Animals
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Attention

Signs and Portents: Snake born with two heads in Doncaster, UK

Paul Sims
The Sun (UK)
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 20:49 UTC
The snake has two brains and one body, but the two heads fight one another for food and can lead to death
The snake has two brains and one body, but the two heads fight one another for food and can lead to death
Pet owner Martin Hunter got the fright of his life after his baby corn snake was born - with two heads.

Stunned Martin, 48, returned home from work last week to find the rare reptile slithering around its incubator.

The dad-of-four, of Doncaster, South Yorks., said: "I took one look at it and thought 'what the f***. I thought I was seeing things.

"At first I thought it was twins, but then I realised there were two heads but only one body."

Martin, who breeds snakes to sell to pet shops and has several different species, says the snake was one of 17 eggs laid by a female corn snake.

It hatched from its egg in his living room after 56 days in an incubator and appears to be healthy and fully functioning.
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Wolf

2 pit bull terriers bite 4 people in Tampa, Florida

Jonathan Capriel
Tampa Bay Times
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 19:49 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
A Tampa police officer fatally shot a dog, and the county took another into custody after the loose animals went on a biting spree Tuesday, officials said. Four people were bitten. One refused medical treatment and the others were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, police said.

The dogs' owner has been notified, said Todd Pratt, spokesperson for Hillsborough County.

The dogs were running loose just after 9 a.m. near the intersection of Dale Mabry Highway and Tampa Bay Boulevard, said Stephen Hegarty, police spokesman. Officials described them as large pit bulls or pit bull mixes.

The dogs had already bitten three people when police arrived. A woman driving a van on Dale Mabry Highway stopped and tried to grab the dogs. The officer yelled for her to get back inside her vehicle, but they bit her before she could.
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Fish

Dead fish, marine animals wash up along the west coast of India

Badri Chatterjee
Hindustan Times
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 15:35 UTC
Stingrays washed up at Alibaug beach
© Hindustan TimesStingrays washed up at Alibaug beach
Fish and other marine life have been washing up on the country's west coast for the past three days, leaving marine biologists baffled.

ReefWatch Marine Conservation, a nature conservancy group, said they have reports of fish, crabs and shrimp getting stranded on the coast near Alibaug in Maharashtra, Karwar in Karnataka and Varkala in Kerala between Saturday and Tuesday. The group said it received images and videos from volunteers that indicate the cause of the marine deaths could be similar. "There are two possible reasons we are looking at — low oxygen zones at sea pushing these organisms close to the shore or severe toxicity in the water. However, only a detailed study can reveal the exact cause," said Nayantara Jain, executive director, ReefWatch Marine Conservation.

The Maharashtra Maritime Board said the deaths were a matter of concern. "We have never seen lakhs of fish species washing ashore at different beaches along the entire west coast," said Atul Patne, chief executive officer, MMB
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Bug

Swarm of giant hornets kills wheelchair-bound woman by stinging her 150 times in 50-minute attack in Japan

AFP and Chris Pleasance
Daily Mail
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 16:51 UTC
Chieko Kikuchi, 87, died after a swarm of giant hornets stung her 150 times in 50 minutes as she was being taken home from a nursing facility (file image)
Chieko Kikuchi, 87, died after a swarm of giant hornets stung her 150 times in 50 minutes as she was being taken home from a nursing facility (file image)
A wheelchair-bound Japanese pensioner has died after being attacked by a swarm of giant Asian hornets.

Chieko Kikuchi, 87, was being taken back home from a nursing facility in western Ehime Prefecture when a swarm of the insects descended on her.

A carer, who was escorting her at the time, and paramedics who were called to the scene watched helplessly as she was stung 150 times in a 50-minute ordeal.

The carer initially tried to save Kikuchi herself but was unable to get through the swarm because it was too thick.

She called the nursing facility for help who dispatched paramedics to the scene.

However, the medics arrived without protective clothing because they were wrongly told Kikuchi had already been dragged to safety.
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Wolf

Feral dog pack attacks motorcycles and car causing 2 deaths in Thailand

Saichon Srinuanchan
Bangkok Post
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 14:01 UTC
Officials tranquilize and capture two of the feral dogs that have been attacking vehicles in Muang district, Ratchaburi. The pack caused major damage to a parked car (inset).
© Saichon SrinuanchanOfficials tranquilize and capture two of the feral dogs that have been attacking vehicles in Muang district, Ratchaburi. The pack caused major damage to a parked car (inset).
The hunt began on Friday to round up a pack of feral dogs that have terrorised motorcyclists, causing the death of two people, and done serious damage to a car in Muang district.

