Animals
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Eye 2

They grow them big in the Far North! Police discover five-metre long python blocking road in Queensland

Mark Molloy
The Telegraph
Wed, 13 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
Scrub python Queensland
© Queensland Police / FacebookActing Senior Constable Chris Kenny of Queensland Police stands next to a scrub python

Police in Australia joked they were "going to need a bigger ladder" after encountering a five-metre long python blocking the road.

Queensland Police officers encountered the amethystine python, also known as a scrub python, near the small community of Wujul Wujul, located 345km north of Cairns.

Officers on a night patrol had to wait for the slithering reptile to cross the road, giving them enough time to capture a photo which has racked up over 50,000 shares and likes on Facebook.

"They breed them big in the Far North!" explained Senior Constable Heidi Marek.
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Books

Dogs help struggling young readers in Lithuania library


Digital Journal
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 17:46 UTC
therapy dog
© Petras Malukas, AFPEight-year-old Urte reads to therapy dog Mona at Lithuania's national library in Vilnius.
Mona, a black flat-coated retriever, listens intently to eight-year-old Urte as she reads aloud from a children's book while they sit on a red pillow in Lithuania's grand national library in Vilnius.

Mona and her side-kick, a golden retriever named Gongas, are therapy dogs trained to give struggling young readers the positive attention and confidence boost that teachers sometimes fail to provide.

"While reading to a dog a kid isn't stressed; he's relaxed because nobody will point out his mistakes or tell him to re-read a passage," programme coordinator Viktorija Pukenaite told AFP.

Unlike traditional lessons in schools where teachers are in charge, children are in full control of the 15-minute reading therapy sessions with the dogs, which are carefully selected using special tests.
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No Entry

Third sea lion attack in a week prompts swimming ban at San Francisco's aquatic park

Rong-Gong Lin II and Brittny Mejia
LA Times
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 23:45 UTC
sea lions bark at each other at Pier 39 in San Francisco
© Eric Risberg / Associated PressA third attack by a sea mammal in San Francisco in a week has prompted officials to ban swimming in the Aquatic Park Cove. In this Oct. 15, 2010 file photo, sea lions bark at each other at Pier 39 in San Francisco, which is east of Aquatic Park Cove.
A third attack by a sea mammal in San Francisco in a week has prompted officials to ban swimming in the Aquatic Park Cove on the northern edge of the city's waterfront.

"The Aquatic Park Cove has been closed to swimming due to reports of an aggressive marine mammal biting swimmers in the area," the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park tweeted Friday.

The closure is scheduled at least through Monday.

Comment: See also: Sea lion attacks swimmers on consecutive days in San Francisco Bay

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Attention

Sea lion attacks swimmers on consecutive days in San Francisco Bay


nbcdfw.com
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 21:33 UTC
sea lion
Sea lion
The Golden Gate National Park Service on Friday closed San Francisco's Aquatic Park to swimmers after a second sea lion attack.

Fire officials told the public to avoid the area after a second sea lion reportedly attacked a swimmer in the park's waters. Swimmers are forbidden from entering the water at least through Monday "due to multiple marine animal bites," a sign at the scene read.

Multiple public safety agencies are working together with the NPS - the lead agency - on a safety plan, SFFD said.

Fire officials tweeted around 9 a.m. Friday that a 60-year-old man was taken to a trauma center after reportedly being bitten by a sea lion on his arm.

SFFD said in a tweet: "Avoid the area, swim at your own risk at Aquatic Park."


Comment: Other reports of sea lion attacks on humans: Sea lion grabs young girl and drags her into the water in Richmond, British Columbia

Boy bitten on face by sea lion at La Jolla Cove, California

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Wolf

Woman mauled to death by her pit bull terriers in Goochland County, Virginia

Jon Burkett and Scott Wise
wtvr.com
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 21:18 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
Bethany Lynn Stephens, a 22-year-old Glen Allen woman found dead in the woods off Manakin Road Thursday night, was mauled to death by her dogs, Goochland County Sheriff James Agnew said.

Stephens' father called 911 Thursday, at about 8:18 p.m., when he went looking for his daughter in an area of Goochland where she often walked her dogs.

He discovered her dogs in the woods, and he told the sheriff's office the dogs appeared to be "guarding" Bethany's body.

Sheriff's deputies arrived and spent 60 to 90 minutes attempted to catch the dogs -- which the sheriff described as pit bull dogs.

Bethany's body was taken to the Medical Examiner's Office.

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Heart

Marauding elephants leave newborn baby unscathed in Odisha, India

Mihir Ray
The Times of India
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 19:45 UTC
Shanti with her newborn, in their damaged house in Biramitrapur on Monday.
Shanti with her newborn, in their damaged house in Biramitrapur on Monday.
As tales of ruthless elephants destroying crops and habitats trickle in from different parts of the state, reports of an incident on Monday night speak of the deeper kindness of nature itself.

