Another snorting artist

The Brookfield Zoo in Illinois will be displaying paintings by Pinto, a Yucatan miniature pig, on March 1 to celebrate National Pig Day. (Anyone heard of that holiday before? Don't forget to send a card and a gift!) His work will be put up for auction the following day on eBay, with proceeds going to support the zoo. If the recent contemporary art sales at Christie's and Sotheby's are any indicator, the zoo is in for a windfall . . . .

Pinto uses solely non-toxic paints, and he employs his hooves, snout, objects, and food to paint his canvases.


I guess he figured fecal matter as a medium was done and done. More photos of Pinto and his oeuvre are seen in this Yahoo! slideshow.

Betty White wasn't interested . . .

There's a lot going on at the Los Angeles Zoo these days, it seems. In the latest example of interspecies love, a hog named Willy has turned to an antelope named Nicole for companionship and cuddling after his mate died.

Betty White honored by Los Angeles Zoo

The incomparable Betty White -- of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Golden Girls," and so much more -- has been named Ambassador to the Animals by the Los Angeles Zoo. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attended the ceremony yesterday, as well as . . . Tippi Hedren! She should have warned Betty to stand farther away . . . .

Psychics search for Vivi

The AP reports that twelve psychics have joined the search for Vivi the show whippet. "They are telling us that she is alive and they are telling us she is warm," says a friend of the owners. At least, something is: Thus far, they have located some dog droppings.

China's golden monkeys making a comeback

These fellas are more endangered than giant pandas, but their numbers have quadrupled since the 1980s. Read more . . . .

Dog on the loose at JFK Airport

A prize-winning whippet, still upset at losing Westminster's Best in Show to Rufus the bull terrier, escaped from her cage yesterday as she was being boarded onto a Delta flight. The New York Times reports that searchers aided by a helicopter could not find Vivi-- short for Bohem C'est La Vie-- on the 4,900-acre airport complex and surrounding marshland. Fox News is now reporting that the search has been called off after a fruitless 24 hours.

Undercover cat

The New York Times has some Dashiell Hammett-style fun with the story of this cat, who took part in a sting to catch an unlicensed veterinarian. "Sting" might be an understatement: Fred the cat was supposed to be neutered. Alas, while Fred escaped going under the knife this time, he'll have an appointment with a real vet soon. However, he can always look into getting a pair of neuticles.

New species of Smoky Honeyeater! (No, that's not a porn star.)

Scientists today announced the recent discovery of dozens of new species in a remote jungle in Indonesia, including the smoky honeyeater.


And animals hunted to near extinction, such as the golden-mantled tree kangaroo.


They also took the first known photographs of Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise.


And don't forget about this little fellow, the mountain owlet-nightjar.


The New York Times also has a story on this.

Happy Groundhog Day

Today is Groundhog Day, the holiday on which a highly qualified rodent proclaims the coming weather, scientifically determined by whether or not said rodent sees his or her shadow. However, various places each have their own groundhog meteorologist, leading to today's disagreement: Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter, but Wiarton Willie of Ontario, General Beauregard Lee of Georgia, Staten Island Chuck, Shubenacadie Sam of Nova Scotia, and Jimmy the Groundhog of Wisconsin did not and proclaimed an early spring. (Okay, there are so many more prognosticating groundhogs-- if you really care, check this out.)

Considering what the season has been like thus far, though, the confusion might be over what qualifies as "winter" these days.


You know what they say about people starting to look like their pets . . . .

Puppy and lion cub are friends video

Another in our continuing series of heartwarming stories of interspecies love.

He smelled something funny during the speech

Rex, a 5-year-old bomb-sniffing German shepherd Iraq War veteran, got a seat on the aisle at the State of the Union address last night. He was seen approaching Laura Bush's hindquarters, but we're guessing that wasn't a professional interest.