Animals
S


Hammer

First evidence found of tool use by seabirds

Bob Yirka
Phys.org
Fri, 03 Jan 2020 12:54 UTC
puffin
© CC0 Public Domain
Three researchers from the University of Oxford and the South Iceland Nature Research Centre have found evidence of tool use by puffins — the first evidence of tool use by any seabird. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Annette Fayet, Erpur Snær Hansen and Dora Biro describe their evidence of puffins using sticks to scratch a part of their body.

Over the past several decades, researchers have found many examples of non-human primates using tools — several types of passerine birds have been found to use tools, as well. Crows have been observed using sticks for many purposes, and parrots have been seen breaking seashells with rocks. But until now, no instances of tool use by seabirds have been observed. Because of their relatively small brains, many in the field believed they simply did not have the capacity to make use of a tool. But the researchers in this new effort have disproven these beliefs.

Comment: By now we should probably not be so surprised, because, as noted above, this is just the latest evidence of tool use by animals of all kinds: See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Attention

Wild boar goes on rampage in Uttar Pradesh, India


Sputnik
Thu, 02 Jan 2020 12:08 UTC
boar
In a terrifying moment, workers at a petrol station were confronted by a wild boar as they went about their regular day's work in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

A wild boar has created havoc in the Sultanpur district town of Kadipur in Uttar Pradesh when it went wild, creating a panic at a petrol station.

In the incident caught on a CCTV camera in the area, the wild boar can be seen tossing a schoolgirl into the air.


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Attention

214 grey whales washed up dead on the West Coast of North America in 2019

Lisa Johnson
cbc.ca
Sat, 28 Dec 2019 20:19 UTC
By April 2019, strandings like this unusually thin whale found at Leadbetter Point State Park, Wash., were becoming frequent on the West Coast
© John Weldon/Northern Oregon and Southern Washington Marine Mammal Stranding ProgramBy April 2019, strandings like this unusually thin whale found at Leadbetter Point State Park, Wash., were becoming frequent on the West Coast
The first grey whale found dead in B.C. last year was in such rough shape that its tail had turned pink. It looked as though it was covered in foam.

The pink wasn't anything artificial, officials learned when they arrived to tow the skinny male to shore near Victoria for a necropsy last April.

It was the animal's own flesh, eaten raw by whale lice.

Two weeks later, another, off Tofino. Then the islands of Haida Gwaii, where a total of six would wash ashore this year. The epic migration the whales make every spring — more than 10,000 kilometres from breeding lagoons in Mexico to a summer feeding in the Bering Sea — had turned deadly.

"It was quite disturbing to see," said Paul Cottrell, regional marine mammal co-ordinator with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. "When they become compromised, their immune system is obviously not able to deal with that, and they get eaten alive."

"We had these kind of zombie whales swimming in our waters."
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Info

Owning a dog as a child lowers the risk of schizophrenia

Mike McRae
Science Alert
Mon, 30 Dec 2019 18:29 UTC
Child with Dog
© Leo Rivas/Unsplash
Schizophrenia is one of those disorders we still don't know the cause of, but it's likely to involve a complex mix of genes and environmental factors a person is exposed to in their childhood. According to new research, one such factor might have something to do with having pets.

A new study has found a relationship between dog ownership in our early years and a reduced likelihood of developing the neurological condition. Just how the two are linked isn't clear, but in context of research implicating a dysfunctional immune system, this tantalising conclusion demands a closer look.

"Serious psychiatric disorders have been associated with alterations in the immune system linked to environmental exposures in early life, says pediatrist Robert Yolken from Johns Hopkins Children's Centre, Maryland.

"Since household pets are often among the first things with which children have close contact, it was logical for us to explore the possibilities of a connection between the two."

Having a pet roam around the family home when a child is still crawling around through the dust and dander has long been considered a good way to build a healthy immunity.
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Fire

New Year's fire at German zoo kills all but two animals inside monkey sanctuary


RT
Wed, 01 Jan 2020 14:50 UTC
Fire
© Ruptly
A fire reportedly caused by New Year's Eve fireworks burnt down the monkey house at a zoo in Germany, killing all but two of the chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas inside. More than 30 animals died in the horrific blaze.

Krefeld Zoo announced that it had suffered an "unfathomable tragedy" on New Year's Eve, after its monkey sanctuary "burned down to the foundation." Fruit bats and birds were also killed in the accident, according to media reports.

