Table of contents for November/December 2020 in All Creatures

The girls never asked for much for Christmas. We were in the car; I was driving them to their weekly appointment with the therapist. I could see them in the back seat in the rearview mirror. “Mom,” Tianna said, “I want a dog for Christmas.” Tianna didn’t speak much. Like her 10-year-old twin sister, Gianna, she lives with multiple disabilities. Both of them are legally blind; Gianna is autistic; and Tianna has selective mutism. Getting a word out of her could be difficult. She certainly never spoke to strangers, and sometimes, I worried, she wouldn’t even tell me what was on her mind. That’s why I had to pay attention to this dog request. “But we already have four dogs,” I said. A couple of years back, the girls’ neurologist…

“YOU SHOULD SHRED THOSE PAPERS.” My husband, Mike, gestured to a pile of documents I’d just tossed into the trash can. “It’s always a good precaution.” I felt silly pulling out the discarded papers. Who would be interested in digging through our garbage? Besides, we didn’t own a paper shredder, and it didn’t seem worth the effort to go buy one. Still, some of those documents were sensitive. Nobody ever expected identity theft to happen to them, but it could. Maybe shredding was a good idea. I started ripping the paper into strips, but soon tired. Too much work! I stuffed it all into a grocery bag and said a half-hearted prayer for help. I took the bag out to the workbench in the garage. I’d get to it later.…

CHUCK! CHUCK! CHUCK! The sound was so strange—and so loud that we could hear it inside the house, with all the windows closed. Hunting for its source, my husband, Neil, and I headed out to our garage. Neil set up the ladder and checked under the eaves. Nothing. He searched our makeshift storage loft. Still nothing. “It sounds like an animal calling for help,” I said. “I’ve been thinking the same thing,” Neil answered. Finally the noise stopped, and we went back into the house. But a few minutes later it started again. Plaintive. Persistent. We returned to the garage. Years ago, when we started storing firewood out there, Neil had boarded up a window. There was a slight gap where the window met the garage wall, and a…

How’s this for a unique retirement hobby? Seven grandmothers in the French territory of New Caledonia, an archipelago more than 1,000 miles off the Australian coast, snorkel nearly every day to gather data on venomous sea snakes. In 2013 Rick Shine, an evolutionary biologist at Australia’s Macquarie University, and Claire Goiran, a marine biologist at the University of New Caledonia, wanted to learn more about greater sea snakes, a species so venomous that it can kill a human with a single bite. They can grow close to five feet in length and have distinctive markings on their tails, which make individuals easy to identify. Shine and Goiran chose to conduct their research in Baie des Citrons (Lemon Bay) in New Caledonia’s capital, Nouméa. But over three years, the scientists catalogued only…

Pets are part of the family, and Shannon Barry of Hamilton, Ontario, wanted her hairless guinea pigs (aka “skinny pigs”) to join her and her husband in their activities—from watching television in the den to vacationing at their cottage. But how would their 10-year-old chocolate Lab, Sasha, react? Shannon took spotted Spencer and fuzzy-faced Sydney out of the cage and carefully introduced them to Sasha. The gentle Lab proved to be no threat. “Sasha is very protective of them. She thinks of them as her pups.” The three pets became fast friends. They love to lie together in front of the fireplace and share snacks. “Sasha hates vegetables. But she’s been known to steal a big dandelion leaf away from Sydney. Then Sydney will go and steal it right back!”…

EVERY YEAR, Donna Foy of Franklin, Virginia, and her three Landseer (black-and-white) Newfoundlands put a little extra muscle—and a lot of fun—into holiday preparations. Donna, coordinator of the Colonial Newfoundland Club’s annual Christmas Tree Pull, chooses a day in December for her dogs, Emma, Sailor and Liza, and others to lend a paw at a local Christmas tree farm. Once a family selects its tree, the farm staff loads it onto a cart, and then a Newfoundland pulls the cart to the car. The dogs love to work. “Pulling a cart is in a Newf’s DNA,” Donna says. The event also raises awareness for the Newfoundland breed—“gentle, people-loving dogs.” Last year 12 dogs from the club participated, six hauling trees and the others greeting the crowds. They pulled almost 60…

