Ham

I've had a really fun time putting together this theme week, and wouldlike to end on a happy note with Ham the Astrochimp! The first ape in space!

Ham post-mission
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There had been several animals in space before Ham. Mice, Dogs, andMonkeys had all been launched, but the purpose of Ham's trip was toprove something beyond survivability. Ham was trained to performcommands, so that reaction times could be recorded and assessed.

He was born in Camaroon in 1956, and in 1959 was brought to HollomanAir Force base, which would be the inspiration for his name: Holloman Aerospace MedicalCenter. (He was originally named #65, and didn't obtain an actual nameuntil after his successful mission) There were originally 40 animals inthe program, but it was eventually whittled down to just six,including Ham. These six chimpanzees were placed in Mercury mock-upsand trained to pull levers when prompted by lights. If they performed the task correctly, they were given a banana pellet; incorrect answers resulted in a small electric shock to the feet.

On January 31, 1961, Ham was selected to be the test subject aboardProject Mercury capsule MR-2. The original plan was that he wouldtravel to an altitude of 115 miles, and reach a speed of 4,400 mph.Technical difficulties resulted in an altitude of 157 miles, and a topspeed of 5,857 mph. There was a temporary loss of pressure in thecabin, but Ham's suit protected him from harm. He was up for 16.5minutes, including 6.6 minutes of weightlessness.

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Ham was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean later that day, and was foundto be in overall good health, albeit fatigued and a bit dehydrated. Theresults of Ham's test showed that reaction time in space was only abit slower than on earth, proving that tasks could be performed. Alittle more than three months later, the United States sent their firsthuman being, Alan Shepard, into space.

Ham retired from space flight and went to live in the National Zoo from1963-1980. He was moved to the North Carolina Zoological Park in 1980,where he lived until his death at age 26 in 1983. Ham's skeleton wasretained by the Armed Forces for ongoing testing, and the rest of hisremains were buried at the International Space Hall of Fame in New Mexico. A plaque and a memorial garden mark the spot.

Alex

Alex the African Grey Parrot was one of the most extraordinary birds to have ever lived. In 1977, animal psychologist Dr. Irene Pepperberg started an experiment to test the intelligence of parrots, and her first subject was Alex, a one-year old bird from an ordinary pet shop in Chicago.

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Previous to this project, it was believed that the brain's of birds were not capable of complex problem solving and speech formation; that their words were only the result of mimicry. Alex proved all of that wrong. He had a vocabulary of 150 words, including 50 objects and quantities up to the number six. He was capable of understanding concepts like number, shape, material, and color, and could compose short phrases to express responses and wants. He was even able to express frustration, both with repetitive research tasks and with incorrect responses given by his fellow parrots in the project. Alex also remarkably had a basic understanding of the the concept of zero. When asked about the differences between two objects that were exactly the same, Alex would respond that there were none. The video below shows some of the skills that Alex came to learn.

Alex died suddenly and unexpectedly on September 6th, 2007 from arteriosclerosis. His health check earlier in the week had given him a clean bill of health and shown normal asper and cholesterol levels, making his death especially tragic and out of no where. Even more depressing is the fact that his last words to Pepperberg the night before were "You be good. I love you." Alex is survived by two other birds within the project, Griffen and Arthur, though they are much younger and less advanced.

Dr. Pepperberg published a memoir about Alex and his accomplishments, titled Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process in 2008.

The New Jersey Man Eater

The New Jersey Man Eater might be a single shark, or it might be many different sharks. Either way, they were responsible for five attacks between July 1st and 12th, 1916.  These attacks resulted in four deaths and one injury.

Summer at the Jersey Shore in 1916 was a hot one, with temperatures hitting over ninety degrees, forcing droves of people to to the cool ocean waters. On July 1st, Charles Van Sant, a 23-year-old on vacation from Philadelphia, went for a swim, going out about one hundred yards. Other swimmers saw a shadow approaching and called ou in warning, but Van Sant was unable to hear them. When he was about 50 feet fromt he shore, something grabbed at his legs, which caught the notice of Alexander Ott, a former Olympic swimmer. Ott dove out to help Van Sant, and carried him back to the shore, but it was too late for the young man. Both of his legs were badly mangled and he died on the shore. This was the first reported Shark Attack in New Jersey history.

July 6th, 1916. Charles Bruder, a 27-year-old bellboy, goes for a swim on his day off. A woman on shores shouts that a man is in distress, but by the time rescuers make it out to him there was nearly nothing left from the waist down. The death of Bruder is the true beginning of the panic. Some communities install wire nets, others patrol the shore in boats with shotguns. But little did they know that the remaining three attacks would take place in a body of water they least expected.

