4 The Love Of Animals

APRIL 25, 2010

Long before CAT scans, X-rays, blood samples and colonoscopies, physicians used the good sense they were born with: their sense of smell. Recently, another powerful little nose has joined the diagnostic force: that of the African giant pouched rat. The sizeable rodents are helping to detect tuberculosis (TB). Liver disease?

Rats 100

Rats Humane Greece Rodents 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2011

For instance, I can lay my hands on data for primates and rodents (because I’ve collected those data for research) but I don’t have comparable data for bovids (just selected data) and zero data for birds (in spreadsheets on my computer). Note that there are a lot of mammals (about 40) that are bigger than any bird in this sample.

Mammals 179

Mammals Rodents Birds Reptiles 179

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2012

you’d get to see the much larger samples of prepared specimens in the drawers. Frogs and fish and insects and rodents yes, but not birds. Which keep eating rat poison. An avid birder would perhaps visit a museum where stuffed birds were the multi-media of the day, and if you knew the curator (or were the curator!)

Birds 171

Birds Collecting Rodents Wounded 171