Winter Olympics, make way for Apolo Crowno. An enterprising bird turned a jar lid and a snowy roof into a thrilling winter sport.

Daisy the cow doesn't need Pop-A-Lock. When she wants to go for a stroll, she just unlatches the barn gate with her tongue.

After being swept away in an avalanche that claimed the life of one of his guardians, a dog in Montana used his wits to find his way back through 4 miles of snow to the exact hotel room where his family had been staying before the incident. A search-and-rescue team member drove the dog home to his grateful family.

Another intrepid dog's rescue was caught on tape when he swam up to a kayaker (whose boat was equipped with a video camera) a half-mile out into the Gulf of Mexico. The dog and his guardian had been hit by a drunken driver, and after seeing his guardian die, the terrified dog ran blindly into the sea. The kayaker was eventually able to track down the dog's family.

Perhaps the injured dog could tell that the kayaker would know what to do, thanks to dogs' uncanny ability to read human intent.

Many people, including scientists, hold that animals have a "sixth sense." One researcher has compiled thousands of cases in which animals sensed events such as an impending natural disaster or the imminent arrival of a family member.

Of course, anyone who has ever loved an animal knows how intelligent and sensitive each one is.

Bananas? We don't need no stinkin' bananas. At least Kanzi the bonobo doesn't. He taught himself how to make fire and cook food.

Chimpanzees have their own emergency broadcast system. They use special sounds to warn their unaware friends about danger, but they don't send out a warning when the other chimpanzees already see it. This turns the belief that only humans recognize that others are not informed on its head.

Shiny Things | cc by 2.0

Clever pigeons are once again showing why "birdbrain" is a compliment. The birds are proving that they can count by putting groups of items in order by quantity.

We all read City Mouse, Country Mouse, but what about city bird, country bird? When flirting, urban birds adjust their voices to be heard over the din of the city, so they sing differently from their country cousins.

Deer and cows certainly aren't cousins, but they can become best friends. When a cow named Wanda escaped from a farm, she eluded capture for five months, living with a herd of deer who would stomp on the ground to let Wanda know that their acute senses detected people approaching. Wanda now has a home on a farm and is not in danger of being slaughtered.

Of course, for a best friend whose loyalty is unmatched, one need look no further than a dog. A Russian dog stood guard over the body of his deceased canine companion for two weeks in temperatures of negative-58 degrees Fahrenheit. Animal advocates caught him and took him to a local animal shelter, where he will stay while they search for a permanent home.

For more amazing animal stories, check out an article on the new book Animal Tool Behavior.

One of the year's top viral videos features hilariously narrated video footage of running, burrowing, and foraging honey badgers. To date, more than 27 million people have watched the unstoppable honey badger's antics. (Warning: graphic language and images NSFW.) Louisiana State University cornerback Tyrann Mathieu was subsequently dubbed the "Honey Badger" because of his scrappy, aggressive play this season.

Just who is the honey badger and why don't he care? Read on to learn more about this cunning and resourceful member of the weasel family:

© Lukas Blazek | Dreamstime.com

• The honey badger is one of many species known to use tools. A honey badger  was observed rolling a log to a cave entrance in order to stand on the log and catch a bird.
• Honey badger cubs are born in a den dug by their mother. Mothers move their cubs to a new burrow every two to five days and care for their cubs for 14 months, teaching them to hunt, dig, and climb.
• A bird known as a "honey guide" sings to honey badgers to lead them to beehives. The honey badger breaks open the hive and both animals enjoy the spoils.
• The honey badger is the world's most fearless animal, according to Guinness World Records. This is not surprising, considering that honey badgers are known to take food away from leopards and lions.
• Although honey badgers only weigh up to 35 pounds, they can apparently survive the amount of snakebite venom that would kill an elephant.
• Are you as tenacious and motivated as a honey badger? Put all that energy to work by contacting PETA's Action Team and get started defending animals today.

Written by Monica Alexander

Are crows into Grand Theft Auto? These brainy birds steal windshield wiper blades for reasons known only to themselves, although having fun with them might be the answer.

Ravens seem more interested in studying sign language. Like primates and humans, the birds use gestures to communicate—in this case, pointing with their beaks.

SteveD | cc by 2.0

Octopuses have bird brains (read "big brains") too. Some octopuses in captivity make toys and games out of items in their tanks. Some let the people they like stroke their heads, while a person on an octopus's bad side may get squirted.

Fish enjoy the calming effects of touch, too, but not from people. They will allow small fish who work as full-time cleaners to nibble at their scales even when they don't have parasites because they like the gentle massage.

Dogs, of course, love affection from people, and their devotion to their guardians doesn't usually fade when that guardian passes away. A faithful dog in China refuses to leave his guardian's grave, and the townspeople plan to build a doghouse there for the grieving canine.

After being stolen from his home, held for five years, and then apparently dumped after he developed a medical problem, a precocious pup who loves to travel hopped on a bus. When he was spotted by the driver and taken to a vet, his microchip guaranteed that the next trip he took was back home to his family.

Another clever canine is a hero after she grabbed a bag of kittens someone had tossed onto the highway, pulled it off the road, dragged it home, and cried until her guardian opened it.

Resourceful deer, raccoons, blue herons, and other animals have figured out how to safely cross the road (without instructions from chickens).

Sure, scientists in Dallas may have come up with an invisibility cloak, but octopuses and squid beat them to the punch. Masters of disguise, among the tricks up their tentacle sleeves is this one: They manipulate sacs of black pigment on their skin to either shroud them in darkness to match the water or reveal their transparent flesh so that light shines through, making others think that they aren't there.

