Thursday, October 13, 2011

“the first zoo-born male orangutan to be released”

Semeru, a Sumatran orangutan born at Australia's Perth Zoo, will be released into Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Sumatra.

Updated: Oh yeah, a link, now I remember how to blog!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

“he needs some consistency in care”

Democratic Republic of Congo gorilla-nappers lured with $40,000, caught, baby gorilla rescued.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

“which the yeti marks his territory”

Siberians send yeti to Occupy Wall Street, sanitary conditions improve.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Saturday, October 08, 2011

“unlikely friends”

Here, ducky, ducky, ducky!

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Well, I've got this blog and...

So, at 56, what is it that I've accomplished?

Monday, October 03, 2011

“an uncomplicated birth”

UK's Bristol Zoo and Gardens welcomes new baby lowland gorilla.

Apparently Little Squinty got cold feet

"Iran postpones monkey's ride into space"

Friday, September 16, 2011

Looking, not so much seeing

One of the things that the stroke took was my pleasure in reading. I
used to never be without a book on the train, one of the major
benefits of commuting by rail: no need to keep an eye on the road.

It's more difficult now: I'm less able to maintain concentration
across a full line of text (which always was difficult due to my weak
close vision in the right eye). Martina's sensible suggestion of
looking into correction, which I sort of dismissed earlier (I very
clearly remember the sick headaches from poorly cleaned glasses in my
childhood and abhor the 'thing in my eye' aspect of contact lenses,
regardless of construction), is looking more and more sensible as I
consider it. One thing at a time, bariatric surgery thing first, see
about glasses or worse second. (The other way around I'd be first
treated to a better view of what I don't really want to contemplate.)

I've run a Kindle emulator on my desktop system at home, and a real
one is an intriguing idea, but I'm no more a fan of current major
releases in the literary world than in the cinematic one. I'll be
needing to walk a lot in the coming months/years and doing that with
eyes fixed on a screen isn't a healthy option. Earbuds jammed in
place is probably second-rate too, but that's more likely that reading
while walking.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Zombie apocalypse postponed

Texas the site of monkey apocalypse Waller, Grimes counties overrun! Connection to wildfires unproven!

Next it'll be 'musings', I knew it'd come to this some day!

Well, I see again I've fallen out of the habit, and hardly have the inclination to start again, but let's try personal anecdotes, see if that helps:

Two or three years ago I had a problem after a small aneurysm in the
fovea of one eye which did no lasting harm, but was scary. It might
not have been noticed except in such an important part of the retina,
the very spot where the sharpest vision occurs. It produced a visual
effect that looked like an uneven blob-shaped flashbulb after-image
that didn't fade for months, and introduced me to the confusing world
of eye-docs. They specialize like nobody else!

My primary care doctor referred me to an eye-doc generalist who
examined my vision and referred me to a retina specialist because only
that specialist could refer me to the retina super-specialist, part of
a group practice where each doc every week works a day in each of four
different offices, so the whole state gets coverage. Fancy goldfish
tank; help-yourself bagels and coffee and sandwiches since so many of
the patients are diabetic. Very workman-like, sit in the waiting room,
get called to read an eye chart and have the results recorded, back to
wait a while, get called by the eye-dilation tech, back to wait a bit
for the eyes to dilate, be called to have retinas photographed (that'd
be an interesting series of photos if presented in time-lapse: the
clot left by the aneurysm smaller at each visit, always the shape of
the "after-image" it produced) , quite a production, eventually see
the doctor. When he's done with each visit, there are one-shot
sunglasses for anyone who forgot to bring better ones. He offered
laser surgery to remove the clot but advised watchful waiting instead
(if anything goes wrong in the surgery, it goes wrong for life), so he
essentially did nothing, but expertly. Took a couple of months, but
the clot was absorbed over that time by just waiting, so I don't
complain, just remark.

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Goodbye, Timbo!

A 49-year-old female gorilla failed to awake from anesthesia after dental and eye surgery at Dallas Zoo Tuesday.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

“Marjorie Partch just wants the right to bring her mother home”

Primacy of freely-signed contracts between individuals empowered to do so and crony capitalism.

