DEAR JOAN: Recently I noticed mushrooms growing at the base of one of the juniper trees in the backyard. It was interesting, so I took a picture.
A couple of days ago, I noticed that the mushrooms were gone, and there were scratch marks in the damp earth at the base where the mushrooms had been.
I am curious as to what animal could have eaten the mushrooms, and if that animal is in any danger from poisoning. I see raccoons, possums, squirrels, and birds on my backyard camera.
Who is the most likely culprit, or victim?
— Nancy McKiernan, Sunnyvale
DEAR NANCY: The winter rains can turn our Bay Area yards into fairylands with mushrooms popping up all over. While it is never a good idea to eat one without knowing exactly what type it is, animals don’t have the benefit of being able to call on a mycologist to determine the identity.
Instead, they rely on taste, outcome and experience. If a wild animal eats a mushroom that later makes it ill, it will avoid those mushrooms in the future, provided they survive. They’ll likely also stay away from anything that has a same or similar taste. That provides them with some protection against eating the poisonous ones.
In the Bay Area, there are two mushrooms that are unsafe for any creature, and those are the death cap (Amanita phalloides) and the western destroying angel (Amanita ocreata). Both are commonly found near and around oak trees.
As for what animal would eat the golden hued mushrooms you observed, the list is long. Mushrooms are a treat for wildlife as they have a high water content, are a good source of protein, and a good source of vitamins and phosphorus.
Rats, squirrels, deer, box turtles, wild turkeys, and wild boars, just to name a few that might be visiting your yard, all love mushrooms. The scratches you observed lead me to think of turkeys, but there’s no way to know for certain.
DEAR JOAN: I’m already thinking about spring and what I’ll be planting in my vegetable garden. Last year, much of the garden was eaten by rats, birds and squirrels. I’m wondering if one of those plastic owls would scare them away?
— Alice B., Clayton
DEAR ALICE: Decoys do work, however briefly, against the birds but it’s unlikely the rats and squirrels will even raise an eyebrow.
Stationary owl statues and other decoys might keep the birds away for a day or two, but then the birds figure out there’s no threat, and before you know it, they’re perching on the fake owl’s head and having a good laugh.
You want something that will move unpredictably. Objects that are pushed and pulled by the wind, and which add unexpected flashes of light have a better and longer track record of success. You can hang reflective ribbons or old CDs throughout the garden.
For the rats and squirrels, the only thing stopping them are physical barriers. Surrounding your garden with a hardware cloth fence and a shock wire on top will do wonders.
The Animal Life column runs on Mondays. Contact Joan Morris at AskJoanMorris@gmail.com.
PONCE INLET, Fla. — Sitting in the shadow of the iconic Ponce Inlet Lighthouse is the Marine Science Center, where birds native to Florida find a home to share their stories with visitors.
The expanded aviary allows guests to see seabirds up close, including pelicans, gulls, and other coastal birds recovering from injury or illness, or those that can no longer go into the wild.
What You Need To Know
The Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet has expanded its aviary and added a new education center
The aviary is home to birds recovering from injury or illness and those that can no longer survive in the wild
Visitors get rare, up-close encounters with pelicans, gulls, owls, and other Florida wildlife
The center has helped tens of thousands of animals while educating the public about conservation
Nearly every day, education manager Shell Rossi introduces wildlife to guests, turning each visit into a hands-on learning experience.
“Look what he’s doing with his head,” Rossi said during a presentation. “What’s he doing? Oh, look at that.”
She encourages engagement, explaining animal behavior in real time.
“He’s going to grab his food with his claws, and he’s going to squeeze it,” she said. “Everybody, give me your best squeeze.”
Rossi said the Marine Science Center’s number of rescues speaks for itself.
“Because we’ve helped 19,000 birds since opening, and 28,000 reptiles,” she said.
While rehabilitation and release is always the goal, Rossi said some animals can’t return to the wild and instead become ambassadors for education.
One of them is Bubba the owl.
Pelicans are among the most common patients at the center’s animal hospital.
“We get a lot of pelicans that come in — 90% have fishing line injuries,” Rossi said, highlighting the impact humans can have on wildlife.
The Marine Science Center is more than just a bird sanctuary.
Inside the new education center, visitors can meet snakes and gopher tortoises, study animals under a microscope, and attend a variety of presentations throughout the day.
“Try and do animal presentations during the day,” Rossi said. “So, people could spend half an hour or three hours here.”
Among her favorite moments is feeding the seahorses, and Rossi hopes visitors leave with a deeper connection to wildlife.
“I hope that people would walk away with a newfound love of an animal that they have never seen before, and never been able to touch before, and then want to continue learning about it and wanting to help it,” she said.
The Marine Science Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Admission is $8 for anyone older than 13, $5 for kids aged 3 to 12, and free for children 2 and under.
HONG KONG — They perch gently on concrete ledges. They nestle into peeling stucco. Occasionally, they soar across a stone house’s rooftop.
A flock has landed in Wang Tong Village, a peaceful corner of Lantau Island on Hong Kong’s southwestern edge. But this flock is unlike others: Its birds are made of paint.
They exist on murals designed for a larger purpose — not merely to draw attention to forgotten places but to tell the story of the extraordinary journeys birds undertake.