Growing up in Canada’s Arctic, Paul Nicklen didn’t have a phone or a radio. But he had his mom’s darkroom, where he watched images appear like magic. That’s all he needed to find his life’s purpose. Since then, he has captured the beauty of our planet and its wildlife, bringing awareness to global issues like climate change. He goes to extremes—diving in 29-degree water, camping out on sea ice and getting close to massive predators—to get the perfect shot, and the results speak for themselves. “Propulsion”  Emperor penguins release millions of microbubbles from their feathers,  allowing them to accelerate quickly and escape predators. On the Run The huskies of Qaanaaq, Greenland, full of curiosity, power and grit, get very excited to pull komatiks (sleds) across the sea ice. Surprisingly, they have…

“YOU’LL NEVER…” I sat in an exam room at the VA hospital in Augusta, Maine, awaiting my team of doctors. I’d served in the Army as a sergeant in the military police. In July 2006 I’d been severely injured during a peacekeeping operation in Korea. Two fingers on my left hand gone. Skull fractures. Spinal cord injury. I had no feeling in my legs below the knees. I lost my memory, the hearing in my left ear and the ability to speak. The head injury led to frequent seizures. For a year and a half I had surgery after surgery in Texas, where I was stationed, and worked hard to rehab my brain and body. I relearned how to walk, talk and read. Still I had to medically retire from…

The Friendly Beasts Jesus, our brother, strong and good,Was humbly born in a stable rude,And the friendly beasts around him stood,Jesus, our brother, strong and good. “I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown,“I carried his mother uphill and down,I carried his mother to Bethlehem town;I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown. “I,” said the cow, all white and red,“I gave him my manger for his bed,I gave him my hay to pillow his head;I,” said the cow, all white and red. “I,” said the sheep with curly horn,“I gave him my wool for his blanket warm,He wore my coat on Christmas morn;I,” said the sheep with curly horn. “I,” said the dove from the rafters high,“I cooed him to sleep so that he would not cry,We cooed him to sleep,…

HAVE YOU heard of “Shocking Around the Christmas Tree”? It’s the Tennessee Aquarium’s unique holiday program. Next to the electric eel tank, a Christmas tree lights up every time the eel, named Miguel Wattson, releases a jolt of electricity. Electric eels emit the strongest shocks when they’re eating or excited, so the tree’s lights glow brightest at Miguel’s mealtimes. Miguel has been at the Chattanooga aquarium since 2014, but 2019 was the debut of the display, which uses sensors to turn his shocks into light and sound (“kaboom!”). “Miguel shocked about 37,000 Yuletide visitors with his Clark Griswold impersonation,” says Casey Phillips, the aquarium’s communications specialist. “We’ll definitely be doing it again this year.” Phillips also serves as Miguel’s alter eel-go by writing tweets on his behalf. “Miguel’s first stunning…

NATIONAL ANIMAL SHELTER AND RESCUE APPRECIATION WEEK NOVEMBER 1–7 Her daughters’ Christmas wish was to get a dog that was differently abled, just like them (page 18). Dana Polito-Corry thought it would be impossible—until she met Carmella. VETERANS DAY NOVEMBER 11 Army Sergeant Christy Gardner returned home from serving overseas with her body and spirit badly broken. A dog named Moxie gave her the will to live again (page 38). CHRISTMAS DECEMBER 25 We wish our readers a joyous holiday! Come share your Christmas pet photos with us at facebook.com/allcreaturesmagazine.…

FUN FACTS: In courtship, the male penguin lowers his head, extends his neck and makes a sound while swinging his head around. Some males offer females a pebble as a gift. If she accepts it, she sees the gesture as the male helping her build her nest. Parents and chicks recognize one another by their unique calls, even in a large noisy colony. Penguins can drink ocean water; they have a gland that filters salt out of their bloodstream. Once a year, when they molt, or shed all their old feathers, penguins must stay on land, fasting, until their new plumage comes in.…