A dog with a nose for smoke woke his owners early today when the family house caught fire.

Ypsilanti Township Fire Capt. Brad Johnson said the dog “kind of saved the day for them” when it started barking at about 3:45 a.m. He said the dog’s owner got up to see what the problem was. As he approached the

garage, he smelled smoke and saw flames starting to come through the top of the door to the garage.

ohnson said the man was going to use a fire extinguisher, but when he grabbed the door knob to open the door, he burned his hand. The man and his wife then fled as a neighbor started pounding on the front door to tell them their house was on fire.

When firefighters pulled up at 5680 Caren Drive, Johnson said, the garage was engulfed in flames, and the blaze had spread to the family room and the attic over the second story.

The fire was so hot that it spread to a neighboring house, 20 feet away.

Township and Ypsilanti city firefighters battled both fires, stopping the second fire quickly, and the first one in time to save the living quarters in the house.

Johnson estimated damage at $150,000 for the building and contents, including two vehicles. He said Fire Marshal Phil Stachlewitz was on the scene at 7:45 a.m., attempting to determine what started the blaze.

Johnson said firefighters rescued the dog, and three cats, including one that suffered some burns and smoke inhalation. Firefighters were not able to save two parakeets.

A PET dog was rescued when a blaze ripped through a family home.

And it has been claimed that the fire caused much more damage than it should have - because firefighters had no water.

Sait Tezgel, 30, returned to his home in Hillfield Avenue, Hornsey, on Monday evening to find smoke billowing from the living room.

He said: “When I got in there was black smoke in the room - I couldn’t see anything.

“I tried to cover the fire with a blanket but that made it worse and I had to throw the blanket out the window.

“It was pretty shocking. All the windows started popping; all types of stuff started happening.”

He rescued the family dog, a four-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier named Turkish, from the house which his family have lived in for some 20 years.

Neighbours had already called the fire brigade but when they arrived, Mr Tezgel claimed, the water supply failed delaying attempts to put the blaze out.

“The pump had no f***ing water in it,” he said, pointing to seared walls and charred belongings. “They could have put it out much sooner. They were screaming for water and had to connect it to another one. If they had had water most of this wouldn’t have happened.

“They should do something about that. It cost us a lot of money.

“The people were very nice - I would like to thank them - but the lack of water cost us.”

The fire is thought to have started when an electricity current caused a mobile phone in the living room to catch alight.

The next morning the family were trying desperately to find out if they had insurance to cover the incident.

Hornsey fire brigade reported it sent four fire engines to the blaze just before 7pm and that it was out by 9.15pm with 50 per cent damage to the building’s first floor floor.

A dramatic rescue of a four-legged friend ends successfully Wednesday morning. A dog was stuck on the edge of a cliff in southern Pulaski County.

Workers at a nearby welding company heard it barking and risked their lives to try to rescue her.

Two people, a welder and an animal rescue assistant, clung to the side of a steep cliff for what seemed like forever while trying to rescue a stranded dog.

Workers from the welding shop, TJC Welding on Lawson Road, heard her barking around 7:00 Wednesday morning and called the Humane Society to help.

Kay Jordan with the Humane Society says, “I thought, how in the world are we gonna get that dog down when we first got here. We all climbed up to the top. I came back down half way and came across but I literally had to crawl because the rocks kept giving way.”

Before the Humane Society could show up, welder and former Marine Chris Reyna found a climbing harness in his truck and took quick action.

Reyna says, “We tied ourselves off at a higher ledge and lowered ourselves down to where the dog was.”

But worried about loose rock, they just couldn’t get to her. That’s when the Little Rock Fire Department was called in to help.

Capt. Todd Coney with the Little Rock Fire Department says, “We got a call about a dog trapped on the cliff 50-70 feet up. Our truck caption put a ladder up there, there was some help from up above from the Humane Society and they were able to lasso the dog, put a rope around him and pull him up from the top.”

Jordan says, “Looked like the dog maybe in the storm last night either lost its bearings, or lightning; I don’t know but it was stuck in briers and honeysuckles and vines and everything you can think of and could not, it was wedged. It couldn’t get loose.”

But she was finally brought to safety in the arms of one willing to risk his life for her.

Jordan says she doesn’t know who owns the dog. She brought it to the shelter where it quickly ate two bowls of food, and let Jordan pick a tick off its eye-lid.

The welder who tried to rescue her visited her on his lunch break.

A puppy is recovering after being found tied up in a bin bag under some bushes.

The tan and white cross-breed was found by a member of the public walking their dogs in Branston Water Park, Lichfield Road, Burton, Staffordshire.

