Beautiful Animals

Love the swan photo (all swan photos, actually). Was browsing last night and found a recent photo of black swans in China...

Two black swans are seen at Suzhou Zoo in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province of China.
ZUMAPRESS.com

the daily B & O

Irish, Gawgeous black swans.

dj, Adorable B&O today. I mean ADORABLE.

I thought that in honor of President's Day here in the US we could post some pictures of presidential pets.

Fala, FDR's scottie:

Socks: This cat belonged to Bill Clinton and was a famous face around the White House. Indeed, Socks is often thought to be the most photographed presidential cat in history. Even among presidential pets, Socks is one of the most popular. The Clinton family gave Socks to one of the president’s former secretaries in 2001 when he left office. Socks died earlier this year, after a bout with liver cancer. Socks managed to live to a quite old age — nearly 20 years old.

Irish, Here's Clinton's other famous pet, Buddy, the chocolate lab:



LBJ's beagles, Him and Her:



Millie and her puppies with Bush on the White House lawn. Millie was the only presidential pet to write a book:

Bo, the Obamas' dog, probably has the cuteness award sewed up:

What I want to know is who was Millie's babydaddy, and how did he breach security and get into the White House?

Though I have to admit, Socks clearly had a lot of personality.

Jack, You could be right about Bo. That's one cute canine.

Caroline Kennedy's pony Macaroni:



George Washington bred foxhounds. One was named Drunkard; another named Tipler. What was dat man feeding dem dawgs?

here's a new Radio Series from the BBC that some of the animal folks might enjoy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/dastories



David Attenborough presents a series of ‘Life Stories’, interweaving fascinating natural histories with his personal reflections and experiences. In this series 20 subjects including Rats, Humming Birds and Earthworms are explored with characteristic knowledge, warmth and humour.

it's a weekly series, each episode will be available for listening to or downloading (at the link above) for 7 days, new episodes each Monday

the first episode is up now

Canopy

The canopy is a bonanza of tropical forest life, in the bright light and gentle breeze - a far cry from the dark and humid underworld of the forest floor. Not surprising then that David Attenborough knew this would be a perfect place to film wildlife.

Thanks mucho, dj. David Attenborough is someone I could listen to.

Another fabulous idea, Roberta -- Happy President's Day!!! I'm loving the names of these famous pets...Him and Her? Sounds so LBJ-ish.

Here's Amy Carter with Misty Malarky Ying Yang...

Here's Gerald Ford with his golden retriever Liberty in the Oval Office on November 7, 1974.

not a lot of information on Prime Ministers pets, the current Canadian PM and his family foster cats


All too often, family pets such as dogs and cats find themselves in shelters as a result of being abandoned or rescued.

The Harpers are proud to support and participate in the Ottawa Humane Society’s Foster Program, which provides temporary homes for pets in the community who are not yet ready for adoption.

The program fosters out animals with mild health or behaviour issues who need individual care and nurturing to help them recover before they are adopted by new, loving foster families.

Laureen and Stephen have been foster parents to many cats during the past year. At any given time, the Harpers have provided foster care to numerous cats at their Ottawa home.

as an aside

Mackenzie King was Prime Minister three times, and if you add up all his dates you'll see he was in power for over 20 years- making him Canada's longest-serving Prime Minister.

Mackenzie King is most famous for two things- One, leading Canada through World War II, and two, being insane.

You see, Mackenzie King believed he could communicate with his dead mother, not to mention his dead pets, and routinely sought political advice from them. Their advice must have been good, because despite his numerous eccentricities, Mackenzie King is now largely considered one of Canada's best Prime Ministers.

the daily B & O

Political scandal! Maybe it was one of the secret service dogs who was the litter's father?

A staring showdown between the Clintons' pets, Socks and Buddy...

In Hillary Clinton's words, Socks 'despised Buddy from first sight, instantly and forever'. He had had all the family attention for some years and found the dog's presence hard to deal with. He refused point-blank to be friends with this boisterous and intrusive canine, despite everyone's best efforts. If they were left together, Socks would be found hissing, fluffed up and with back arched, while Buddy tried to chase him under the sofa. Although the cat had clipped claws, he never lost an opportunity to take a swipe at the dog.

Everybody in Lyndon Johnson's family had the initials LBJ. Didn't they have a dog named Little Beagle Junior too? Was that Him and Her's kid? Or am I imagining this?

Herbert Hoover and King Tut:



Rutherford B. Hayes (standing), the first lady, and Duke. I don't know who the guy in the chair is:

Irish, I got red Xes for Amy Carter's pet and the confrontation between Socks and Buddy.

dj, Outstanding B&O today.