Posts Tagged ‘Dogs’

Mar
22

FOTO FRIDAY Winner of the Week!

Posted by in Carnivores,Contest,Funny

Welcome to the Houston Zoo’s FOTO FRIDAY Caption Challenge results post from Friday, March 18!

 Last Friday, we posted a photo on Facebook and asked you to leave your best shot at a caption in the comment section. Then readers could “like” each caption comment to vote for their favorite captions. Their votes, combined with those of our own panel, determined the caption to appear under the picture right here on the Official Houston Zoo Blog this week. We hope you’ll come back for the fun EVERY FRIDAY.

YOUR VOTES HELP DETERMINE THE WINNERS!

Here is the picture that was posted on Facebook last Friday, with the winning caption by Heather Acres Ingram!!! (insert crowd roar)

 

Did you see what she was wearing?!?! I know!!! And to a Zoo no less!!!

 First Runner Up goes to:

Jennifer Ausmus: “Quick before the fans get here….check me….do I have anything stuck in my teeth?”

Just  ‘cuz they were funny, Honorable Mentions go to:

Lorye Brown Vandiver:  A zebra, a lion and a water buffalo walk into a bar….
Brad Orr:  I can’t stop laughing!!!…..What did they spike that Zebra with????? 
Alan G Pallister:   OK were wild dogs but i’ll do my hyena one more time. 

____________________________________________________________________________ 

Thanks to everyone for participating

and

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!  

DID YOU KNOW:

… that tomorrow, Wed March 23, we’re doing TWO different African wild dog events? The first one is exclusive – only 40 tickets were made available, and there are ONLY  FOUR LEFT so if you act fast, you could be one of the attendees.  It’s an African wild dog enrichment demonstration. We will be doing something very interesting — don’t want to give it away! And besides meeting  and chatting with our Carnivore team, you’ll also get to meet our two visitors from Zimbabwe, Xmas and Dought, who work with African Wild Dogs at Painted Dog Conservation – just one of the projects the Houston Zoo Conservation team partners with to do their important work!!! They are such amazing people, this is really going to be SPECIAL!

 CLICK THIS LINK TO GET THOSE LAST TICKETS! http://www.houstonzoo.org/african-wild-dog-demonstration/

Right after, we have our Call of the Wild Speaker Series, Stories from the Field…

Join us at 6:30 p.m. in our Brown Education Center Auditorium for light bites and refreshments. Then at 7,  breathtaking photos and first-hand stories are shared by Dr. Greg Rasmussen, Xmas and Dought, who are on the frontlines in the battle to help save the African wild dog, one of Africa’s most endangered carnivores.

This makes a great date, and is also a wonderful way for your kids to learn. All dog lovers will love this!

Tickets are $7 for students/children, $12 for members and $18 for non-members and can be reserved. Get your tickets now!

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Check out our Facebook page to see the rest of the entries. We hope this brought a smile to your face. And stay tuned for next Friday’s photo!Tell your friends, share this on Facebook, Twitter or your own blogs, and start your office pools to see who can come up with the best lines. (To show the picture and link on your social media, just click the little icons under the title SHARE THIS on the lower left of this post).To find us on Facebook, type in Houston Zoo Inc. in the search field or go to http://www.facebook.com/houstonzoo and become a fan.

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Jan
24

New Year, New Ideas

Posted by in Off Topic

I’ve spent this little hiatus thinking about where to go next with this blog – now, don’t get me wrong, I love writing about cheetahs and dogs but there is a lot more that goes on at the zoo. We’re thinking about expanding this blog to cover more animal-related topics – what do you think?

For example, the behind the scenes series was popular (hopefully not just because we gave away some free tickets) so we could do more of those in other areas. I’m also hoping to get some of my colleagues to pitch in with stories from other sections. I’m going to try out a few things the next few weeks and I’d love to hear from all of you on what you like and what you’d like to see.

