Animals have always been considered wonderful creatures, which pleased, delighted and brightened up the most difficult periods of our lives. Some of them had to take actions, and even feats that will long be immortalized in our memories. It is about them today we will explain.

Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil. The most famous groundhog in the world, Punxsutawney Phil, also known by the full name of Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages and the greatest predictor of weather, traditionally predicted the weather every year on February 2, Groundhog Day, beginning with the 1886 year. Surprisingly, some people believe that it is engaged in the present day is the same groundhog. Since these animals live an average of ten years, the groundhog would have to take regular doses of the elixir of life, to live more than a century. Marmot caring for a mysterious group of people called "The Inner Circle", and to predict the beginning of the ceremony, they also bring a marmot hat and tuxedo. Weather forecasting with marmots is probably derived from the German superstition, if the groundhog will come out on February 2 mink and sees his shadow, then winter will last another six weeks. Chimpanzee Ham. Chimpanzee Ham was the first hominid in space and, thankfully, his story is happier than that of the first cosmonaut dog, about which we describe later. Named after the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, Ham was one of six monkeys trained to pull levers in response to flashing lights during the flight of the spacecraft. Ham was selected by NASA and launched into space in a capsule "Mercury", his short journey he made 31 January 1961 year - he was able to overcome 250 km in 16.5 minutes. The flight had to be interrupted because of problems with oxygen, but Ham recovered three hours after the end of the journey - he even ate an apple and half an orange immediately after he left the capsule. After Ham lived for more than 17 years at the National Zoo in Washington. Elsa the lioness. Lioness Elsa attracted public attention after the publication of the book naturalist Joy Adamson "Born Free". Life of a little lion cub was heavy: his mother was killed by a huntsman, the husband of Joy - George because attacked him.Fortunately, George took Elsa and other lions, her brothers and sisters, to himself, and went out to send to zoos. Young lioness Elsa lived in the family of Joey as a pet, but people are gradually preparing to return to its natural habitat. Elsa gave birth to three cubs, which are fully adapted to life in the wild, but the Elsa, unfortunately, has died at the age of five years from bezobezii - tick-borne disease. George Adamson and his aides buried Elsa and staged a farewell salute to her grave - 20 volleys of rifle shots. Turtle Jonathan. Jonathan the tortoise at least 179 years, and he - the oldest known animal in the world. It is difficult to verify, but there is photographic evidence: the picture was taken during the Anglo-Boer War in 1900, on the island of St. Helena, where he still lives, Jonathan. While it was at least 50 years, and perhaps all 70 so that now the tortoise least 179 years. Jonathan enjoys life in the company of five turtles, females, and even though he is blind in one eye and age it seems not an obstacle: he loves attention and is still aggressive enough to protect their young by comparison women from sexual harassment of other males. Mr. Magoo the mongoose. November 15, 1962-year-hunter snakes, mongoose named Mr. Magoo, picked up from the Duluth Zoo Conservation Service Fish and Wildlife, U.S. - mongoose has been sentenced to death or deportation to his native India. The story caused a national scandal. In the zoo it passed a foreign sailor, but service has decided that mongooses in the United States is not the place. In the end, Mr. Magoo was given a reprieve. For one weekend a hapless predator visited by thousands of people, and many have written to the authorities, saying that we should get rid of the beast: the mongoose could run away and live in a region where natural enemies had not. In the end, the mongoose decided not to kill, and he spent the rest of his life at the zoo, feeding on bird eggs. Mongoose died in 1968. Cat Sam. Unsinkable Sam was a wonderful cat, who survived three shipwrecks during World War II. The first sinking ship, which escaped with Sam (then called him an Oscar), was the "Bismarck", sunk in the sea battle May 27, 1941-year. Sam survived, although in 2000 the crew members were killed. Then the cat got on the British battleship "Cossack", in the same year and padded torpedo exploded. Killing all 159 crew members, but the cat survived, swam across Gibraltar and climbed out on shore.Cote was named Unsinkable Sam (fortunately for cats does not matter, as they are called) and went to the ship "Ark Royal", which is also a result of a torpedo hit, but all but one of the crew members were rescued. Sam was found the "angry but unhurt," drifting in the middle of the ocean on a fragment of the board. Fortunately, after the cat on the ships do not take, and he lived to an old age home in a sailor in Belfast, where he died a natural death in 1955, the year.
Pigeon Cher Ami. The U.S. Army owes a homing pigeon Cher Ami, who made a lot of military action in France during the First World War. During the bloodiest battles of the British troops kept pigeons for the exchange of important information - all of these birds was 600, and one of them was Cher Ami. He delivered 12 important messages for several months in 1918, the year, and made its last flight in the second half of the day on Oct. 4, 1918 during the Battle of Argonne. Corps troops were under fire, and Major Whittlesey sent Cher Ami with a little note tied to his leg. Badly wounded in the chest, blind in one eye and with one foot to shoot the bird managed to fly to the destination and thereby save 200 people. After this flight, pigeon cured and even made him a wooden leg instead of a lost leg, but he died less than a year. Horse Morocco. Dancing horse Morocco was so famous in 1591, the year in the United Kingdom, which has been immortalized by Shakespeare in the comedy "Love Labour's Lost," in which the playwright mentioned the dancing horse. The horse knew how many things to consider including coins, stamping their hooves, dancing on two or four legs and bow down to the queen, when it was needed. It was thought that the horse is also a psychic, because it particularly moving a leg in response to certain questions.This skill, however, nearly cost the horse and its owner, William Banks of life, when they were accused of witchcraft, convicted and sentenced to death. But, apparently, the judge changed his mind when the horse stood in front of him on his knees, begging to save the life of her owner, and have mercy on them both. About their future life little is known, but, apparently, they lived comfortably received from the previous performances income. Jumbo the elephant. Jumbo was born in 1861. Another elephant, he was taken from the French Sudan to the Paris Zoo, and in four years, moved from there to London Zoo. When he was grumpy and out of control, Jumbo sold Barnum circus RT for $ 10 thousand to the dismay of the British public. Queen Victoria received more than 100 thousand letters asking fit in the incident.But the elephant seemed to be quite happy in Barnum's circus, until he died from a terrible injury sustained in the explosion of a train three years later. The dog Laika. Young homeless dog named Laika, tramp the streets of Moscow, was to become the first dog-astronaut.Unfortunately, the "Sputnik-2," in which Laika was sent into orbit, did not pass all the required tests, as Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev wanted to launch a satellite on the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution - November 7, 1957-year. According to the official version, Laika had died from lack of oxygen, six days after start of the trip, but in 2002 it became known that the poor thing only lasted six or seven hours, then died from overheating and stress, but a small dog statue is set in the Star City .