Millipedes are covert operators too. Certain species toss moss or other plants over their backs while they travel.

A biological anthropologist is confirming what many cat people already know—cats grieve over the loss of a loved one much like humans do. And much like humans, letting animals see (and, in a cat's case, smell) the body of their deceased loved one can help give them "closure" and come to terms with the loss.

ravi khemka | cc by 2.0

Why do the leg- (or wing-) work when you can ride? In Stockholm, Sweden, a flock of pigeons has begun taking the subway for its daily trips to a crowded shopping center where the animals like to forage for food. Pigeons have been doing the same thing on the London Underground for years!

This dog takes care of business. After a southwest Ohio couple adopted a dog from an animal shelter, it took only six hours for him to return the favor. The aptly named Hercules chased a burglar from the couple's basement, biting him on the ankle for good measure.

Speaking of canine good deeds—Titan, a beloved dog from Lawrenceville, Georgia, became the first canine recipient of the Neighbor of the Year Award after he got help for his guardian when she suffered from a brain aneurysm and fell, fracturing her skull.

This weekend, audiences will be practically tripping over their own two feet rushing to see Happy Feet Two. We just can't seem to get enough of these charming penguins. Sure, they're always dressed to the nines, and they star in some of the best videos on YouTube. But there are plenty more reasons to fall head over flippers for penguins:

© Digital Vision/Just Animals/Getty Images

• They give Michael Phelps a run for his money. Gentoo penguins make up to 450 dives a day foraging for food. They can dive as deep as 655 feet and can stay underwater for seven minutes.
• Emperor penguins aren't just great at working together to get the job done—their excellent teamwork skills are what keep them alive in the harsh Antarctic winter. Emperors huddle tightly together to conserve warmth, and each individual takes a turn going to the toasty middle of the circle and then to the perimeter to help others enjoy protection from the cold.
• Penguin dads step up to the plate. Male Adélie penguins help their mates build nests and then take turns sitting on the eggs to keep them warm and safe from predators.
• King penguins returning from a foraging trip at sea can find their chick in a crowd of 50,000 young penguins just by listening for his or her voice.
• Penguins are faithful. Rockhopper penguins (who win the "Best Hair" award hands down) usually pair with the same mating partner year after year.   

Many penguin species are in decline, partly because of overfishing by humans of the fish they rely on for food. By leaving cod and other fish off our plates, we can help our penguin pals.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

The first thing that comes to mind for many when they think about hyenas is that their vocalization sounds like uncontrollable laughter. But the hyena repertoire also includes bellowing, rumbling, lowing, squeaking, groaning, and whooping. What do hyenas have to talk about? Read on:

 
Lip Kee | CC by 2.0

• Hyena communication—like that of humans—facilitates interactions in their large, matriarchal clans that contain up to 80 individuals. When members of a clan become separated, their calls can carry for more than 2 miles.
• Researchers study hyenas in the field to learn how large brains and intelligence evolved in relation to social complexity. 
• Mother hyenas are affectionate and maintain close relationships with their cubs until they are almost fully grown—about 18 months.
• Hyenas' hearts make up 10 percent of their body weight, giving them excellent endurance. They can run for far longer than lions or cheetahs.
• While all wild animals deserve to run free, hyenas will do just about anything to escape confinement—including chewing through an electric fence during a power outage at a South African wildlife park. The park's manager noted that hyenas are bolder than lions when it comes to escaping, although when park employees approach them, the hyenas are timid, posing no threat to people.
• After a long day of running and a big meal, hyenas like nothing more than a cool mud bath. No word from researchers yet about what kind of gossiping transpires at these hyena spas.

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

As a special Halloween treat, we've cooked up a factoid scarefest about some of the world's creepiest—and not so creepy—animals:

• The black mamba may be the world's biggest, fastest, and deadliest snake, with venom that kills humans often in less time than it takes to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but they are actually shy animals who prefer to use their speed to escape predators rather than attack. Many Africans even consider them to be guardians of the forest.
• There's nothing that makes me jump like seeing a tarantula on a path in the Los Angeles hills, but tarantulas' appearance is far worse than their bite—for humans, that is. Tarantulas—who can live to be 30 years old in the wild—feast mainly on insects, and some species use a filament of silk as a trip wire to let them know when a meal is approaching.
• It's a myth that touching a toad's skin can give you warts, but toad skin is unusual. The skin doesn't grow, so every now and then, toads pull it off and eat it, revealing a brand-new skin.
• What's scarier than a zombie? How about a zombie cockroach? One wasp species injects cockroaches with venom that makes them unable to move on their own, allowing the wasp to steer the cockroach to her burrow, where she lays her eggs on the cockroach. The wasp larvae then eat the cockroach alive.
• And while we know that flesh is for zombies, there's nothing that black vultures—who mate for life—enjoy more than a romantic meal for two over a nice carcass. Black vultures will attack any third wheel who gets too cozy with a vulture's partner.

© kevdog818 | iStockphoto.com

I might open the door to my burrow in a tarantula costume when this year's trick-or-treaters knock, but check out some other last-minute costume ideas.

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

I read Dracula when I was 8 or 9 (yes, I was one of those kids), which didn't exactly help get rid of my fear of the bats who lived in our attic and occasionally needed to be guided out a window. As it turns out, the bats created by horror writers and children's imaginations aren't nearly as interesting as real bats are:

© Jeryl Tan | iStockphoto.com