African Wild Dog

African wild dog, one of the Africa's most endangered carnivores - want to see more about them here?

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Aug
04

SOS Cheetah Part 2

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program,Conservation

SOS booth 2

christmas shopping in july

Did I mention last week we had lots of cool stuff for sale? All the money (over $800) will go to Cheetah Conservation Botswana’s Livestock Guarding Dog Program:

“CCB has initiated its first mobile veterinary clinic, providing free care for Livestock Guarding Dogs in identified farming communities. The initiative started in Ghanzi and was extremely well received by the community. The clinic provides free vaccinations and sterilization for livestock guarding dogs. Free resources are distributed during the clinics on how to minimize conflict with predators. In 2008 CCB began constructing an LSGD network of farmers through our LSGD Newsletter and we now have 3 times the number of contacts we had in 2007.

The project also aimed at improving the general health of domestic dogs in the surrounding areas which expose the guard dogs and the local predators to disease. CCB teamed up with the Maun Animal Welfare Society (MAWS) whose mandate is to control population numbers and health of domestic dogs through sterilization clinics. Together we sterilised 24 dogs and vaccinated and dewormed close to 200 animals, whilst informing these key communities about the benefits of using guard dogs.

The annual competition for the Best Livestock Guarding Dog in Botswana, helped significantly in promoting the programme. We are gathering much data on their use and we continue to encourage farmers in the programme.”

-from CCB’s Cheetah Tracks Newsletter March 2009

SOS booth

don't worry, no cheetahs were harmed in the making of that tablecloth

Thanks to Carnivore Keeper Susan Shepard for the great pics. Dogs and cheetahs, together again. Anyone sensing a theme here?

 

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Aug
02

Dog Profile: Tusker

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program,Profiles

no autographs today, please

no autographs today, please

 

Name: Tusker (Tusker is the name of a Kenyan beer with a cute elephant on the label. I always thought it would make a great name for a zoo animal, plus it reminds me of my amazing zoo trip to Kenya).

Vital Stats: Tusker is a 2 year old Anatolian Shepherd dog, born in Missouri and came to the zoo at about 12 weeks old. He has several brothers and sisters, including Taji.

Interests: Napping, barking, playing with Taji, visiting his friends around the zoo

Tusker is stubborn and protective, which are true Anatolian traits. He prefers stage presentations to meet and greet encounters so we schedule his appearances accordingly.

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Jun
03

Top 10 Dogs of All Time

Posted by in Dogs,Featured,Funny,Mammals

Just missing the cut… Taco Bell Chihuahua, Charlie B. Barkin

10. Lassie

Trouble at the Old Mill?

Trouble at the Old Mill?

You’ve gotta love Lassie. Have any other dogs ever won an Emmy Award?

9. Black-tailed Prairie Dogs

Kids get an up-close look.

Kids get an up-close look.

Ok, so they’re actually rodents and not canines, but it says dog in their name, so it counts. You can find these little guys (2-4 pounds) in our Children Zoo area.

Prairie dogs live in huge colonial burrows called towns. Each member has its own den and drives any intruders away. Towns can extend for hundreds of miles and often contain thousands of individuals. Be sure to check them out this summer, because they hibernate during the winter.


8. Santa’s Little Helper

The Simpsons Pet

The Simpsons Pet

Most underrated Simpsons character besides Maggie. He can fly a plane, save Homer from being trapped in a cornfield maze, and had over 25 puppies. Enough said.

7. Underdog

Have No Fear Underdog Is Here

Have No Fear Underdog Is Here

Underdog speaks only in rhymes. Now he’s on my dog blog.

6. African Wild Dogs

Takin' a Swim

Takin' a Swim

First of all, our African wild dogs have awesome names: Aries, Blaze, and Mikita. In the wild, they live mainly in Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland.

Pack sizes in the wild can be anywhere from 5-30 individuals. These guys are fast, running at 35 mph for over three straight miles.

