Colette Derworiz Calgary Herald Mon, 19 Sep 2016 18:07 UTC
Grizzly bear
A man was attacked by a grizzly bear Sunday near Forum Lake in Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park in southeastern British Columbia.
The unidentified man was attacked after he surprised the bear as he was hiking in the area, which can be accessed from the Akamina Parkway in Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta.
"There was an encounter between a hiker and a bear," said John Stoesser, a spokesman for Waterton. "Parks Canada responded to a request for assistance."
He said they sent three people to help, but referred any further comment to BC Parks.
The province's environment ministry declined an interview request, but sent out a statement Monday afternoon confirming that they responded after a man was attacked by "what is suspected to be a male grizzly bear" on Sunday.
Anjali Hemphill fox5dc.com Tue, 20 Sep 2016 17:46 UTC
Raccoon
An Arlington neighborhood is on edge after a woman was attacked by a raccoon in her own backyard, and it is not the first time this type of incident has happened in recent months.
There have been several sightings of raccoons in the Fairlington area and at least two violent attacks since June. Some residents here are concerned for their safety, especially at night.
One woman living on 29th Street S was scratched and bitten by raccoons while she was in her backyard in June. The incident sparked a community meeting on how to safely interact with wildlife.
But last Sunday night, two raccoons jumped on another woman in her backyard on 28th Street while she was taking out the trash.
Bonnie Crouch told FOX 5 her husband heard the screams and came out to help. He ended up fighting the raccoons off the woman with a broom. Crouch, a nurse, helped tend to the victim's injuries afterwards.
An apparent sonic boom heard and felt in the Kirksville area corresponded with two separate Kirksville Fire Department investigations, but no problems were found in the city.
Kirksville Fire Department Battalion Chief James Snyder said around the time of the sonic boom, just before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Kirksville Fire Department personnel saw a possible smoke cloud near the fire station. That turned out to be a dust cloud.
Minutes later, employees at US Bank on McPherson Street contacted Central Dispatch regarding a strong gas odor in their building. Kirksville Fire and Police and Adair County Ambulance responded, as well as workers from local utility companies. No gas leak was detected.
"Just another day in the life of a firefighter," Snyder said.
Russian authorities say a young football player has been killed and three others injured after lightning struck the goalposts during a game.
The 18-year-old, who has not been named, died during a game in a local competition involving teams of students Wednesday in the Siberian town of Rubtsovsk, regional investigative authorities say in a statement.
Players from both teams were crowded in the penalty area when lightning hit a set of metal goalposts. Investigators say the 18-year-old ''died at the scene'' and three other players needed medical treatment, without giving further details of their condition.
Hundreds of thousands of dead fish washed ashore in the Tarsus district of the southern Mersin province on Sept. 19, reportedly due to contamination from a malfunctioning wastewater treatment plant in neighboring Adana.
Officials have warned residents not to consume or touch the fish.
"The scene that you see here is heartbreaking. It breaks the hearts of Mersin and Tarsus residents. Millions of dead mullets have filled the beach and when we ask about the issue to the villagers nearby, they say that it's been going on for four months now," Mersin lawmaker Aytuğ Atıcı said as he visited the area, according to Doğan News Agency.
"We won't stop pursuing these incidents and will prevent fish deaths. We know that the people of Mersin and Tarsus are with us in this struggle. We are calling on them to support us," he said.
State wildlife officials believe that they captured the alligator that attacked and seriously wounded a homeless man swimming in the waters along Crane Creek in Melbourne on Monday. The alligator, captured by an independent trapper, was measured at 10 feet, 11 inches long, officials reported.
"They believe it is the target gator, possibly because of it's characteristics," said Greg Workman, spokesman for the Florida Wildlife Commission, the state agency tasked with finding the alligator in the hours after the attack. "That is a big gator. But it is not that uncommon for them to get that big in remote areas," Workman said.
A second, 11 foot long alligator was also captured. Both alligators have already been harvested, Workman added.
The attack happened about 9 a.m. Monday when the man, known in the homeless community by his street name "Ron Jon," suffered a number of deep punctures along his shoulder as a result of a struggle with the alligator, Melbourne police said. The man remained in stable condition late Monday, police reported. The attack happened under a U.S. 1 overpass, in a fishing spot popular with the area homeless community.
"He was in the river and an alligator came up and grabbed him. It grabbed him by the shoulder," said Cmdr. Dan Lynch of the Melbourne Police Department.
Kathy Burek of Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services says the whale was a sub-adult, about 42 feet long. It had been dead for about a week.
"It had indications of hemorrhage where it had been struck and possibly carried by a ship. So there are areas of trauma that look convincing that it had had a major blunt impact," she said.
She says it was likely a large vessel, such as a tanker, cruise ship or ferry. But she's not positive.
Pictured is the four-metre blue marlin with Oliver Crimmen (right) and James Maclaine from the Natural History Museum.
An enormous blue marlin washed up at Freshwater East now has a new home in one of the world's leading marine collections - at the Natural History Museum in London.
The four-metre fish caused excitement locally when it was discovered at the South Pembrokeshire beach last week, with many people believing it to be a swordfish.
Since then, it has been identified as only the third blue marlin ever to be washed up in the UK, and the first full one to be recovered.
The fish was inspected in situ by representatives from Milford Haven Coastguard and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, before being collected from the beach by Pembrokeshire County Council.
Council staff stored it at the Templeton depot and reported it to Rod Penrose of the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme.
And within 24 hours of him contacting the Natural History Museum, two experts from the Department of Life Sciences were on their way to collect it.
As Stan McCubbin walked his property Friday on Spurlington Road near Campbellsville, he noticed something out of the ordinary.
"From a distance, I thought I had twins lying together," said Stan McCubbin. "I saw two noses. I thought it was twins and then when I saw her, I was just completely blown away."
"He was just like, 'I've got a two-headed calf, so I was in shock," said McCubbin's wife, Brandy.
Lucky -- as she's known -- really earned her name.
"She has two heads, but I'm okay with that," said the couple's five-year-old daughter Kenley.
"I said she was lucky to live, and our little five-year-old, Kenley, said 'That's her name -- Lucky'," said Brandy McCubbin. "She is lucky and we're blessed to have this happen on our farm."
While the family says the heifer calf is lucky to be alive, Lucky does have her share of problems.
