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The Extraordinary Pet Blog
16th June 2009:
> Cats & Catnip: A Match Made in Heaven?
> Dog Plays Fetch With Live Hand Grenade
Cats & Catnip: A Match Made in Heaven?
It’s not exactly a secret that cats like catnip. There’s a big clue in the name of the plant for a start. But what’s so addictive to felines about Nepeta Cataria (and you thought I was just a pretty face)? Why do cats go crazy over ‘the weed’?
The short and scientific (and not very interesting) answer is that catnip contains nepetalactone, which is detected through their olfactory epithelium and stimulates their pheromonic receptors, causing a temporary state of euphoria. Hence the writhing around on the floor in a state of unadulterated bliss, pawing, chewing, salivating, biting and general mentalist behaviour.
But we’ve uncovered two far more interesting short videos that explain this animal attraction. The first is a great clip from a documentary that tells you all you want to know. The second is an alternative from a cat’s viewpoint. All I can say about that is that I think the person who put this together might well have been high himself at the time!
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Dog Plays Fetch With Live Hand Grenade
Dogs have made some notable discoveries down the years. Pickles is probably the most famous, discovering the stolen Jules Rimet Trophy before the 1966 World Cup Finals in England. Then there was…erm, well….those others…
But in Germany this week (didn’t England beat Germany in the final of the aforementioned World Cup?) an unnamed canine dug up something arguably more exciting…a live WWII grenade! The dog, who was playing fetch with its owner, returned with a “rusty object” in its mouth. The owner is quoted as saying: “I stopped playing fetch when I realized it was a weapon”. Masters of understatement, the Germans…
Police summoned a munitions expert Sunday to identify and defuse what turned about to be a US hand grenade. Explosives from World War II are still often found in Germany, necessitating entire streets and neighbourhoods to be evacuated. I’m just grateful the dog didn’t decide to hold the pin in its mouth and shake the grenade like a chew toy...
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