You might’ve noticed their unique coats – and like a fingerprint, no two dogs have the same coat pattern.


5. Brian Griffin

Million-Dollar Smile

Million-Dollar Smile

Bipedal, high IQ, sarcastic, eloquent, voice of reason. Also – afraid of vacuums.

4. Snoopy

Pioneer of the Thought Bubble

Pioneer of the Thought Bubble

No one can forget the impact that Charlie Brown’s pet beagle had on us as children. Plus, someone had to cheer up Charlie Brown after Peppermint Patty bullied him around.

3. Anatolian Shepherds

Truth About Cats & Dogs

Living in Harmony

Taji and Tusker make up one of the most amazing stories at the Houston Zoo. Not only are they a beautiful breed that’s been around for over 6,000 years – they live with our cheetahs, Kiburi and Kito.

Dogs and cats living together. Hard to imagine? Not for us.

Taji and Tusker act as the cheetahs’ guardians and even share the same exhibit. The Cheetah Conservation Fund livestock guardian dog project in Namibia breeds and provides these dogs to native ranchers to protect their livestock from predators. Follow their updates at our new cheetah dog blog.


2. Scooby Doo

The many faces of Scooby Doo

The many faces of Scooby Doo

He could eat 20 pizzas at once. Or a hamburger with 10 patties. All while solving mysteries and saving kids from haunted amusement parks. Scooby rode around in the Mystery Machine, which automatically makes him the coolest fictional dog of all time in my book.

1. Max the Elephant Dog

That's right. I live with elephants.

That's right. I live with elephants.

A recent addition to the Houston Zoo family and a big hit around here is Max the Elephant Dog. Recently rescued from the side of the road, Max now lives it up at the McNair Asian Elephant Barn.

His full name is Maximus. He was named after the scientific name for elephants (Elephas maximus). Max serves a very important role in training and enrichment of our elephants.

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Jun
02

Cool Cheetah Adaptation #17: Feet

Posted by in Adaptations,Featured

cheetah-feet-featured

ready for my pedicure

All of you know now that the cheetah is the world’s fastest land mammal, able to run up over 65 mph. Cheetahs accomplished this by becoming specialists, and their specialty is speed. This makes them unique among other cats and some people even think they are even a little bit dog-like, but more on that later.

In order to be so fast, cheetahs have to be taller and leaner than most cats. This means they can’t catch the large prey (like adult zebra and buffalo) that other cats eat. It also means they can’t stand up to lions and hyenas who try to steal their food or even attack them. This makes their personality a little different too. Cheetahs are much more timid than other cats, usually opting flight over fight when faced with a confrontation.

But now on to today’s cool cheetah adaptation. Other cats have retractable claws, meaning they can extend the claws when they need them and retract them out of the way when they don’t. If you’ve ever played with a house cat, you’ve likely seen both options (hopefully without requiring first aid).

Cheetahs claws don’t retract all the way and are somewhat blunted and their pads are rough, similar to a dog’s feet. Actually their not exactly like a dog’s feet because they are partially retractable (see photo). The claws serve as cleats that dig into the ground and the pads provide more traction (think tire treads).

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May
28

It's Show Time

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program

dog-and-cheetah-at-bec-lawn

the whole gang out for a walk

 

Some of you may have seen the cheetahs and dogs out in the zoo, but we also wanted to provide some great guest experiences at their exhibit as well. 

We are working on developing a show, for lack of a better word. Now don’t get too excited, there won’t be any dance numbers or costumes – our show will focus on the animals’ amazing adaptations and behaviors.

 

 

 

tusker-napping

cheetahs schmeetahs, I need a nap!

 

So what’s so cool about cheetahs and dogs?

Well, everybody knows cheetahs are fast – in fact, they are the world’s fastest land mammal. So we’ll show off their speed for sure but a few other things as well.

The dogs like to show off that they can do anything cheetahs can do and maybe a few other tricks as well. More on that later…

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