Twins in the animal world - let's see some lookalikes

When pictures were released last week of twin gorillas born in Rwanda in 2011, I thought it would be fitting to look at a couple of other twins in the animal world, especially as I am a twin myself. 

Twins are extremely rare for mountain gorillas and as they give birth every four or five years, it's very exciting conservationists have been able to follow these babies from birth. There are less than 900 mountain gorillas left in the wild and they are actually the best of the apes at looking after twins. Sadly, orangutan and chimpanzee twin births usually result in one baby dying within two weeks, although there are no statistics or research as to why this is. 

Two famous twins in the animal world are Shire Horses Bud and Weiser. Born in Surrey in 1989, they were given to Brickfields on the Isle of Wight in 1990 on the condition they would remain there for the rest of their lives.

The chances of giving birth to live twins is extremely rare with horses and it is actually quite dangerous for the mother. In most cases one or even both foals die as a mare's uterus cannot generally support two babies at the same time. The odds of twin horses are one in 10,000 compared to humans where twins occur in about one in 80 pregnancies.

An animal well known for producing twin fawns is the Whitetail Deer. Usually found in America, the older the doe, the more chance of her carrying twins. In fact when less than a year of age the possibility of carrying twins is 10 percent, but this figure shoots up to an astonishing 67 per cent when compared to older does.

Cows are able to have twins, however this isn't as straightforward as it first seems. Most cows tend to accept one calf and reject the other as she is unaware that both belong to her. Therefore this can be hard work as the rejected calf tends to be bottle fed until it can be weaned. What is also interesting is if the twins are both female then they will both be able to reproduce, whereas if one is born male and the other is female, the female will not be fertile and will be unable to reproduce when older.

It's fascinating to see that twins are possible in the animal world and whether they are as common as humans or not.

However, last but not least is me! This is a picture of me and my sister when we were younger. As you can see we were pretty identical back then, but I've also attached a picture of us now to show we're not so identical as we used to be!

Crufts Friends for Life - Holding back the tears

One of the biggest dog shows of the year, Crufts celebrates every aspect that man's best friend plays in our lives!

However the category which stole the show for me, aside from Jilly the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen  winning Best in Show 2013, was the Friends for Life category.

First appearing in 2004, this competition was created to highlight our dog's bravery, companionship and support and give him or her the recognition they deserve.

I couldn't help but tear up when listening to all the finalists different stories and how they came to be selected.

There was Brin - the Afghanistan dog who survived capture by the Taliban after he saved the life of two soldiers by alerting them of a hidden bomb.

Janus the police dog has 433 arrests to his name and, alongside his handler PC Dan Thomas from West Midlands Police, has also uncovered £5,000 stolen from a security van heist and sniffed out more than £10,000 worth of stolen power tools.

Daisy helped her owner Tracey to come to terms with the loss of her son and and family pet to tumours in the same year. She helped them to fill the void of losing family members and Tracey to be able to leave the house when some days she couldn't face the world.

Maz and Ziggy are assistance dogs who helped their owners find love. Sue had almost given up after her original assistance dog died after helping her when she developed spinal bacterial meningitis and Byron who has been in a wheelchair since childhood due to polio was devastated when his childhood sweetheart died. They were bought together as their original assistance dogs were sisters and now Maz and Ziggy show care that can't be matched.

All these dogs are outstanding, but the two heartbreakers of this year's finalists and the winners were Haatchi and Owen.

A three-legged stray, Haatchi had to have a leg and his tail amputated after he was tied to a railway line in London and was hit by a train. Just a month after this horrific experience Owen, a seven year old with a genetic condition called Schwartz Jampel Syndrome, found him on Facebook and so began their new lease of life.  

Owen is now not as painfully shy as he once was and fundraises for a variety of different charities and Haatchi is a therapy dog who will begin visiting soldier amputees and sick and terminally ill children.

It is amazing what animals can do for the ones they love, especially when they have already gone through so much in their life. It is the dog's ability to forgive and forget and love unconditionally which makes them man's best friend.

Happy Mother's Day - My top four mums of the animal world.

I know Mother's Day was last Sunday, but I thought this would still give me the chance to showcase some of the best mums of the animal world. After all, some of them literally get to death's door just to give their offspring the best chance of survival! 

Starting off my best animal mum countdown is the Elephant. 

Unbelievably she holds the records for the longest pregnancy as she carries her calf for an amazing 22 months. Now I don't know about you, but I thought nine months was long enough. Once born, the calf weighs an amazing 17 stone which is huge to you and me, but I suppose in comparison to a four ton elephant this can't be too bad. 

Baby elephants are initially born blind at birth which is incredible when you think they are already in danger from predators. As they have few survival instincts at this age, the mother must do all she can to protect her calf and she enlists her support system of other females to help her. In its first year a calf can put on just over two stone a week and will consume up to 10 litres of milk every day. Due to her dedication to her calf, elephants only tend to have a new baby every two to four years and to have twins is incredibly rare, if not impossible in most cases. 

My next top mum the Octopus takes us to the ocean. 

Now you may think this is a rather obscure animal, but believe me the Octopus is definitely worth a mention in my list. 

She can lay anything between 50,000-200,000 eggs (depending on species) and unfortunately for the male he dies soon after mating. Sorry Dad! She will take the time to place all her eggs in a special grouping and then spends the next month or two caring for her babies by protecting them from predators and pushing water currents in their direction to give them more oxygen.

