A new study done on a possible link between (oddly enough) Armadillos and Leprosy, or Hansen’s Disease, came back with some sad news for Armadillo lovers…
Apparently people who have either handled or consumed Armadillo may be at risk for leprosy. The following is a snippet from the New York Times:
Armadillos have never been among the cuddly creatures routinely included in petting zoos, but on Wednesday federal researchers offered a compelling reason to avoid contact with the armored animals altogether: They are a source of leprosy infections in humans. Using genetic sequencing machines, researchers were able to confirm that about a third of the leprosy cases that arise each year in the United States almost certainly result from contact with infected armadillos. The cases are concentrated in Louisiana and Texas, where some people hunt, skin and eat armadillos. Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is an ancient scourge that has largely disappeared, but each year about 150 to 250 people in the United States and 250,000 in the world contract the illness. As long as the disease is identified relatively quickly, treatment with antibiotics — a one- to two-year regimen with three different drugs — offers an effective cure. But every year dozens of people in the United States do not recognize their skin lesions for what they are early enough and suffer lifelong nerve damage as a result.- New York Times
“Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.
We love our pets, no doubt about it. We take care of them and do our best to protect them when at all possible. But what happens if your dog or cat is bitten by a Rattlesnake? If you live or frequent areas that have these slithering savages, then a vaccine may be in order.
This amazing little deer was delivered by C-section at a local wildlife hospital after his mother was killed by a car and they were unable to save her. This little guy whom the hospital calls Rupert is a mere 6-inches tall and weighs just over 1-pound. He spends his days in an incubator and is fed through a tube but is lucky to be alive. At five days old staff members at the Buckinghamshire wildlife hospital predict that Rupert will make a full recovery and lead a happy healthy life. It’s such a great thing when though we can’t save them all we can save some. Wildlife hospitals do their best to help save the lives of millions of animals that suffer injuries due to humans and natural disasters alike. 
A piebald is an animal, usually a horse, that has a spotting pattern of large white and black patches. The color of the horse’s skin underneath the coat may vary between black (under the black patches of hair) and pink (under the white patches). Many animals also exhibit discoloration of the irises that match the surrounding skin. This condition also occurs in white-tailed deer. Not to be confused with Albino deer.
Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, is a member of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) family of brain diseases that affects deer and elk in North America. Even scientists on the front lines of research don’t fully understand TSE diseases. The biggest theory to date is that an abnormal type of protein called a prion, which acts upon normal proteins in the brain and causes them to form toxic aggregates that destroy brain cells and tissue, causes this disease. The brain tissue becomes riddled with sponge-like holes, hence the term spongiform. These diseases can be transmitted from animal to animal, although in most cases, scientists are not certain how it occurs. It is similar to the widely know “Mad Cow Disease” or Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, that was all over the news not so long ago. The disease causes animals to look as if they are wasting away, appearing to be skin and bones.
