Animals
S


Snowflake Cold

American alligators freeze in place to survive arctic blast in North Carolina


Strange Sounds
Thu, 24 Jan 2019 16:32 UTC
dormant alligator frozen lake
© The Swamp Park/Facebook
Alligators in one eastern North Carolina swamp have proven it was no fluke last winter, when they survived a cold snap by freezing themselves in place with their noses above the ice.

18 American alligators froze Monday night and stayed frozen all day Tuesday with their nose above the ice in North Carolina.

Yes, the same weird phenomenon happened again Monday at The Swamp Park, only this time more - and bigger - alligators joined in, says park manager George Howard, who posted a video Tuesday:
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Attention

Signs and Portents: Mutant goat born with two heads and four eyes caught on camera in China

Simon Green
The Star (UK)
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 12:47 UTC
A goat born with two heads and four eyes has
© ASIA WIREA goat born with two heads and four eyes has been caught on camera
The bizarre footage shows the kid with the abnormal head lying on hay in its pen.

It struggles to sit up, leading to the farmer lifting its head.

Another clip appears to show its mum licking it to try and rouse it to its feet.

The owners at the goat farm - in the village of Yezhai in Fuyang City in East China's Anhui Province - said its pregnant mum struggled to give birth for seven hours due to the size of the creature's heads.

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Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-headed blue-tongue lizard handed to reptile park in Australia

Jamie Toomey
abc.net.au
Tue, 22 Jan 2019 12:37 UTC
Lucky the two-headed blue tongue lizard.
© Australian Reptile ParkLucky the two-headed blue tongue lizard.
An extremely rare two-headed blue-tongue lizard has been handed to a NSW Central Coast reptile park by a member of the public.

The lizard, which has since been named Lucky, had handlers at The Australian Reptile Park surprised and excited, with some experts predicting its life expectancy in the wild was not great.

Animals with this deformity often don't survive due to their eating difficulties and inability to defend themselves from predators, the park said.
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Fire

Australian heatwave - Forgotten history

Joanne Nova
JoNova
Thu, 24 Jan 2019 19:32 UTC
Don't believe your lying eyes - Australian newspaper archives are full of temperatures recorded higher than 121 in the shade which is 50C. All of these temperatures in the map below are found in historic newspaper archives. Measurements done after 1910 are even done with official Stevenson screens, yet the BOM "throws them away". It's true that ones done in the 1800s are often recorded on non-standard equipment, or are just literally "in the shade" under cover. So some of these, perhaps many, are one or two degrees too high. But even if we take two degrees off, how scary is global warming when Australia knew many days of 48C and 49C and some at 50C 120 years ago? The BOM - supposedly so concerned about the State of Our Climate - show little interest in talking about our history or in analyzing it, or even mentioning it.

And modern temperatures are recorded on electronic equipment, sometimes in areas affected by urban heat islands (concrete and cars).
Forgotten History
© JoNova
50C temperatures have occurred all over Australia before

Australians have been recording temperatures of over 50C since 1828, right across the country. In 1896 the heat was so bad for weeks that people fled on emergency trains to escape the inland heat. Millions of birds fell from the sky in 1932 due to the savage hot spell.

Comment:
Australia heatwave: Dozens of wild horses found dead at dried-up waterhole

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Red Flag

Dead birds found scattered along road in Blue Springs, Missouri

Nathan Vickers and Maggie Holmes
KCTV5
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 13:29 UTC
Dead birds in Blue Springs, MO
© KCTV5
A nasty sight along Adams Dairy Parkway has drivers in Blue Springs crying foul.

The route down Adams Dairy Parkway is scenic, filled with artwork, evergreen trees and wildlife.

"You see deer often," Du'an Lightfoot, Blue Spring resident, said.

But Lightfoot was one of many drivers who noticed something unusual on the way home Sunday.

"Riding down the street, I thought it was kind of odd," Lightfoot stated.

