So that is the smell coming from my morning copy of the BG.
"Deciphering the message in Fido’s bark" by Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff | August 8, 2009
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Hampshire College have offered a new explanation for the bark:
Please tell me they are not spending tax dollars on this. Please.
It is believed that dogs’ long history with humans began about 10,000 years ago, when they started frequenting human garbage dumps. The ones that were most successful at scavenging food were those that did not run far away when disturbed by an intruder, but stood their ground, putting themselves in bark-inducing situations more often. The dogs that hung around and chowed down at the dump comfortably were probably the ancestors of today’s domesticated dogs, which could have inherited their tendency to not fear contact with intruders....
“I can’t sniff them. I can’t run away. I’m conflicted!’’ said Kathryn Lord, a doctoral candidate in organismic and evolutionary biology at UMass-Amherst who led the work as part of her dissertation and described the dilemmas dogs might face....
Then there is only one thing left to do:
Speak, boy, speak, aaaaaarrroooohhhhhhh! Hey, he's talking to ya!
If he's your pet he's part of the family and you know what he means. You don't need someone trying to weasel a nothing degree out of the college to tell you anything.
Cat lovers should not feel left out of the debate.
Now we are getting around to my furry friends.
A study last month in the journal Current Biology examined how purring varied in pitch, depending on whether cats were seeking food. Scientists found that when cats wanted their owners to feed them, they used a purr that people found more urgent and less pleasant than other purring.
Pffft!
No they don't; they just MEOW at ME and HEAD for the DINNER BOWL when I get up!!!!!!!!!!
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Also see: The Ugly Duckling (and Other Bedtime Stories)
"Man blames cat for porn download" by Associated Press | August 8, 2009
JENSEN BEACH, Fla. - Florida investigators say a man accused of downloading child pornography is blaming his cat. Keith Griffin of Jensen Beach told investigators that his cat jumped on the computer keyboard while he was downloading music. He said he had left the room and found “strange things’’ on his computer when he returned. He is being held on $250,000 bond.
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Pffft! This is worthy of a news item, Globe?
With everything going on in this world?
Back to the dogs....
"Man hurt in fight over barking dog dies
An Abington man who was critically injured last Monday during a fight over a barking dog died yesterday afternoon, a spokesman for the Plymouth district attorney said last night. Brian Cherry, 48, died at Massachusetts General Hospital after police said he fell and struck his head on the pavement after allegedly being punched in the head by Michael McGunigle. McGunigle, 49, and also of Abington, pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault. Russ Eonas, a spokesman for the district attorney, said the office would not decide whether to bring new charges until it has the results of the autopsy. Authorities say the fight started after McGunigle left his dog in his car in the parking lot of a strip mall, and Cherry complained the animal was barking and menacing passersby.--more--"
Yeah, it's all love here up in liberal la-la land.
