Volodya’s Cycling Friend: ALWAYS On His Shoulder

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Volodya’s from Krasnoyarsk, in Siberia. He rides his bike every day on Tatyshev Island in the Yenisei River. He does it in good company… his cat is always on his shoulder! Volodya found the poor kitten in a tree… crows were trying to attack it. So, he had to climb up the tree to reach the kitten; he didn’t plan it, but he took the kitten home. He wanted to put the kitten in his backpack or near his chest, but the animal chose the best place by itself, he sat on Volodya’s shoulder. That’s how he took the little cat home. In summer 2010, when it was over 30 degrees (86 degrees Fahrenheit), they shocked everybody in Krasnoyarsk by taking part in a cycling marathon and riding together almost 100 kilometres (62 miles)! Several times, Volodya stopped and gave water to his cat; when they reached the finish line, both were exhausted… the cat laid down in the shade of the bushes to rest. However, in just a half-hour, it was full of energy and happiness again.

7 May 2013

English Russia

http://englishrussia.com/2013/05/07/cat-and-man-always-cycling-together/#more-123190

7 May 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. Events of the Week in Cartoons: 22 to 26 April 2013

Events of the Week in Cartoons: 22 to 26 April 2013

Sergei Yolkin

2013

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Who’s up to what… Sergei Yolkin brings you the most notable “living things” of the week… penguins, actress Brigitte Bardot’s cat, and the “Tigr” armoured car in the Victory Day parade .

26 April 2013

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/caricature/20130426/934838487.html

Cat Threat: New Zealand to Give Puss the Boot

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In an attempt to turn New Zealand into a sanctuary for flightless kiwi birds and other endangered local wildlife, the island nation’s parliament is considering a measure to expel all cats from the country, bringing a disdainful hiss from all feline lovers. The issue has divided New Zealanders for years, with wildlife activists claiming that the domesticated balls of fluff are still “natural-born killers”, genetically-coded to dispatch a kiwi with a single paw swipe. Only some 5 percent of kiwi chicks manage to survive to adulthood, whilst struggling against an onslaught of invasive purry predators. Prof Phil Kummer {this may be an insider’s joke, профиль кума in Russian is “the godfather’s profile”… a “godfather” being the chekist in charge of internal security at a GULag camp: editor}, leading expert at the Organisation for Helping Ground Animals with Defence (OHGAWD), said, “If we’re serious about kiwi conservation, we must give up our cat addiction. Cute and fluffy as they come, our felines are birds’ natural enemies. We must stop kiwi killings by cats once and for all, to secure a future for New Zealand’s national symbol”. One proposal is to load all cats onto a barge, then, to ship them off to a more suitable place, one ready to give this mewing cargo a new home. This Noah’s puss ark could drop anchor in Australia, amongst other destinations, where they could set up a shelter to let the exiled tabbies frolic around and bask in the sunlight without wreaking havoc on defenceless kiwis.

1 April 2013

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_04_01/Cat-threat-New-Zealand-to-give-puss-the-boot-504/

Editor’s Note:

Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’? Look at the date… my, my, my… Barnum WAS right, wasn’t he? Give a round (of applause and drinks, both) to the VOR gang… this was top-shelf tongue-in-cheek ironic comedy… from people whose native tongue isn’t English. This restores my faith in humanity… and in its enduring good-sense…

BMD

1 March 2013. RIA-Novosti Infographics. The Cat’s Affinity with Mankind: Helper, Healer, and Psychologist

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The RIA translator gets a Big Green Weenie Award on this one. They left some minor details in Russian (or in Cyrillic letters). I corrected them with Photoshop in minutes. To let such easily-corrected details pass is lazy work… and there’s nothing that I dislike more. Let’s see… today’s Friday and they wanted an early start on the weekend, I’ll wager…

BMD

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1 March is International Cat Day. Hardly any other animal has so solid a niche in human history… cats were goddesses and harbingers of failure, favourites and outcasts, a most-extraordinary and most-faithful friend of mankind. This RIA-Novosti Infographic tells you all about cats, their positive qualities, habits, and unique attributes.

Mariya Sotskaya, associate professor of animal psychology at the Moscow Institute of Psychology and Education, told RIA-Novosti, “Firstly, the cat is a symbol of comfort. A cat nestled cosily in sleep, under a lamp on the desk, creates a certain reassurance. This fact, its ability to fit into the human environment, contributed to the domestication of this animal”.

See gallery “Whiskers and Stripes: Cat Facts and Figures” >>

Experts on how cats affect human health >>

If you can put a cat on a sore spot in the cervical or lumbar spine, the cat’s body-heat is beneficial to your overall well-being. Sotskaya added, “It turns out that it’s a live natural hot-water bottle with an optimum temperature. However, I’m sceptical of the supposition that a cat can find a sore spot and lie there of its own volition”.

Also see:

http://ria.ru/society/20130301/925251523.html

http://ria.ru/tv_incredibleworld/20130301/925181360.html

1 March 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/infografika/20130301/925269058.html

http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20130301/179761645/My-Cat-Assistant-Doctor-and-Therapist.html