extensive safety testing but the fact that is has been nicknamed the Cage of Death would put me off a little bit.

Airport officials at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand were surprised when they found a drugged tiger cub inside a suitcase. The cub which as first glance looks like a stuffed toy was found in a woman's suitcase. It is thought she was trying to smuggle the animal into Iran. The tiger was suffering from exhaustion and dehydration after its ordeal but it appears to be recovering well. The woman is likely to face up to four years in prison and a large fine for wildlife smuggling charges.

If this article is to be believed then you can tell whether a wasp is angry or not by looking at its face. Apparently the more aggressive wasps have black markings on their faces. The more black markings a wasp has the more aggressive it is likely to be. Dr Tibbetts from the University of Michigan made the discovery whilst she was looking at why wasps have highly patterned faces. She found that other wasps are less likely to approach those wasps with the most painted faces and likened the wasps markings to the animal version of a karate belt. I’m not entirely sure it is an effective method of finding out whether a wasp is likely sting you, I don’t think I would fancy getting close enough to be looking at its face.

This is unusual its an incident where a swarm of bees covered a police car. The policeman was trapped inside as the 50,000 bees covered the car. The policeman had arrived at a truck crash to find it contained 60 boxes of honey bees. He called in a swat team of beekeepers who managed to calm the bees using smoke and collect them.

This colourful looking insect is a hedychrum niemelai wasp or cuckoo wasp. It is classed as a nationally scare species which is restricted to southern England. This one was pictured on Whitmore Common in Surrey and is the first time the species has been found there. It certainly is more much more attractive than the average wasp I am used to seeing in the garden.

According to this article many pet owners are cancelling their pet insurance policies because the renewal fees are simply too expensive. At a time when most other household bills are also going up it seems people no longer have the money to pay the increasingly high pet insurance policy fees. The article highlights the case of one woman who faced a rise of £100 when it came to renewing the policy for her dog. Whilst pet insurance can seem expensive it can come in really useful when faced with a large unexpected vet bill. Unfortunately I had to cancel the policy for my four cats because it simply became too expensive. Instead I try to put aside what I would have paid in monthly fees to the insurance company every month so that if we should have a large bill there is money to pay for it.

Time for another cute cat picture. Today we have Willow stealing the remote.

According to this article RSPCA animal shelters are struggling with the amount of cats and kittens needing new homes. The charity has said that many of its rehoming centres are now completely full. Between January and July this year a total of 4,135 cats were taken in by the RSPCA. The charity is now appealing for new owners who can provide permanent homes for some of them. It strikes me that part of the problem is people not getting their pets neutered, something that I think should be compulsory when taking on a pet. Much as I would love to take on another cat we have our hands full with the four we currently have but if you are considering getting a furry companion do contact your local RSPCA shelter and give a kitty a home.

We are lucky that we have lots of wildlife in our garden. I do my best to encourage more and tend to leave wild areas for the birds as well as leaving quite a lot of the fallen fruit on the floor for them to eat. I also tend to put food out for  them and am often surprised by the birds that come to the bird table. We have groups of crows and starlings that visit regularly but I was recently surprised by this group of jays that visited as I have never seen them in such large numbers. In all there were seven birds but they didn’t all land to feed.  I was, however, able to get a few pictures of some of them. Click on the images for bigger versions.

I took this picture of Lucy the other day. If she was a LOL cat she would be saying “I is on your exercise bike stealing your calories”.

I took this picture of Oscar the other day. He likes to collect as many cushions as possible to make himself a nice nest in the middle. He  certainly makes sure he is comfortable.

A fisherman in the Ukraine got a surprise when upon catching a fish a large frog jumped into his net and swallowed it. He managed to get this picture of the frog but was unable to save his fish.

A scheme to reintroduce beavers to Scotland appears to be meeting with some success as the first beaver kits have been born in the wild. It is thought the kits are around 8 weeks old and belong to two different family groups. 11 Beavers in total were released into the wild as part of a scheme to reintroduce them. They appear to have settled in well with two beaver kits an encouraging sign for the species.

I was trying to take a picture of Oscar the other day. Unfortunately every time I crouched down to get a shot he thought I was calling him to come to me. The resulting pictures are all of Oscar running towards me. I did manage to get one before he got too close but I think Oscar misses the point of photographs. 

This cute little guy is Luntik. He is unusual because he has an extra pair of ears in front of his regular ones. The ears don’t have any canals so unfortunately the cat is not blessed with super hearing but it does make him look a little unusual. The cat was pictured at a service station in Russia and other than the extra ears appears perfectly normal.