Dominic Johnson-Hill, who envisioned the flock, was captivated by an account from his ornithologist neighbor about the Amur falcon, a bird that travels from Manchuria, pauses in Lantau, then continues its migration across Myanmar, India and Madagascar to South Africa.
“I just assumed these birds lived on the island,” Johnson-Hill recalls. “But they’re not. They’re passing guests.”
That sense of wonder became the seed for what became the Flock Project. Johnson-Hill looked at the abandoned house next to his own and imagined a red-billed blue magpie painted across the wall. “They just seemed to belong there,” he says.
To bring the vision to life, Johnson-Hill sought out someone who could paint birds not just accurately but with soul. He found British artist Rob Aspire, known as “The Birdman” for his intricate, expressive murals of birds.
One bird led to another. A year later, Johnson-Hill invited Aspire back and commissioned seven more murals.
Each bird was chosen for its ecological presence, visual harmony or symbolic resonance with place. A kingfisher keeps watch over a stream where fishing is no longer allowed. A Swinhoe’s white-eye blends into the walls near trees where its bright, fluting call still echoes.
All the murals are painted on abandoned homes except one. High on Sunset Peak, 868 meters (nearly 3,000 feet) above sea level, a long-tailed shrike perches naturally on the rooftop of a 90-year-old stone house, watching the mountains unfold below.
The goal is to gradually bring more of Hong Kong’s native and migratory birds into view, nestling them into forgotten corners of the island as if they had always lived there.
The murals draw hundreds of people, many from Hong Kong’s concrete heart. They wander the trails and alleys of Lantau’s quiet corners. On weekends, some bring chalk and mark out arrows, turning village paths into treasure maps for the next bird hunter. Sometimes noticing beauty is the first step toward wanting to protect it.
Johnson-Hill has created an online map for visitors and is planning the next phase. What comes next depends on what reveals itself — a derelict house brought to his attention, or the conditions that make another bird possible.
Birds migrate. They disappear. Sometimes they return, sometimes not. People are the same way. Villages empty, but the walls remain — with a painted bird, or the memory of one.
President Donald Trump marked his first year back in office Tuesday by presiding over a meandering, nearly two-hour press briefing to recount his accomplishments, repeating many false claims he made throughout 2025.
Among the topics about which he continued to spread falsehoods were the 2020 election, foreign policy, the economy and energy.
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Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Endangered species could get some new protections in Florida.
Bills have been filed in the Florida House and Senate that would block people from taking any endangered, threatened or vulnerable aquatic animal species from state waters for display or education.
What You Need To Know
The MANTA Protection Act would ban people from capturing endangered and threatened aquatic animals for exhibits or education
One of the bill’s sponsors said the bill will close a legal loophole where this has been allowed
If the bill is passed and signed into law, it would take effect July 1, 2026
Last summer, video taken by the dolphin tour company, Water Planet, showed people capturing a giant manta ray off of Panama City. The species is listed as federally threatened.
“This female giant manta ray will live the rest of her life in a tank at SeaWorld in Abu Dhabi and doesn’t get to experience the gift of being a wild animal,” said Rep. Lindsay Cross, D-St. Petersburg.
Cross is sponsoring the MANTA Protection Act, which has bipartisan support.
“Many of these species are on the brink of extinction, so we need to be doing more for their restoration and their rehabilitation to ensure that these animals thrive,” Cross said.
The bill sponsor said this legislation will close a legal loophole where people can get a special activity license for education or exhibition from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission that allows them to take protected animals.
“Even though these animals are listed either on the federal or the state (as) threatened species, endangered or threatened animals, they’re legally allowed to do this, if they get the special license,” she said.
But there are aquariums- that Cross said are responsible, like the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. That’s because their animals are rescued from injuries and illness.
“So that’s a responsible way, that’s really based on what’s in the long-term health and survival of those animals,” Cross said.
If the bill is passed and signed by the governor, it would take effect on July 1, 2026.
These recent sightings are compiled by Sue McGrath of Newburyport Birders. Report your sightings to Newburyport Birders at newburyportbirders@comcast.net or 978-204-2976.
Bell Avenue/Gilman Park, Exeter, N.H.: Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, American Black Duck, Mallard.
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A dog found dead a week earlier in Franklin County is now believed to have died in an accident, according to the sheriff’s office.
On Tuesday, the chief deputy with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office told WRAL News detectives looked into the death of Nina, a dog who went missing on New Year’s Day, and determined the dog died from a car accident, adding that their investigation included interviews with neighbors in the area.
“There was no evidence of criminal activity,” the sheriff’s office said.
Leo Martinez, Nina’s owner, told WRAL News that he found her a few days after New Year’s Day with her head covered with a trash bag and her body in a ditch.
Martinez disputed the sheriff’s office’s finding, believing that Nina was beaten to death.
A 5-year-old giraffe from the Denver Zoo will temporarily move south to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs to support conservation efforts, zoo officials announced Friday.
Jasiri, a reticulated giraffe at the Denver Zoo, will spend a few months at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for those breeding efforts, according to the organization.
