Somehow I missed this one, which made the news near the end of October. Must have been the day I was outside hanging Halloween lights in the bushes.

A 6-inch wide by 8-inch long pawprint was found in a cow pat near the carcass of a mutilated sheep. Some say it could be a really large dog. Some say it could be a hoax.

I say that something must have been hopping mad to find its paw deep in a cow pat (and a wet one at that) before it had properly finished its meal.

The animal escaped while being moved through Russia. It has been spotted here and there, because it is hard to find a hiding place when you’re an elephant.

But for now, it is safe. St. Petersburg officials are still debating over just who is supposed to round up elephants in the city.

It has been a shaky week all over.

There were many empty parking slots at the Gilroy outlets, hardly any lines. But there was a screaming child.

He was there at the first store we entered, running full tilt around the floor, screeching in glee, the eardrum-piercing kind. His mom just smiled. The store next door was Coldwater Creek, where I tried to find my mother something. The door opened, and I thought, no, it can’t be. But there he was again, still screeching at the top of his lungs.

We ducked into Country Clutter, not a good spot for a running child, and we lost them. Usually I can find my sister-in-law something in the Boyd’s Bears section, but I think the heavy candle fragrances did me in.

I stumbled into Crabtree & Evelyn, and checked all the soap fragrances. Nothing cloying or overwhelming. The disturbing thing was, I kept buying things for me. That is not the point.

So many as yet undiscovered organisms. An attempt to catalog as many as possible is the aim of the Census of Marine Life, which includes 73 countries and 1,700 scientists. The estimate is 230,000 species, which is considered very conservative.

As more information is learned about fish movements, researchers reveal that depletion of fish stocks is due to a lack of understanding of their breeding practices. Because of this, fisheries have managed to remove entire breeding stocks.

The seemingly non-aerodynamic pectoral fins have puzzled scientists, who have wondered how the whales could swim and maneuver so well in small spaces. That’s not all. The fins are covered with tubercules, bumps that led observers to think that such protrusions would cause turbulence, slowing the animal down.

But extensive testing showed that what appeared to be imperfections were the very features that allowed the humpback to make those tight turns and generate surprising lift.

What scientists learned will be applied to submarines, which may one day be able to move almost as well as the humpback.

Hard to describe. Not a crisply crunchy chip, but a softly crunchy one. For those times when you have to have a bowl of salt.

Near the east coast of Honshu.

The areas under power lines are usually kept well trimmed so electricity flows unhampered by nature. One utility company spokesman said that the spaces are simply mowed without regard for what was growing.

Now, an insect researcher reports that large populations of bees inhabit those areas. Bees have largely disappeared from many regions in the U.S., to the detriment of farmers who depend on them for pollination of crops.

By making more habitat available, the bee population might increase enough to make biologists, farmers, and even the utility companies (who need some good PR) happy.

With Christmas less than 10 days away, we can understand the pressure. But, surely there are better ways to de-stress. Isn’t there a gym up at the North Pole?

Taken by Rob Millenaar in Argentina.

It’s a cheap (under $20) plastic camera with light leaks and other technical flaws, but those who can work with or around its eccentricities produce remarkable photos (under the wild angle heading, click on ‘Botswana, the morning after’). There’s information here if you scroll down a bit.

Capturing the essence of flowers, all grown in his Portland backyard.

I have seriously considered getting this shirt for a gift.

But if you know a boy who loves to torment his sister(s) by just showing up, this is just the thing.

Found in the rubble of her kitchen, she is half her weight and her limbs frozen in a crouched position. Rescuers say there was a trickle of water nearby, also rotting food, and fresh air was available in the space where she was found.

She is responding to treatment, and gave doctors a smile Tuesday.