The pets began sniffing in some bushes and it was only when their owner investigated that the 12-14 week old puppy, now called Brandy, was found.

His back and front legs were tied together but RSPCA staff has described him as a “little fighter”.

Brandy was taken to a vets and is now in the care of the RSPCA at Burton Animal Centre.

‘Strong character’

He appeared to have a deformed leg but after resting he has totally recovered, the RSPCA said. Yvonne Asker, from the centre said: “Thank goodness that the dogs sniffed out Brandy when they did.

“He has such a strong character, he is not shy, nor is he underweight and I believe all these factors helped save him.

“He really is a little fighter. I believe a weaker dog, such as the runt of a litter, would not have survived.” The RSPCA is appealing for information about the incident.

Trainers Graeme Rogerson and Peter Moody have labelled the all-conquering Redoute’s Choice filly Miss Finland the ‘the best horse racing in Australia.’

At Tuesday’s barrier draw for the $2m, Group I, David Jones AJC Australian Derby (2400m) to be held at Randwick on Saturday Rogerson was in no doubt about the status of the filly.

“Miss Finland is Australia’s best racehorse,” said the veteran trainer who won the Derby in 1997 with Ebony Grosve (NZ).

Moody backed this up on Wednesday when he said the filly was ‘the one to beat.’

“Miss Finland is arguably the best three-year-old, and probably the best horse in the land,” he said. “She is the one to beat.”

Nevertheless, both Moody and Rogerson have entrants for the Derby that they have high hopes for.

Moody has Ambitious General who was second behind Rogerson’s He’s No Pie Eater in the Group I Dubai Rosehill Guineas (2000m) at Rosehill on March 24th. The Caulfield trainer is hoping that the General Nediym colt is throwing to his dam side for his stamina for the 2400m.

Ambitious General has stepped up in distance from 1200m on January 13th, to the 2000m at Rosehill, and each time he has not been further back than third place over five races.

Rogerson’s He’s No Pie Eater has been the surprise package of the autumn, but after two Group I wins in succession there is no doubting the Canny Lad colt’s ability. He won the Chipping Norton Stakes over the older horses at weight-for-age, and then had too much turn of foot for his own generation in the Rosehill Guineas.

“”I don’t think one and a half miles (2400m) is the true distance for my horse, but he is a very good horse,” said Rogerson.

Tony Vasil, trainer of Emirates Doncaster Handicap favourite Haradasun, was in accord with the thinking of his fellow trainers on Tuesday.

“Miss Finland is the best filly in Australia and she is back to three-year-old company with a weight advantage,” said Vasil.

“She will be extremely hard to beat,” he said.

Miss Finland, the current favourite for the race, has the 2kg weight allowance over the colts and geldings. She demolished the field of fillies in the Arrowfield Stud Stakes over 2000m last Saturday by 2L without being extended.

On Saturday Miss Finland, trained by David Hayes, and to be ridden by Craig Williams, races over 2400m, for just the second time, after her win in the spring in the Crown Oaks over 2500m at Flemington.

One of the world’s rarest rabbits was spotted in Indonesia for just the third time in the past 35 years, underscoring the importance of conserving the region’s threatened rain forests, said a conservation group on Thursday.

Two grainy images shot by a camera trap at night show the half-metre-long Sumatran striped rabbit nibbling on forest undergrowth in the Bukit Barisan National Park, said the World Conservation Union.

The rare species of rabbit was last photographed in 2000, and the last sighting by a scientist was in 1972.

“This rabbit is so poorly known that any proof of its continued existence at all is great news, and confirms the conservation importance of Sumatra’s forests,” said Colin Poole, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Asia Programme.

The rabbit is only known to exist in the forests of Sumatra, and thought to be the only representative of its genus.

It is listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction from a range of threats, including the loss of habitat to farming.

In 1999, researchers discovered another striped rabbit in the Annamite Mountains that straddle Laos and Vietnam.

Although both seem similar in appearance, genetic samples revealed the Sumatran and Annamite striped rabbits were separate - though closely related - species.

According to the findings, both species have been diverging for about eight million years.

FIREFIGHTERS battled for two hours to rescue a pony that was stuck in a dyke.
Two people were riding in the trap being pulled by the pony along Baker’s Lane, just off Wimblington Road, March.

The six-year-old black mare, called Jonah, was startled when a dog barked and ended up in the steep dyke, which has 10ft banks.

A crew from March retained fire station and a rescue vehicle from Peterborough were called to the scene, as well as a vet, who administered a tranquilliser to calm the agitated animal.

Jonah was declared fit and healthy by the vet after being winched out. No one was injured during the incident.

