
Whistlejacket, the Marquess of Rockingham’s race horse, as painted by George Stubbs (Public Domain)
Dear Readers, we have two perfect results for the quiz this week, from Fran and Bobby Freelove and from Rayna – 20/20 for both of you, so well done! Let’s see what I come up with for tomorrow 🙂

1)
a) What’s the name of the horse (and for an extra point, what does the name mean?)
Bucephalus (ox-headed)
b) Who is the man who is trying to tame the horse?
Alexander the Great

2)
a) Who is this chimp?
Washoe
b) What was special about her?
She was the first non-human to use American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate

3)
a) What’s the name of this dog?
Laika
b) She was the first animal to do what?
Orbit the earth (and was one of the first animals to go into space at all)

4)
a) What’s the name of this magnificent beast, and what was he named after?
Marengo, named after the Battle of Marengo (1800)_Â
b) Who was his rider?
Napoleon I

5)
a) What’s the name of this pigeon?
Cher Ami
b) What did he do to deserve a Croix de Guerre medal for bravery?
He delivered a message from his encircled battalion (part of the US 77th Infantry Division) who were encircled and being heavily bombarded by their own side. He arrived back at his loft at headquarters in spite of being shot through the breast, blinded in one eye and having one leg hanging off by a tendon.Â

6)
a) Who is this (and for an extra point, who was she named after?)
Dolly the sheep, named after Dolly Parton
b) Why did she make the headlines in February 1997?
She was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell (taken in this case from a mammary gland, hence the (rather sexist) Dolly Parton connection.Â

7)
a) Who and what is this?
Goldie the Golden Eagle
b) Why did this bird make the headlines in 1965?
Goldie escaped from London Zoo and was on the loose for 12 days, during which time he was frequently seen in Regent’s Park. He attacked and ate several ducks, and there are photos of him attempting to carry off a terrier, which was only rescued when the dog’s owner threatened the bird with an umbrella.

8)
a) Who is this rather startled horse, and who is his owner?
Incitatus, owned by the Roman Emperor CaligulaÂ
b) What is being proposed as the horse’s new career?
According to Suetonius, Caligula planned to make the horse a consul, though whether this was a sign of his insanity, a prank or an attempt to insult the other members of the senate by suggesting that a horse could do their job is unclear.

9)
a) What’s the name of this Irish Wolfhound?
Gelert
b) What was his reward for saving this child?
In legend, the dog’s owner, Llywelyn the Great, returns from hunting to find the nursery overturned, the child missing and Gelert with blood on his muzzle. Fearing that the dog has killed the child, his owner stabs him, only to hear the child crying. Llywelyn then finds the body of a wolf (in some variations a snake) that the dog has killed to saved the infant. The dog’s body is buried with great ceremony, but according to the legends Llywelyn never smiles again.Â
And last but not least…..

10)
a) This is Magawa. What species is he?
He is an African Pouched Rat
b) Why was he given a medal?
Magawa is trained to sniff out unexploded mines and ordnance, and had cleared 141,000 square metres of land in Cambodia, finding 71 landmines and 38 items of unexploded ordnance. He was the most successful rat trained by APOPO, a Belgian non-profit that trains the rats. He got the medal on the occasion of his (well-earned) retirement.Â