Saturday, January 01, 2011

Polar bears destroy BBC documentary cameras

From: The Lookout a Y!News Blog
 
BBC documentary cameras are no match, it turns out, for the destructive curiosity of your average polar bear. Producers of the BBC show "Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice" thought they could outwit their documentary subjects on the Arctic islands of Svalbard by concealing weather-resistant high-tech cameras inside casings that mimicked the look of ice floes and other snow formations. The idea, apparently, was to capture the unguarded rounds of polar bear life in the species' natural habitat, in the general style of the successful Animal Planet franchise "Meerkat Manor."

But the inquisitive bears weren't taken in by the ruse. The cameras were designed to survive in temperatures as low as -40 degree Celsius, but once they came in the sights--and more important, the grip--of wandering polar bears, they were soon clawed, gnawed and crushed into state of total dysfunction. The heroic cameras in some instances caught the moment of their own demise.


You can watch the bear-camera smackdown after the jump. (Hat tip: Gizmodo.)




























Good Morning Good News !!!! January 1, 2011


I’m Vincent D. Cat and here to make you happy!  You are HEROES!  You work hard every day and you deserve to smile every day!  Those of you working to save us animals hear so very many very sad things.  And there’s lots of very glad things too and that’s what we talk about here!  All pawsitive all the time!  I want my friends to be happy and smile and know there’s a lot of good - including YOU - in this world!!  Be kind and pass it on!  Please send me your Good New and Fun Stuff to share, personal or global. Let’s keep it fun and interactive!!  After all, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane!  Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org


My artist friend Wayne Morris depicted me as the Good Shepherd of all animals, working hard every day to save everyone!  Isn’t that beautiful?  And I want to enlist YOU as my Assistant Shepherd.  Will you be a Vincent Animal Shepherd in 2011 and make the promise to help me help the animals?  Tell me if I can count on you in 2011: Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org  I'll include your name in tomorrow Good News!

Welcome to 2011 my friends!!!
Good Morning and HAPPY New Year - we're gonna make this a really really Happy Year for thousands and thousands of animals. All together, you and me, just think how many we're gonna help!!!

My Favorite Quotes
Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.
--- Scott Adams

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.    
--- Margaret Mead

And these two quotes really portray where we should all be headed in 2011.  No matter how kind you were in 2010, there’s always room to add one more kindness every day in 2011.  Just reach out and help somebody.  Toss an extra handful of bread crumbs to the birds. An extra can of Fancy Feast to your favorite cat.  Smile at a stranger on the street or on the bus or ....  You get it, just think outside yourself and be somebody’s HERO.  Everyday.  Be an Everyday Hero.  Keep your eyes open and look around - smile, say something nice, take a second to help, speak a kind word. The more and more of us on the planet practicing this and the better and better the world gets.

You all believe in animal rights or you wouldn’t be reading this. Make a committed effort to DO something about it.  Even if you just give your local shelter $1 a week or a bottle of laundry detergent or spend ½ an hour helping, they have dishes to wash, trash to take out, supplies to lug in.  If everybody added just a tiny little bit to helping animals it’d make a great big huge major difference and save so many many more lives.


Refuge News
As a shepherd I feel I must report in on my sheep today. Ivory is doing WONDERFUL. She has a little stiffness in one leg from being sick and lying down so much. She's getting 4 sessions of physical therapy a day and I'm sure soon she'll be purrfect!!!! Thank you all for your love and prayers for her.  I just know that helps all us animals here.  And thank you for paying her bills so she can get will without worrying.

Thank you all so much, those of you who contributed to the Double Your Donations.  I came very close to meeting our goals and I love you for being a part of it! 

Today Saturday, January 1, Nature Hike at NOON

Today Saturday, January 1, Noon - 2 pm, gates open for Donation Drop Off - just in case you happened to find an extra case of Fancy Feast hanging around your house and looking for a new home .....

Tomorrow Sunday, January 2, Mini tour at Noon, get to walk around with a guide and see the critters


Live from Vincent Video
Good Morning Chickens



Check out my Horoscope for 2011
Your legendary tenacity and patience is truly about to pay off in spades this year Vincent. After a long and arduous 12 years (now how’d they know), your luck is returning with a fabulous vengeance. Jupiter, the planet of large-scale fortune enters your sturdy stars this June for an extended stint taking you right into 2012 in excellent standing.

Never has it felt so easy to let go of comfort zones and move into unknown territory with such confidence and gusto. Even the most cautious and conservative of kitties can easily see that the rewards far outweigh the risk this year. Push the envelope, raise the bar and go for the biggest stakes your loyal heart can fathom.  (oh my a caravan of 17 tractor trailer trucks filled with Fancy Feast)

You're a florid channel of original ideas this spring when six planets line up in your unconscious sector of dreams and inspiration right around your birthday. Ready yourself for what becomes a turbo-charged imagination to keep you up at night with more genius schemes than there is time to humanly (well duhhh) handle. Your brain will feel like a non-stop idea factory that refuses to rest, so you'll need extra time in nature or at the gym to remain relatively grounded.

Unexpected social encounters and fabulous new friendships flourish throughout the year with special highlights occurring in March and April when Mars powers up your friendship sector. May and June are stellar months for dating and mating (oh come on I’ve been to the speuter clinic, give me a break) with all around good times to be had in general compliments of Venus in Taurus. You've got your mind on your money and your money on your mind all summer with Venus and Mars emphasizing your financial sector. Make your money in June and July while the getting is good and save the leisure rewards for August when you can kick back guilt-free.


Now that sounds like good predictions for Rikki’s Refuge to ME !!!!   Hang in there and help me accomplish my goals!!!  SAVE THE ANIMALS !!!!  YES YES YES  and of course FEED VINCENT FANCY FEAST !!!!   Will this be the year you see my face on every can of Fancy Feast?


Did You Know?
Alektorophobia is the fear of chickens.  Lots of folks have a real ear of birds for one reason or another.  Some had birds fly in their face as kids and were so terrified and didn’t face their fears and meet and pat a bird after that so they’re still scared.  Others have been kicked by naughty roosters.  And WOW can they kick!  We have a very very naughty rooster who joined us recently.  Every one has alektorophobia around him!!!  He wanted to beat everybody up, no matter what their species.  The roosters and friends ganged up on him and chased him away from Chicken City.  He’s now claimed the little log cabin in the woods as his home.  Poor Joe discovered him there when he was riding by on the ATV and wondered why the door was open and Evil Adolph cam charging out and kicked and pecked him bloody.  We’re hoping Evil Adolph calms down with time.  Or at least stays out in the woods and leaves us alone!!!  If you’ve never been kicked by a rooster you have no idea how hard a little 10 pound critter can kick.  It leaves the print of a chicken foot in a bruise on your butt!  Lena is headed down to the woods this morning to try and trick him and lock him up in the cabin so our hikers don’t get jumped today!!!  Now we need to teach him poacher patrol!!!


How come I keep hearing all these
New Year resolutions to
exercise more and eat less?




A Wonderful New Year to All My Friends



 including those Down Under too !





Love, today and every day in 2011,
Vincent

PS You tell me what you want!  Email me at Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org with instructions to change your subscription: additions, deletions or modifications!  Subscriptions:    Vincent’s VIPs - up to the second alerts about issues at Rikki’s Refuge for those who care and want to be intimately involved.  Scheduled as needed.  Good Morning Good News - a little something to get you going in the mornings, for those of you who want to keep smiling with us!  Scheduled daily.  Hairballs - so you know what’s coming up at Rikki’s!  Scheduled weekly.

Rikki's Refuge, supported solely by private donations, houses over 1200 animals of 22 species. On line at http://bit.ly/Give-a-gift-to-Rikkis Checks, money orders, cash, items at Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960

Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation, tax-id 54-1911042. Combined Federal Campaigns #77674, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign #3163, PetsMart Charities #1377.  A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.

Learn more www.RikkisRefuge.org and help spread the good word, tell everyone you know about Rikki’s Refuge