Christmas came early to Marshfield Wildwood Zoo over the weekend as children and parents watched mountain lions, a lynx and wolves tear open presents.

"The gifts are a few pieces of meat," said Heather McBride, a zoo volunteer, as she wrapped three large shoebox-size containers with brightly colored holiday paper before the gift-giving Saturday morning.

Planned as an enrichment activity for the animals, the event also is a way for people to have fun and learn more about the zoo's wildlife, said McBride, a member of the Marshfield Zoological Society.

About 30 children and parents gathered at the viewing area for the mountain lions -- also called cougars -- to watch Thunder and Star tear into their Christmas gift. After the gift was placed in their enclosure, the door to the viewing area opened and the two cougars leaped into the enclosure and pounced on the box.

In seconds, the lions had torn open the box and were contentedly lying on the ground to gnaw on chunks of venison.

"Oh! They're fast," said Aaliyah Nelson, 4, of Marshfield as she watched the felines swiftly tear the paper off the box.

The enrichment activity simulates how the animal would eat their prey in the wild, said Steve Burns, zookeeper.

An Oak Creek police officer who responded to a report of a goat running loose in traffic discovered two things: the goat was actually a lamb, and a lamb on the lam is hard to corral.

According to Oak Creek police, a caller reported that a goat was running northbound in traffic on South Ash Street and East Rawson Avenue around 12:40 p.m. Dec. 9.

The officer responding to the call reported the animal was actually a lamb, and believed it belonged to the petting zoo at Mega Discount Nursery, 1901 Rawson Ave.

The officer tried to assist nursery employees who were trying to corral the lamb, but he was unable to secure it before leaving the area.

Employees at the nursery continued to follow the lamb, who led them on a two-hour chase through yards, over fences and across streets.

The Milwaukee Animal Rescue Center in suburban Milwaukee parlayed a cat's near-record 26 toes into a fundraising windfall, raising $125,000 in about six weeks.

Center owner Amy Rowell started asking for $26 donations -- or $1 per toe -- on Oct. 31. She wanted to raise money for a new building after finding out her rent at a Greendale mall would double Jan. 1.

Rowell had raised $80,000 by Friday, when The Associated Press reported Daniel's story. The center raised an additional $45,000 by Wednesday, surpassing its $120,000 goal. The biggest number of contributions came from $26 donations.

Rowell says she saved Daniel, Daniel saved the center and now he'll save other animals.

She hopes to raise an additional $230,000 to pay off the mortgage.

State wildlife officials say DNA tests show a cougar that roamed Minnesota and Wisconsin was killed in a car crash in Connecticut last month.

The animal was killed June 11 near Milford, Conn. It was first detected by police in Champlin, Minn., in December 2009. Biologists used trail camera photos, tracks and DNA tests on biological samples such as scat and hair to determine it crossed the St. Croix River into Wisconsin and wandered across the state into Michigan's Upper Peninsula during the spring of 2010.

The cougar would have traveled 1,055 miles in a straight line, a new record for movement of a known cougar. However, biologists believe it walked between 1,600 and 1,800 miles, traveling through Canada and down through New York into Connecticut.

Wisconsin health officials have reactivated a statewide, toll-free hot line for residents to report dead birds.

It's a way for the state to help track the mosquito-borne West Nile virus.

State Health Officer Dr. Henry Anderson said dead birds act as an "early warning system" for West Nile. Finding the virus in birds indicates that West Nile virus may be present in local mosquito bites, he said.

Anyone who finds a dead bird can call the hot line and arrange to have the bird tested for West Nile virus. Hot line staff can answer questions about dead birds and provide information on safe handling and disposal, he said.

People should not handle dead birds with their bare hands.

*** It should be noted that the original story did NOT include the hotline number, so I Googled it for you.

The hot line number is 1-800-433-1610.

When the ice melts on the ponds in our valley the frog chorus begins. It’s a great sound announcing that spring has arrived. We are serenaded in the evening with stereophonic frog and toad music from the three ponds close to our house.

Their calls are about sex. Most frog and toad calls are males advertising to attract females to mate. Some calls are aggressive, made by males toward other males to defend mating territory. Some are release calls to tell a male to let go – frog and toad mating is a wild affair. Each species has its distinct voice. It’s possible to listen closely and distinguish their specific voices among all the calling.

America toads give off long trills four to twenty seconds long. Their throats puff out like a balloon when they call. Toad calls are so emphatic that the vibrations from their throat sac cause the water to bubble. Their warty skin contains poison glands that give them some protection from predators.

Spring peepers are small frogs less than an inch long. They are brown or gray with a light belly and a darker cross on their back. They make high pitched peeps about 20 times a minute. They often call during the day during light rain or cloudy weather.

Two environmental groups plan to sue the federal government to try and get the Wild Plains Bison declared as an endangered species.

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watersheds Project have filed a notice of a pending lawsuit. That’s after the Interior Department rejected petitions to list the bison as endangered.

Environmentalists say the bison population has been cut by 99% in the last 200 years. They once numbered in the tens of millions before most were killed off in the late 1800s.

About 20,000 bison roam in the wild in Wisconsin and 10 other states. Almost 400,000 others are raised in domestic conditions for meat production.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says there’s not enough evidence that the bison would be harmed without the endangered status.

Researchers say Wisconsin's wolf population has risen past 800.

State biologists say Wisconsin's gray wolf numbers have reached a modern record of about 825 animals in over 200 packs.

Adrian Wydeven, wolf ecologist for the Department of Natural Resources, says the estimate represents an increase of 100 over the previous counting period.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the number was released Friday at the annual Wisconsin Wolf Stakeholder Committee meeting in Wausau. It came out a day after the Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to remove wolves in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan from the Endangered Species List.

The growing wolf population has led to increased depredation in Wisconsin. The state paid a record $203,943 in wolf damage claims in 2010. Records show 47 farms sustained wolf depredation in 2010.

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Wisconsin DNR gray wolf page: http://dnr.wi.gov/Org/land/er/mammals/wolf/