All About Animals: Amazing Stories and Facts

The Purrfect Crime Fighter!

A new detective is on the beat in central Russia – Rusik the cat, the latest weapon in the battle against fish thieves. A year ago he walked into the police station as a stray kitten, but now he helps police by sniffing out illegal cargoes of fish.

The fish that Rusik sniffs out are sturgeon. Sturgeon are killed by fishermen, who sell their eggs as expensive ‘caviar’. But sturgeon are facing extinction and it is illegal to catch them, so Rusik is on the case. The police say that no matter how well the smugglers hide the fish, Rusik is always able to point his nose in the right direction and find them.

Super Sheepdog

Robert Sinclair has asthma. After a very bad attack he collapsed in his room and couldn’t even move. He couldn’t go and get help, eat or drink. He lay there for a whole week and felt very poorly. He decided he had to get help and so he wrote a note, put it in a bottle and dropped it out of his window. He hoped that someone would find it and help him. He waited.

And someone did find it: Ben! Ben isn’t a person, but a very intelligent border collie dog. Ben picked up the bottle in his mouth and took it home to his human friend, Brian. Brian read the note and rushed to find Robert. He also called an ambulance, which came and took Robert to hospital. Robert got better, thanks to Ben. He will never forget the amazing dog who saved his life.

A Caring Puma

Daniel Olin was 11 years old when his parents moved to Edmonton in Canada. He liked his new school and made friends there, but then things at home started to change. His mum and dad began to argue and the arguments got worse and worse until one day, Daniel’s mum left. With his father working long hours, Daniel felt very alone and very unhappy. He wanted to escape, to run away. And that’s what he did.

Very early one bitterly cold morning when the snow was deep on the ground, he packed a bag with some clothes, his Walkman, some chocolate and a map of Canada and set off. He ran and ran until he could hardly breathe. His feet were heavy with the snow but he staggered on through deep snowdrifts, not even watching where he was going.

Then, disaster struck. A rock hidden by the deep snow caught his ankle and Daniel fell to the ground, crying in pain. He had broken the bone. And no one knew where he was to help him. He was bitterly cold and was starting to feel tired, but he knew that if he fell asleep in the snow, he would almost certainly die from the cold.

A spruce tree stirred ahead. From within the branches, a pair of yellow eyes watched Daniel. The puma had been stalking him. A puma is a powerful cat with claws that could shred Daniel into strips. But instead of moving in for the kill, the puma approached Daniel and lay across his chest and limbs. Daniel was too frightened to move, but soon the warmth of the animal reached Daniel and he began to feel better. From time to time, the puma pressed his muzzle against Daniel and rocked his head gently. Clearly, the puma knew that Daniel must not fall asleep. This animal should have been a real danger to Daniel and yet the boy began to feel safe.

They remained like that for several hours until Daniel and the puma heard voices. The rescue team had found them.

A Loyal Dachshund

A dog named Fancy showed his family just how much he loved them when his house caught fire. Fancy’s family were fast asleep and did not realise that they were in danger as the fire spread through their home! Although they did not have a smoke alarm, they luckily had a very clever animal companion – Fancy the dachshund. Fancy noticed the smoke, awoke his family and made sure that they left the house. Fancy’s home burned down but all the members of his family escaped unharmed thanks to his loyalty.

Did You Know…?

• Dogs and cats can predict when their human companions are getting sick or having a bad day.
• An American cat once walked over 2,500 miles to find his carers after they moved and left him behind by mistake
• Squid communicate with one another by changing the colours and patterns on their bodies.
• Tuna can swim 100km in an hour and 1 million miles during their lifetimes. Thats an amazing 40 times around the world!
• The word hippopotamus comes from two Greek words meaning river horse. However, hippos are more closely related to pigs than horses.
• Warthogs live in family groups called sounders.