“Reticulated giraffes are classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,” Denver zoo officials wrote on social media. “We’re proud to play a role in supporting this incredible species through collaborative conservation efforts like the (Species Survival Plan).”
Zoo officials did not specify how long Jasiri would stay at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, but said he is expected to return to Denver later this year.
Species Survival Plans aim to ensure “a genetically diverse, demographically varied, and biologically sound population” at accredited zoos, according to the AZA. Program officials monitor populations and carefully match animals across AZA-accredited zoos for breeding.
Ever since Grace Kennedy met Quinn in May, the teenager’s goal has been to fatten the Hereford calf up — but not too much, not if she wants to auction it off at this month’s National Western Stock Show in Denver.
Quinn, who is about a year-and-a-half old, weighed 460 pounds when Grace won the animal from the Stock Show’s Catch-A-Calf program. The calf weighed about 1,250 pounds as of early December.
“They just want a good-looking carcass,” Grace, who lives just outside of Morrison, said of the judges who will determine how well she did in raising Quinn for beef.
The 17-year-old is just one of Colorado’s 4-H youth members who will attend the Stock Show in hopes of making a sale. Teenagers from across the state will come to Denver to auction off cattle, goats and other livestock, with the goal of earning money for college, first cars or to reinvest in their farming endeavors.
4-H student Grace Kennedy, 17, tries to convince her one-year-old steer, Quinn, to continue his walk around the property on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Morrison, Colo. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
The Stock Show began Saturday and will run through Jan. 25.
“Being from Colorado, I feel like it would be really cool making a sale in a national show in your state,” 15-year-old Ty Weathers said.
Ty, who lives on a cattle ranch outside of Yuma in northeastern Colorado, has been showing cows since he was about 7 years old. He will show a steer named Theodore at the Stock Show this year, and he hopes to sell the animal to earn money for a car.
Unlike Grace, who received Quinn through the Catch-A-Calf program, which requires participants to sell their calves during the Stock Show, there’s no guarantee Ty will make a sale.
“I like winning,” Ty said, referring to his hope he’ll be able to auction Theodore off for the highest price. “I’ve grown up in it, so it’s just a part of life.”
Zemery Weber, who lives in Gill in Weld County, started showing goats when she was 8 years old to earn money, but this is her first time doing so at the Stock Show.
“I got a goat this year that seems to be pretty good,” the 14-year-old said. “I’m excited, but I’m also nervous because it’s my first time.”
Zemery will show a goat named Nemo. She plans to save part of the money she earns from selling the goat for meat for her first car and college.
Zemery Weber, 14, leads her goat, Nemo, outside of a barn at her mother’s home near Gill, Colo., on Dec. 15, 2025. Weber plans to show the goats at the National Western Stock Show. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
“It has helped me become the person that I am,” Zemery said of showing goats. “It is a very good experience for students to have and kids to have to learn responsibility and reliability.”
Showing animals is just one way students can participate in the Stock Show.
In the Front Range, county 4-H programs — which have youth participate in agricultural, STEM and other projects — also put on a field trip for elementary school students to visit the show so they can learn about animals and where their food comes from, said Josey Pukrop, a 4-H youth development specialist with the Colorado State University Extension in Jefferson County.
Last year, about 12,000 children participated in the field trip, she said.
4-H has been operating nationally for more than 120 years, through it, children participate in programs that include showing livestock, gardening and building robots. The youth program is largely funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, according to the agency’s website.
More than 100,000 Colorado students participate in 4-H via community clubs and other programming, said Michael Compton, the state 4-H program director at the CSU Extension.
Like Ty, Grace’s family is in the cattle business, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that she began to take an interest and dream of owning her own ranch someday.
Grace’s foray into cows began when the dance studio she attended closed because of COVID-19 in 2020. Grace, in search of a new hobby, got into horses and trail riding with her father.
4-H student Grace Kennedy, 17, leads her one-year-old steer, Quinn, around the property as training for being shown at the National Western Stock Show next month, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Morrison, Colo. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
Soon after, she took an interest in cows and worked on her grandfather’s cattle ranch in South Dakota during the summer. Grace’s parents have their own herd near Morrison, and the teenager has started breeding and raising her own cattle.
“Animals are the coolest things,” Grace said. “They are here to teach us something, to teach us life qualities. They’re peaceful.”
Grace has been a member of 4-H for six years, showing cattle for four.
She is participating in the Stock Show’s Catch-A-Calf program, which loaned her a calf so she can learn cattle management.
The Catch-A-Calf program started in 1935 and is open to teens ages 14 to 18 who live in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming, according to the Stock Show’s website.
“Sometimes it’s kids that haven’t raised these animals before,” Pukrop said.
Zemery Weber, 14, cleans the pens for her goats, Theo, left, and Nemo, in a barn at her mother’s home near Gill, Colo., on Dec. 15, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Teens participating in the program have to rope a calf, feed it and return the cow to the next Stock Show to be judged on showmanship and carcass quality. The program’s Grand and Reserve Grand Champions get to sell their steers at an auction held on the final Friday of the Stock Show, according to the website.
The program is about “taking accountability and staying on track with your animal and really learning what goes behind their feed and all the math,” said Miranda Leatherman, a 15-year-old participant from Arvada.
By participating in the Catch-A-Calf program, Grace and Miranda had to send monthly reports to sponsors on their steers’ progress and track their weight and how much they are fed.
Grace doesn’t know how much Quinn will sell for, but if she doesn’t win and make it to auction, the calf will still be sold — just for a lower price.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice,” she said.
Grace plans to use any earnings from Quinn’s sale to cover expenses of his upkeep, such as grain and veterinary bills. Anything left over is profit, she said.
“It was a cool opportunity,” she said. “It was a way to get more involved. It was a great way to strengthen this project I have been doing.”
The search for mountain lions along a remote trail in Colorado where a solo hiker was fatally attacked ended Monday, after authorities killed two of the predators last week but could not find a third.
The victim of the New Year’s Day attack was identified as a 46-year-old woman from Fort Collins, about an hour’s drive from the site of the attack on the Crosier Mountain trail east of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Victim Kristen Marie Kovatch died of asphyxia due to having her neck compressed, the Larimer County Coroner’s Office said in a statement Monday. The injuries were “consistent with a mountain lion attack” and Kovatch’s death was ruled an accident, the coroner’s office said.
Two hikers saw Kovatch’s body on a trail southeast of the community of Glen Haven, Colorado, at around noon on Jan. 1, state officials said. A mountain lion was nearby and they threw rocks to scare it away. One of the hikers, a physician, attended to the victim but did not find a pulse.
Later that day, two mountain lions located in the area around the attack were shot and killed by wildlife officers. The search for a third lion detected in the area stretched over four days with no further sign of the animal, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials.
Mountain lions — also known as cougars, pumas or catamounts — can weigh 130 pounds (60 kilograms) and grow to more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) long. They primarily eat deer.
Colorado has an estimated 3,800 to 4,400 mountain lions, which are classified as a big game species in the state and can be hunted.
A Glen Haven man running on the same trail where Kovatch was killed encountered a montain lion in November. He said it rushed him aggressively but he fought it off with a stick.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A cat owner from Arizona went viral after sharing her kitty’s reaction to moving home, and internet users can’t cope with the emotional footage.
The TikTokclip shared in December by @donutsforbreakfast, shows the cat, Sauvignon Blanc, also known as Sauvi, wandering around her new home, crying, as if feeling out of place and overwhelmed by the move.
“My heart,” reads layover text in the clip. “We just moved and she won’t stop wandering the house and crying. She’s been doing this the last 24 hours.” The caption adds: “She’s thinks we are both lost.”
The poster, Justine Ramos, told Newsweek that Sauvi had a really hard time with their recent move, but she has now finally adjusted to her new home.
“The first day we set her up in a bedroom, and she hid. Then the next day she wanted to explore, and that’s when I took this video,” she said.
“She kept wandering around the garage and house and crying (I think we had a lot of her items still boxed up, so maybe the smell was triggering for her). But she did cry like that for about four days, and now she is settled and very VERY happy!”
Ramos explained that Sauvi is a very sensitive cat, so they already knew the move would be really tough for her.
“I was shocked that this video went viral, and I was grateful for all the supportive comments. Many people shared their moving tips, and I hope that it helps someone else who has a sensitive cat going through a move!” she said.
Moving home with a cat can be overwhelming for them at first, but there are ways to make the move easier on our furbabies.
If they’re an outdoor cat it’s important that you keep them inside for about three to four weeks at the start to avoid confusion or running away.
Once this time has passed you can let them out just before their meal time, to ensure they come back motivated by hunger.
Go outside first and show them that it’s safe. Do not force them if they hesitate. Leave the door open, even if they’ve always used a cat flap. Start with small periods and build up.
The video quickly went viral on social media and it has so far received over 523,200 views and 50,200 likes on the platform.
One user, Cardboard_Cult, commented: “My cat was doing the same after we got our house. it just means they are stressed.”
Mismysaniti said: “Imagine your old apartment was her whole planet. She is now an earthling on Krypton.”
Malij_777 wrote: “This might sound silly but did you explain to her what’s happening?”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Honey Bees and Kesha’s Animals, 2025 was such a big year for one of our favorite pop stars, Kesha. In 2024, she fully went independent and launched a record label called Kesha Records. In 2025, we saw her do a mix of everything to embrace her new era, including ‘GLOW’ing up with a new album, collaborating with other artists, and more. Let’s look back at some of the biggest moments of Kesha’s year.
‘YIPPEE-KI-YAY.’
On March 27, 2025, Kesha had us singing “We lit up like a bonfire, singing yippee-ki-yay, yippee-ki-ya-ya” when she released her first single of the year, ‘YIPPEE-KI-YAY.’ With the song, we heard a different side of Kesha: a country pop side. We couldn’t help but embrace it. It didn’t stop there, however. She released a second version of the song on the same day, featuring rapper T-Pain. The collaboration is one we didn’t know we needed. T-Pain knows how to make a collaboration era, including ‘GLOW’ing up with a new album, collaborating with other artists, and more. Let’s look back at some of the biggest moments of Kesha’s year.
. (PERIOD.)
