Auckland, New Zealand - If you've ever stopped by an octopus habitat at an aquarium, you'll often see objects such as jars or balls at the bottom of their tanks, partially to keep the cephalopods from getting bored and attempting a an escape. One octopus has been given a new toy that turns her into the world's first professional octophotographer: a waterproof Sony Cyber-shot DSC TX30. The octopus, named Rambo, has been trained to use the camera to take photos of visitors who stop by to see her at Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium in Auckland, New Zealand. "When we first tried to get her to take a photo, it only took three attempts for her to understand the process. That's faster than a dog," Rambo's trainer, Mark Vette, told Cult of Mac. "Actually, it's faster than a human in some instances." The camera is placed in a special casing in Rambo's tank, with a red plunger over the camera's shutter button. When Rambo wants to take a photo, she makes her way over to the casing, and pushes the plunger with her tentacle. Visitors can line up against a backdrop placed opposite the camera. What makes Rambo a professional photographer is that she -- or at least the aquarium -- gets paid for the photos, at NZ$2 a shot. A rotation of toys is necessary to keep octopuses stimulated -- it's only a matter of time before Rambo grows bored with her camera and seeks something new to play with. Perhaps she'd be interested in an underwater video camera to document her ennui?
The scene was Creve Coeur Lake outside of St. Louis, and the Washington University of rowing team, were out practicing on the lake. As the boat got near the dock, the splashing started, and suddenly a swarm of Asian Carp emerged from the water and went on the attack, some even got into the boat. One member Devin Patel, described the moment of terror: "The fish was flopping on my legs. They were so slippery that I couldn't get a grip on them." He screamed to a teammate, Yoni David, "get them off me!" Fortunately, no one was hurt during the ordeal, but the strong smell of fish lingered afterward.
Studio City, CA - Former "CHiPs" star Erik Estrada is still protecting and serving, except now he's doing it for a pair of adorable dogs. The owner of Wylder's Holistic Pet Center & Rescue, says that Erik's teenage daughter stopped in this week and instantly fell in love with two terrier mixes. She quickly phoned dad, and talked him into paying for the adoptions. Erik loved the pups so much, he actually wanted to adopt three other dogs, but his wife talked him down to just the two dogs, who they named Nike and Shadow. While filling out the paperwork, Erik donated an additional $1,000 to the shelter.
Having photographed for National Geographic for the last 20 years, you learn never to promise someone that they will “make it” into the magazine. After seeing the story about exotic pets in the April issue, some of the folks represented in this post were happy not to be included in our coverage, feeling that the tone of the story would have cast them in an unflattering light. I spent the better part of 2013 photographing this world for the cover story that appears in the April edition of National Geographic magazine about Wild Pets. Exotic pet ownership is a very complicated and often controversial relationship that is often portrayed and understood in a narrow and simplistic way. The animals photographed were far from wild. Captive-bred for many generations, these animals can commonly be found in the homes and backyards of places like Indiana, Ohio, Florida, and Texas. I met committed and caring people who owned monkeys, chimpanzees, lions, tigers, cougar, venomous reptiles, bears, lemurs, kangaroos, bobcats, alligators, hedgehogs, and one with a capybara, a 130-pound rodent found commonly in Brazil. Surprisingly to me, very few of the people I met were advocates for owning an exotic pet, in fact, most said their best advice would be to tell people not to get an exotic pet. This wasn’t based in regret but issued as a cautionary note for potential owners about the extraordinary responsibility and commitment required to care for these animals. Each of these people came to be with these animals in different ways, and their relationships to these animals are just as different. Albert Killian, a gentle man fascinated by snakes, lives side by side with king cobras, Egyptian cobras and other extremely venomous snakes. His bedroom, where he keeps them, looks more like an exhibit in a zoo. He adores and respects an animal that doesn’t really give or receive affection. He has been bitten over 100 times. Conversely, for the last 33 years, Alison Pascoe Freedman was rarely more than an arms-length away from Amelia, her precocious and affectionate capuchin monkey. Amelia was a small animal and a large part of Alison’s life. The two went everywhere together as Alison often carried Amelia around in her pocket. I was really interested in the differences but also the similarities of these relationships. Were all monkey people like Alison? Was there such a thing as monkey person? I certainly knew that all monkeys were not Amelia. Enter Skunk Fest, the labor-of-love brainchild of Deborah Cipriani who lives with and cares for more than 50 skunks at her Ohio home. For the past 12 years it’s been a community event that connects skunk owners with each other and a curious public. To read more on this story, click here:Skunk Lovers Unite: A Look at Pets and Their People
