John McKay at archy celebrated his fourth blogiversary™ on Thursday, but still hasn’t explained how the Nazi cockroaches conspired to wipe out the mammoths by attracting asteroids to strike the secret fortress under the Antarctic ice cap.

Unfortunately, the folks at Wampum are hanging up their keyboards after 4½ years. Best known perhaps for hosting the Koufax Awards, Wampum was an eclectic mix of Native American issues, autism, progressive politics, and geek speak. Their voices and views will be missed.

CBC: Berlin’s close encounter of the furred kind

BBC: Baby bear becomes media star

ABC: Berlin Zoo’s Baby Polar Bear Makes Public Debut

CBS: Polar Bear Cub Delights Fans In His Debut

NBC: Going Knut-ty over a polar bear cub

Come on people, it’s a polar bear cub, not a missing white woman.

Oh, there’s absolutely no truth to the rumor that his first adult meal will be Frank Albrecht.

From CNN: Rat poison found in pet food, official says

ALBANY, New York (AP) — Rat poison has been found in pet food blamed for the deaths of at least 16 cats and dogs, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Agriculture and Markets said Friday.

Spokeswoman Jessica Chittenden would not identify the chemical or its source beyond saying it was a rodent poison.

The Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation was focusing on wheat gluten in the food. Wheat gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated by heavy metals or mold toxins, the FDA said.

The culprit is probably brodifacoum, an anticoagulant, that is the most common active ingredient in most rodent poisons, like d-CON. The antidote is vitamin K₁ administered by injection or IV. It is a cumulative poison, building up in the blood stream until the fatal dosage is reached. If a particular animal already has a low level of vitamin K₁ it will be affected more rapidly than others, but all will eventually be affected.

The first symptom is dehydration due to the internal break down of small blood vessels. The vitamin injections are effective, but it takes a while for the body to eliminate the chemical.

UPDATE: The New York Department of Agriculture has announced that they have discovered aminopterin, which is not licensed for use in the US as a rat poison, but is used in countries like China. It has been tested for use in chemotherapy. The antidote is folinic acid, which is not readily available and will kill if it is not used in conjunction with aminopterin, i.e. if it isn’t a case of aminopterin poisoning, the “cure” will kill your pet.

UPDATE II: The rat poison seems to be tied to Chinese wheat but no one can figure out why there are such concentrations. The poison is normally in bait around facilities, not on the grain itself.

Cat In The Yard Interview

You’re kidding, not even a puppy would agree to that.

[Editor: Ms. Lone Ranger responds to the suggestion that White House officials should testify in private, unsworn, and no transcript.]

Friday Ark