Dogs & Animals

Farmers of Britain, go forth and grow prawns

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Farmers could soon be growing prawns in their fields in a bid to diversify income streams, according to a pioneering research project. The UK Sustainable King Prawn Project (UKSKPP), conducted by the University of Exeter, showed that king-prawn aquaculture could have benefits not only for the UK seafood industry, but for farmers and landowners. King … Read more

The golden retriever: The world’s most well-known dog almost didn’t exist at all

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Ahhh the Golden Retriever — the sweet, sincere, butter-would-not-melt angel of a dog. They are, without question, one of the most well known dog breeds in the world. They’ve even carved out a place in modern dating lore via the ‘golden retriever boyfriend’ — the (almost overly) affectionate, subdued, loves-you-so-much type who also manages to … Read more

Aristotle believed they emerged spontaneously from mud, Sigmund Freud dissected thousands of them and they can dive lower than a nuclear submarine — but what is the truth about the eel?

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Why do we not know — or care — more about the eel? It seems to have an image problem. Even one of its great admirers lists its attributes as being ‘snoutiness, a thick coat of viscous slime and convulsive writhing’. Fishing journalist Tom Fort in his Book of Eels goes on to note its … Read more

The Alpine rescue dog built for blizzards, bred by monks

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On Wednesday, snow fell across the UK — even over London. And even though it didn’t settle in the capital (when does it ever?), snowploughs were out further north and my mind drifted to snow dogs — naturally landing on the magnificent St Bernard. A dog born for the mountains, yet familiar to us through … Read more

‘It is hard to beat the excitement of watching a peregrine you have trained stoop from 1,000ft, going more than 100mph’ — the complicated world of falconry

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‘To fly a bird of prey is to enter her world. You move through the landscape using her eyes — or a dim version — thinking with her mind, seeing the world differently,’ marvels Candida Meyrick, artist, falconer and author of Be More Bird: Life Lessons from a Harris Hawk (to be published in January … Read more