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Friday 17 August 2012

"Gorilla joy!"

If you hadn't seen a member of your family for over two years, how would you react?

Possibly, it would look a little something like this:



Keepers at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire witnessed scenes of joy, as resident gorilla Kesho was reunited with his little brother, Alf, after having been apart for over two years!
This is just another example of animals experiencing emotions, and it's a heartwarming sight. 

There's a great article on animals and their emotions over at Psychology Today, so be sure to check it out!

If animals can recognise family members, and be happy to see them, so too can they mourn their loss when a member of that family passes. It was widely documented that Longleat's oldest resident, Nico expeienced depression and grief at the loss of his mate, Samba in 2007. 

David Alderton's book, Animal Grief, takes a look at how animals experience emotion, loss, and grief. 

Science is now providing some remarkable insights into animal behaviour, with crocodiles, for example, emerging as devoted parents, and elephants – like whales – able to communicate with each other across long distances by infrasound, which is inaudible to our ears. There seems little doubt that animals experience a range of emotions, just as we do; but can they grieve, too ...?
Evidence exists that, indeed, they can: in addition, David Alderton – award-winning, multi-million selling specialist animal author – contends that emotions – including grief – can potentially have a survival value for a species.
The authoritative, rational text is superbly supported by interesting, sensitive photographs, carefully chosen to be reflective of the subject matter.

If you'd like to learn more about this groundbreaking book, head over to the Hubble & Hattie website, and to see more of the brother's reunion, head over to the BBC News website.

Wednesday 8 August 2012

It's World Cat Day!

Today is World Cat Day, so make sure you give your feline friend an extra dollop of love to remind them how appreciated they are!

We love our cat's here at H&H headquarters, check out this photo of Leonard McCoy looking handsome in his collar. He kept this collar on for less than a day before he lost it (probably on purpose) in the wilderness that is our garden. We still haven't found it. Leonard is very pleased with himself.


We've got some great books to make your cat's lives even more amazing that they are already!

Check out Cat Speak if you'd like to understand your cat a bit better, or if you're looking for some great ways to keep your kitty entertained, why not take a look at Fun and games for cats!

Not forgetting Sir Patrick Moore's amazing book, Miaow! Cats really are nicer than people! A portion of the royalties for this book are being donated by Sir Patrick to Cats Protection, so every copy sold helps to look after all of those moggies that are still waiting for their forever home. 

All of these great books are available from the Hubble and Hattie website, so treat yourself, and your cat, and have a very happy World Cat Day!


(Leonard heard we might be getting him a new collar to celebrate World Cat Day.
He was not best pleased.)

Friday 3 August 2012

H&H book reviews!

Take a look at these great reviews for Dog Speak and Emergency first aid for dogs from this month's Your Dog magazine!




And not forgetting this lovely review of our great new book, Dog-friendly gardening from Gardens Illustrated:



These books are all available now from the Hubble and Hattie website!