Hey Answer Girl n

What's with dogs roaming the streets of Casper? Are they homeless dogs, or do people just not take care of their pets?

-Holly from Casper

It's no secret that Casper is rampant with runaway pups. They often roam the streets freely - sometimes on the sidewalk, other times in the middle of Second Street. I've been mildly afraid to walk from the Answermobile to my front door more than once, courtesy of a possibly friendly but certainly large pooch trotting across the lawn.

Scott Schell, lead animal control officer at Casper Metro Animal Control, said his team captures between 250 and 275 animals each month, and that the majority of those are dogs.

Are Casper pet-owners neglecting their canine companions?

Schell thinks, for the most part, no.

"Most people try to take care of their dogs, but they just find a way to get out," Schell said. "There are some people that don't pay attention to their dogs and they run loose, but most of the time it's environmental."

But why Casper more than other places?

The infamous Wyoming wind is the most popular answer among stray animal experts in the area.

Barb Huffman, shelter manager at the Casper Humane Society, said that the wind blows down fences and that's how stray dogs find their way to her. Dogs with microchips are returned to their owners, and those without often stay at the shelter until owners come to claim them or they're adopted.

You can help get stray dogs off the street and into a shelter by calling Casper Metro Animal Control at 235-8398.

Hey Answer Girl n

How do they get the toothpaste to come out in stripes? Seems like it would all blend together and come out all mixed together.

-Mike in Riverton

To answer this question, I, with help from the Answerlabs team, conducted a highly scientific experiment.

First, of course, I asked a scientist or two if they knew how stripes stayed separate from the white of toothpaste, and while one scientist suggested separate compartments for each colored stripe, another thought perhaps it had something to do with different densities, but he wasn't sure.

So I had to find out for myself.

And, after cutting open several tubes of toothpaste, I learned:

1. Toothpaste, even when left in a freezer for 24 hours, doesn't freeze. It just gets very, very cold.

2. No "compartments" exist in Colgate, Crest, Aquafresh or Equaline toothpastes.

3. The stripes, made with a different gelatinous substance from the rest of the paste, are indeed lighter in density than the rest of the paste. This is why the stripes stay with the stripes.

If you squish the tube enough, the stripes do begin to blend with the paste. But squishing an already open, not-so-frozen tube of paste can be a little messy, so I wouldn't suggest it.

Ask Answer Girl

Answer Girl tackles your questions about Casper, the universe and everything else. Submit your question by email to megan.lee@trib.com, or post it at the Answer Girl blog: my.trib.com/MeganLeeReporter/blog3. Or call Megan Lee at (307) 266-0589.