7 Phenomenal Animals

Published on Yesterday 11/1/2007

Mike, the Headless Chicken: Lived for 18 months with its head cut
off
Mike the Headless Chicken (April 1945 March 1947) was a Wyandotte rooster (cockerel) that
lived for 18 months after its head had been cut off. Thought by many to be a hoax, the bird was
taken by its owner to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to establish its authenticity.

On Monday September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen of Fruita, Colorado, had his mother-in-law
around for supper and was sent out to the yard by his wife to bring back a chicken. Olsen failed to
completely decapitate the five-and-a-half month old bird named Mike. The axe missed the jugular
vein, leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact. Once his fame had been established, Mike
began a career of touring sideshows in the company of such other creatures as a two-headed calf.
He was also photographed for dozens of magazines and papers, featuring in Time and Life
magazines. Olsen drew criticism from some for keeping the headless chicken alive. In March 1947,
at a motel in Phoenix on a stopover while traveling back home from tour, Mike started choking in
the middle of the night. As the Olsens had inadvertently left their feeding and cleaning syringes at
the sideshow the day before, they were unable to save Mike.
 Oscar, the cat: predicted the impending death of terminally ill patients

Oscar was adopted as a kitten from an animal shelter and grew up in the third-floor dementia unit at
Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The unit treats people
with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses, most of whom are in the end stage of their
illnesses (where death is imminent) and are generally unaware of their surroundings.

After about six months, the staff noticed that Oscar, just like the doctors and nurses, would make his
own rounds. Oscar would sniff and observe patients, then curl up to sleep with certain ones. What
surprised the staff was that the patients with whom Oscar would sleep would generally die within
two to four hours after Oscar's arrival. One of the first cases involved a patient who had a blood clot
in her leg that was ice cold at the time. Oscar wrapped his body around her leg and stayed until the
woman died. In another instance, the doctor had made a determination of impending death based on
the patient's condition, while Oscar simply walked away, causing the doctor to believe that Oscar's
streak (12 at the time) had ended. However, it would be later discovered that the doctor's prognosis
was simply 10 hours too early Oscar later visited the patient, who died two hours later.

Oscar's accuracy (currently standing at more than 25 reported instances) led the staff to institute a
new and unusual protocol once he is discovered sleeping with a patient, staff will call family
members to notify them of the patient's (expected) impending death.

Most of the time the patient's family has no issue with Oscar being present at the time of death; on
those occasions when he is removed from the room at the family's request, he is known to pace back
and forth in front of the door and meow in protest. When present, Oscar will stay by the patient
until he or she takes their last earthly breath after which Oscar will sit up, look around, then depart
the room so quietly that one barely notices.

Abilities aside, what makes his "last hour" companionship more puzzling is that Oscar is described
by Dr. David Dosa as "not a cat that's friendly to [living] people." One example of this was
described in his NEJM article. When an elderly woman with a walker passed him by during his
rounds, Oscar "[let] out a gentle hiss, a rattlesnake-like warning that [said] 'leave me alone.'"
 Tillamook Cheddarm, the dog: world's most successful animal
painter

Tillamook Cheddar is a Jack Russell Terrier from Brooklyn, New York. Widely regarded as the
world's preeminent canine artist, she has already had seventeen solo exhibitions in the U.S. and
Europe. Tillie is eight years old.

In July 2005 the artist gave birth to six healthy puppies. One of her sons, Doc Chinook Strongheart
Cheddar, continues to live with her. Thus far, Doc has not followed his mother in her artistic forays.
Her first official biography, Portrait of the Dog as a Young Artist by F. Bowman Hastie III, is
published by Sasquatch Books (2006).

The artist's primary process is a dynamic color transfer technique. In preparation for each of Tillie's
works, her assistants assemble a touch-sensitive recording device by affixing pigment-coated
vellum to a sheet of lithograph paper backed by mat board. The artist takes the prepared "canvas" in
her mouth and brings it to her workspace. Working on the outside surface, she applies pressure with
teeth and claws in a methodic ritual marked by dramatic shifts in tempo and intensity. The resultant
sharp and sweeping intersecting lines complement the artist's delicate paw prints and subtle tongue
impressions, composing an expressionistic image that is revealed on the paper beneath when she is
finished. She works with shocking intensity, sometimes to the point of destroying her creations.
 Alex, the parrot: ould count to six, identify colors and even express
frustration

Alex (1976 - September 6, 2007) was an African Grey Parrot and the subject of a thirty-year
(1977-2007) experiment by animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg, initially at the University of
Arizona and later at Harvard and Brandeis University. Pepperberg bought Alex in a regular pet shop
when he was about one year old. The name Alex is actually an acronym for Avian Learning
EXperiment.

Before Pepperberg's work with Alex, it was widely believed in the scientific community that birds
were not intelligent and could only use words by mimicking, but Alex's accomplishments indicated
that birds may be able to reason on a basic level and use words creatively. Pepperberg wrote that
Alex's intelligence was on a par with that of dolphins and great apes. She also reported that Alex
had the intelligence of a five-year-old human and had not reached his full potential by the time he
died. She said that the bird had the emotional level of a human two-year-old at the time of his death.

Alex's death came as a complete surprise; the average life span for African grey parrots is fifty
years. He had appeared healthy the day before, and was found dead in the morning. According to a
press release issued by the Alex Foundation, "Alex was found to be in good health at his most
recent annual physical about two weeks [before his death]. According to the vet who conducted the
necropsy, there was no obvious cause of death." According to Pepperberg, Alex's loss will not halt
the research but will be a large setback. The lab has two other birds, but their skills do not approach
Alex's.

On October 4, 2007 The Alex Foundation posted the Pathology results: "Alex died quickly. He had
a sudden, unexpected catastrophic event associated with arterosclerosis ("hardening of the
arteries"). It was either a fatal arrhythmia, heart attack or stroke, which caused him to die suddenly
with no suffering. There was no way to predict his demise. All of his tests, including his cholesterol
level and asper levels, came back normal earlier that week. His death could not be connected to his
current diet or his age; our veterinarian said that she has seen similar events in young (<10 year old)
birds on healthy diets. Most likely, genetics or the same kind of low-level (impossible to detect in
birds as yet) inflammatory disease that is related to heart disease in humans was responsible."
 Washoe, the chimpanzee: knew sign language

Washoe (around September of 1965 - October 30, 2007) was a chimpanzee who was the first non-
human to learn American Sign Language. She also passed on her knowledge to three other
chimpanzees, Loulis, Tatu and Dar. As part of a research experiment on animal language
acquisition, Washoe developed a modest ability to communicate with humans using ASL. She was
named for Washoe County, Nevada, where she was raised and taught to use ASL. Washoe had lived
at Central Washington University since 1980; on October 31, 2007, officials from the Chimpanzee
and Human Communication Institute on the CWU campus announced that she had died the
previous day.
 Oliver, the "Humanzee": a human-chimp hybrid

Oliver was acquired as a young animal (around 2 years old) in the early 1970s by trainers Frank and
Janet Berger. Supposedly, the chimpanzee had been caught in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(then Zaire). Some physical and behavioral evidence led the Bergers to believe Oliver was a
creature other than a chimpanzee, perhaps a human-chimp hybrid: Oliver possesses a flatter face
than his fellow chimpanzees (as his front teeth were removed young, he did not develop an
exaggerated prognathus jaw); Oliver was habitually bipedal (before being struck with arthritis),
never walking on his knuckles like his chimpanzee peers; and Oliver may have preferred human
females over chimpanzee females. During a recent Discovery Channel special, Janet Berger herself
claimed that Oliver was becoming attracted to her when he reached the age of 16. He mounted her
and tried to mate with her. After he tried it several times it became apparent that Oliver was a threat
to Janet, and had to be sold. Still, Oliver was not the clownish performer his chimp peers were, and
other chimps avoided him. Some people claim he did not possess a typical odor common to
chimpanzees.
 Cacareco, the Rhino: won Sao Paulo's council elections with 100,000
votes

Cacareco, a rhinoceros at the São Paulo zoo, was a candidate for the 1958 city council elections
with the intention of protesting against political corruption. Electoral officials, of course, did not
accept Cacareco's candidacy, but he eventually won 100,000 votes, more than any other party in that
same election (which was also marked by rampant absenteeism).