The zoo initially reported no survivors, but later confirmed that "like a miracle" two chimpanzees named Bally and Limbo had survived the devastating blaze. Five orangutans, one chimpanzee and two gorillas, along with other smaller monkey species died.
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Info

Decoding the Boar in ancient stone sculptures

Dr. Martin Sweatman
Prehistory Decoded
Fri, 27 Dec 2019 21:05 UTC
Hybrid human-fish sculpture
© Prehistory DecodedCommon Lepinski Vir stone sculpture, often interpreted as representing a human-fish hybrid.
I think the boar has finally been decoded, at least in Neolithic and Iron Age Europe. First see the ancient site of Lepinski Vir, a Neolithic site on the Danube in Serbia - part of the Danube Gorges cultural complex.

Lepinski Vir is best known for being a gateway site between Neolithic Anatolia and Mesolithic Europe. Essentially, the 'Anatolian farmers' who migrated or invaded Europe after the 8.2 kiloyear event (around 6200 to 6300 BC) appear to have used this route. It is one of the very first European sites to have adopted agriculture, thereby entering the Neolithic age.

Before the main phase of occupation at Lepinski Vir, from 6200 to 5900 BC, a few small Mesolithic settlements on this site are known over the preceding few thousand years.

However, the main phase of occupation is quite different to these earlier settlements. Apart from adopting agriculture, they built trapezoidal plan, or 'fan' shaped, houses with stone floors in which various animal remains have been found. These are usually interpreted as grave goods, accompanying burials under the floors of houses, like at Catalhoyuk.

The most interesting thing for us are the species used in these graves. According to a paper by Vesna Dimitrijevic in 2008, the most common animal species remains found inside these houses are: boar, deer and dog. Fish remains are also common, but these are harder to quantify. However the other thing Lepinski Vir is known for are its fish sculptures - see image left. So we can presume that the fish was an important symbol, and not just an important food source, for these people.
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Black Cat

5 mountain lion attacks on dogs in a week in Idaho with 3 killed

Brendan LaChance
Oil City News
Thu, 26 Dec 2019 19:58 UTC
mountain lion
© PixabayMountain lion
Five mountain lion attacks on dogs were reported in the span of a week in the Wood River Valley in Idaho.

Three dogs died as a result of those attacks, according to Idaho Fish and Game Regional Communications Manager Terry Thompson.

The latest attack was reported on Monday, Dec. 23 involving an attack on a Labrador retriever north of Hailey.

"The homeowner reported letting their dog out about 6:15 a.m. that morning, then shortly after, hearing loud noises in their backyard," Thompson writes. "They immediately checked and found a mountain lion attacking their dog in the unfenced backyard. Shortly after the homeowner confronted the lion, it let the dog go."

"The dog received injuries in the attack, but survived and is back home with its owners."
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Doberman

Man dies after attack by pack of 10 dogs in Broken Bow, Oklahoma

Nina Quatrino
kxii.com
Thu, 19 Dec 2019 21:14 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
"He really loved Christmas and being with his family, he loved to eat, he loved desert." said Tawsha Davenport.

"What a good man he was, I'd like to be half the man he was." said Aaron Davenport.

Cledith Davenport was a father, a husband, and grandfather. His family looked forward to spending Christmas with him.

Saturday November 14th, Davenport and his dog were killed outside their home in Broken Bow. They were mauled to death by a pack of eight to ten, blue-heeler mix dogs. Deputies with McCurtain county sheriffs say a mail carrier called for help after finding his body. Records say some parts of Davenport's body were eaten down to the bone. Autopsy results list the cause of death as being the direct fault of the pack of dogs.

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Sun

'Never seen that before': Birds falling 'dead' from trees during extreme heatwave in Australia

Brooke Rolfe
Yahoo! News
Tue, 24 Dec 2019 15:43 UTC
One of the dead cockatoos after apparently falling from a tree in extreme heat.
One of the dead cockatoos after apparently falling from a tree in extreme heat.
The extreme heat currently sweeping the nation has apparently begun killing native wildlife as temperatures continue to reach dangerous highs across the country.

A farmer shared grim photos to Twitter of what he says shows dead cockatoos that appeared to have fallen from a tree on a day that saw the thermometer on his back verandah rocket to 48.9C.

"Not an official reading obviously, but it was enough to kill these sulphur-crested cockatoos," he wrote.

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Doberman

Woman mauled to death by family pit bull terrier in Somerset, Massachusetts


turnto10.com
Sat, 21 Dec 2019 15:13 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
A Somerset woman was mauled to death by her family dog while having a seizure in her home Friday night, according to authorities.

Police said they received a call around 5:30 p.m. from the victim's daughter, saying that her mother, identified as 44-year-old Melissa Astacio, was having a seizure in their Lees River Avenue home.

"All my mom ever wanted was for me and her three kids to have a better life than she could" Melissa's daughter Heaven said.

Authorities said that's when the family dog, an eight-year-old pit bull, attacked her.

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