1. Tips and Products to Help Your Dog Handle the Fireworks This Fourth of July
Imagine if every sound you heard was 30% more acute—that’s what it’s like to be a dog when fireworks start going off.
Because of the festive nature of fireworks, many dogs don’t get exposure to them during their critical learning windows as a puppy.
By the time they start going off on the 4th of July or the 1st of January, they may have never experienced anything like the sudden sound and vibrations of the explosions.
There are ways, however, that one can ensure their dog(s) aren’t left feeling like the sky is falling this Fourth of July, from desensitizing them to the sounds early in their life, to providing a quiet, secluded space with white noise.
2. Fossil of Neanderthal Child with Down’s Syndrome Hints at Early Humans’ Compassion
Archaeologists examining finds dug up in a Spanish cave network in 1989 found skull fragments of a 6-year-old Neanderthal, which would have been exciting on its own, but the skull carried two major surprises.
The first is that an analysis of the inner ear canal showed signs of Down Syndrome, the earliest-known evidence of the genetic condition.
The second is that the child survived until 6, indicating compassion and willingness to bear extra work on behalf of individuals in a group who couldn’t take care of themselves. It gives a new perspective on the instincts for kindness and caring among our earlier ancestors.
Discovered in the Valencia region’s cave complex known as Cova Negra, Homo neanderthalensisactivity at the site was dated to between 273,000 and 146,000 years ago.
An analysis of fragments that made up the individual’s temporal bone, which protects the inner ear canal, showed alterations only known in those with Down Syndrome. Other abnormalities include a smaller cochlea, the main hearing component of the audio organ, and irregularities in the formation of the semicircular canals, three small tubes that govern balance and sense head position.
“The pathology which this individual suffered resulted in highly disabling symptoms, including, at the very least, complete deafness, severe vertigo attacks and an inability to maintain balance,” said Mercedes Conde-Valverde, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Alcalá in Spain.
3. Fishermen Pull Off Dramatic Rescue of 38 Dogs Treading Water with No Shore in Sight
What started out as a nice weekend fishing trip turned into a massive rescue operation for two colleagues at State Farm Insurance for a pack of hunting dogs that almost drowned in a Mississippi lake.
Bob Gist, 61, and his friend had hired a local bass fishing guide named Jordan Chrestman to take them out on Granada Lake, and after a morning without much action, they decided to change spots. That’s when they heard the barking.
Casting their lines, the pair, along with Gist’s friend Brad Carlisle, deduced that some hounds had chased a deer into the lake which was paddling along at a good clip, with the dogs unable to keep pace.
Eventually, Chrestman noticed that the dogs were still there, treading water and barking, and asked Gist if he could take time out of the fishing trip to investigate.
When their bass boat arrived on the scene, it was pandemonium. 38 dogs struggling to stay afloat.
“We’re just flabbergasted because it’s dogs everywhere, and they’re all going in different directions because they can no longer see the bank on either side,” Gist told Fox News Digital.
