The researchers drew a conclusion that orphaned (成为孤儿) elephants would be more stressed out than non-orphans. There’s a lot of evidence that the mother-child bond helps reduce stress in animals, which has been demonstrated previously in rats and birds, says the study leader Jenna Parker. Elephants have complicated social structures and deep family bonds. Because orphaned elephants in the same region die at a higher rate than elephants with living mothers, it seemed like a no-brainer that surviving orphans would be stressed out.

The team, however, made an unexpected finding: There really wasn’t a difference in the stress hormone (荷尔蒙) levels of orphaned and non-orphaned elephants, as long as they lived with family members, such as aunts, cousins, or brothers and sisters. Elephants — even the orphans — that lived in groups with fellows of their own age turned out to be under less stress than those that didn’t.

Parker recalls two orphans in the study, Frida and Rothko. “Frida had a non-functional left ear and Rothko had a non-functional right ear,” and they were inseparable, she says. “It was as though they had at least one good set of ears as long as they were together!” The findings also fit with previous social research in African elephants, Parker says. “Orphans increase interaction with their age mates after their mother’s death.” She notes that dominance is structured by age in elephants: Older elephants may outrank younger elephants when it comes to food, for example, but elephants of the same age are generally equals.

With human-wildlife conflict and drought threats to elephants in the region, the findings published today in Communications Biology offer a new insight into how having a strong fellow group may contribute to elephants’ survival. This information could also help recovery facilities that take in orphaned elephants set the animals up for a successful future in the wild — releasing them in large groups of bonded fellows, for example. “The bottom line here is that elephants need elephants,” says Parker. “And when the worst happens, like losing a mother, some find new ways to survive and grow happily.”

The dog that gave us the most trouble was a beagle (猎兔犬) named Murphy. As far as I’m concerned, the first thing he did wrong was to turn into a beagle. I had seen him running and jumping around on the other side of a pet-shop window, and I went in and asked the man, “How much is that lovable fox terrier (小猎狗) in the window?” Did he say “That lovable fox terrier is a beagle”? No, he said, “Ten dollars, lady.” Now, I don’t mean to say one word against beagles. They have rights just like other people. But it is a bit of a shock when you bring home a small ball of fluff in a shoebox, and three weeks later it’s as long as the sofa.

Murphy was the first dog I ever trained personally, and I was delighted at the enthusiasm with which he took to the newspaper. It was some time later that we discovered, to our horror, that—like so many dogs—he had grasped the letter but not the spirit of the thing. Until the very end of his days he felt a real sense of duty whenever he saw a newspaper—any newspaper—and it didn’t matter where it was. I can’t bring myself to go into the details, except to mention that we were finally forced to keep all the papers in the bottom of the icebox.

He had another habit that used to leave us open to a certain amount of criticism from our friends. He never climbed up on beds or chairs or sofas. But he always sat on top of the piano. In the beginning we used to try to pull him off. But after a few noisy fights in which he knocked a picture off the wall, kicked the piano, and broke a lamp, we just gave in—only to discover that he hopped up and down as skillfully as a ballet dancer.

Nowadays if I go anywhere, I just ask if they have a dog. If they do, I say, “Maybe I’d better keep away from it—I have bad allergy.” This sometimes annoys the host. But it works. It really works.

If you walk into a native plant nursery, you must feel defeated because all the little plants look similar. Now we have the shopping guide for you: a set of easy-to-carry flashcards that explain in brilliant color what those little plants will look like when they all grow up.

Native plants just aren't that easy to understand for traditional gardeners. “That's why staff at the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers & Native Plants began creating some good information into the world of native plants," said Kitty Connolly. "Everybody needs to learn about natives if we're going to have them, in our future, but it's difficult to get information to everyone at once. We wanted something that would be useful to everyone. "

The group decided to create flashcards only about the size and shape of an iPhone 6. “You can take them apart and put them on a table to see how plants go with other plants. They don't replace a website or great books on the shelf; they're just easier to carry and use for planning, said Mike Evans. While the cards are very small, they include a lot of information. You can find how tall and wide a particular plant will grow, when it blooms, how quickly it grows, what birds and animals it attracts and how much water and sunlight it needs.

The cards don't include all native plants. They don't include milkweed, for example. But they are helpful for people to learn native plants.

The price of the cards is $ 17. They are only sold online. If people have the cards , they can more easily request the plants they want. The director said, “We create the cards with the hope that people can learn more about native plants and grow them."