Two dogs were caught, but the owner of the car subject to the shocking attack was not sure whether they were part of the pack or not.

Chartchai Sangsil, chief of Ratchaburi livestock office, led a team of municipal officials and livestock officials to hunt down the canine marauders along Soi Srisuriyawong 2 and adjacent areas in Muang district on Friday morning.

Many dogs were seen fleeing as the team entered the nearby forest where they were known to stay.
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Attention

Over 10,000 fire jellyfish found near Gai Island, Thailand

Nattha Thepbamrung and Kritsada Mueanhawong
Phuket Gazette
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 13:21 UTC
jelly fish
During a survey by officers of Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park today (October 4), the team found a massive group of pink fire jellyfish floating on the water surface.

"We found a lot of fire jellyfish near Gai Island and we have warned all tour boats to be careful of them and avoid diving in the area as they are poisonous and can leaving painful stings if you swim into them," said Chief of Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, Worapot Lomlim.
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Attention

Young minke whale dies in Wellfleet Harbor, Massachusetts

Haven Orecchio-Egresitz
Cape Cod Times
Thu, 05 Oct 2017 13:04 UTC
The minke whale that died in Wellfleet Harbor
© International Fund for Animal WelfareThe minke whale that died in Wellfleet Harbor
An International Fund for Animal Welfare marine mammal rescue and research team performed a necropsy on a young minke whale that stranded and died in Wellfleet on Wednesday, according to organization spokeswoman Kerry Branon.

The male whale was spotted swimming in Wellfleet Harbor on Wednesday, but stranded and then died shortly after the team began to provide care, Branon said.

Researchers are investigating the animal's cause of death and its condition.

Minke whales are common with a population that is believed to top a million individuals, and frequently seen in waters around Cape Cod. They can grow to up to 33 feet long and weigh up to 10 tons, according to the American Cetacean Society.
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Bizarro Earth

Giant 25ft python attacks Indonesian man, villagers rescue him then kill and eat snake


Daily Mail
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 09:50 UTC
snake
Villagers stand beside the 7.8 metre (25.6 foot) long python which was killed after it attacked an Indonesian man, nearly severing his arm, in the remote Batang Gansal subdistrict of Sumatra island
A giant python attacked an Indonesian man, nearly severing his arm, before hungry villagers chopped up the reptile and ate it, a police chief said Wednesday.

Security guard Robert Nababan crossed paths with the giant creature while patrolling an oil palm plantation in the remote Batang Gansal subdistrict of Sumatra island on Saturday.

"The python was 7.8 metres long (25.6 feet), it was unbelievably huge," local police chief Sutarja, who like many Indonesians only has one name, told AFP.

Sutarja said the 37-year-old Nababan, who sometimes liked to eat snake, tried to catch the giant python and stuff it in a gunny sack.
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Attention

Humpback whale washes up on Block Island, Rhode Island

Lars Trodson
Block Island Times
Tue, 03 Oct 2017 17:40 UTC
The carcass of a humpback whale was found on Ballard's Beach on Block Island, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017
© Lars Trodson/Block Island TimesThe carcass of a humpback whale was found on Ballard's Beach on Block Island, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017
A beached humpback whale was found at Ballard's Beach this morning, Tuesday, Oct. 3. It does not appear to be the carcass of the humpback whale that was found beached at Mohegan Bluffs a little less than a month ago, as that whale had tests performed on it by a team from Mystic Seaport.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called a "declared unusual mortality rate" for whales beginning in April 2016 for an area stretching from North Carolina to Maine, which is still ongoing. Some people in New England are claiming that the existence of the five turbines comprising the Block Island Wind Farm are causing the unusual mortality rate, while so far NOAA said it has not found any link between the deaths of the whales and the unusual mortality rate.

Comment: See also this report from last month: Dead whales found on Narragansett, Block Island shores in Rhode Island

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Attention

Man killed by bear in Odisha, India


Kalinga TV
Tue, 03 Oct 2017 17:35 UTC
bear print
An elderly man was killed in wild bear attack at Kucheijor village under Narla block Tuesday morning.

The deceased has been identified as Dhanu Bag.

Dhanu had gone to a forest located near the village to collect firewood when the bear attacked him. He died on the spot. His body was recovered by some villagers later in the morning.

The M Rampur police reached the spot and sent the body for autopsy.

BEAR ATTACK
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