There’s nothing like a musician embracing their ‘FREEDOM’ when they become independent. For Kesha, she released her first independent album, .(PERIOD.) on July 4, 2025. The album consisted of 11 songs, with no collaborations. We got a raw, real Kesha who’s getting to make music she wants, without any restraints.
The album features a range of pop songs, including the country pop song we mentioned above. We have Kesha embracing her ‘FREEDOM’ and yelling ‘YIPPEE-KI-YAY’ while taking us on a ‘JOYRIDE.’ Our favorite lyrics from the album? We have a lot of them, but if we have to narrow it down, it would be, “I’m a star, you ain’t even in my galaxy; Yeah, you on my TikTok, I’m the f*cking OG,” from ‘GLOW.’ The album is a beautiful insight into what we can expect from her in the future. She’s taking control of her career, and we love it.
THE T*TS OUTTOUR
The first thought we had was Period is right there to name the tour, but we had to remember this is Kesha we’re talking about! Her summer tour, THE T*TS OUT TOUR, was announced on April 3. Those who went on tour, or should we say, on the ‘JOYRIDE‘ with her, included the Scissor Sisters, Slayyyter, and Rose Gray in select cities across the United States. At a later date, she released tour dates for Europe and the UK.
She put on a SHOW with each stop. We’ve seen her shredding a guitar, carrying around a Kesha-like mannequin head on stage, and reclaiming herself. So far, it’s been a tour for the books. While the first leg is over, the Europe and UK leg is right around the corner.
J-Pop Collaboration
“Sour, bitter, pour it up, キラ, Heaven, lemon, sugar-free venom,” catchy lyrics, right? The lyrics are from J-pop girl group f5ve’s song ‘Sugar Free Venom,’ featuring Kesha. It’s a tastefully sweet song empowering women. The song was perfect for her latest era. While she doesn’t make a physical appearance in the music video, her presence is still felt through her lyrics and the visual of her on a big screen.
. (…)
In the words or lyrics of Kesha, “Do I have your attention?” What’s better than Kesha releasing a brand new album? Her releasing, . (…) [PERIOD. (ELLIPSIS)] a few days after. The deluxe version of her album included nine bonus songs. Of these songs, she included ‘YIPPEE-KI-YAY’ featuring T-Pain, and ‘BOY CRAZY’ featuring JADE. Between extra versions of songs from the PERIOD album and the new songs, Kesha knew what she was going for when creating her new era.
KPopped
If you’re a fan of K-pop, music shows, or both, you might’ve heard of Apple TV’s newest show KPopped. The show paired the biggest in music with K-pop artists to recreate the former hit songs. One of the episodes featured Kesha performing her single ‘JOYRIDE’ with J-pop group JO1. To see how both artists did, check out the clip below.
Animal + Cannibal (15th Anniversary)
If you had to choose between Kesha’s Animal and her album Cannibal, which one would you choose? We could have a ‘Party At A Rich Dude’s House,’ or we could continue to live a ‘Crazy Beautiful Life’ without a party. Either way, we’ll be celebrating it being fifteen years since Kesha released her Animal and Cannibal albums in 2010. To celebrate on November 21, 2025, the singer released Animal + Cannibal (15 Anniversary), combining the two albums into one. The album includes ‘Shots on the Hood of My Car’ and ‘Butterscotch,’ two previously unreleased songs. The album was worth a double feature, as fans of both albums no longer have to switch between them.
Kesha had so many amazing moments in 2025. Do you have a favorite or favorites? If you were to ask us, we can’t choose just one. Let us know your favorite moment in the comments or on our socials via Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
A man who adopted a dog from a shelter earlier this year did a DNA test to finally found out what breed she is, and the results were certainly not what he expected.
Brett Miller adopted Birdie, a 2-year-old rescue dog in August, thinking she was some sort of pit bull and terrier mix. He joked that she’s quite “weird looking” and shares a certain likeness with “a gargoyle,” leaving him fascinated to know what breed she truly is.
Adopting Birdie has been a wonderful experience for Miller, of Los Angeles, who told Newsweek that she’s great with people, other dogs, and generally she just “loves to nap.”
Miller was keen that Birdie be able to accompanying him on trips by air but, as he believed she was part pit bull, he anticipated having problems getting her cleared to fly on an airplane. So he decided to seek some clarity by doing a DNA test on Birdie and finding out whether she does have any pit bull in her after all.
“I wasn’t able to get her verified by my vet to fly in an airplane because she’s suspected to be a pit bull, and pit bulls are a restricted breed on most major airlines,” Miller said. “So, my mom bought me a DNA test to make sure she was actually as much pit bull as we thought. It turns out that she’s mostly American Bully and then next up was Chihuahua and Pomeranian.”
The results show that Birdie is 31 percent American bully, 14 percent Chihuahua, 13 percent Pomeranian, 13 percent super mutt, and 10 percent poodle. Birdie’s DNA test also revealed that she has smaller percentages of chow chow, German Shepherd, and only 4 percent pit bull.
Miller couldn’t resist sharing these findings on social media, posting a video on TikTok (@brettneyspears) discussing what the results showed and reading out the percentages of each breed in Birdie’s DNA as his mixed mutt sat on his lap. Internet users can’t get enough of Birdie’s unusual genetic makeup, and the video has gone viral with over 1 million views and 193,000 likes on TikTok at the time of writing.