What makes this story even more heartbreaking is during this time she won't eat and will often end up eating her own arms for substance. Eventually when her babies hatch she is usually too weak to defend herself and the majority, if not all, die soon after. Pass me the tissues! 

Now we go to exotic Borneo and Sumatra where the Orangutans live.

Waiting eight years between births, Orangutans have the longest period between babies of any ape. When infants are born, they are utterly dependent on their mums for the first two years of their life and don’t even break physical contact for the first four months of their life. Now that’s commitment!

Every night she’ll make a nest for her and her baby to cuddle up in together and even when they mature they’ll stick together until the infant is at least five years. Girls tend to stay longer than boys so they learn the skills to raise their own children, but this still makes them the species with the longest dependence period in the animal world.

Last on my top animal mum list is the Polar Bear.

When she becomes pregnant the polar bear will eat enough to double her own body weight as she fasts whilst she has her babies in order to provide for them. Although many people eat for two when they become pregnant somehow I don’t think they’ll go that far, especially as she can weigh up to 78 stone to start with!

In the Autumn she digs out a maternity den and once in will seal herself in and enters a hibernation-like state. The polar bear has one of the easiest births as she often sleeps through this and wakes up to her cubs by her. They’re born blind and weigh less than two pounds, but once they’ve nursed they will weigh up to 30 pounds when they leave the den in the Spring. 

During this whole time in the den, their mother won’t eat and so won’t have eaten for up to eight months! The cubs stay with her for two and a half years and during this time she’ll teach them how to hunt as well as protect them. 

What a dedicated group of mums!

Guide Dogs - what a wonderful world

Whilst working at the library this Saturday, through the doors came the most beautiful puppy I've ever seen. What made little Coco even more special was that she had been selected to train as a guide dog.

This is a remarkable feat for a puppy of only nine weeks old, but soon this little girl will be the one helping to change someone's life all for the better.

I remarked to her puppy raiser that it must be difficult to give their puppy back to the Guide Dog Association  to go on to her next stage of training. He told me there would be many tears from all the family, but at the end of the day, she's not going to just any home. She's going to help someone gain their independence just from knowing she is there, to guide them where necessary during their life.

At just six to eight weeks puppies are given their first taste of training to become a guide dog. What's amazing is in this vital first year they will be shown the smells, sights and sounds of the world that they will experience for their potential owner one day.

Their puppy raisers will take them on buses and trains and into shops and busy streets as well as teaching them to walk ahead on the lead. They will also learn to obey simple commands such as sit and stay. Once the puppy becomes a year old, they then go back to the Association to begin their next part of training.

Their training is tough as they learn the different skills to guide a blind or partially sighted person such as dealing with traffic and to judge heights and widths so their owner will not bump into objects. Some of the puppies might not be up to this, but they are reassessed to see if they can go into other assistance schemes or they will be re-homed to either their puppy raiser or a member of the public.

How dogs can be taught to do such things is a credit to their intelligence and loyalty. I remember reading Emma and I, a book about Shelia Hocken and her guide dog Emma when I was younger. She was blind as a child, but later regained her sight through surgery, but still kept her faithful dog Emma who adjusted her role in Sheila's life accordingly. This book is a favourite of mine as it shows the love Sheila and Emma had for each other and how they both made a difference in each other's lives.

The Guide Dog Association is the world's largest breeder and trainer of working dogs. Starting in 1931 in a small garage in Merseyside, two women Muriel Crooke and Rosamund Bond organised the training of the first four Guide Dogs. To think something that started off so small has now helped more than 29,000 people achieve independence is simply staggering.

Factbox about guide dogs from The Guide Dog Association website:

It costs £50,000 to support a guide dog from birth to retirement.

Their average working life is five to six years.

There are more than 4,700 guide dog owners in the UK

The Guide Dog Association breed more than 1,200 guide dog puppies each year.

For more information on Guide Dogs, visit http://www.guidedogs.org.uk

A Dancing Shetland... what's not to love?

Sitting watching the TV this afternoon I came across one of the greatest adverts I have ever seen.

Now I may be biased, but there is nothing more loveable than a Shetland pony moonwalking with moves to rival the late Michael Jackson. I know this is the work of some great CGI effects, but the new advertising campaign from Three stopped me from switching over the channel.

The music is great and the scenery perfect (I've got to get myself to the Shetland Islands), but the funniest part is when the Shetland stops dancing as the man on the tractor goes past and carries on as if nothing has happened once the man is out of sight.

Everyone uses the Internet to escape from the real world and we all do that by looking up funny photos and videos. Three have got it right with this great commercial, proving they know what their customers want.

In another advertising campaign the Shetland was used by the Scottish Tourism Board to celebrate 2013's Year of Scotland. How did they invite people to explore the country's natural beauty? Why, by putting Shetlands in jumpers of course. Now if that doesn't make you want to take a flight to Scotland to find your own Shetland and experience nature at its best, I don't know what does.

Now how much does a return flight cost again...


Some facts about the Shetland pony:

At an average height of a tiny 9.3hh, they are generally easy to train and are known for having plenty of character. However, don't judge a book by it's cover as this small breed is also considered one of the strongest and is capable of pulling twice its own weight, which is twice the power of most heavy horses.

Watch the video here: