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Pets & Wildlife

Honey bees buzz around beekeepers Tom Millis, left, and Elsa Stuart as they inspect one of the hives in their backyard apiary. (Sara Diggins/St.

Making honey can be a real moneymaker

Honey bees buzz around beekeepers Tom Millis, left, and Elsa Stuart as they inspect one of the hives in their backyard apiary. (Sara Diggins/St.

August 3, 2021, 6:02am Life

A vegetable garden was first on Tom Millis’ to-do list when he bought his home in the St. Louis suburb of Des Peres a decade ago. Then he and his now-wife, Elsa Stuart, added native flowers to their 2-acre property. Read story

Naturalist Jeff Brown releases a fledgling Cooper???s hawk in a northeast Seattle neighborhood Wednesday, July 21, 2021. The bird likely jumped out of its nest during the heat wave in late June and was rescued by PAWS.

Birds jumped from their nests to escape the Northwest’s June heat wave

Naturalist Jeff Brown releases a fledgling Cooper???s hawk in a northeast Seattle neighborhood Wednesday, July 21, 2021. The bird likely jumped out of its nest during the heat wave in late June and was rescued by PAWS.

August 2, 2021, 6:00am Life

Naturalist Jeff Brown bounded up a ladder, cradling a baby hawk into his torso as if it were a delicate football. Read story

A wolf pack is captured by a remote camera Feb. 1, 2017, in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in northeast Oregon near the Idaho border. Wildlife advocates pressed the Biden administration on Wednesday to revive federal protections for gray wolves across the Northern Rockies after Republican lawmakers in Idaho and Montana made it much easier to kill the predators.

Coalition seeks relisting of gray wolves in U.S. West

A wolf pack is captured by a remote camera Feb. 1, 2017, in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area in northeast Oregon near the Idaho border. Wildlife advocates pressed the Biden administration on Wednesday to revive federal protections for gray wolves across the Northern Rockies after Republican lawmakers in Idaho and Montana made it much easier to kill the predators.

July 30, 2021, 6:02am Latest News

Wildlife advocates on Thursday petitioned federal officials to restore federal protections for gray wolves throughout the U.S. West after Idaho and Montana passed laws intended to drastically cut their numbers. Read story

Rick Jokerst nets a Benigoi Ogon koi purchased by Linda Jennings before the annual Gateway Koi and Pond Club auction on June 13. Rick and Pam Jokerst hosted the auction at their home in Town and Country, Mo. (Laurie Skrivan/St.

Koi enthusiasts drive demand for bright fish

Rick Jokerst nets a Benigoi Ogon koi purchased by Linda Jennings before the annual Gateway Koi and Pond Club auction on June 13. Rick and Pam Jokerst hosted the auction at their home in Town and Country, Mo. (Laurie Skrivan/St.

July 30, 2021, 6:00am Nation & World

In the United States, raising koi is still a niche pastime, but its adherents spend countless hours and thousands of dollars buying and caring for what many of them consider living artwork. Read story

FILE - In this March 10, 2021, file photo, two Salt River wild horses kick up dust as they arrive at a site for emergency feeding run by the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group near Coon Bluff in the Tonto National Forest near Mesa, Ariz. Federal land managers say they're stepping up protections to guard against the illegal resale of wild horses and burros adopted from the government for slaughter after they've been captured on U.S. lands but mustang protection advocates say the Bureau of Land Management needs to do more.

U.S. vows to improve protections for wild horse adoptions

FILE - In this March 10, 2021, file photo, two Salt River wild horses kick up dust as they arrive at a site for emergency feeding run by the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group near Coon Bluff in the Tonto National Forest near Mesa, Ariz. Federal land managers say they're stepping up protections to guard against the illegal resale of wild horses and burros adopted from the government for slaughter after they've been captured on U.S. lands but mustang protection advocates say the Bureau of Land Management needs to do more.

July 28, 2021, 8:48am Nation & World

U.S. officials who are trying to adopt out wild horses captured on public land say they are tightening protections to guard against the illegal resale of the animals for slaughter, but advocates say the government needs to do more, including ending incentive payments for adoptions. Read story

In this 2019 photo provided by researcher Barbara Klump, a sulphur-crested cockatoo lifts the lid of a trash can while several others watch in Sydney, Australia. At the beginning of 2018, researchers received reports from a survey of residents that birds in three Sydney suburbs had mastered the novel foraging technique. By the end of 2019, birds were lifting bins in 44 suburbs.

Crafty cockatoos master, teach dumpster diving

In this 2019 photo provided by researcher Barbara Klump, a sulphur-crested cockatoo lifts the lid of a trash can while several others watch in Sydney, Australia. At the beginning of 2018, researchers received reports from a survey of residents that birds in three Sydney suburbs had mastered the novel foraging technique. By the end of 2019, birds were lifting bins in 44 suburbs.

July 27, 2021, 6:05am Life

A few years ago, a Sydney scientist noticed a sulfur-crested cockatoo opening his trash bin. Not every resident would be thrilled, but ornithologist Richard Major was impressed by the ingenuity. Read story

The common grackle is one of the species being affected by a disease killing birds.

Scientists stumped by disease killing songbirds

The common grackle is one of the species being affected by a disease killing birds.

July 27, 2021, 6:02am Life

A group of songbirds recently turned up dead in Nottingham, Chester County, Pa. Read story

Dairy goats stand in a barn at Joneslan Farm, May 13, 2021, in Hyde Park, Vt. The farm sold its dairy cows and switched to goats, delivering its first goat milk in February to Vermont Creamery owned by Land O' Lakes for cheese making.

Family farm swaps cows for goats amid changed dairy industry

Dairy goats stand in a barn at Joneslan Farm, May 13, 2021, in Hyde Park, Vt. The farm sold its dairy cows and switched to goats, delivering its first goat milk in February to Vermont Creamery owned by Land O' Lakes for cheese making.

July 26, 2021, 6:00am Business

Grappling with a changed industry, two brothers operating their family’s dairy farm in Vermont have made the drastic decision to give up hundreds of cows for goats. Read story

Researchers at the University of California-Davis have found that gene mutations in cats can affect their response to heart disease medication.

Cat DNA linked to heart-medication response

Researchers at the University of California-Davis have found that gene mutations in cats can affect their response to heart disease medication.

July 23, 2021, 6:00am Nation & World

Researchers at the University of California-Davis have discovered a new way to administer heart medicine for cats. Read story

Bird watching and sales of bird food bird increased dramatically during the pandemic as more people worked from their homes.

Bird lovers told to nix food and baths

Bird watching and sales of bird food bird increased dramatically during the pandemic as more people worked from their homes.

July 23, 2021, 6:00am Nation & World

A mysterious, unidentified contagious disease is sickening and killing birds in Middle Atlantic states, and it is breaking the hearts of bird lovers who are being told to remove feeders and bird baths from their yards. Read story