Firefighter Stewart Smith said: “Jonah’s owner gave £100 to the firefighters after we had rescued Jonah. That money will now be donated to the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund.”

Bald eagle populations plummeted in the mid-20th Century, the result of mass poisoning by DDT, and long-term effects of human predation, harassment and development. Today, the resurgence of the Pacific Northwest bald eagle population rewards efforts of conservationists.

“From a biological standpoint, they are not an endangered species anymore, there are enough individuals for the population to maintain. The population needs a good distribution to sustain,” said Frank Isaacs, a senior faculty research assistant at Oregon State University who works with the Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. He said bald eagles are highly adaptable, but prefer forested areas with mature trees, for habitat, which provide adequate platforms for nests and some security from the elements. Such sites, not currently supporting resident bald eagles, are still found along Oregon’s north and central coast.
A study tracking nesting populations of bald eagles was initiated in 1978, and Isaacs began work on the project in 1979. At that time, approximately 100 known nesting pairs of bald eagles remained in Oregon. Today the number of known nesting pairs in Oregon approaches 500.

Less protection for habitat will be the most dramatic consequence of delisting the species from the Endangered Species Act, said Isaacs, noting part of success during this resurgence has been concerted habitat protection. He said Oregon’s undeveloped public lands will, in theory, enable the population. Bald eagle resurgence is the result of protection measures, including banning use of the pesticide DDT in the late 60s, coupled with the momentum of population growth. Isaacs said, while suitable habitat remains, and in the absence of new poisons, it is likely the bald eagle will continue to thrive. “They’re very plastic in their ability to use different habitats and eat different kinds of food and put up with different human activities.”

Current generations haven’t been harassed or hunted by humans, as preceding generations had been. “The birds we follow nowadays seem to be a lot more tolerant of human activity than the birds were 25 years ago,” said Isaacs, “and I think that’s because of generational changes in both people and eagles. They are used to human activity, and are much more apt to nest in proximity to human activity.”

In addition to resident nesters, Isaacs explained, “Oregon is a kind of crossroads, or mixing grounds, for eagles moving up and down the western flyways: the Pacific and the inter-mountain flyways,” said Isaacs, “And birds from far north come south into Oregon during the winter. And birds from the south, such as southern California and Arizona, come north into Oregon after their nesting season.”

Isaacs said the first bird book written for Oregon was completed in the late 1800s, “and there is a mention in there of 10 pairs of bald eagles around Yaquina Bay. Today we know of about five or so. If that late 1800s report is an indication of the population of eagles before the country was settled, then we may still see an increase in eagle numbers in that area.”

Common murres

David Pitkin, wildlife biologist with the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuges Complex, a division of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, said the resurgence of bald eagles is taxing populations of common murres on the north and central Oregon coasts, with several effects.

Every year the FWS surveys a subset of seabird colonies, with the entire seabird population on the Oregon coast counted only periodically. In 1988 a full count showed more than 400,000 nesting murres supported on Oregon’s north and central coast colonies. Currently, a full count is being compiled for 2006. Though the data has not been quantified, Pitkin said, “we know there have been major effects by bald eagles. Our assumption is, there will be a lot fewer than 400,000 murres, in these colonies, after were are through counting.”

Pitkin explained, when an eagle goes out to a seabird colony, three things can happen, and sometimes all three:

* Direct take of seabirds on a colony; whereby an eagle seizes a murre, or two, and takes them away to eat somewhere else;

* Secondary predation of seabird colonies by gulls, ravens and crows, which come in after an eagle scatters seabirds, leaving eggs and nestlings exposed; and

* Complete abandonment of seabird colonies caused by eagles habitually perching within traditional seabird colony sites. This perching behavior is especially characteristic of young, usually non-breeding eagles. (An example of a rock abandoned by common murres is Gull Rock, off Otter Crest).

Bald eagles started to hunt common murres on Gull Rock, off Otter Crest, in the mid-90s - and have had several effects. At the time the bald eagle predation began, 15 to 30 thousand common murres nested on Colony Rock, approximately 5 miles south of Gull Rock, off Yaquina Head. Since the mid-90s, the numbers of common murres on Colony Rock have increased, and this year more than 70,000 common murres attempted to breed there. Pitkin said it is believed the increase represents common murres which abandoned Gull Rock.

“Colony Rock may be the densest murre colony in the world now,” said Pitkin, “When a murre comes into Colony Rock now, usually it has to land on top of other murres, and filter down to the rock … Like standing in a crowded elevator … there might be up to 50 murres per square meter on that rock.” On the margins Brandt’s cormorants, a bigger bird, find the nesting space they can.