“Mental Floss ”

Capuchin monkeys 'cautious, observant shoppers,' reports Yale University Department of Psychology. Remarkably, monkeys not yet said to act just like members of any socio-political group. Later today when bloggers take note, I bet.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

“A possible new species of monkey has been discovered”

A new species of Callicebus monkey may have been discovered, with remarkable features at head and tail, this MSNBC article fails to explain, doing for internet journalism what their common-law parents did for the community's daily newspaper.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Goodbye, Hondo

36-year-old male chimpanzee dies at North Carolina Zoo of the effects of amyloidosis.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

“before the rest of us felt the shaking”

Always one of my favorite logical fallacies: confirmation bias.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

“readier to use sex”

Chimpanzee sore losers complain that bonobo victor slept her way to the top.

Monday, August 22, 2011

“the orangutan refused to share the wet towel”

Orangutan at Japan's Tama Zoological Park observed wetting a cloth to cool itself.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Happy Birthday, Kiki!

Western lowland gorilla at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo celebrated her 30th birthday with special treats Sunday, with her daughters Kira, 12, Kimani, 6, and Kambiri, 9 months.

“people who buy monkeys from breeders will come to regret the purchase”

Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, in Texas, takes stand against the breeding and sale of pet monkeys.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

“Mandrills are the largest monkey”

Curious behavior of an understimulated infant mandrill in Yageer Zoo in Ningbo, China. Everybody laughing now, please.

Friday, August 19, 2011

“Great Ape Heart Healthy program”

Dara, orangutan at Rochester NY's Seneca Park Zoo, gets a clean bill of health.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Goodbye, Harvey

Last surviving chimpanzee at the Toledo Zoo succumbs.

“Just a scratch”

8 year old girl in Springfield, MO victimized by macaque at Walmart.

Rolo, Twix, Flake, Rocky, Snickers, Minstrel, Malteser, Yorkie, Wisper, Kit Kat and Twirl

Bolivian squirrel monkey Bounty, at London Zoo, fathered his 11th offspring Rolo, last month.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

A note from my friend, Marjorie Partch:

We have been reluctant to intrude with this tragic story, but also hoping that this community would rally around one of its longtime members in her time of dire need. Mrs. Dorothy Partch taught English at Brien McMahon High School for 20 years, retiring in 1994. In 2003, she suffered a mild stroke, and her daughter Marjorie (Class of 1975) moved back home to take care of her. Last year, Mrs. Partch had a more severe stroke, and Marjorie, her POA, Health Care Representative, etc. etc., brought her to a nursing home for rehab. She was due to come home last Summer. But when the nursing home learned that the house was still in Mrs. Partch's name, they decided instead to bypass her daughter's legal authority and keep Mrs. Partch against their wishes. They had a real estate attorney appointed as Mrs. Partch's Conservator (guardian), seized all their joint accounts, and are trying to take all their belongings and property to keep Mrs. Partch isolated, neglected and abused (according to the Dept. of Public Health), rather than letting her come home, where she would be treated by her own neurologist, therapists and her loving daughter.

To learn more, and to help, click here.

“£465,000 in royalties”

Celebrity-primatologist Dame Jane Goodall sues baby food firm Sprout Foods in dispute over payments for Janey Baby brand.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

“in northwestern Wyoming”

Oldest fingernails in modern primates discovered in Teilhardina brandti.

Monday, August 15, 2011

“he puts the baboons first ”

"Wild About Monkeys" at MontanaFair, Billings.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Friday, August 12, 2011

Also Ted Nugent and free lunch!

LemurLand representing at Sioux Empire Fair up close and personal

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Or so the Grauniad says:

Bonobos share stuff and enjoy the odd orgy while Pan troglodytes is too busy fighting over every little thing.

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

“estimated at about 8-months-old”

Baby Mountain Gorilla confiscated from poachers by Rwandan police on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Saturday, August 06, 2011