World's largest equestrian bronze

It's big, it's bronze, and it's beautiful. The Texas town of El Paso, a bustling city with a colorful history, is home to the world's largest equestrian bronze figure.

The massive statue, which stands nearly 12m tall, is made up of 400 pieces. It consumed nearly 10 tonnes of bronze and requires more than 4.5 tonnes of supporting steel.

The sculpture is the work of artist John Houser, called The Equestrian, it portrays Mexican conquistador Don Juan de Onate riding a rearing Andalusian stallion.

It has been installed at El Paso's international airport, and was formally dedicated at a ceremony on April 21, 2007.

Mini Bulldog

With all the "designer" dogs being bred, I'm never amazed when I learn of a new type of cross breed. I was recently introduced to an "exotic" breed referred to as a mini bulldog. In actuality, the dog is a cross between a Pug an an English Bulldog.

Generally, the dog looks mostly like a bulldog, but grows only to the size of a pug. In fact, mini Bulldogs offer all of the great features and attitude as its larger friends.

Although this is the first time I've seen this dog, and while most people I spoke to haven't seen one, according to some google searches, Miniature Bulldogs were developed in the 1980's. The goal was to improve the health and reduce the size of the full sized English Bulldog.

According to some of the sites, Miniature Bulldogs are an improved dog whose behavior, looks, and health are ideal for the Bulldog lover. They have the features of full size English Bulldogs. As in the full size, there are variations in Miniature features.

The Miniatures are very active and are loving, obedient, protective companions. They are loyal, people oriented and like to do things with you. Grooming is necessary once a week and they will do fine in a small yard.

However, this breed is not without controversy. According to http://www.minibulldogs.com/ , there is confusion in the industry whether the breed "is it just a smaller Bulldog, or is a “mix” English Bulldog/Pug, English Bulldog/French Bulldog. There is not a real answer to this question. Many breeders do both. But any breeder that says they will not tell what they are is not very reputable."

Add this to the list of dogs I'd like to own someday.

mini bulldog, designer dogs, pets

Trackposted to Blue Star Chronicles, Outside the Beltway, Webloggin, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, The Amboy Times, and Big Dog's Weblog, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Baby Doves

from flickr, by corsi photo

Domestic cats have common ancestor

12,000-year-old feline history traced to Middle East

Inside the cells of your pet cat lies a history book, a story that stretches back to when humans first settled into civilizations and discovered agriculture.

Using DNA from modern house cats, researchers have traced the origin of domestic cats to a specific time and region that coincided with the settlement of humans in the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent.

"The evidence tells us that cats from throughout the entire world have a single common ancestor," said study author Carlos Driscoll.

Scientists have long debated whether cats were independently domesticated at several regions and points in time, or whether they were first kept as pets in one civilization before being spread around the world. The identification of a single ancestral species for modern house cats supports the single-origin theory.

When this domestication occurred remains cloudy. In 2004, French researchers found the remains of a cat buried with a human who died roughly 9,500 years ago on the island of Cyprus, where there are no native wildcat species.

This discovery placed the association between humans and cats much older in history than previously thought. Earlier theories speculated that Egyptians were responsible for cat domestication, roughly 4,000 years ago, based on the animal's appearance in art and tombs of the era.

Dating the origin of domestic cats earlier and placing this process in the Middle East suggests that cats played a role in the lives of the first farmers.

Cat returns home after 10 years

Lynx disappeared from her home in Hook, Hampshire, in 1997, and her owner, Patricia Charnet, thought she would never see her pet again.

Earlier this week a stray was found in Carterton, Oxfordshire, and handed in to the Blue Cross centre in Burford.

A scan showed that the 12-year-old tabby was microchipped and the centre tracked down her owner, who lived 60 miles away.

"If only she could talk she would have a story to tell."