This was the scene that greeted a homeowner when they were awakened by a splashing noise in their garden. It is thought the fox cub has fallen into the pool during the night and being unable to get out has taken refuge on the lilo. Mr Barnes managed to help the fox cub out with the use of a pole and although it was exhausted it is thought it has made a full recovery.

If this article is to be believed then dog owners in Australia will be able to take their pets out for dinner. A restaurant for dogs has recently opened in Sydney. Called Chew Chew it provides a variety of meals aimed at your canine companion. It features dishes such as beef steak with mushrooms, chicken wings, fish soup and lamb bones. Coffee is available for the dog owners and the dogs drinks are served with a sprinkling of dried liver treats. Products are also available to order online for those that live further away from the restaurant.

According to this article the Swallowtail butterfly is starting to make a comeback in parts of Norfolk. The butterfly was once common across the Norfolk Broads but has declined in the last 100 years. It’s recent success has been put down to an increase in milk parsley which is a favourite food of the Swallowtail caterpillar. This is largely down to fen management and efforts to clear scrub which was invading the habitat. Since the programme began the butterflies have been seen in much greater numbers than ever before.

The first global sea census has been carried out by scientists. The census which was designed to find out many fish there are in the sea logged 230,000 species. The ten year study was carried out by 360 scientists and has recently been published. The team counted the different plants and animals in 25 different regions. The results showed that around half of the world’s marine species are crustaceans and molluscs with whales, sea lions, turtles and sea birds making up less than 2%. The survey highlighted major areas of concern for conservationists, showing that stocks of fish and crustaceans are now only 10-15% of what they used to be. The Mediterranean, Gulf of Mexico, Baltic and the Caribbean were the most under threat mainly from increased pollution and overfishing.

According to this article a woman in Taiwan managed to catch four million mosquitoes in just one month. She was competing in a competition organised by trap makers Imbictus to see who could catch the most of the critters. Huang Yu-yen managed to catch 1.5kg of mosquitoes beating her 72 rivals to win the $3,000 prize. Imbictus have now sent an application to Guinness World Records asking Huang to be recognised as the world’s leading killer of the pest.

According to this article spending time with your pets is one of the best ways to beat stress. A survey carried out by Mindlab International found that 55% of people were more relaxed after spending time with their pets. In fact pets were found to be more calming than sitting down in front of the TV or opening a bottle of wine. I always have at least one cat by my side so based on this must be a very calm and relaxed person I guess.

I am aware that there are lots of unwanted animals which end up in rescue centres but until I watched Panorama last week and read this article was not aware how many healthy animals are put down. The programme focused on dogs and the problem with potentially aggressive dogs being put down.

It seems that the trend for dogs as status symbols is behind the rise in bull breed crosses such as Staffordshire bull terriers and it is these that now seem to be most common in rescue centres. Unfortunately many of these have been bread to be aggressive and these animals are put down. There are also cases of dogs that are simply put to sleep because they cannot be trusted with other dogs. This means they need to be kept in individual kennels and so cuts down on the available space in shelters. It is these dogs that bump up the numbers of animals killed because they are considered too dangerous to rehome.

In total Battersea Dogs and Cats Home put down 2,815 dogs last year, of which 1,931 were healthy. The Panorama programme showed one dog being put to sleep which I am sure upset a lot of animal lovers but I think it was important to highlight this issue. The problem is how to deal with the issue. I don’t think licensing is the way to go as the irresponsible owners most likely to cause the problem are least likely to license their dog. Perhaps it should be made compulsory to neuter your pet so that we are not adding to the problem.

According to this article there have been an increasing number of incidents where people have been bitten by the Blandford fly. Dubbed the superfly by the article it seems it likes nothing better than to eat human blood. The problem is that the bites are prone to becoming infected and many victims end up having to seek hospital treatment. The fly normally only lives near streams in rural southern England, however, the popularity of garden water features mean it is moving into towns and cities and having more contact with humans. Despite its tiny size it seems the creature can give a very nasty bite with usually results in large swellings. I just hope they stay away from me, I have enough trouble with adverse reactions from regular mosquito bites without something else wanting my blood.

I came across this interesting article about hierarchical structures within a multi-cat household and having several cats it made me think about our little pride. Our cats pictured are Willow (grey and white), Oliver (white), Oscar (white with tabby patches) and Lucy (tortoiseshell and white). They all have their distinct places within the group.

