Wes Maldonado: Data Junkie

Can someone calculate the odds for me?

MANSON, Chelan County — A Chelan County fire chief says a couple were lucky they weren’t killed by a cow that fell off a cliff and smashed their minivan.

The 600-pound cow fell about 200 feet and landed on the hood of the minivan carrying Charles Everson Jr. and his wife Linda of Westland, Mich., who were in the area celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary. They were checked at Lake Chelan Community Hospital as a precaution.

Falling cow smashes van

The National Alpaca Farm Day website is a must see. They’ve got the best flash alpaca animation I’ve seen in several weeks.

We are excited to present the National Alpaca Farm Day September 29-30, 2007. The Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association marketing committee has designed a comprehensive plan to increase awareness of alpacas. We hope you will visit an alpaca farm and join us to make this day successful.

A couple of wayward ostriches — which had been chased from their home by a band of marauding dogs — caused a spectacle Sunday as they ran back and forth on a busy SeaTac road before being corralled by police and animal control officers.

Ostriches on the loose cause Sea-Tac spectacle

Reminds me of Dude Where’s My Car

It’s a llama dude!

Yup, that’s right, Manatee’s might not be as stupid as you think.

Researchers contend that if the plant-eating beasts seem slow-witted, it is because they faced no threats to their survival before the advent of boat propellers.

“They’re not under any selection pressure to evolve the rapid-type behavior we’ve associated with hawks, a predator, or antelopes, a prey. They look like very contented animals that don’t have very much to do all day,” said Roger Reep, a neuroscientist at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/061110_ap_manatee_smart.html

(Seattle) City Light has contracted with Healing Hooves to clear blackberries and brush from a steep slope at the north end of a City Light substation in the 800 block of Northeast 75th Street. The plan is for the herd of 250 female goats to graze on the brush. The city calls it environmental sustainable vegetation removal.

Link via: Seattle Metroblogging

I have a weird fascination with farm animals ending up in cities. I’m going to have to go get some pictures of these goats!