The DNA results came as quite a surprise to Miller, who was delighted that Birdie can now travel by plane with him.
“I was shocked and happy because that meant she could fly,” Miller told Newsweek. “American bullies are a restricted breed as well, but only because of their respiratory issues due to their short snouts. Luckily, Birdie has a Chihuahua snout so she should be able to fly.
“She’s great in the car, is very family-oriented and super social and playful,” he continued.
Since the video went viral on TikTok, many social media users have taken to the comments section to share their thoughts on her results. The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, and Miller said it’s “super cool” to hear from so many people about the unexpected DNA results their dogs got too.
There have been more than 1,000 comments on the TikTok post so far, with one person saying: “somehow these all make sense.”
Another TikTok user wrote: “And she’s 100% perfect!”
A different person added: “Omg what an unhinged mix. She is precious!”
While a further comment reads: “She looks horrified by each revelation.”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@newsweek.com and they could appear on our site.
A woman was killed in a suspected mountain lion attack while she was hiking alone in the mountains of northern Colorado on Thursday, in what would be the first fatal attack by one of the predators in the state in more than 25 years, authorities said.
Wildlife officers later in the day located two mountain lions in the area and fatally shot the animals, said Kara Van Hoose with Colorado Parks and Wildlife
The attack occurred in the mountains south of the small community of Glen Haven, about 7 miles northeast of Estes Park and considered the gateway to the eastern entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Shortly before noon, two hikers encountered a mountain lion near the woman’s body along a remote section of the Crosier Mountain trail, which is on a national forest.
The hikers threw rocks at the animal to scare it from the immediate area so they could try to help the woman, Van Hoose said. One of the hikers was a physician who attended to the victim and did not find a pulse, she said.
Details on the woman’s injuries and cause of death were not immediately released.
Van Hoose said the search for other mountain lions in the area was ongoing. She said circumstances would dictate whether any additional lions that are found are killed.
Sightings of mountain lions are common in the forested area where the suspected attack occurred, but there have not been any recent documented attacks on humans, Van Hoose said.
“This is a very common time of year to take mountain lion sightings and reports and especially in Larimer County, where this is very good mountain lion habitat,” she said. “Trails in this area are in pretty remote land, so it’s wooded, it’s rocky, there’s elevation gains and dips.”
Mountain lion attacks are rare and Colorado’s last suspected fatal attack was in 1999, when a 3-year-old was killed. Two years before that, a 10-year-old boy was killed by a lion and dragged away while hiking with family members in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Last year in Northern California two brothers were stalked and then attacked by a lion that they tried to fight off. One of the brothers was killed.
The animals, also known as cougars, catamounts and other names, can weigh 130 pounds (60 kilograms) and grow to more than six feet (1.8meters) long1. They eat primarily deer.
Colorado has an estimated 3,800-4,400 of the animals, which are classified as a big game species in the state and can be hunted.
When Ashlee Chaidez’s black Lab mix, Duck, charged toward her and rubbed his face — a little more gray than the last time she had seen him — against her cheek, she knew her struggles over the past several months had been worth it.
Six months ago, Chaidez, 27, and 6-year-old Duck were living out of her car around the Front Range. Chaidez dropped Duck off at doggy daycare to get him out of the summer heat while she delivered orders for Instacart, narrowly earning the money to board her beloved dog.
Chaidez barely broke even financially, was off her mental health medication and needed help, she said. But the thought of giving up Duck — her best friend and reason for getting up in the morning — while she sought inpatient psychiatric care was a blow that felt insurmountable.
After reaching out to animal shelters, Chaidez learned about a program through the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that finds foster caregivers for people’s pets while they recover from addiction, abuse or mental health problems.
Through that program, Duck lived with a foster family while Chaidez got back on her feet.
“One of the main things preventing me from getting help was that I didn’t want to give him up because he’s my family,” Chaidez said. “This gave me the peace of mind to get the help I needed, and I don’t think I would be where I am now without this program.”
The program, Pawsitive Recovery, launched in Denver in 2021 and is so popular that the organization is looking to expand it across the country.
“This program gave me a lot of hope when I didn’t really see any,” Chaidez said.
Serena Saunders got sober from alcohol about five years ago through an inpatient program. The former veterinary technician told her therapist at the time that she wished she could work with dogs while going through recovery. That was the impetus for Pawsitive Recovery, a nonprofit Saunders started out of her Denver home, where she cared for the cats and dogs of people in recovery.
Two years ago, Saunders met an employee with SPCA International who became interested in her work. The longstanding animal advocacy organization hired Saunders and folded her nonprofit into their mission.
“It was probably the best decision of my life,” Saunders said.
Pawsitive Recovery partners with mental health treatment and sober living facilities across Colorado. People who need inpatient care but have pets they don’t want to leave behind get referred to the SPCA and connected with a foster caregiver.
The organization and its host of volunteers care for around 30 to 40 animals at a time — mostly cats and dogs, although Saunders has looked after 10 tarantulas in her office and found temporary homes for guinea pigs, too.
