Pets and other Critters

Thursday, March 29, 2018

A Public Service Announcement

Lily offers a few thoughts for today, Thursday March 29, 2018.

Spring is the time to get your blood test for heart worm. It doesn't hurt! Well, hardly at all. The Vet Techs are nice.

Springtime means the ground gets soft and your people become agitated about MUD. There is nothing you can do about it. Your best bet is to cooperate when they want to wipe your feet. Trust me on this.

Today is Opening Day in Detroit.

Go get em Tigers!

Thank you. Good bye for now.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Let's Look at Dog Eye Movements

Some researchers from the Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine at the University of Helsinki conducted a study on the effect of oxytocin in domestic dogs. Oxytocin is a neuropeptide that effects social behavior and emotional reactions in mammals. It is commonly called the "affection hormone".

To see what adding more oxytocin might do, the researchers taught a bunch of dogs to rest their chins on a little bar (like at the eye doctor) so their eye movements and pupil dilation could be measured while they looked at pictures of unfamiliar human faces- some angry, some happy. One group of dogs were given a placebo of nasal saline, the other group was given nasal oxytocin.

Dogs that snorted saline reacted more strongly to the angry faces. Dogs that snorted oxytocin reacted more strongly to the happy faces.

The researchers concluded that oxytocin, when snorted "changes the allocation of attention and emotional arousal in domestic dogs".

What does this mean? Well, similar studies were done with humans and monkeys but the results were not the same as with dogs. The oxytocin caused the dogs to focus on the happy faces while the other species only reacted less strongly to both the happy and angry faces when under the influence of oxytocin. Researchers think this selective response in dogs will maybe "facilitate communication between humans and dogs" (and monkeys and dogs, presumably).

It's clear to see, that there's still some kinks to be ironed out. For one thing, in general, monkeys and people don't consider looking into someone's eyes as threatening as dogs do. Does this skew the results? It is difficult to imagine that it wouldn't. Maybe the researchers will look into it.

Read the study here.

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Seasonal Music

Spring is on the way. Birdsong fills the air.

Have you ever wondered about birds that cannot sing?

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Pop Culture Frenzy, Round 66

Welcome once again to Pop Culture Frenzy. Our question today is about Daylight Saving Time.

What is it?
Fluffy?

We set our clocks ahead one hour.
It was to "gain" an hour in the evening so

kids wouldn't have to walk home from

school in the dark.

Since kids don't walk home from school

anymore, why do they still do it?

So people can play softball after work.

The effects of Global Warming

cause the sun to shine less. We must

preserve it.

Poppycock. Daylight Savings Time

is like cutting a strip off the top of a

blanket and sewing it onto the bottom.

It's one of those -let's pretend we're

doing something meaningful- contrivances.

Inconveniencing millions of people makes

the myth easier to believe.

Hostmaster: whose idea was Daylight Saving Time?
Bryan?

Ben Franklin was first to suggest it

to save lamp oil.

Early to bed, early to rise makes

a man healthy, wealthy and wise!

So let the early birds pay for

the extra hour of lamp oil!

Fuddy-duddies

can afford it.

Spring Forward!

Fuddy-duddies must pay

their fair share!

Do roosters sleep in

after the Spring Forward?

Hostmaster: no. Most crow at will anyway. However, many roosters crow even earlier after Spring Forward. Revenge. People aren't the only ones inconvenienced by this twice a year messing with the clocks stuff.

Many Amish people eschew

Daylight Saving Time.

Hawaiians too.

And Arizonians, except

for Indian reservations.

We can't save light.

It comes from God.

We should all eschew

Daylight Savings Time.