Midwest heat: Animals cooling off
Not only people are looking for ways to cool off as a heat wave smothers the Midwest with a heat index well over 100 in most places.
Section:Picture story
Pax, an English bull dog, pit bull mix, creates a wave as he charges into Sabbathday Lake to retrieve a stick while playing with his owner, Chris Lynch, in New Gloucester, Maine, Thursday, July 21, 2011. The heat wave that has gripped much of the nation arrived in Maine on Thursday.
Robert F. Bukaty Associated Press
Water droplets splatter on the beak of a Pekin duck as it cools off under a sprinkler at the MSPCA at Nevins Farm in Methuen, Mass. Thursday, July 21, 2011. Temperatures are expected to soar above 90 degrees in some locations in the state.
Mary Schwalm, The Eagle-Tribune Associated Press
A large fan is used to help keep a Standardbred trotter, Fox Valley Slammer, cool after a workout Thursday, July 21, 2011, at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Ill. Hot weather that has plagued the Midwest for days is now spreading eastward putting residents of several more states under a sizzling sun and excessive heat warnings.
Seth Perlman Associated Press
A polar bear enjoys a frozen treat including fruit, nuts and fish at Toronto Zoo on Thursday, July 21, 2011. Toronto was forecast to hit near-record temperatures in the midst of a summer heat wave.
The Canadian Press, Patrick Dell Associated Press
Casey takes a drink from a water spout in the Natives of Africa and Asia exhibit after his breakfast at the Fort Worth Zoo on Thursday, July 21, 2011. Hot weather that has plagued the Plains for days spread eastward Thursday, blanketing several more states under a sizzling sun and excessive heat warnings that made people sick, shut down summer schools and spurred cities to offer cooling centers and free swimming.
The Dallas Morning News, Nathan Hunsinger Associated Press
A very hot and thirsty dog named Buck cools off drinking bottled water poured by his owner Sue Anderson of South Windsor Conn., during a legion baseball game at the peak of the heat Wednesday afternoon, July 20, 2011, in South Windsor. A lengthy, blistering heat wave is blanketing the eastern half of the United States.
Journal Inquirer, Jim Michaud Associated Press
As temperatures hit triple digits, a zoo keeper at Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Neb., cools off a Double Yellow Headed Amazon parrot with water spray, Wednesday, July 20, 2011. For millions of people suffering through the breathtaking heat and humidity gripping the nation’s midsection, it may feel like they’re living in a pressure cooker. And in a sense, they are. The heat “dome” sitting over much of the U.S. is caused by a huge area of high pressure that’s trapping and compressing hot, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico beneath it and pushing the jetstream and thus cooler, drier air far northward into Canada.
Nati Harnik Associated Press
A horse does his best to keep cool with a fan attached to his stall while in the stables of the Chagrin Valley Hunter Jumper Classic horse show at the Cleveland Metroparks Polo Field in Moreland Hills, Ohio on Wednesday, July 20, 2011.
Amy Sancetta Associated Press
Fitz and Jontu, two Indian rhinos at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Neb., cool off in a mud pit, Wednesday, July 20, 2011. The heat “dome” sitting over much of the U.S. is caused by a huge area of high pressure that’s trapping and compressing hot, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico beneath it and pushing the jetstream, and thus cooler, drier air, far northward into Canada.
Nati Harnik Associated Press
Malee, a three-month old Asian elephant, cools off with a spray of water in her wading pool at the Oklahoma City Zoo in Oklahoma City, Monday, July 18, 2011. Much of the nation is in the grip of a broiling heat wave.
Sue Ogrocki Associated Press