Willow is the cat we have had the longest. She first arrived as a 5 week old kitten with her brother Merlin, who we sadly lost in an accident at 9 months old. At this point we felt Willow needed the company of another cat so set about looking for a companion for her. I wanted a male cat of a similar age as I thought they would be more likely to create a bond. This is when I heard about Oscar and went to see him at the cat home. He seemed perfect, except for one small detail. He had to come with his brother Oliver. A sucker for rescue cats I decided to take them on.

Oscar and Oliver were feral when they arrived, they hated us and more worryingly Willow hated them. We keep the cats separate at first and gradually let them catch a glimpse of each other. Each time Willow saw the new cats, she hissed at them and made her feelings clear, she did not want these strange new cats in her home. This went on for several weeks and we had reached the point that I was seriously thinking of taking the new cats back to the cat home. Then one day when Willow was being particularly annoying howling during the night we shut her in the same room as Oscar and Oliver. The next morning we still had three cats and they managed not to kill each other.

Over the next month the three cats became to tolerate each other. Willow and Oscar quickly formed a close bond and starting sleeping together leaving Oliver on the fringe of the group. It was clear Willow was still the head cat as she would win all the fights between herself and Oscar. She now tolerated Oliver although it was clear he was lower in the group. Oliver was clearly also lower in the group structure than his brother, but the three cats would now sit together with Willow and Oscar together and Oliver on his own beanbag and occasionally all together as pictured.

At this point the group was complete and functioning well and I had no plans to introduce any other cats. This is when Lucy came along. She needed a new home and I once again gained a cat. Introducing Lucy was interesting. She was still a kitten and so much smaller than the other cats and we were worried they might hurt her. Willow and Oliver took an instant dislike to Lucy, Oscar the biggest of the cats was curious and keep trying to approach her. We kept the cats separate at night and introduced supervised meeting periods. During one of these Lucy was sitting on a beanbag when Oscar sat on top of her, she was now part of the group. Willow and Oliver still hated her but now that she been accepted by Oscar the others quickly began to tolerate Lucy.

Now that Lucy was tolerated although perhaps still not liked by all, the group worked out a new structure. Willow quickly asserted herself as head cat, with Oscar second. Oliver and Lucy at this point appeared to have equal standing under the two larger cats. Willow and Oscar now spent much of their time curled up together and Oliver and Lucy although they don’t sit together spend most of their time playing together. The multi-cat household functions well, the cats live together happily with the odd fight but they all seem to respect their place within the group.

An otter that was thought to be extinct has been caught on camera in Malaysia. The hairy nosed otter which was thought to be extinct in Malaysia is thought to be Asia’s rarest otter. The otter which gets its name from the long hairs at the end of its nose has not been seen in Malaysia for more than 100 years. This one was photographed by a remote camera in Deramakot Forest Reserve in Sabah, Malaysia in 2008. It has taken some time to confirm that it was indeed the rare otter but the photo has raised hopes that there might still be time to save the creature.

According to this article it is possible to reduce the fat content of milk by changing what the cows eat. Fifty farms across Britain are currently testing out a new feed which claims to reduce the saturated fat content of milk by between 10 and 15%. The claims have been backed up by Reading university and it seems the feed also helps to reduce the carbon footprint of milk because the cows burp less methane.

Dairy cows are usually fed on grass during the spring and summer but during the winter are fed a diet of silage supplemented by feed such as rapeseed or soya. This winter diet increases the saturated fat content of the milk. The new feed, however, is made from a strain of linseed with high levels of omega 3 similar to those found in grass. This reduces the saturated fat content down to 55 or 60% of the total.

It seems more testing is needed before the product will be on shelves but if trials continue to go well we could soon see an altogether healthier pint of milk on sale in the supermarket.

According to this article cases of poisoning of Scottish birds of prey at are the highest level for 20 years. This is despite efforts by the Scottish government to tackle wildlife crime. Conservationists are calling for tougher laws to help combat wildlife crime after the RSPB revealed a record number of poisoning cases against birds such as golden eagles and red kites last year. One idea is to make grouse moor owners legally responsible for attacks on birds of prey that happen on their estates. There were 46 proven poisoning incidents last year including the deaths of two golden eagles, four red kites, 21 buzzards and a sea eagle. The problem is caused by some gamekeepers targeting birds of prey because they eat game birds kept for private shooting.

Out cat Willow went missing the other day which is unusual for her. Willow is one of those cats that requires constant human companionship, despite the fact that she has other cat friends she likes to be near us. When after 24 hours Willow had stayed out all night and had still not come home we were understandably worried.

Unfortunately there is not much you can do to locate a lost cat. Despite the fact that all of our cats are microchipped and have collars with our address and phone number on them, when a cat is missing you can really only wait for them to come home. We knew that Willow would have come home if she had been able, so after the first sleepless night up looking for her without any trace we assumed she was either trapped, dead or injured.

I spent the next day putting missing cat flyers through the doors of all the properties in the surrounding area in the hope that Willow might have gone into someone's shed or garage and got shut in. Twelve hours later there was still no sign of Willow and we were approaching another night without her. Just as we were about to go to bed a rather ruffled, limping and stressed Willow appeared. We still don’t know what happened to Willow but are guessing she became trapped somewhere and someone arriving home late saw our flyer and checked their shed.

Willow has spent the day drooling which is usually a sign she is stressed. She is also limping, very hungry and drinking a lot of water but she is home. As a precaution I will be keeping her in for a few days and am hoping we can avoid the further stress of a visit to the vet. Before letting her out next time I will be fitting a loc8tor to her collar so I have more chance of finding her if she should go missing again. All that remains now is to spend the weekend catching up on all that lost sleep.

A Dutch insect specialist has suggested that we should start eating insects in order to feed the world’s growing population. Marcel Dicke has claimed that insects are not only an ecologically sound alternative to meat but that they are also tasty. Figures show that it takes 10kg of feed to produce just 1kg of beef, 3kg of pork or 5kg of chicken. The same amount of feed, however, can sustain 9kg of locusts. Insects also have the advantage of producing less waste than mammals so are kinder to the environment. They are also rich in protein, amino acids, iron and vitamins. I’m not sure I will be putting a locust burger on my BBQ in place of beef one, although I will try most food once so won’t rule out a few crispy locusts.

If you haven't done so already there is still time to take part in the Big Butterfly Hunt. It takes place between the 24th of July and the 1st August and is aimed at providing information on the decline of butterfly species. All you need to do is to go to the website, download the handy butterfly chart to help you in indentifying and recording the butterflies that you have seen. They just find a spot to watch them for 15 minutes and record which butterflies you see.

This is interesting its a new beer from BrewDog that comes in bottles made out of dead animals. The beer itself is called The End of History and is a rather strong 55% proof. What makes it unusual, however, is not only that it claims to be the worlds strongest and most expensive at £500 a bottle but also the bottle that it comes in. The bottles are made using seven types of animals including stoats, four squirrels and a hare which are said to be roadkill. The marketing stunt has been condemned as a perverse idea by some but is supposed to introduce people to a new approach new beer.

According to this article Norfolk has recently hosted the 25th world snail racing championships. This years race was won by a snail called Sidney who beat 200 competitors to take the title. The snail managed an impressive time of three minutes and 41 seconds to win a silver tankard filled with lettuce. The race takes place on a table top with the snails being placed in the centre of a circle. The winner is the snail that reaches the outer circle first. The world record time for completing the course of is currently 2 minutes and was set by a snail called Archie in 1995.

According to this article Waitrose has been named compassionate supermarket of the year. Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have also won awards for improving the lives of farm animals. The awards were presented by Compassion in World Farming at their Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards. Waitrose scored best on issues such as overall well being of animals, stocking densities and the freedom of animals to express natural behaviour. Sainsbury's was named the Best Volume Supermarket and also won a Good Chicken award. Morrisons won the award for the Most Improved Supermarket whilst the Co-op and M&S also won Good Chicken awards.

According to this article red squirrels are dying due to bacteria which is linked to people feeding them. The problem is caused by human bacteria being passed on from people who leave food out for the squirrels. The bacteria is found naturally in humans but has been found in lesions on 11 dead squirrels in the Isle of Wight and Jersey in 2007 and 2008. The Wildlife Veterinary Investigation Centre in Cornwall has advised people to wear gloves or wash their hands when putting out food for squirrels.

This cute little guy was spotted by a dog walker who found him on a nature reserve. Faye Sweeney picked him up to move him off of the path and realising the toad had an extra leg took a few photos of it. According to the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust who are mentioned in the article toads with extra limbs are not common and this is the first example they have heard of.

A two headed calf has recently been born in Egypt. The calf which is normal in every other way has been hailed as a divine miracle. Its two heads are divided centrally meaning that it has two complete sets of eyes and two mouths. The calf is in a stable conditions and is expected to survive but due to the weight of its heads is currently unable to stand.

According to this article performing Shakespeare plays to cows can help them to produce more milk. Researchers have found that Shakespeare’s plays help to relax a dairy herd and boost milk production by as much as 4%. Cows also produce more like when they are played slow music as this has the similar effect of alleviating stress. In an experiment actors from a theatre group entertained cows at the Pleasant Farm near Maidstone. They found that the plays helped to relax the cows although they stick to light hearted comedies rather than tragedies which could have the opposite effect.

