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10 animal stories to remember from 2010

Print | Comments () Posted by Martin Finucane December 31, 2010 02:30 PM

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Amelia Hughes

This stray kitten crawled into a car engine. That was just the beginning of its problems.

By L. Finch, Globe Correspondent

There was that kitten who hid in the engine, the dog that rolled up Mt. Washington in a wheelchair, the alligator spotted by a canoeist in the Charles, the jellyfish that stung 150 people. And, whatever you do, don't forget those great white sharks that lurked off Chatham.

Animals inspired wonder, pulled the heartstrings, and sparked plenty of water cooler conversation as they made headlines in 2010 in The Boston Globe and on boston.com. Here are 10 of our favorites.

1. Seal visits the Charles River

A wayward harbor seal made a buffet of the Charles River fish supply for nearly a week in October after the curious creature slipped through the dam locks ahead of the Head of the Charles River Regatta.

2. Dog in wheelchair scales N.H. Mountain

A wheelchair did not stop one dogged canine in August from climbing Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Lucy, a 4-year-old mixed breed whose legs were paralyzed in a car accident when she was still a pup, became the first handicapped dog to scale the highest peak in the northeastern United States.

3. Sharks lurk beneath Chatham waters

Comparisons to the classic thriller film “Jaws” plagued the seaside town of Chatham over the summer as wildlife officials tagged a handful of great white sharks in the area, forcing the closure of town beaches.

4. Franklin Park Zoo gorilla Kiki gives birth

It was a celebrity baby watch of a different breed. Literally. Baby fever surrounding the third pregnancy of Kiki, a Western lowland gorilla at the Franklin Park Zoo, reached new heights when the 28-year-old primate gave birth to her third child in November.

5. Trapped in cage, cat found grasping for air in Charles

A kayaker in July stumbled upon a cat, trapped and gasping for air in a pet carrier, dangling from a branch in the Charles River in Weston. Rescuers, who nicknamed the resilient feline “Grandma Moses,” called the incident a particularly cruel case of abandonment.

6. Alligator captured in Charles

Forget the sewers. An alligator set up house in the Charles River for nearly a week in September, much to the discomfort of canoeists on the waterway.

7. Troopers made way for these ducklings

It was the children's classic "Make Way for Ducklings" come to life: State Police briefly stopped traffic in Boston on Storrow Drive in May to allow a mother duck and her 11 babies to cross the roadway to the Charles River. The feathered brood made the journey safely.

8. In the depths of winter, hangin’ with my go-to guy, Zee

Stuck inside on a frigid furlough day in February, Boston Globe staffer Bill Porter wrote about the mischief that he and his tabby cat, Zee, manage to kick up day to day.

9. Ouch! Jellyfish stings 150 on N.H. beach

One dead jellyfish managed to sting up to 150 people, most of them children, from beyond the grave on a New Hampshire beach in July, wreaking havoc as scores of crying young people fled the water.

10. Kitten rescued from car engine

A 7-week-old stray kitten was rescued after crawling into a car engine in Dorchester to seek shelter from the October chill. But that was just the beginning of its troubles.

Globe correspondent Katherine Landergan contributed to this report.