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Wednesday, July 12th. Lester Stillwell, an 11-year-old boy, decides to go for a swim with friends in Matawan Creek, sixteen miles inland. The boys see a fin and scramble out of the water. Stillwell doesn't make it and is pulled under. The boys run into town, seeking help. Watson Stanley FIsher,a  24-year-old business owner, is one of those who answer the call. He dives into the creek, looking for Stillwell's body. He too is attacked. Fisher is rushed to the hospital, but dies from shock and loss of blood a few hours later. A half mile and 30 minutes after the Fisher/Stillwell attack, 14-year-old Joseph Dunn is also hit. His brothers and friends play tug-of-war with the shark, who eventually lets go. Dunn survives with the loss of his leg.

After the attack on Dunn the New Jersey Man Eater seemed to be at rest. On July 14th, an 8.5 foot White Shark was caught a few miles from Matawan Creek. Human bones were found in its stomach that matched the size of the victims. Everyone believed that this was the Man Eater, but six days after the attacks, a 7 foot Bull Shark was caught in the creek itself. Numerous studies have been done on the identity of the shark that caused so much terror. Many have been skeptical that the White Shark was  responsible; they are rare in New Jersey waters and almost never travel inland to brackish waters. Bull Sharks, on the other hand, have been known to travel upstream, and are far more common to the New Jersey area.

It is also likely the the attacks were caused by more than one animal, perhaps by sharks to separate species. We will probably never know for sure what caused these attacks, which were an incredibly rare occurance. The summer of 1916 attacks inspired several studies, books, and documentaries, including a 2009 Shark Week special titled Blood in the Water.

Wojtek

Iran, 1943. A group of Polish soldiers, freshly released from Soviet camps in Siberia, were on a trek back east to join up with their fellow countrymen fighting in Egypt and Italy. The Polish Second Army Corps, as they were called, came accross a wandering young boy. They in return for some food, the boy gave them a brown sack... which contained a young, orphaned Brown Bear Cub.

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The Cub was less than a year old and badly undernourished. The soldiers nursed him on condensed milk from an old vodka bottle. They named him Wojtek (pronounced Voy-tek) and he became the unofficial mascot of the 22nd Transport Artillery Supply Company.

Wojtek became one of the guys. He enjoyed cigarettes, (eating them, not smoking) would drink bottles of beer, and knew how to march and salute. He figured out how to work the showers, and one one occasion, actually discovered an enemy spy in the unit's bath house.  His reward for such heroism? Two beers and an entire morning in the bath hut!

In 1944, his unit was shipping out to Italy. The British soldiers that  they were traveling with would only allow enlisted men aboard the ship, so Woktek became an official member of the Polish Army. He received the rank of private, was given a serial number, and was listed on all of their official documentation.

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Wojtek was there for the Battle of Monte Cassino, traveling in the passenger seat of supply trucks and carrying heavy shells and boxes of ammunition. He was an excellent soldier, unfazed by everything that was going on around him. After the war, the men of his company were stationed at a camp near Hutton, Scotland, as their home country was under Soviet control. Woytek found a new home at the Edinburgh Zoo, were he responded favorably to visits from Polish soldiers who would try and sneak him cigarettes.

Wojtek became the star of the zoo, and passed away in 1963. Numerous commemorative plaques have been erected for him and there are currently plans in Edinburgh to erect a permanent memorial. In addition, the Sikorski Museum in London is holding an exhibit about this remarkable bear, which runs through November.

Harriet

Before she passed away 2006, Harriet was considered one of the oldest animals alive on the planet. Her age was placed at 176 years. While this seems incredibly old for us, it's quite normal for Galapagos Tortoises to exceed over a hundred years. Harriet is the third oldest tortoise recorded, after a fellow Galapagos who lived to 188, and an Aldabra Tortoise named Adwaita, who was reported to be a whopping 255 at his death in 2005.

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Harriet is considered special not only due to her old age. She is also rumored to be one of three Tortoises collected by Charles Darwin on his Beagle voyage in 1835. Recent research has cast some doubt on that story, as scientists claim she was a member of a subspecies (Geochelone nigra porteri) that lives on an island the Beagle never went to. We know that Darwin took three tortoises with him, which he described as being as large as dinner plates. Harriet was born around 1830, and would've been about that size in 1835. We know that Darwin's three tortoises ended up with John Clements Wickam, who was bound for Brisbane Australia. We also know that Harriet was present at the Brisbane Botanical Gardens by 1870, and lived there until it's closing in 1952. Another one of Darwin's Tortoises, Tom, died in the Gardens in 1929.

