I subscribe to Ugly Hedgehog, a forum about all things photographic.
It is a mine of information, people share incredible photographs, and much more.
On February 17th this year Photolady2014 published a set of photographs of wolves that were just gorgeous.
This is how she introduced the pictures:
So I am still on cloud 9 seeing wolfs rather close. They were about 150 feet away. Not the quality that the pros were getting who were there. I have seen their photos and well I still have a lot to learn. But, for someone who just started wildlife a couple of years ago, I will take these! If you do the download you will see they are not all bad. I have had to do some sharpening and noise reduction. The pros were all using the 600mm F4 with 2x extenders.
Me: Canon R5, 100-500 & 1.4 extender. All are at 700mm.
I asked if I could share them on Learning from Dogs and said Photolady2014 of South West Colorado said ‘Yes’.
Here they are:
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Photolady went on to report:
This is the Wapiti pack in Yellowstone.
We sat in below 0 weather for about 4 hours watching them and the coyotes who were patiently waiting their turn to eat!
Fabulous pictures and one can’t help thinking that some 23,000 years ago there started the long journey of domestication, and the bonding between humans and wolves brought about the dog.
Lulu the border collie was left $5 million (£3.6 million) after her owner died last year.
Bill Dorris left the dog in the care of his friend, Martha Burton. The will states that Burton is to be reimbursed for Lulu’s reasonable monthly expenses.
Mission Duration: At least one Mars year (about 687 Earth days)
Main Job: The Perseverance rover will seek signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for possible return to Earth.
As someone who watched the television non-stop in 1969 to see man’s remarkable achievement, NASA has been an organisation of considerable interest all my life.
At 10:56 p.m. EDT Armstrong is ready to plant the first human foot on another world. With more than half a billion people watching on television, he climbs down the ladder and proclaims: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.“
But on the 15th February Tony came up with a brilliant idea; read it for yourself:
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Dogs’ highly evolved noses can rapidly detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus
For some 15,000 years, dogs have been our hunting partners, workmates, helpers and companions. Could they also be our next allies in the fight against COVID-19? As a dog owner with a small poodle who could sniff out a chicken bone in the middle of a football field I was not surprised to learn this.
According to UC Santa Barbara professor emeritus Tommy Dickey and his collaborator, BioScent researcher Heather Junqueira, they can. And with a review paper published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine they have added to a small but growing consensus that trained medical scent dogs can effectively be used for screening individuals who may be infected with the COVID-19 virus.
I would volunteer my 15-year-old poodle, Gabi, for this study.
This follows a comprehensive survey of research devoted to the use of trained scent dogs for detecting COVID. “The most striking result is that studies have already demonstrated that dogs can identify people who are COVID-19 positive,” Dickey said of their findings. “Not only that,” he added, “they can do it non-intrusively, more rapidly and with comparable or possibly better accuracy than our conventional detection tests.”
Not surprisingly, the magic lies in canine sense of smell, which gives dogs the ability to detect molecules in tiny concentrations — “one part in a quadrillion compared with one part in one billion for humans,” according to the paper. Add to that other optimizations for smell, such as a large nasal area and the structure of their noses, which allows inflow through the nostrils and outflow through nasal folds. Further, with 125-300 million olfactory cells and a third of their brains devoted to interpreting odors, dogs are well equipped with the ability to sniff out the volatile organic compounds that indicate the presence of COVID.
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I must gently disagree with Tony’s opening statement. Dogs evolved from the grey wolf something like 23,000 years ago.
But what a great article and will we see the authorities take him up on the idea? I certainly hope so.
This time via Facebook from Sally McCarthy in England.
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Greenland Chocolate Labradors
February 7th, 2021
We wanted to share this sad and scary experience one of our puppy owners had after collecting their puppy. Picture for reference, not puppy in question. Sharing to hopefully help others.
I had quite an unsettling experience yesterday on my way home with our puppy yesterday. I stopped at a service station to give her a cuddle and a break out of her crate and while I was standing at the back of my car with the boot open with the puppy in my arms a van with Polish numberplates pulled up really close behind me. The man leaned out of his window and said in a tone of voice that came across as really threatening “what a nice little doggy” then “can I ask some advice?”
At that point I thought I heard the passenger door of the van open (I couldn’t see the passenger side because of how he had parked). I put puppy back in her travelling crate, slammed my boot and locked my car as fast as I could, and walked to the driver’s side. At that point I realised I couldn’t get into the car, where my phone was, without unlocking the car so had a standoff with the man obviously waiting for me to unlock the car, which I was not willing to do in case he opened my boot.