A 32-member herd that went on a rampage in Sundargarh's Biramitrapur town, while destroying the furniture and kitchen of a house, spared a seven-day-old baby sleeping alone inside.

As elephants attacked a house, its members ran out of it in panic. In their fear, the family forgot the newborn.

Eyewitnesses standing outside in horror saw an elephant approach the child, sleeping on the floor, quietly touch her with its trunk, and turn away.

Comment: Interestingly, there was even more amazing story involving the actual rescue of an infant 3 years ago: Rampaging Indian elephant smashes up house but then 'saves crying baby trapped under debris'

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Black Cat

Man fights off leopard with his bare hands in Uttar Pradesh, India

Sanjay Pandey and Liz Dunphy
Mirror
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 21:02 UTC
A horrified crowd watched as the man was almost ravaged by the wild cat in the village of Khairi in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh last week
© NewslionsA horrified crowd watched as the man was almost ravaged by the wild cat in the village of Khairi in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh last week
This is the terrifying moment that a 60-year-old man fights off a leopard with his bare hands.

Blood curdling screams can be heard as the man wrestles with the big, muscular cat in the video, after it went on a rampage in an Indian village where it attacked at least two other people.

A horrified crowd watched as the man was almost ravaged by the wild cat but villagers eventually managed to scare it away from the village of Khairi in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh last week.

During the attack, the cat pounced on the man and plunged its claws into his flesh while sinking its teeth into his limbs while trying to wrestle him to the ground.

But he grappled with the cat and grabbed a large stick to use as a weapon and a shield, and eventually managed to pull free from the predator's grasp.

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Wolf

Pedestrian and bus driver severely mauled by Tibetan Mastiff in eastern China

Tiffany Lo
Daily Mail
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 14:40 UTC
The giant dog attacks and bites on Ms Song's leg before onlookers stop by and help her out
The giant dog attacks and bites on Ms Song's leg before onlookers stop by and help her out
A woman was saved by a heroic bus driver while being attacked by a Tibetan Mastiff in the middle of a road in east China.

CCTV footage captured the moment the driver fended off the dangerous dog with a fire extinguisher.

The woman and the driver have been taken to hospital by onlookers, and the dog is still at large.

According to The Paper, Ms Song saw a Tibetan Mastiff wandering in the middle of the traffic on her way back home in Zibo, Shandong Province.

The canine, usually favoured by rich Chinese people, started to attack her when it spotted her at the lane barriers.

Surveillance video shows the dog pounces onto Ms Song suddenly and attacks her.


Comment: See also these recent reports of canine attacks: Boy killed by 3 dogs in Cherokee County, South Carolina

Woman killed by pack of pit bull terriers in Jackson County, Alabama; second such attack in the state in 10 days

Elderly woman killed by her own pit bull terrier in Alsip, Illinois

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Attention

Fin whale dies after being stranded at Newport News, Virginia

Becca Mitchell
wtkr.com
Tue, 12 Dec 2017 13:45 UTC
dead whale
A large whale has been spotted in the Newport News Channel just off King-Lincoln Park Beach near the Monitor Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel.

On Tuesday morning, the whale was moving and appeared to be stuck in the shallow water. The whale was declared dead by Tuesday afternoon. It is being moved to deeper water.

The Newport News Police Department Marine Unit is on scene. The Virginia Aquarium's Stranding Response Team has been notified and are working on a plan.

While whales are not uncommon in local waters during colder months, some can become stranded, lost or injured by boaters.

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Camera

Bizarre sight as hundreds of birds found dead on a road in northern Sweden

Anton Svensson
SVT Nyheter
Tue, 12 Dec 2017 12:01 UTC
Translated by Sott.net
dead birds sweden
© Mikael Lind
A bizarre sight hit Mikael Lind from Örnsköldsvik.

Hundreds of gray birds suddenly died in the middle of the road.

"It was surreal," he told SVT News.

He was headed towards Gottne in November when he saw the birds just lying there in the middle of the road, over an estimated 25 meter stretch.

"At first I thought it was rocks or gravel, so I slowed down to around 50 kph, but the closer I came, it turned out to be birds. But they did not move so some of the birds were picked up by the car and got stuck in the grill," he says.

He then stopped to examine the absurd view more closely.

Comment: There is likely an environmental factor behind this, perhaps some sort of electric discharge that zapped them mid-flight. Or there could be stranger explanations:

And They March! The Strange Tale of the Beebe Blackbirds
Procession of the Damned: Mass Bird and Fish Deaths Turning Up Everywhere
Reign of Fire: Meteorites, Wildfires, Planetary Chaos and the Sixth Extinction

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