Animals
S


Black Cat

'I wasn't dying today:' Grandmother kills rabid bobcat with her bare hands


RT
Sun, 17 Jun 2018 14:20 UTC
Bobcat
© Mario Anzuoni / Reuters
A grandmother in Georgia says she simply refused to give up and die when suddenly attacked by a rabies-stricken bobcat in her front yard, instead battling the creature to the death with her bare hands.

DeDe Phillips was working outside her home in rural Hart County when the large feline suddenly struck.

"I thought, 'not today'. There was no way I was going to die," she toldthe Athens Banner-Herald, explaining that adrenaline kicked in when she was suddenly thrust into the life-and-death struggle.

The daughter-in-law of a bobcat trapper, Phillips knew what she had to do to protect herself, and grabbed the creature's throat, tackling it to the ground and eventually strangling it. She didn't call out for help until she thought the big cat was dead as she didn't want her young granddaughter to venture out into the vicinity of the wildcat.
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Attention

Indonesian woman cut from belly of giant python after she was eaten alive (warning - graphic video)


RT
Sun, 17 Jun 2018 12:07 UTC
Reticulated python
Reticulated python
An Indonesian woman has been cut out of the stomach of a giant python after the snake ate her alive. Disturbing footage shows villagers slice open the creature to recover the woman's body.

The victim, named as 54-year-old Wa Tiba, was reported missing in Muna regency, southeast Sulawesi on Thursday night, after she went to check on her corn plantation. The next morning family members searching for her found a torch, slippers and a machete on the ground near the plantation, reports Tribune News.com.

Later that morning, villagers spotted an eight-meter-long (26 foot) python with a swollen belly near the location, raising suspicions that Tiba had been swallowed whole by the snake and prompting locals to kill the creature.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strike most likely killed 50 geese near Montreal


canoe.com
Sun, 17 Jun 2018 11:04 UTC
A Canada Goose takes off in this undated file photo.
© John MajorA Canada Goose takes off in this undated file photo.
A lightning strike is likely behind the death of some 50 geese that were found floating in a river northeast of Montreal, experts say.

Universite de Montreal veterinary specialists were brought in to examine the carcasses that were spotted Thursday morning near Contrecoeur, Que.

Veterinarian Stephane Lair said Friday evening that the geese had small lesions in their hearts that indicated a possible strike.

He said the level of decomposition indicates that they all died at the same time, which rules out disease or intoxication due to a pollutant.
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Attention

Dead fin whale washes up in Bolinas, California - 5th for the region since March

Anna Guth
The Point Reyes Light
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 11:21 UTC
fin whalw
Almost a year to the day since a spectacular 79-foot blue whale washed up on Agate Beach, a 58-foot fin whale wound up on nearby Brighton Beach after meeting the same fate: death by ship strike. On May 22, the dead fin whale was spotted hung up on Duxbury Reef, according to a letter by Bolinas resident Kent Khtikian published in the Hearsay News last week.

Researchers with the Marine Mammal Center and California Academy of Sciences found the whale's skull, vertebrae and ribs fractured. It was one of two fin whales, which are among the fastest species in the ocean, that washed up in the Bay Area in the same week, bringing the total to five since March.

The species is listed as endangered, with the population in the North Pacific at about 1,600.
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House

'Good morning! Got any honey?' Bear breaks into California home through window

Vince Cestone
kron4.com
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 10:03 UTC
bear lake tahoe
South Lake Tahoe - New video shows a bear breaking into a South Lake Tahoe home on Wednesday.

The homeowners Sykes and Carole Scofield have been living in South Lake Tahoe for more than 20 years.

And they couldn't believe how the enormous creature could fit through the window, although they hadn't locked it.

They weren't home when the bear paid a visit.

You can see in the video that the bear left some marks on the side of the house.

Thankfully, no one was injured...

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Fish

Octopus, starfish and shrimp fall from the sky as storm batters coastal Chinese city - Residents post bizarre footage


Sputnik
Wed, 13 Jun 2018 03:37 UTC
Storm drops sea creatures on coastal Chinese city qingdao
The waterfront city of Qingdao, in eastern China, was struck by a severe storm Wednesday marked by strong winds, thunderstorms and hail, causing serious flooding and a number of broken trees. That wasn't all though: Chinese social media has also been flooded with an influx of images of sea creatures dumped into the city with the storm.

Photos circulating the web in China show people's windshields struck by everything from falling tree limbs to falling shrimps, starfish and even an octopus.

Comment: Following a brutal, record breaking winter, spring brought epic flooding and life-threatening hail to nearly every region on the planet: For more, check out SOTTs' monthly documentary: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - May 2018: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs

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Doberman

Wild animals are reverting to nocturnal habits of distant ancestors to avoid humans

Michael Le Page
New Scientist
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
lions becoming nocturnal
© National Geographic Creative / AlamyLions are increasingly active at night in areas where people are present
Once great monsters ruled the planet, and mammals cowered in the shadows and came out only at night. Now monsters once again rule the planet, and mammals are reverting to the nocturnal habits of their distant ancestors.

"All mammals were active entirely at night, because dinosaurs were the ubiquitous terrifying force on the planet," says Kaitlyn Gaynor of the University of California, Berkeley. "Now humans are the ubiquitous terrifying force on the planet, and we're forcing all of the other mammals back into the night-time."

Gaynor and her colleagues study the impact people have on wildlife. They noticed a striking pattern: animals were becoming more active at night to avoid human disturbances. When they looked in the scientific literature, they found many other groups had seen the same pattern.

Her team has now done a meta-analysis of 76 studies of 62 mammals all around the world. Almost all of them are shifting to the night to avoid us.
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Doberman

5-month-old girl killed by babysitter's dog in Clayton County, Georgia

Tyisha Fernandes
wsbtv.com
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 08:32 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
A family is furious after they say their babysitter's dog attacked and killed their 5-month-old.

Police say the German Shepherd mauled the baby in a home on Watts Road in Forest Park.

Family members told Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes that the whole thing is unreal, especially because the dog has been around the baby since she was born.

"I told her I'm so sorry because I always take you with me," mother Terika George said.

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Attention

Whale carcass washes ashore in Maharashtra, India


The Times of India
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 08:11 UTC
whale
A highly decomposed carcass of a 42 foot-long whale was washed ashore on Uran coast early Thursday morning. Forest officials who went to the spot said it could possibly be a blue whale, but will confirm only after the whale's tissue samples are fully analysed.

"In the past couple of years, there have been quite a few cases of whales washing ashore, including Bryde's whale, blue whale, sperm whale and humpbacks, and many dolphins, turtles too among marine animals,'' said the additional principal chief conservator of forests (mangrove cell) N Vasudevan. He added that it is alarming to document several such beaching of whales, and further study is required to know why it is happening.

Environmentalist D Stalin remarked, "The forest department must start funding a proper research on the causes of such instances of large marine species washing ashore. Besides sea pollution, oil spills, high traffic of cargo vessels, we need scientific evidence on the various factors involved here."
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Attention

Bryde's whale dies after rescue attempt in Guangdong Province, China

Tiffany Lo
Daily Mail
Thu, 14 Jun 2018 18:04 UTC
A group of volunteers spend hours pushing the massive Bryde's whale out to the sea
A group of volunteers spend hours pushing the massive Bryde's whale out to the sea
Dramatic footage has emerged showing a group of Chinese villagers joining forces in a bid to save an adult whale after it got washed ashore yesterday.

A dozen men were seen standing in choppy, waist-deep sea as they tried to push the massive mammal back to deep waters.

Despite their combined rescue effort, the four-tonne Bryde's whale got beached again last night and died on the beach.

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