According to this article some rare moth caterpillars have been found in Deal in Kent. The Sussex Emerald moth was previously only found at one site in Kent so this second breeding site is encouraging. The moth which is a protected species is also found in Dorset, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, East Sussex and Essex.

A tortoise that had gone missing for two years has recently turned up just a mile and half from its home. Lottie the tortoise went missing in August 2008 and her owners had long given up hope of seeing her again. They were surprised then to find her again just a few days around a mile from their home. The tortoise had managed to survive one of the harshest winters of recent times and appears to be none the worse for her adventure. She was able to be reunited with her owners because she had been fitted with a microchip.

According to this article the large blue butterfly could soon be seen in the Cotswolds. The butterfly has recently been saved from the brink of extinction by a project which has reintroduced it to areas of Devon and Somerset. The ecologists involved now hope to reintroduce to the Cotswolds and will release hundreds of caterpillars at two secret locations next month. The butterfly went extinct in Britain in 1979 but has been brought back by collecting eggs from Sweden and releasing caterpillars. There are now thriving populations in over 30 locations. Next month caterpillars will be collected from these sights with a view to releasing them in the Cotswolds, something which should double the population if successful.

In an effort to reintroduce sea eagles to Scotland 19 chicks have been flown in from Norway. They are being kept in a secret location until they are strong enough to fledge and be released. The programme to reintroduce the sea eagle began four years ago and so far there have been over 2,000 sightings of the birds in Scotland. It is thought there are now 46 breeding pairs in the area and around 200 individuals. The project has met with resistance from farmers and crofters who accuse the birds of stealing lambs and chickens but a recent report suggests the eagles have a minimal impact on lamb deaths. The Scottish Environment Minister believes the scheme is important to restore biodiversity and increase tourism.

A breeding programme aimed at returning giant tortoises to Galapagos appears to have been successful. The species was on the brink of extinction but after being reintroduced to Española, the southernmost island there is now a population of more than 1,500. Numbers of the tortoise dropped to a population of just 15 in the 1970s. Since then hatchlings have been reintroduced to the wild and a recent expedition has shown recently hatched tortoises and adults born on the island.

In a pioneering operation a cat called Oscar has been given some new paws. Oscar was involved in an accident which meant his back paws were amputated. In the first operation of its kind to be carried out on a cat he has been fitted with new prosthetic ones. They are attached to his ankle in both his back paws allowing him to walk naturally. However, the new limbs are not suitable for outdoor use so Oscar whilst still alive will now have to be a house cat.

According to this article a raccoon has been seen in the North East of England for the first time. The raccoon was spotted in a garden in County Durham and caught on Wildlife Trust cameras. The species is not native to the UK and more commonly found in North America. It is thought this one may have escaped from a zoo or from someone's house.

According to this article a study has proved that chimpanzees expand their territory by attacking and killing their neighbours. According to the study groups of aggressive chimpanzees will invade their neighbours territory to obtain more resources or mates. The study was carried out in Uganda over a ten year period. During this time scientists recorded 18 attacks and found signs of three others. The attacks were carried out by a large male dominated community of chimps at Ngogo in Kibale National Park. In one case the aggressive males attacked a group of females from another group killing an infant that one of them was carrying and trying to take another from its mother. It is not clear whether the behaviour is an effort to acquire land or mates, however, the aggressive chimpanzees eventually began to occupy the area where most of the attacks had taken place expanding their territory by more than a fifth.

According to this article Redback spiders from Australia are invading parts of the UK. The headline here does seem a little sensationalist as it appears the “invasion” is more than a dozen spiders that have been found inside a parts crate near Preson, Lancashire. A source told the Sun (hence the sensational headline) “It was like a scene from a horror film. There were these tiny black spiders with a red stripe down their back running around a container of parts from Australia. It caused a major panic.” It seems some of the spiders may have escaped into surrounding fields and there are worries they may start breeding. It is hardly an invasion at the moment, however.

According to this article parts of Cumbria could soon be hearing natterjack toads again. Natterjack toads disappeared from the area over a century ago but tadpoles were reintroduced three years ago. It now appears the reintroduction has been successful as strings of spawn have been found for the first time.

Landowners in Cornwall are calling for grey squirrels to be culled in order to help red squirrels return to the county. Red squirrels were once native to Cornwall but have not been seen there since 1984. However, they have been wiped out due to a virus which is carried by the non native grey squirrels. Under the scheme grey squirrels would be culled using poisoned food and trapped in later stages of the project. It is hoped that red squirrels could then be reintroduced to selected areas.