Animals
S


Fish

Rare, venomous sea snake found on Southern California beach

Louis Sahagun
Los Angeles Times
Thu, 11 Jan 2018 07:06 UTC
yellow-bellied sea snake
© Natural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyYellow-bellied sea snake
A rare venomous sea snake found slithering on the sand in Newport Beach earlier this week was one of a growing number of the serpents apparently drawn far north of their usual habitat by the spread of warm ocean temperatures, a biologist said Thursday.

The yellow-bellied sea snake discovered near the 18th Street lifeguard tower on Monday was the third report of the species in Southern California since 2015 - and the fifth since 1972, said Greg Pauly, herpetological curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
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Attention

Wild Florida rhesus monkeys are excreting rare herpes B virus that could be dangerous to humans


The Guardian
Wed, 10 Jan 2018 12:47 UTC
Florida rhesus monkey herpes b
Wildlife agency says free-roaming monkeys at state park are a public health concern, as 30% may have Herpes B that can spread to visitors via bodily fluids.
Wildlife managers in Florida say they want to remove roaming monkeys from the state in light of a new study published on Wednesday, which finds some of the animals are excreting a virus that can be dangerous to humans.

Scientists studying a growing population of rhesus macaques in Silver Springs state park say that rather than just carrying herpes B, which is common in the species, some of the monkeys have the virus in their saliva and other bodily fluids, posing a potential risk of spreading the disease.

Human cases of the virus have been rare, with about 50 documented worldwide, and there have been no known transmissions of it to people from wild rhesus macaques in Florida or elsewhere. However, the researchers say the issue has not been thoroughly studied.
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Fish

A marine biologist says a humpback whale protected her from a huge tiger shark while diving


CBC News
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 13:53 UTC
Nan Hauser with Whale
© CatersThe 22 tonne humpback whale protecting Nan Hauser from a shark.
An American marine biologist says footage of her swimming with a humpback whale shows the large mammal protecting her from a tiger shark.

Nan Hauser, 63, president of the Center for Cetacean Research and Conservation and a Brunswick, Maine, resident, says she uploaded footage of her encounter Monday and it quickly spread across the internet.

Hauser tells the Portland Press Herald she was in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean when she came face-to-face with a 23-tonne humpback whale, which approached her and began nudging her around the water. She says the whale also shielded her with a fin and even lifted her out of the water on one occasion.
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Attention

Record number of cold stunned turtles for Texas


Panama City News Herald
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 20:00 UTC
Padre Island National Seashore's Tom Backof holds a rehabilitated sea turtle before releasing it
Padre Island National Seashore's Tom Backof holds a rehabilitated sea turtle before releasing it
Florida sea turtles weren't the only ones impacted by last week's cold snap.

In Texas, more than 2,000 turtles were cold stunned, which breaks all state records. Many of the turtles have been brought to Texas A&M University in addition to NOAA Fisheries Galveston Laboratory Sea Turtle Hospital.

While the situation is more dramatic in Texas, the Panhandle is experiencing its second largest cold stun event. More than 850 cold-stunned turtles have been taken in for treatment at Gulf World Marine Institute after temperatures dropped in the bays.

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Wolf

Woman killed by pit bull terrier in West Monroe, Louisiana


wwl.com
Wed, 10 Jan 2018 19:32 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
A pit bull fatally wounded a woman at a Brownsville area pet boarding house last night. Ouachita Parish Sheriffs spokesperson Glen Springfield says deputies arrived at the Happy Hounds Hotel and found the victim had been severely injured...

"When the deputies got there they found a female victim that was severely injured apparently by the pit bull that was being housed at the location."

Springfield says first responders tried to stabilize the woman, but the wounds were fatal.

"She appeared to be injured, medical assistance was rendered but it was fatal."
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Black Cat

Leopard kills, eats 2 children in 6 hours in Madhya Pradesh, India


The Times of India
Wed, 10 Jan 2018 15:12 UTC
Leopard
Leopard
A leopard killed and ate two children in a span of 12 hours in Chhindwara district on Sunday, triggering panic among villagers living on the fringes of the forest range.

With these two deaths, five children have now been killed by tigers and leopards in the state in three months.

