RIP Edwina the Duck

One of the world's oldest mallards, Edwina, who was living as a house-duck in England has died at 22.

Edwina seems like an awfully sweet little duck. Her duck family rejected her because she was a runt and Ian Knight and Christine Christopher happened upon her being pecked to death!

According to the BBC:

"The family rescued her, but when Mr Knight attempted to release her back into the wild she followed him home and had lived with the family ever since.

Edwina also became fond of tea and toast, which she would have for breakfast in the family home where she spent time living in the garden and garage."

What a little peanut. The BBC has a nice video of her bopping around the yard.

Duck Tales (oo-oo)

This is Lucky. She broke her foot and walks on it funny. In order to keep her from hurting it before she has surgery, her owner had a cobbler make her a little sandal.



This is the cobbler, Kelvin Reddicliffe.

Mr Reddicliffe said it was the first time he had been asked to make a shoe for a duck after 39 years in the trade.

The 54-year-old said: 'My colleague and I once did some work repairing a bearskin rug but nothing like this.'

Adorable.

Hop to It!

Apparently there is such a thing as rabbit agility competitions. You know, like dog or horse agility. But for rabbits.

15 year old UK twins Mathew and Thomas Haslam have been training over 20 rabbits to show jump in their back garden in preparation for something called the "Ultimate Pet Show". (I'm going to investigate this thing. It's got to be full of awesome competitions that we can't even imagine. Cat pommel horse!? Hamster synchronized swimming?!)



Both twins have Asperger's Syndrome and training the bunnies (sometimes for 7 hours a day! What!?) has helped them with their condition. Kudos to Bubbles, Lilac, Cuddles, Apple, Muffin, Beefy and the rest of the warren!

BFFs: Barnyard Friends Forever

William the piglet and Charles the rabbit are buddies. They live at Pennywell Farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon, in the UK. (Doesn't that sort of look like "Breakfastleigh"? Such a place should exist.)



William was moved to a pen near the rabbit hutch and started following Charles around. Chris Murray, the pair's owner, says, "William is far keener on the friendship than Charles, but Charles is tolerant, even when his food gets taken."



Charles is really looking tee'd off in these photos, but in a bemused sort of way. These two are like a gruff, secretly-kindhearted old man and an energetic young upstart. Oh my god, they're like Babe and Farmer Hogget, if Farmer Hogget were a rabbit!

Tresses for Nest-es

Let's hop across the pond and take another delightful visit to the Telegraph's hilariously named "How About That?" section.

The headline states:

THREE BIRDS HAVE MADE NESTS OF BRIAN WILLIAMS' HAIR

No, not THAT Brian Williams (unfortunately). THIS Brian Williams!:



This Brian Williams is a retired teacher whose wife often cuts his hair and then tosses it out into their yard (a little odd, yes, but stay with me).

Well, the curls have been put to use by a goldfinch, a greenfinch and a robin, who have used them to fortify their nests!

Mr. Williams says, "I am going a bit thin on top but there's still some left to help them out." Cute. Just adorable.

The Daily Mail has some more pics too, including one of the actual nests. Don't freak out. It's a little weird.

Animal-archy in the U.K.

Oh British media, always with the delightful animal stories. What's that all about, anyway? The Telegraph is always on top of the latest animal friends. Like this owl and basset hound:



They always describe these creatures in the most charming way. For instance:

"Beryl the Basset Hound, who is a grand old dame at 16 years old, and four-year-old tawny owl Wol struck up a friendship when their owner realised they both loved watching television in the evenings."

This seems like an apropos time to introduce my newest theorem, which I have deemed "Gretchen's Theory of Across-The-Pond Cuteness". Inter-species animal friends + British colloquialisms ("grand old dame??") = Near-Unbearable Snuggle Feelings Inside One's Heart.

Even stories just about one animal (sans animal friends) tend to be more interesting than the ones we have here in the U.S. Lest you forget, this is the country that brought us Fat Boy, the drunk pony who fell into a swimming pool.



In a similar vein, how often do you see a headline like "Escaped Horse Bursts into Cinema" in your local American rag?

And look at how the Telegraph describes the incident:

"The horse was one of three which escaped from a farm and ran through the automatic doors at the Cineworld complex in Boldon, South Tyneside.

The incident was caught on CCTV and was put on the YouTube website [emphasis mine], but it has since been removed."

Oh, and the section of the Telegraph's site that houses many of these articles is called "How About That?"

I wonder if they even realize how adorable they're being. Sigh.