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Harriet's true story is still a mystery, but Darwin's tortoise or not, she lived a pretty extraordinary life that spanned an amazing period in human history. Andrew Jackson was president when she was born. Photography has just been invented. Telephones and Telegraphs were non-existent. She lived though wars, political upheavals, and scientific innovations... all while munching happily away in her garden.

Harriet was originally named "Harry" and was thought to be a male. It wasn't until the 1960s that she was discovered to be female (which explained why any breeding attempts failed.) Harriet was brought to Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo in Queensland in 1987 and became a fast favorite of all the staff and guests. She was reported a very good natured tortoise, " a grand old lady" to quote Irwin. He considered her a part of the family. Harriet died of a heart attack following an illness on June 23rd, 2006.

Secretariat

I was a little apprehensive about doing today's animal, just because he is so well known already (heck, there is even a movie out right now about him.) But I think the following video is just too good to not be posted.

Behold! The 1973 Belmont Stakes.



Secretariat is without a doubt one of the greatest animal athletes to ever live. In his short racing career he set numerous track and world records, and won the Triple Crown for the first time since 1948 (the longest drought save the current 32 year one that we are in now). His 1:58 2/5 track time for the Kentucky Derby is still a record, and it took almost 30 years for another horse to even break the two minute mark. One of the most remarkable things about that race is the fact that he never slowed down. Every single quarter mile he ran was faster than the one before it. His Belmont run, which is also a standing World Record, was one of the widest winning margins ever. He was named American Horse of the Year in 1972 and 1973, and only one other horse in history has been named Horse of the Year as a two year old.

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Secretariat was sired by Bold Ruler, the 1957 Preakness Stakes winner and 3rd place runner in that year's Derby and Belmont. His dam, Somethingroyal, only raced once but was the mother of four stakes winners. In 1973 she was named Broodmare of the Year. Secretariat was born on March 30th, 1970, and his ownership by Penny Chenery was literally determined by a coin toss. The name of the horse was actually chosen by the farm's secretary, who had previously submitted ten names that were all rejected by the Jockey Club. Finally, the eleventh name (and the one associated with her profession) was chosen. He was a huge chestnut, nicknamed "Big Red," and at his peak stood 16.2 hands tall and weighed 1,200lbs.

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Secretariat won 16 out of this 21 races, and placed outside of the top three in only one. He was retired after his three year old year and went on to sire a handful of future champions, but none ever matched his greatness. Secretariat was euthanized in 1989 after suffering from laminitis, an extremely painful hoof disease. His necropsy went on to show that his heart was two and a half times larger than that of a normal horse's.

In the ESPN list of the 100 greatest athletes of all time, Secretariat placed 35th, the highest non-human on the list. He was also inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1974 and was voted Blood-Horse Magazine's #2 Horse of All Time (behind Man O' War.) A statue of him now stands in front of Belmont Park. His legacy lives on today through countless descendants, including last year's Kentucky Derby winner, Super Saver and 2004 Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones.

Cher Ami

We're going to begin famous animals week with the extraordinary story of a remarkable bird that was responsible for saving the lives of nearly 200 men. Way back when, in a post about Rock Pigeons, I mentioned that these birds had long been used by the military for the delivery of messages. Cher Ami was one of these wartime Pigeons. His name meant "Dear Friend" and he flew 12 missions during World War I.

Cher Ami was active in the Verdun campaign, and his last mission, flown on October 18th, 1918 is one of the most remarkable animal stories I've ever heard. . The Lost Battalion of the 77th Infantry Division had become trapped and surrounded by enemy soldiers. The commander, Major Wittlesey, had sent out several pigeons with messages for assistance, but all had been shot down, and the group of 600 men had dwindled down to around 200. Cher Ami was their only pigeon left. The following note was attached to the bird's leg :

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"We are along the road parallel to 276.4.
"Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us.
"For heaven's sake, stop it."

Cher Ami took off, and was shot at by German soldiers. He received a wound through the breastbone, and was blinded in one eye, but Cher Ami just kept flying. He made the 25 mile flight in only 25 minutes. When he arrived as his destination his message leg was completely mangled, and the note was hanging on by a tendon. He saved 194 lives.

Doctors worked to save the heroic bird; they were unable to save his leg, but he did eventually recover enough to travel to the United States. His boat was personally seen off by General Pershing.

Cher Ami received the French Croix de Guerre for his service, and was inducted to the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame. He eventually died from his war wounds, but almost a year after his famous flight, in June 1919.

Cher Ami was mounted by a taxidermist and is now viewable with his Croix de Guerre at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.