What terrifies the villagers is that the leopard struck in clear daylight. On Sunday afternoon, it killed a three year-old girl in front of her house in Mohli Mata village and made off with the corpse. About six hours later, it struck again and killed a 10-year-old boy 3km away in Jholidhana village.

The victim, Harish Tekam, was sitting outside his house when he was attacked. The leopard was so swift that no one heard a thing. When his mother came outside a little later, she saw blood splatters on the walls of her little hut and the boy missing.
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Eye 2

How alligators adapt to frozen swamp water in North Carolina

Mary Kekatos
Daily Mail
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 15:30 UTC
Alligators essentially allow themselves to be frozen in place with their noses just above the surface, according to a video posted on Facebook by Shallotte River Swamp Park in Ocean Isle Beach
Alligators essentially allow themselves to be frozen in place with their noses just above the surface, according to a video posted on Facebook by Shallotte River Swamp Park in Ocean Isle Beach
A North Carolina swamp park has posted a video how alligators survive in a frozen pond.

The cold-blooded reptiles cannot generate their own body heat, but they can regulate it by changing their environment in a system called brumation. The creatures lower their body temperature and metabolism so they can survive.

Alligators essentially allow themselves to be frozen in place with their noses just above the surface, according to a video posted on Facebook by Shallotte River Swamp Park in Ocean Isle Beach

While it's hard to believe they are able to survive the icy conditions, animal experts say they are very much alive and doing okay.

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Attention

Thousands of flying foxes killed by record-breaking heatwave near Sydney, Australia

Brooke Rolfe
Daily Mail
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 14:36 UTC
The head count of dead bats could reach their thousands as Sunday's heatwave took a deathly toll on a critical portion of Campbelltown's flying fox colony
The head count of dead bats could reach their thousands as Sunday's heatwave took a deathly toll on a critical portion of Campbelltown's flying fox colony
As record breaking heat swept across Western Sydney on Sunday, it took with it 'thousands' of bats who melted in the sweltering conditions.

A critical portion of Campbelltown's flying fox colony died from the heat, as surging temperatures left many dead on the ground and still suspended among the trees.

Heartbreaking photos of the death toll were shared online by volunteer groups Wires and Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands, who tried desperately to save as many lives as they could.

As parts of the state became the hottest place on earth Sunday, rescuers from North Western Sydney Wires worked tirelessly alongside Sydney Wildlife volunteers.

But unfortunately for hundreds - potentially thousands - of bats, their help came a little too late.
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Wolf

Teenage girl killed by dog pack in Jharkhand, India


The Indian Express
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 10:49 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
A 12-year-old girl, who had gone to answer nature's call outside her house, was killed when a bunch of dogs attacked her in a village under Markachcho police station area of Jharkhand's Koderma district on Sunday morning. Koderma is one of the five open defecation free (ODF) districts in Jharkhand.

According to the police, they got information about the girl, identified as Madhu Kumari, daughter of Umesh Singh, a resident of Bhagwatidih village in Markachcho (South) panchayat, was killed by the dogs on Sunday morning.

"The information we got was that the girl had gone to answer nature's call and was surrounded and attacked by a bunch of dogs. There were attempts by some children to shoo the dogs away, but it was too late. They raised an alarm and alerted their family members. They also shooed away the dogs. But, by then, it was too late. No official complaint has been registered. We are treating this case as an accident," said Officer-in-charge (Markachcho), Arun Kumar.
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Hardhat

Insects are the canaries in our coal mine - magical thinking won't help us this time

Matthew J. Edlund M.D.
Psychology Today
Wed, 03 Jan 2018 17:31 UTC
insects
© Pixabay
People hate insects. They bite, snap, sting, and kill. Perhaps the most hated animal on the planet is the mosquito, despised for bringing malaria, dengue fever, sleeping sickness and a host of other fatal and disfiguring diseases. The most frightening sci-fi film monsters, from Alien to Starship Troopers are giant, intelligent insectoids. Whether it's the ticks bringing Lyme Disease or the vicious black flies of the north woods, lots of us would be happy to see insects disappear.

The problem is, we might, too.

Comment: Vanishing act: Why insects are disappearing and why it matters

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