Something related to the dozens of starlings his neighbors have spotted this winter.
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Attention

Man mauled to death by lions after climbing over 25-feet wall at zoo in Chandigarh, India


India Today
Sun, 20 Jan 2019 18:44 UTC
Zoo officials said a lion
© ReutersZoo officials said a lion and a lioness were in the enclosure and the lioness attacked the man first.

A man was mauled to death by lions on Sunday at Chhatbir Zoo in Zirakpur, around 20 km from Chandigarh.

According to zoo officials, the man entered the enclosure by scaling an over-25-feet wall and as soon as he crossed over, he was attacked by two lions.

Officials said the incident happened at 2.20 pm and the man, who is in his early 30s, was yet to be identified.

"The injury on his neck was deep. He was taken to civil hospital in a critical condition where he died," said the zoo's field director M Sudhagarb.

A lion and a lioness were in the enclosure, he said, adding the female lion attacked the man first.
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Attention

Thousands of migrating birds found dead at Salton Sea, California


nbcbayarea.com
Wed, 23 Jan 2019 18:10 UTC
dead birds
Authorities say thousands of migrating birds have died at California's Salton Sea this month from avian cholera.

The California Department of Fish and Game says ducks, gulls and other birds were found dead at the south end of the state's largest lake between Jan. 8 and last Thursday.

Testing showed signs of avian cholera, an infectious bacterial disease. It's spread through direct contact or from contaminated food or water.

Wildlife officials say outbreaks occur annually as a result of birds flocking closely together during migration.

The 350-square-mile (560-square-kilometer) lake is located in the desert near the Mexican border. It's a regular stop for migrating birds.

Source: Associated Press

Comment: Related article: Thousands of birds found dead in Western Australia's 'most important' inland wetland.

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Attention

Thousands of birds found dead in Western Australia's 'most important' inland wetland

Hannah Barry
The Sydney Morning Herald
Tue, 22 Jan 2019 13:36 UTC
Birds roosting at Lake Gregory after a wet
© DCBABirds roosting at Lake Gregory after a wet season.
Thousands of birds have been found dead at one of Western Australia's most important inland wetlands.

A Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development veterinarian arrived at Lake Gregory in the East Kimberley earlier this month to take sample, and found a number of wild birds in "poor conditions with low body weights".

On a department inspection, it was found several thousand birds had died at the wetland, but the cause of death remains a mystery.

Lake Gregory is a permanent freshwater lake located between the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert and was previously described by the department as the most important inland wetland in Australia.
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Doberman

Child mauled to death by stray dogs in Odisha, India

Surya Narayan Pradhan
Odishatv.in
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 12:48 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
A pall of gloom descended on Balisutura village under Jashipur Police limits of Mayurbhanj district after a Class I student was mauled to death by stray dogs today.

As per reports, the student of Rahanga UP School was on his way to his school and was suddenly attacked by a group of 10-12 stray dogs while he was passing through a farmland. According to sources, the attack was so swift and severe that the child could not escape from the clutches of the canines. He succumbed to the injuries on the spot.

After receiving information, Jashipur Police reached the spot and has sent the body for post mortem.

Comments from family members and police could not be obtained.
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Doberman

Man dies following attack by 2 dogs in Durban, South Africa

Jeff Wicks
Times Live
Mon, 21 Jan 2019 11:39 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
A Phoenix, Durban, man who was mauled by dogs as he walked through the neighbourhood of Northcroft nearly two weeks ago, died as a result of his injuries at the weekend.

Dharmaseelan Moodley was walking home after visiting a friend when he was attacked by a pit bull cross and a boerboel on January 10 2019.

His sister, Sarah Naicker, said the dogs had savaged her 49-year-old brother.

"He was very badly injured and his neck was badly damaged ... he ended up on a ventilator. He was practically bitten from head to toe," she said.

Moodley, a driver, was taken to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital and underwent several surgical procedures.
Dharmaseelan Aubrey Moodley.
Dharmaseelan Aubrey Moodley.
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