An entire generation of common murres has now passed since the 50s and 60s, and the new generations are subject to an abundance of aerial predators without prior habituation. Pitkin said common murres on Colony Rock have habituated to eagles coming out and attacking directly, by scattering only nearby the snatching spot, rather than across the whole rock, as would previously have been considered commonplace. “It behooves them to do that, because every time they flee in panic, they’re open to predation from gulls, ravens and crows, around all the time and always waiting for an opportunity to go in there and steal eggs and chicks.”

Pitkin said when adult bald eagles snag their prey they typically return to feed at their nests; whereas non-breeders will remain perched in the midst of colonies to devour their kill. Bald eagles don’t perch on Colony Rock, and Pitkin said it’s been surmised the proximity of the lighthouse and attendant visitors might dissuade them.

Interestingly, where peregrine falcons have established territories, fewer eagle attacks are recorded on common murres resident of pelagic mounts therein.

“We don’t have a very good idea, along the Oregon coast, what the natural equilibrium was, between the nesting seabirds and bald eagles and human predators. We know the natives that lived along the coast used the seabird colonies as very valuable food resources,” said Pitkin, “We don’t know what those effects were, and we know before the big crash in the bald eagle population there were a heck of a lot of eagles along the coast.”

Pitkin said he would guess, interactions observed between bald eagles and common murres today, are returning toward a more historically characteristic equilibrium. Noting a lack of human predation, and the abysmal numbers of bald eagles in recent decades, Pitkin said, “My assumption is common murre numbers along the north and central Oregon coast have increased quite a bit over the last 40 or 50 years compared to what they were historically, and now they’re beginning to decline with the resurgence of natural predation by bald eagles, occurring along the north and central Oregon coast.”

Endangered Species Act

It seems likely the FWS will remove the bald eagle from the Endangered Species Act, the federal list of threatened and endangered species. It was recently announced the decision will be postponed, to be resolved no later than June 29, 2007. The FWS had been under a court ordered deadline of Feb. 16, 2007 to make a final decision on bald eagle status due to a pending lawsuit brought by Minnesota developer who had issues with a few bald eagles’ nests and sued the FWS to make a decision on whether or not to take the bird off the list. The developer cited the 1999 FWS proposal to delist the bald eagle, which was not acted upon. The court approved the extension until June 29.

The FWS reports the additional four months will be time to complete additional analyses related to the final rule and put in place management guidelines and procedures that will make it easier for the public to understand ongoing protections of the Bald and Golden Eagle Act, ensuring the bald eagle continues to thrive once delisted.

Once delisted from the Endangered Species Act, bald eagles will continue to be protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). Both acts protect bald eagles by prohibiting killing, selling or otherwise harming eagles, their nests or eggs. The BGEPA also protects eagles from disturbance.

Coast Guard helicopters are used for lots of rescues, but they’re not usually like this.

A Texas man’s expensive pet bird got loose, so he climbed about 60 feet up a pine tree to retrieve it. Then they got stuck.

After the man’s sister called 9-1-1, firefighters discovered they couldn’t back up their truck to the tree because of wet ground. So they called in the Coast Guard chopper. It lowered William Hart and his two-thousand-dollar cockatoo named Geronimo safely to the ground.

Hart says Geronimo is his baby and he’d do it again.

For those who enjoy bird watching, The Old Farmer’s Almanac All-Seasons Garden Guide suggests several bird-attracting plants.

Aster: This plant’s late summer to autumn daisylike flowers develop tasty seed heads sought by cardinals, chickadees, finches, nuthatches, and many other seed eaters.

Goldenrod: Goldenrod’s showy panicles of golden-yellow flowers appear from late summer to fall on clumps of upright to branching leafy stems, providing food (flower seeds) and cover for birds. Its nectarrich flowers attract insects, which are a feast for bluebirds, mockingbirds, warblers, wrens, and other insect eaters; goldfinches and other small birds relish the seed heads.

Common elderberry: More than 120 bird species seek food, shelter, and nesting sites here. In early summer, beautiful, large, umbel-shape heads of creamy-white flower clusters attract hummingbirds; late summer to autumn’s heavy crop of purple to black berries draws catbirds, orioles, robins, tanagers, thrashers, warblers, waxwings, and woodpeckers, to name a few.

Dogwood: This tree offers summer shelter and nesting sites. From late summer to fall and occasionally into winter, its small, fleshy fruit attract more than 90 species of birds, including bluebirds, cardinals, grosbeaks, jays, sparrows, tanagers, thrushes, vireos, many warblers, waxwings, and woodpeckers; some birds hunt for insects in the bark.