The fosters are typically volunteers from the recovery space — therapists, people in long-term recovery, parents of family members impacted by addiction, Saunders said. (Anyone interested in volunteering or getting connected with the program can find information at spcai.org/our-work/pawsitive-recovery.)
Sometimes, due to challenges like homelessness, the pets have trauma that can lead to behavioral issues, Saunders said. The program partners with a training facility in Brighton that takes on behaviorally challenged animals, she said.
Ashlee Chaidez, right, hugs SPCA volunteer Sara Broene after being reunited with her dog, Duck, after six months apart while Chaidez sought psychiatric care, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at Hounds Town dog daycare and boarding in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
They also have a standing arrangement with local boarding facility Hounds Town, which can take in pets quickly, Saunders said. A fast placement can be critical if a client is escaping a domestic violence situation and needs to leave right away, she said.
“We are not limited to dogs that are in perfect shape,” Saunders said. “We can take broken ones, too, which is amazing because the dog and the person get to heal simultaneously.”
Pawsitive Recovery commits to fostering pets for six months, giving the person in recovery time to figure out their next move, Saunders said. The SPCA charges $100 per month for a boarding fee, which Saunders described as an accountability tool for the person in recovery.
“It’s part of their responsibility, having a little skin in the game when it comes to the care of their animal,” Saunders said. “If they’re in treatment, a lot of these people are not working, so what we do is set up a fundraiser for them, and as they start rebuilding their life, they can go in and make payments. It’s all situational.”
For Chaidez, the program was life-changing.
She got the medical care she needed, secured a job at a Starbucks in Vail and got her own apartment.
When times in recovery got hard, the thought of reuniting with her furry friend kept her motivated, she said.
Ashlee Chaidez give a kiss to her dog, Duck, after being reunited after six months apart while Chaidez sought psychiatric care, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at Hounds Town dog daycare and boarding in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
“I didn’t really notice how much he helped me out until I didn’t have him anymore,” Chaidez said. “He’s my best friend. He’s the whole point.”
On the day of reunification — a Saturday in mid-December — Chaidez grew nervous that Duck might not remember her or might be angry with her for leaving him.
But Duck was elated to see his favorite human again.
“I took a big sigh of relief because I made it,” Chaidez said.
That night, when Chaidez crawled into bed with Duck sleeping at her feet, she realized what a big milestone she had achieved.
“I did it,” Chaidez said. “I was in my own place, I have my own bed, my dog is back, and it really clicked. Even though it was so hard to give him up, I made the right decision.”
Voters will decide in November whether force-fed ducks and geese can be raised or sold in Denver.
Anne Fulton (from left) and Justin Clark canvass in support of ballot measures to ban slaughterhouses and fur sales in Colorado, during the annual Tennyson Street Fall Festival. Oct. 19, 2024.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Denver voters will decide in November 2026 whether to ban the production and sale of foie gras in the city.
Animal rights advocates with the advocacy group Pro-Animal Colorado turned in more than 16,000 signatures — just over 11,000 of which were valid — to put the question on the Denver ballot. The same group previously made unsuccessful attempts to ban fur sales and slaughterhouses in 2024.
This time, the advocates’ aim is more niche: banning the sale and production of fatty fowl liver, better known by its French name, foie gras.
Foie gras is the liver meat produced by force-feeding ducks and geese. The French delicacy has a reputation among some consumers as delectably rich and buttery, and among animal rights advocates as utterly inhumane.
Denver voters will consider a proposal that would prohibit individuals from force-feeding birds to enlarge their livers beyond normal size or hiring someone to do so. Additionally, restaurants, grocery distributors and others could no longer sell foie gras.
“Eliminating the production and sale of force-fed products from the marketplace is in our city’s interest and authority to reduce animal cruelty, unsustainable environmental practices, and spread of zoonotic disease, and to uphold our city’s values of humane animal treatment, public health, and environmental stewardship,” the measure states.
The proposal condemns the practice of injecting excess feed down a bird’s esophagus, declares foie gras as a danger to workers and the environment, and states that foie gras is a health hazard for humans.
Those who violate the rules would be fined between $1,000 and $5,000, and each violation would be deemed a separate offense. Businesses that violated the ban repeatedly could lose their license for up to six months.
If voters approve the ban, it would go into effect on July 1, 2027.
Olivia Hammond, a spokesperson for Pro-Animal Colorado, previously said that Denver doesn’t have any factories or farms that force-feed birds, but added that the proposal’s language would ban any facilities from opening in the future. Meanwhile, she said, up to 15 restaurants in Denver serve products derived from force-feeding, depending on the season.
Here’s how the last campaign went:
In 2024, the group fell short of its goals of banning fur sales and slaughterhouses in the city.
The fur vote failed 42 percent to 57 percent.
The slaughterhouse vote failed 36 percent to 63 percent.
Pro-Animal Denver (as the group was known at the time) raised $352,045. Fur and slaughterhouse supporters raised more than $2 million.
Several countries, including Brazil, the United Kingdom and Germany, ban either force-feeding or the production of foie gras. California lawmakers passed a bill to ban force-feeding and foie gras in 2004, which has been constantly challenged in courts.
PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (AP) — A swimmer who went missing after being attacked by a shark last week off the Northern California coast and whose body was found days later was identified as an open ocean swimmer from Pebble Beach.
Authorities recovered Erica Fox’s body Saturday from the ocean south of Davenport Beach in Santa Cruz County, the sheriff’s office said in a statement Monday.
Fox, 55, had been missing since going on a swim Dec. 21 in Monterey Bay with her husband and other members of the Kelp Krawlers, an open-water swimming club she co-founded.
“She didn’t want to live in fear,” her husband, Jean-Francois Vanreusel, told the Mercury News during a vigil Sunday, a day after her body was found. “She lived her life fully.”
Vanreuse, who led the vigil to commemorate his wife of 30 years, said she was still wearing her white Garmin watch and a “shark band” was still attached to her ankle. The band is an electromagnetic device meant to ward off sharks. She was a triathlete who completed two Half Ironmans and numerous other triathlons.
Vanreusel didn’t witness the attack on his wife but two people on shore did, the Mercury News reported. He told the newspaper she taught him how to swim, and like her, he came to love the ocean waters.
Experts say that shark attacks are exceedingly rare — rarer than being struck by lightning or mauled by a bear.
Fox’s death marks the second shark attack fatality at Lovers Point in 73 years. The first claimed a 17-year-old boy who was swimming there on Dec. 7, 1952, the Mercury News reported.
Still, members of her swimming club were shaken by her death since it was the second shark attack on a member of the group. In 2022, fellow club member Steve Bruemmer was attacked by a great white shark and was severely injured.
After his attack, many of the swimmers started wearing the same kind of electromagnetic “Sharkbanz” that Fox was wearing, even though most swimmers knew they would do little to deter a high-speed attack from below, the newspaper reported.
Bruemmer, who pledged never to swim in the ocean again, used walking sticks to join the vigil Sunday.
“I was also bitten by a shark,” Bruemmer told the crowd, “and I can tell you that it doesn’t hurt. I don’t understand why, but it’s not physically painful to be badly bitten. So I believe that in her final moments, Erica was not suffering in pain. And I hope that that can be of some comfort to people.”
He paused and steadied himself on his walking sticks.
“There are also lessons, things we know that we’re reminded of in moments like this,” he said, “and one is that tomorrow is not guaranteed.”
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
After getting into a chalk paint roller, a toddler decided to paint the entire house blue, including their ginger cat—and pictures of the accident have left internet users in stitches.
The viral images shared on Reddit in November, under the username u/Jozee_hog, show the unimpressed ginger cat sitting near his food bowl, with his face and front paws entirely painted blue, looking more like an Avatar than a housecat.
“EMERGENCY PLEASE HELP,” the poster wrote in the post, concerned about any possible effects of the chalk paint on the feline.
“I don’t where else I can post this if you do please let me know. This morning before I woke up my toddler got into chalk paint and got it all over my walls carpets and floors and CAT it’s all been cleaned except my cat I’ve tried dry brushing, a bath, and damp brushing but he still looks like this.
“I don’t know what else I can try ChatGPT is suggesting coconut or olive oil as a last resort does anyone have any suggestions before I try this?”
When a user on JustAnswer veterinary platform asked a similar situation with their cat, Dr. Bruce, a veterinarian with over 15 years of experience, explained that this scenario is unlikely to pose any danger.
In his answer, he explained that the amount of chalk on the cat’s fur should not be problematic if they groom it off, although it could lead to complications such as gastrointestinal upset or diarrhea if the kitty were to consume a significant amount of the actual chalk pastel.
In this case, he suggested bathing the kitty to remove as much as possible, and keeping an eye out for vomiting, as it could suggest an upset stomach.
“If she has a more sensitive stomach, this might occur, and your vet can provide medication to help settle it. I wouldn’t be too concerned if it happens,” he said.
The post quickly went viral on social media and it has so far received over 40,000 upvotes and 1,400 comments on the platform.
One user, Western-Telephone-94, commented: “All I can think is how sweet and tolerant this cat is that your toddler was able to do this!”
Due-Investment764 said: “I can’t help here but I’m so sorry I’ve never laughed so hard because what an orange cat thing to do.”
Pylo84 added: “I really hope the cat is fine but my god this is funny and it’s such an orange cat issue to have. Seems the toddler and cat are well matched!”
Newsweek reached out to u/Jozee_hog for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Nine purebred yorkies were taken in by ACCT Philly and will be sent to rescues after being found in a North Philadelphia home after the dogs’ owner died, the group told NBC10.
According to ACCT Philly, they were alerted by the Philadelphia Fire Department of the dogs after they were found at a home on Lawrence Street.
Apparently, the dog owner had died at some point after Christmas, but his death is not considered suspicious, according to ACCT Philly.
Courtesy ACCT Philly
Courtesy ACCT Philly
Some of the yorkies found by ACCT Philly on Monday.
The group of yorkies found include a mom, her three puppies and five other purebred yorkies, the group said.
The dogs appear to be up to date with their shots, but some appeared to have matting and are in need of some dental work, the group said.
According to ACCT Philly, the owner was acting as an illegal breeder who had “more than the number of unaltered dogs allowed and those dogs had had more puppies this year than allowed.”