After what felt like forever, especially as I was parked at the back of the car park away from any other cars, he gave up and sped off through the car park towards the exit with his phone in his hand. I didn’t want to wait around to see if he had called anyone to come so got in my car to drive off only to find him waiting for me at the exit and he started following me.
Fortunately within about 10 minutes the weather was awful so with the reduced visibility on my side I managed to lose him although my heartbeat and breathing didn’t return to normal for quite a while afterwards! As he hadn’t actually managed to take the puppy I wasn’t sure whether to report it to the police however I did submit an online report this morning as I am in no doubt that was his intention and that had I allowed him to distract me it would have given his accomplice enough time to corner me.
I just wanted to share as I have heard the stories of dog nappings and a friend of mine had a dog stolen 2 years ago during a walk but I am really shocked that anyone would consider attempting it in a public place that was hopefully covered with CCTV.
I have had dogs all of my life and have never worried about dog nappers before but now I have come face to face with them I just wanted to let you know that it does appear to be as bad as the media are saying so please keep your little ones close when they are allowed out for walks. I am going to buy a rape alarm to carry with me on dog walks from now on and my sons, who quite often walk our older dog alone, have been told the dog walks have to be done in pairs now and will be carrying an alarm too.x
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What a frightening experience for Sally.
But at least she had the sense in writing this up and I am republishing the event so as to inform the maximum of people.
This was sent to me by Jules. Julie is the partner of my friend of too many years, Richard Maugham. Richard and I go back many, many years. Indeed we met on a flight in the Commodore PET Jet over 40 years ago. Prior to that Richard was working for Olivetti and me for IBM Office Products. We were then selling electric typewriters and the early forms of dedicated word-processing machines. As I said a long time ago!
This is what ‘Frosty Life’ has to say about the video:
My daughter has a German Shepherd puppy that is huge, but is only 7 months old. This German Shepherd has never experienced snow before. Watch as Rollo, the German Shepherd experiences snow for the first time and then he barks at the snow. This GSD has his hackles up as he growls and barks at the new fallen snow. It is amazing to watch her German Shepherd as he experiences snow for the first time and barks at it. He ate the snow and now he likes it.
But to be honest the answer is just as interesting for those a tad older than a kid!
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When dogs bark, are they using words to communicate?
By Clive Wynne
Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University
February 8th, 2021
When dogs bark, do they have words? – Sarah W., age 9, Clinton, New York
Does your dog bark a lot? Or is he one of those quiet pooches who barks only when things get really exciting? Most dogs bark at least a little.
Dog barks are not words. But although your dog will never tell you about his parents or the weather or the amazing bone he had yesterday, his barks still communicate important information.
Dog barks are much closer to the noises people make when they accidentally hit their thumb with a hammer – “Ow!” – or open a fantastic present – “Wow!” These sounds convey how someone feels, but not why they feel that way. When other people hear these kinds of sounds, they often come over to see what has happened: How did you hurt yourself? What is this wonderful gift you received?
Dog barking also brings groups together – but it’s not a beautiful sound. It is a much more urgent noise, just like the sounds you make when you are hurt or very pleased. Many smaller animals, like scrub jays, meerkats and California ground squirrels, make such noisy sounds. They do this when they feel frightened by something. In dogs, barking can bring a group together to defend against a danger that can’t be coped with alone.
Wolves don’t need to make sounds like this because they are big and fearsome and don’t often feel threatened. Dogs, on the other hand, are much smaller and weaker than their wolf ancestors – and often need to call the group together.
A call for assistance. Seregraff/iStock/Getty Images Plus
This is why dogs bark. They are calling their group to get help with something they are not confident they can handle on their own. This doesn’t mean a barking dog is always frightened. He may just be very excited. He badly needs the family to know that there is a stranger coming to the door, or another dog coming close to the house.
Your dog’s barks may not be words, but he probably barks a little differently depending on what kind of thing has got him excited. If you listen closely, you may find you can tell the difference between a bark directed at a package deliverer and one directed toward a friend at the door. The bark to a passing dog may be different than the bark at a passing car.
Your dog doesn’t understand much of what you say, but he listens hard to try to make sense of human language. If you return the compliment and listen hard to his sounds, you may find you can also understand him better, and the two of you will have a richer life together.
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This touches on something that I saw elsewhere; the business of dogs having emotions (which they really do!).
I will try and find the article and see if I have permission to republish it.
Learning from Dogs 