Baby Dormice

These orphaned baby dormice were rescued in 2012 and taken to rescue facility over a hundred miles away by a person in England.

babydormice

Dormice are an endangered species, and these six babies were lucky enough to be found by someone who knew about them. The facility they were taken to is called Secret World, a facility that specializes in rescuing and rehabilitation of British wildlife.

These photos of the babies playing on Thistle are simply adorable:
babydormice2

babydormice3

You can see more photos at the Daily Mail.

– Fizz

Animal Friendships: Mr. G and Jellybean

Have you seen the news story about the goat Mr. G and the burro Jellybean?

1013879_10203011334717380_1774436747123978895_n
(Animal Place)

Mr. G and Jellybean were rescued from a neglectful owner in Southern California who kept them in a tiny pen without shade and with little water and food. However, the rescue did not make them happier. The animals were separated and taken to different rescue centers. Mr. G was healthy but perplexed staff when he lied down in a corner of his enclosure and refused to move or eat for six days.

mr. g sma (1 of 1)
(Animal Place)

The staff at Animal Place quickly realized that he was grieving the loss of his female friend Jellybean and decided to do something about it. One of their volunteers drove for hours to retrieve Jellybean from the rescue center she was at and brought her to Mr. G. The goat instantly brightened up, acted excited, and soon began to eat again. Watch the video below to see how excited the friends were to be reunited. Mr. G and Jellybean will never be separated again!


(Animal Place/First Spark Media)

This story demonstrates that animals do form friendships, or at least bonds strong enough to deserve to be called friendship. Mr. G was willing to go without food, possibly to starve to death, over losing Jellybean. I admire the animal sanctuary workers who took it upon themselves to make the situation right and reunite the pair.

Animal Place is a sanctuary in California that rescues farm animals from all types of farming situations (which they house and/or adopt out) and to educate the public about these animals and their needs. They have a 600 acre sanctuary in Grass Valley CA and a 60 acre animal shelter in Vacaville CA. The sanctuary in Grass Valley is a forever home for rescued animals and a great place to visit. You can go see the approximately 300 animal residents and learn about what happens to many animals in the farming industry (they do promote a vegan lifestyle, so be aware that they don’t support animal farming in any way for food). The animal shelter in Vacaville is called Rescue Ranch and there they rescue, rehabilitate and then re-home farm animals. They focus on chicken rescue by working with egg farmers to provide a life for chickens after they stop laying instead of slaughter for meat. This shelter is not open to the public. Animal Place fits into a unique place to help animals that previously had few supporters. Check out their website for more information or pay them a visit if you live in or will be near Grass Valley CA.

-Fizz

Eastern Quoll

The Eastern Quoll is a medium sized marsupial native to Australia. They are carnivorous, eating insects and small mammals.

Baby Quoll
3iZFiH7
(source)
Look at those spots!

There are six different species of quoll. This variety is now extinct on the main island of Australia but can be found in the wild in Tasmania. The last native quoll found on the mainland in 1963 had been killed by a car. The success of the Eastern Quoll in Tasmania is believed to be due to a lack of dingoes and foxes. Threats to the species include feral cats and humans hunting or poisoning them.

Sightings of “wild” Eastern Quoll on the mainland near Melbourne, Victoria, are considered to be escaped animals from a local conservation center or are thought to be those animals descendants. Many questions remain about these sightings, including how long these animals lived outside the sanctuary and if there is a successful breeding population. You can read more about those sightings in the article Victorian Eastern Quoll Specimens.

Eastern Quoll have pointed muzzles, white spots on their bodies with the a main fur color ranging from fawn brown to almost black, and they do not have any spots on their bushy tails. Some sources state they come in only fawn or black.

These little guys are adorable and it is very sad that they are no longer native in much of their past wild habitat. I hope that these cute creatures have a bright future ahead!

Adult black quoll:
800px-Eastern_Quoll_(Black)
(wikipedia)

Fawn brown colored Quoll:
eastern-quoll
(retrieverman)

Adult with black fur:
Black Eastern Quoll_1068
(TheLandDownUnder)

Adult with fawn fur:
fawncolor
(ausecosystems.org)

There are even stuffed toys! You can find him different places for different prices, this one is here for $24.95.
quoll-stuffed-animal-toy-main-472-472

— Fizz Pig

Sources:
Wikipdia: Eastern Quoll
Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Services: Eastern Quoll

Golden Zebra

A Golden Zebra is a zebra born with abnormal pigmentation which produces lighter colored stripes. Meet Zoe, the only golden zebra known to be in captivity:

6977899_f496

While golden zebras may look albino, the condition which causes the lighter stripes is called amelanism and is a lack of color pigments (melanins) in the skin rather than a complete absence of them (albinism).

6979683_f248

Zoe was born in Hawaii and currently resides with her mother and sister, both normal colored zebras, at the Three Ring Ranch Exotic Animal Sanctuary.

Pictures from Meet Zoe – The Rare Golden Zebra where you can read more about her.