The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too

Sunday, August 16, 2020

The Best Medium-Sized Dogs for Families

Congrats! Your kids convinced you to get a puppy (or maybe vice versa?). It’s time to research breeds well-suited for kids, active family life and commands like, “No begging at the table!” The thing is, puppies—like kids—don’t stay puppies forever. You don’t want to find yourself in a Goldilocks-type situation with a dog too big to fit comfortably in your condo or too small to enjoy regular playtime with the fam. Finding a dog that’s just right for your family, both in size and personality, is important to everyone’s happiness. Our advice? Go for a medium-sized breed.

Perhaps the best thing about focusing on medium-sized dogs is that there are so many options. Tons of breeds fall into the “medium” category, which has a fairly broad range. There’s wiggle room for these figures, but generally, dogs weighing between 20 and 65 pounds, and standing between 8 and 27 inches tall are considered medium size.

To read more on this story, click here: The Best Medium-Sized Dogs for Families

A Parasite Feasts on a Fish's Tongue Until it's Gone. Don't Worry, Humans Can't Get it

Researcher Kory Evans didn’t expect to find a tongue-eating parasite at work this week.

Evans, an assistant professor of biosciences at Rice University in Houston, has spent the past few years scanning and searching wrasses — a family of marine fish — to learn how traits evolve in the family. He's been measuring skull shapes of different types, and it’s part of an initiative he's dubbed #BackDatWrasseUp.

“While I was placing landmarks inside the mouth of one of the fishes, I realized that the inside of the mouth was pretty crowded,” he told USA TODAY.

Sometimes, it’s food. But in this particular type of fish, Odax cyanollix, he found what looked like a small crustacean.

To read more on this story, click here: A Parasite Feasts on a Fish's Tongue Until it's Gone. Don't Worry, Humans Can't Get it

What’s the Difference Between Llamas and Alpacas?

Llamas and alpacas have been used by humans for transportation and fleece production for a few thousand years. Both species are primarily found in Peru and Bolivia and are part of the camel family, Camelidae. Alpacas and llamas are two of the four lamoid species—the other two species, vicuña and guanaco, are their wild cousins. Interestingly, all four species are able to interbreed and create fertile offspring. While often conflated, alpacas and llamas differ in key ways. The most-distinguishing physical differences between alpacas and llamas are their size, their hair, and their face shapes. Also, they differ in disposition, which affects the way humans have used them over the years.

To read more on this story, click here: What’s the Difference Between Llamas and Alpacas?

Maine Coon Cat Sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star With His Human [Watch video]

Cats may not be able to speak like humans. But they make every effort to communicate with their hoomans. Cats even invented the word ‘meow’ just to interact with the hoomans. Cats surprise us every now and then. We have been domesticated them since thousands of years now. And we still don’t know anything about them.

To see the video, click here: Maine Coon Cat Sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star With His Human [Watch video]

Ear Infections In Cats: Symptoms, Causes, & Treatments

Ear infections in cats can affect both the inner ear and outer ear. Those affecting the inner ear are known as otitis media. Those affecting the outer ear are called otitis externa.

In general, otitis media infections can be more severe and dangerous to a cat’s health than otitis externa infections. If you see the signs of either type of ear infection in your cat, then you must get to a veterinarian for a proper diagnosis and treatment.

To read more on this story, click here: Ear Infections In Cats: Symptoms, Causes, & Treatments

This Aquarium Has Been Closed For Almost Five Months - Now, It's Using Old Wishing Coins To Help Care For Its Animals

For one aquarium, the coins tossed into its waterfall as wishes have become something more than submerged hopes and dreams. The North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores said it's transforming the forgotten change into cold, hard cash.

The public aquarium said in a Facebook post Saturday that its staff turned off its 30-foot-tall "Smoky Mountain" waterfall and rounded up all of the change visitors had tossed in.

Researchers Find A Preserved 12-Million-Year-Old Praying Mantis

We all remember the scene in the original Jurassic Park where dinosaur DNA was removed from a prehistoric mosquito stuck in amber. It’s perhaps the one thing that we all think about when we see pictures of insects stuck in amber – at least that is where my mind always goes to.

This one piece of amber doesn’t have a mosquito in it, but a praying mantis. The piece of amber was quite translucent and pale yellow in color, so it perfectly showed off the 12-million-year-old that was perfectly preserved inside.

To read more on this story, click here: Researchers Find A Preserved 12-Million-Year-Old Praying Mantis

Photographer Captured Rare Albino Elephant On Camera In Safari

Nicki Coertze was enjoying a safari while on vacation with his family in Shingwedsi, South Africa, when he witnessed something both rare and spectacular. He saw a herd of African elephants, and tucked behind one of the adults, he spotted an albino elephant calf.

Albino animals are rare and hard to find, especially when you’re not looking for them. It’s believed that one in every 10,000 mammals are born albino. Many go unnoticed in the wild because they’re far and few between.

Coertze, a 58-year old photographer, snapped several pictures of the baby hanging out by the Shingwedsi river. The photos document a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Coertze and his family.

To read more on this story, click here: Photographer Captured Rare Albino Elephant On Camera In Safari

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Sunday, August 16, 2020