Dog helps save toddler during roof escapades

PHILADELPHIA - A toddler who climbed out a second-story window onto the porch roof of his family's row house was followed by his dog, whose barks alerted neighbors who rescued the child.

Phillip Redmond Jr., who will be 2 years old next month, apparently climbed out of a broken bedroom window Sunday and scampered across the narrow porch rooftops of at least eight homes, neighbors said.

The row homes have connected porch roofs; neighbors heard barking and saw the boy running from roof to roof followed by the family's German shepherd, Alfie.

"He was following the baby across," neighbor Tina Mitchell told WPVI-TV. "He was protecting the baby, making sure the baby was all right."

A neighbor, Shavyonn Robinson, was able to grab the toddler from the porch roof of a home a few doors down. The footprints of Phillip and Alfie could be seen in the blacktop coating on the porch roofs.

"First I had my hand sticking out (of the window) trying to grab him," she said. "That's when he tried to run past, because he thought I was playing with him, and he almost fell so I had to go out and get him."

Pets: Good For Your Health

Most of us who were lucky enough to have had pets while growing up hold fond memories of their companionship, loyalty and understanding. When nobody else would listen, the family pooch was all ears. During a howling storm, having a warm kitty curled at our feet was a comfort against the thunder.

Pets needn't be just a childhood memory. There's plenty of scientific evidence proving that bonding with a cherished pet is of great benefit to adult health, as well. Stroking a friendly cat can actually lower your blood pressure, relieve stress and increase one's sense of well-being. Sharing your home with a goofy, gregarious pooch chases away the blues. Waking each morning to a cageful of singing canaries can put a lovely spin on even the greyest day.

There's a lot to be said for having an animal to take care of. Aside from the inherent health benefits, knowing that someone smaller is depending on you imparts a sense of responsibility and tenderness that can only be good for us. Of course, not all pets are adorable fuzzballs --lots of people cherish birds, reptiles, fish and spiders, even. Just about every type of animal has its fans. Be realistic about how much time and energy you're willing to share with a pet, as well as how much room you have to share. It makes no sense to bring an eighty-pound dog into a studio apartment, but a pair of finches might be perfect.

If you're thinking about getting a first-time pet or adding to your current menagerie, please consider adopting a homeless critter from your local animal shelter. And always get your pets neutered or spayed. There's simply too many sweet, homeless creatures and never enough loving owners for them all. Loving, and being loved by, a dear pet will make you both happy and content. And there's nothing quite as sweet as sleeping beside a snoring cat --try it sometime. You may find yourself purring, too.

Fun facts about reptiles and amphibians

• August 31, 2006— For divers in Antarctica, it's no day at the beach. Adventurers need to ditch their swimsuits for long underwear, wool socks, and fleece gloves—and that's just for under their wet suits. But the extreme cold is not without its rewards: Antarctica's waters teem with life unlike anywhere else on Earth.

  Go beneath the surface and witness some of the world's oddest creatures: fish with "antifreeze" in their blood, giant-legged spiders, thousand-year-old sponges—perhaps even a new species.

Video by "Wild Chronicles," airing on PBS, made possible by National Geographic Mission Programs and WWF and presented by WLIW New York

• Only a few hundred of the world's 3,000 snakes are venomous. In the United States, only rattlesnakes , copperheads , cottonmouths , and coral snakes are poisonous. More Americans die each year from bee and wasp stings than from snake bites.
• One way to tell a frog and a toad apart: frogs have smooth, clammy skin, while toads have more dry, bumpy skin. Both frogs and toads lay their eggs in water, but toads spend more of their time on land than do frogs.
• Averaging ten to 12 feet in length, the king cobra is the largest venomous snake in the world. It is also the only known snake that builds a nest for egg incubation.
• Frogs can breathe not only with their lungs, but also through their skin. A frog's skin is thin and contains many mucous glands that keep it moist. Oxygen can be absorbed through this thin, damp skin.
• Depending upon the size of the meal, anacondas can go several months between meals.
• More than 75 percent of all toad and frog species in the world live in tropical rainforests.
• The emerald tree boa can strike a bird or small mammal in complete darkness. The pits along the lips of most boas and pythons, and the nostril-like cavities of pit vipers, are infrared heat receptors. Snakes use these pits to sense the location of anything that differs in temperature from its surroundings by as little as 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit.