The only amphibian to live north of the Arctic Circle, the wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) has an amazing ability to undergo freezing and thawing to survive cold winters. As you might guess from its common name, it lives mainly in woodland, only taking to shallow pools in springtime to breed, the males uttering a distinctive quacking call to attract mates. What […]
Tag: Raccoons
“This 5kg bandit-masked carnivore is North America’s most numerous mammal and often regarded as the ultimate urban pest”
The common raccoon is North America’s most numerous mammal and is famed as a nuisance! It belongs to the Procyonidae family and its nearest relatives includes the coati. Before the urbanisation of North America, raccoons scampered mainly through deciduous woodland. With much of their former habitat gone, these excellent climbers began denning in attics instead, even […]
Wyoming’s Failure Looms Large In The Wake Of Cody Roberts
With the sentencing of Cody Roberts, his heinous “wolf whacking” incident near Daniel, Wyoming appears to be behind us, and with Wyoming Legislator’s subsequent passage of an “animal cruelty” law, we have to ask: what, if anything has changed? Unfortunately, not much. Anyone can still take their snowmobile and run down a wolf, a coyote, […]
Capybara Cafes Are Fueling A Dangerous Trend In The Exotic Pet Trade
According to a recent report from the Guardian, cafes across Asia are turning exotic animals into props for selfie culture, and experts say the trend is pushing the illegal pet trade to new heights. In Bangkok, visitors can now pay to cuddle capybaras, the gentle giants native to South America, even though these rodents belong […]
Cuddling capybaras and ogling otters: the problem with animal cafes in Asia
The second floor of an unassuming office building in central Bangkok is a strange place to encounter the world’s largest rodent. Yet here, inside a small enclosure with a shallow pool, three capybaras are at the disposal of dozens of paying customers – all clamouring for a selfie. As people eagerly thrust leafy snacks toward […]
Raccoons Are Adapting to City Life, And That’s Not a Good Thing
Raccoons might be getting a little too comfortable living alongside humans. According to KARK News, researchers at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock found that raccoons in urban areas are beginning to show early signs of domestication. After examining nearly 20,000 images, scientists noticed that city raccoons tend to have shorter snouts than their […]
Hundreds of wild animals rescued from a ‘fur and urine farm’ in Ohio
Earlier this year, the Ashtabula County Commissioner’s Office called in the Humane Society of the United States (now Humane World for Animals) to rescue hundreds of wild animals living in horrific conditions on a “fur and urine farm” near Cleveland, Ohio. The owner of Grand River Fur Exchange died in December 2024, making the conditions […]
Raccoons Are Quietly Evolving In Our Cities And It Says A Lot About Us
Urban raccoons have always been little legends of the night, popping open bins, trotting across rooftops and giving us that startled wide eyed look when we flick on a light. But a fascinating new study suggests these bold visitors may be changing in ways that go far beyond funny videos or viral sightings. According to […]