Yes, they have ferret mascots in the 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (which is nicknamed the Yorkshire Warriors)!

To that I say HUZZAH!!! How cool is that? And how wonderful that the English Army is happy to have such magnificent animals as their mascots

I’ve talked about the two ferrets, always called Quebec and Imphal, a couple of times in this blog – one post was about Ferrets and Soldiers written a couple of years ago, and the other, entitled Museum Honours Dogs and Ferrets of War was from a story I found way back in 2006.

I came across this video and it just was so gorgeous I had to share it with you.

Who would have thought that otter pups had to learn how to swim. I imagined that it would have been instinctive for the little ones to go into the water and splash about but obviously not.

Love seeing how the mother looks after her baby and gets it to do what she wants it to, so that it becomes comfortable being in the water

A litter of three baby Asian short-claw otters were born at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire and two of them were white. Don’t those little critters remind you of a black-eyed white ferret? So cute!!

Apparently an albino otter was spotted in Scotland last year but it’s the first time white otters have been born in captivity. It’s believed the cubs have a rare condition called leucism, a condition characterised by reduced pigmentation in animals, as well as in humans. These cubs are not considered to be albinos since leucism is caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment, not just melanin.

I personally think the sport of ferret legging is ridiculous but it does annoy me to read reports in connection with the story of Frank Bartlett wanting to have a ferret legging competition to raise money for his community’s first responder group.

The guy wants to put HIS ferrets down HIS pants and James McKay, who’s considered to be an authority on ferrets in the UK, reported him to the RSPCA saying that it would cause unnecessary distress to his ferrets.

I almost hate reading the paper or looking at news sites these days.

That dreadful oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, heading towards all the fragile wetlands where there are mink and otters, not to mention all the birds, fish and *shiver* yes, even gators in its path. How ghastly is that for all the wild fauna there.

Then I see that the ash spewing out of that unpronounceable volcano in Iceland is toxic and is threatening the animals in that area.