Mr. Breeze offers up trivia about animals, real or fanciful.
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The Black Dragon
The Uda tennō gyoki (宇多天皇御記) is the personal diary of Emperor Uda, the 59th emperor of Japan. It contains the oldest surviving written record of a pet cat in Japanese history. In a quiet hour, I find myself wishing to write about my cat. There is one black cat. Minamoto no Kuwashi brought him to…
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Animals and Poison Ivy
Animals don’t usually get poison ivy. However, the active ingredient, urushiol, is highly allergenic to most humans. Non-primate species can roll in poison ivy and at most get some irritation. This means that cats and dogs can transfer the oil onto their humans without getting contact dermatitis themselves. Mangoes, cashews and pistachios are popular foods…
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Quotes: The Instruction of Ankhsheshonq on Cats
The Instruction of Ankhsheshonq is an ancient Egyptian papyrus containing maxims, words to live by. Do not laugh at a cat. A cat that loves fruit hates him who eats it.
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The Fearsome Australian Drop Bear
The Drop Bear (Thylarctos plummetus) is a large, arboreal marsupial native to the forests of Australia. A distant relative of the koala, it is described as a heavily built animal with powerful forearms for climbing. It is roughly the size of a large dog or leopard, with coarse mottled fur and a vicious bite. Drop…
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Video: The Tigers of Scotland
Narrated by Iain Glen, this independent natural history documentary investigates the Scottish Wildcat, their endangered status and the conservation efforts being undertaken to prevent their extinction. Scottish Wildcats are affectionately known as Highland Tigers. The name originates from their striped fur and that they’re not only one of Britain’s largest predators, but the UK’s only…
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Shooting Craps: The Wombat
Wombats are cute little Australian animals. Their long teeth make them look like rodents, but in reality they’re marsupials, relatives of koalas and kangaroos. Marsupials differ from mammals like dogs and cats in a number of ways, but the most important way is that wombat fetuses have a simple placenta that doesn’t provide enough nutrition…
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Why Animal Testing is Illogical
Animal testing is illogical. Although humans and many other species have similar DNA, and though most organ systems are similar, subtle differences make using animal models to test food, drugs and cosmetics unreliable. Here are just three ways animals don’t react the same as humans. Rats are known to be more resistant to a certain…
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The Cat Who Ate the Sun
“The Cat Who Ate the Sun” is a mythical story explaining the origin of tortoiseshell cats. According to the legend, the sun became a black cat to visit the Earth. When the sun left, it left behind its fire in the patches of red and orange in the torties’s coat. This is why Tortoiseshell cats…
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Call Me the Breeze
Purrrr, It’s Mr. Breeze here. Since I’m going to be writing for The Anipal Times I thought it would be a fine thing to post an intro. In 2007 when I was a few months old I escaped from my home and got lost. I was begging at random doors for food. Then I met…
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