How a family's beloved pet came back from the dead... as a rock

By Colin Fernandez
Last updated at 11:35 PM on 19th September 2010

Looking out of the window, Mark Brow couldn’t believe it when he saw his dog, Looby Loo, sitting in her favourite spot in the garden.

After all, she had died two years ago.

But there, hewn into a garden rock, was the unmistakable image of the 13-year-old springer spaniel.

At first, he thought it was a trick of the light. Then he looked suspiciously at his drink.

But Looby Loo, the beloved family pet his children missed so much, was still there.

Mr Brow, a programme controller at a local radio station, said his wife, Carron, first alerted him to the ghostly visitor in the garden at their home in Ilkley, Yorkshire.

‘She said, “I think you’d better look out of the window. It’s Looby Loo”. Initially I thought it was a cardboard cut-out, and they were winding me up,’ he said.

But close examination showed patterns in the moss covering the rock, which came from Ilkley Moor and has been in the garden for years, had suddenly formed
the image.

‘I just thought I was seeing things, but she’s there,’ said Mr Brow, 42. ‘It doesn’t just look like any dog, it looks like our dog.

'The bizarre thing is that spot is exactly where she used to sit.’

Mr Brow, who has four children, Harry, 13, Louis, ten, Charles, eight, and Lillia, four, said : ‘The kids are desperate for a dog and have been pestering me for ages.

‘Perhaps this is a sign we should get one.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313449/How-familys-pet-dog-came-dead-rock-star.html#ixzz11867xdom

PLANET OF THE ANTS

A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered.

Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same inter-related colony, and will refuse to fight one another. The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.

What's more, people are unwittingly helping the mega-colony stick together. Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America. But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents except Antarctica. These introduced Argentine ants are renowned for forming large colonies, and for becoming a significant pest, attacking native animals and crops.

In Europe, one vast colony of Argentine ants is thought to stretch for 6,000km (3,700 miles) along the Mediterranean coast, while another in the US, known as the "Californian large", extends over 900km (560 miles) along the coast of California. A third huge colony exists on the west coast of Japan. While ants are usually highly territorial, those living within each super-colony are tolerant of one another, even if they live tens or hundreds of kilometres apart. Each super-colony, however, was thought to be quite distinct.

But it now appears that billions of Argentine ants around the world all actually belong to one single global mega-colony.

Researchers in Japan and Spain led by Eiriki Sunamura of the University of Tokyo found that Argentine ants living in Europe, Japan and California shared a strikingly similar chemical profile of hydrocarbons on their cuticles. But further experiments revealed the true extent of the insects' global ambition. The team selected wild ants from the main European super-colony, from another smaller one called the Catalonian super-colony which lives on the Iberian coast, the Californian super-colony and from the super-colony in west Japan, as well as another in Kobe, Japan.

They then matched up the ants in a series of one-on-one tests to see how aggressive individuals from different colonies would be to one another. Ants from the smaller super-colonies were always aggressive to one another. So ants from the west coast of Japan fought their rivals from Kobe, while ants from the European super-colony didn't get on with those from the Iberian colony. One big family

But whenever ants from the main European and Californian super-colonies and those from the largest colony in Japan came into contact, they acted as if they were old friends. These ants rubbed antennae with one another and never became aggressive or tried to avoid one another.

In short, they acted as if they all belonged to the same colony, despite living on different continents separated by vast oceans. The most plausible explanation is that ants from these three super-colonies are indeed family, and are all genetically related, say the researchers. When they come into contact, they recognise each other by the chemical composition of their cuticles.

"The enormous extent of this population is paralleled only by human society," the researchers write in the journal Insect Sociaux, in which they report their findings. However, the irony is that it is us who likely created the ant mega-colony by initially transporting the insects around the world, and by continually introducing ants from the three continents to each other, ensuring the mega-colony continues to mingle. "Humans created this great non-aggressive ant population," the researchers write.

Parrot causes squawk in Florida courtroom

Parrot causes squawk in Florida courtroom

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL -- He arrived at court Lucky and left Tequila.

An African Grey parrot, the subject of a 4-month custody battle, went home with Mommy No. 1 Monday after a court hearing filled with tears, some heated words and a loud squawk.

Angela Colicheski, 52, of Boca Raton, sued in January to get back a $2,000 parrot she named Tequila who flew away from her three years ago and ended up with another Boca Raton woman. Sarita Lytell, 47, refused to give the parrot back, saying she had taken care of the bird, which
she named Lucky, so he should stay with her.

Special preparations were made for Tequila to be brought in to the courthouse. He didn't have to go through the metal detector - or the X-ray machine. And when he was brought into the courtroom, he had a flock of media anxiously awaiting every squawk.

All attention turned to the door when Lytell walked in with the cage. Colicheski hadn't seen Tequila in three years. Tequila squawked, as if on cue.

"Oh my God, that's him!" Colicheski gasped.

Palm Beach County Judge James Martz prefaced the hearing with: "Folks, this is an unusual case."

Both sides agreed that the parrot Lytell found was the one Colicheski lost.

Lytell's attorney, Marcy LaHart, said her client should get to keep the parrot since she's cared for it for three years. But Colicheski's attorney Spencer Siegel said Florida property laws demanded Tequila's return.

The lawsuit never would have happened but for a chance meeting in January at a Boca Raton Dunkin' Donuts. Colicheski and Lytell happened to be there and struck up a conversation that turned to Tequila. Lytell told her she found an African Grey around that time, just a half-mile
from Colicheski's home. They realized they were talking about the same bird.

Martz said Florida laws are clear on the matter.

"If the plaintiff had lost her automobile somehow along the way ... would it be any less her property when she found it?" he asked. "Pets are chattel. They're no different from your automobile."

LaHart said Martz was wrong.

"Clearly, your mind has been made up without hearing any other evidence," she told the judge.

Martz wrapped up the case quickly after that exchange. Spencer told the judge his client wanted possession of Tequila and dismissal of Lytell's countersuit for the cost of keeping the bird.

"Done and granted," Martz said.

He praised Lytell for her care of the parrot and marveled at both women's dedication.

"It appears this parrot had probably the luckiest landing he could have had," Martz said.

Though she said the handover of Tequila behind closed doors was cordial, Lytell said she was devastated to give up her Lucky.

"I just can't take this anymore," she said, sobbing. "How will I go home tonight?"

Meanwhile, television crews chased after Colicheski and Tequila. Two cameramen got into a shoving match for the best shot of the reunion. “Inside Edition” had a crew there and “Good Morning America” plans to feature the case Tuesday morning.

Outside, Colicheski unclasped the crate and held her bird for the first time in three years. She baby-talked, tears in her eyes.

"Want kisses?" she cooed.

The interviewers gasped as Tequila flew from her hand to the ground, but he was quickly snatched up.

Colicheski held on a little tighter this time.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Parrot-causes-squawk-in-Florida-courtroom/Km-Ajh_GbUW4uvnwUfNZeA.cspx