Animals

Pig No Longer Harasses Residents Of An Oregon Town

7:14am February 06, 2017

For months, Piggy Smalls has eluded capture. A joint task force finally apprehended the pig and released it to animal rescue. Piggy Smalls will no longer be hogging all the attention in Forest Grove.

Fiona, a premature hippo calf born six weeks early, has been gaining strength and weight since her birth on Jan. 24. Now she has taken her first steps.

WATCH: Baby Hippo, Born Prematurely, Takes Her First Steps

4:57pm February 05, 2017

by Camila Domonoske

The Cincinnati Zoo asked the public to send "positive vibes" to Fiona, who was born six weeks early and has required around-the-clock intensive care.

Captain Fantastic is one of the many adoptable dogs at Richmond's Animal Care And Control in Richmond, Va.

National

Animal Love: How A Shelter Director Is Saving The Lives Of Cats And Dogs

8:11am February 05, 2017

More cats and dogs are getting adopted than ever before at the Richmond, Va., government-run animal shelter. The shelter director explains their strategy to reduce euthanasia and boost adoptions.

Mike McCloskey, his cousin Manuel Perez (left), and one of their co-workers on a beach at the edge of their new farm in Puerto Rico. McCloskey and Perez played on this beach as children.

Chasing A Dream Built On Dairy, This Master Of Milk Came Home

3:47pm February 04, 2017

by Dan Charles

For one of the biggest and most successful dairymen in America, success was based in part on crossing cultural boundaries. Now, he has returned home to continue building his empire of milk.

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Science

'Pretty Disgusting Snot-Like Spit' Lets Frogs Catch Their Prey

7:57am February 04, 2017

Frog tongues are super soft and wrap around their prey while secreting a sticky spit that changes consistency. Alexis Noel of Georgia Tech tells NPR's Scott Simon how she studied the amphibians.

Caltech aerospace professor Soon-Jo Chung holds the 'Bat Bot' flying robot, which mimics the flight patterns of the actual animal.

'Bat Bot' Flying Robot Mimics 'Ridiculously Stupid' Complexity Of Bat Flight

4:16pm February 03, 2017

by Rebecca Hersher

Robotics experts at Caltech and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have created a robot that mimics the flight patterns of bats, including swerving and diving.

VIDEO: When Humans Got Cozy, Germs Got Deadly

3:02pm February 02, 2017

Our first germs didn't do much damage, until we gave up our hunter-gatherer ways and started farming. Episode 1 of a three-part animated miniseries on the battle between humans and germs.

Tourist And Octopus Tangle Over Camera And Selfie Stick

6:30am February 02, 2017

In Andries Bik's online video, you see him explaining that he'd found something in the water. He dips his selfie stick and camera down to get a close up of an octopus — which wouldn't let go of it.

A marker for Groundhog Day describes the process.

National

Groundhog Day: Bringing The Celebration Out Of The Shadows

1:19am February 02, 2017

by Cecilia Mazanec

Each year on Feb. 2, a few groundhogs — the most famous of which is Punxsutawney Phil — tell the nation what weather to expect in the coming weeks. It may be one of America's strangest traditions.

National

Westminster Dog Show Opens Up Competition To Cats

12:36am February 02, 2017

For the first time in its 140-year history, cats will now compete in the Westminster Dog Show.

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