"Cocaine's a hell of a drug, and even more so when laced with another drug that's commonly used to deworm opossums." DEA agents report that some 69% of cocaine seized en route to US market is cut with levamisole, a veterinary drug believed to weaken the human immune system. (PopSci via Instapundit)
Who's taken my fur coat? Vets baffled by bald bears with mystery condition
Last updated at 12:37 PM on 05th November 2009
You'd have thought a fur coat would have been the ultimate bear necessity.
But not for the unfortunate Dolores who has lost all her body hair and has just been left with a few tufts around her head.
Vets have been left baffled by the condition of the bespectacled bear, who lives at a zoo in Leipzig.
Bare-faced: Dolores has a condition which means she has gone totally bald
And Dolores isn't the only one. The sudden hair loss has affected all female bears at the zoo.
Some experts believe it could be due to a genetic defect though the animals do not seem to be suffering from any other affliction.
The bears, which originate from South America, normally have fluffy dark brown fur and would now be growing a thicker fur coat to keep warm during the winter.
Wrinkly: All the female bears at the zoo have the same condition. They have become a bit of a crowd puller
Where's my fur coat gone? Dolores still has a ring of fur around her face. She lethal claws are clearly visible
But instead they have developed nasty rashes and inflammations on their skin.
Unfortunately for the bears, their lack of hair has been pulling in the crowds who want to see want to see the wrinkly animals.
Hopefully the zoo will be turning up the heat in their enclosure.
Full head of hair: These is how Dolores would have looked before she lost her fur. The spectacled bears have a thick, dark coat normally
Published: 8:50AM BST 08 Sep 2009
Lucky the Box turtle had his front legs bitten off by a Racoon. He has now had furniture sliders fitted under his shell so he can slide around Photo: BARCROFTSally Pyne, 60, felt compelled to act after seeing her beloved pet Lucky struggling with his injuries.
Mrs Pyne said: "He was in so much pain, I was ready to let little Lucky go, but Lucky, wasn't ready to give up. He was shoving himself around on his two back legs. He was not going to quit."
So she took the animal to her local vet who stitched and bandaged him up. However, repairing the wound left Lucky almost completely immobile until a reptile expert suggested attaching four furniture coasters with double-sided sticky tape to Lucky's underbelly to raise his front to the right height.
Now Lucky's back at his Petaluma, California home that he shares with Mrs Pyne and his box turtle girlfriend, Lovey.
Mrs Pyne said: "Lucky's adapted very quickly, and is walking just like he did before.
"As for Lovey, she doesn't seem to have noticed a difference in her playmate, she's still resisting his amorous advances!"
