As the holiday season unfolds, our thoughts on The Ticket turn to working not quite so hard for a few days. So we are re-publishing some of our favorite or most-read items from 2009. This item originally appeared on Nov. 17.

The paintings look more like photographs. The rough texture of the elephant's skin. The feathers on an eagle or the pink tongue of a tiger licking its

As residents of the Philippines brace for the imminent eruption of the Mayon volcano, officials have asked the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to help evacuate affected animals. At this time, there are an estimated 2,000 head of water

Matondo season is upon us! For those of you who don't know - and why should you? - the Matondo is a local delicacy, a large almost luminous green caterpillar - not dissimilar in appearance to a jelly sweet, and the monkeys LOVE them! They have gorged

Few things would venture into the dense thorny scrub favored by the endangered ocelot. But with little of south Texas considered suitable habitat for the remaining 50 or fewer rare cats, the ocelots remain vulnerable.

Everyone is allowed to put on a little weight at this time of the year. But if you overdid things yesterday, this enormous beast should make you feel a bit better

But New Jersey father says 'we'll heal' after bitter five-year custody battle

Two EMTs accused of callously ignoring the cries of a pregnant woman who lay dying on the floor of an Au Bon Pain in Brooklyn may face jail time.

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GREY squirrels are ruining Christmas in a Canadian town by eating all the festive lights.Well, not all of them - the red ones seem to be off-limits.