Raccoon Diseases

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Katherine 'Kat' Massey's family jokes that the headstrong 72-year-old was a "committee of one." At 72, she even refused help mowing the lawn. "Her favorite saying, shes got 1,000 of them, 'this is a question-suggestion,' meaning that we're going to go with whatever she said, because it's a question but this is what we're going to do," said Barbara Mapps, Kat's sister. That determination is what her peers praise her for in her community activism. Betty Jean Grant, also a community activist, met Kat in 2001, and together they grew the grassroots organization We are Women Warriors. Grant says Kat's passion and love of Buffalo motivated her. "She's in a true sense of the word, a warrior. She was a woman warrior and she really, really loved that title, she loved working and she loved helping people," said Grant. Grant says Kat was fiercely passionate about reducing gun violence...

For a creature that – legs and all – might be no larger than a pencil eraser, spiders continue to surprise researchers with their cognitive abilities. Lisa Taylor, a University of Florida entomologist, has spent her career studying arachnids. She says understanding how spiders think is just one of the unknowns that drives her research. "They're such tiny animals, with an even tinier brain, and a sensory system that we don't quite understand," she said.  This curiosity led Taylor and two international collaborators – Fiona Cross from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and Robert Jackson from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya – to examine the dietary preferences of an East African jumping spider known scientifically as Evarcha culicivora. Their findings are newly published in the journal "Animal Behaviour." "My collaborators spent years watching these spiders in the field and noticed that they were feedin...

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[unable to retrieve full-text content] Metro Animal Control waiving adoption fees for National Rescue Dog Day    WZTV National Rescue Dog Day: This is what you can do to help ease rise of homeless pets in Southern Utah    St George News MACC waives adoption fees for National Rescue Dog Day    WKRN News 2 National Rescue Dog extends to the weekend in Nashville    News Channel 5 Nashville View Full Coverage on Google News

As the weather warms up, humans aren't the only ones enjoying the outdoors.  Deer, squirrels, raccoons and many other critters are becoming more active, too, especially with trees, plants and flowers blooming.  But springtime can also be a deadly time for animals when they get hit by drivers.  Matt Bruning, press secretary for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), said the agency already has collected 5,652 deer carcasses across the state this year. In 2021, the total number of deer collected for the year was 14,109. Ohio hunters to the rescue: State calls on hunters to help control spread of chronic wasting disease in deer "We see a high number of them in the spring, and we'll see it again in the fall," Bruning said. "It is a part of our job, and that's what we do."  The Franklin County Engineer's Office also has seen an uptick in animal carcasses, Carla Marable, communi...

Santa Rosa firefighters were able to contain a mobile home fire Saturday afternoon to one bedroom in the Rancho Cabeza Mobile Estates off Calistoga Road. The fire did about $10,000 worth of damage, Santa Rosa Fire Department Division Chief Steve Suter said in a news release. Firefighters were dispatched to the fire after a report of a woman yelling for help and smoke pouring out a window in the 80 block of Coronado Circle in Santa Rosa. Crews arrived about 7 minutes later, and the woman was found next door with a neighbor. Crews got the fire under control within eight minutes, Suter said. No other person or animal was found to live at the residence. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but is considered to be accidental, according to the news release. The resident was planning to stay with family at another location, Suter said. You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.

I moved to Alaska 21 years ago. Amy Newman; Jay Juno/Shutterstock I moved to Alaska over 21 years ago and there are things tourists should know before visiting. Educate yourself on and respect the histories and traditions of Alaska Natives. Don't push your physical limits, and make sure to wear the right clothes when adventuring outside. In September 2001, my husband and I loaded our cars and trekked across the country from Chicago to Alaska. We spent the first seven years in the capital city of Juneau before moving north to Anchorage, which has been our home for the last 14 years. Over the past 21 years, I've learned a lot about this beautiful place. Here are 10 things I think visitors should know. You are a guest on Alaska Native lands Alaska Natives called Alaska home long before colonizers arrived and took control of their lands, so it's important to remember that we are all guests in their homeland. Someone born and raised in Alaska, even if they can trace their ancest...