Animals
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Black Cat 2

Rabid bobcat attacks spiral across the United States

Phyllis M. Daugherty
City Watch
Mon, 24 Jul 2017 13:24 UTC
bobcat
© Jack Oliver IIBobcat growling
A surge in attacks on humans and pets by bobcats testing positive for rabies across the U.S. in 2017 is getting the attention of public health officials who say it is unusual for bobcats to contract this disease and also abnormal for this elusive wild feline to attack humans. Officials warn that in any case where a bobcat attacks a human, rabies should be suspected.

Los Angeles has focused on its resident mountain lions, but the recent change in bobcat behavior in many states may warrant increased awareness. Other than sightings in Silver Lake in 2016, there has been little published about bobcats in LA, probably because they are shy and reclusive and don't feed on people's pets.

Both humans and pets can get rabies from direct physical contact, such as a bite, lick or scratch from an infected animal. Rabies exposures are taken seriously because once a person starts developing symptoms that person will not survive, experts say.

Over the last 100 years, rabies in the United States has changed dramatically. More than 90% of all animal cases reported annually to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) now occur in wildlife; before 1960 the majority were in domestic animals. The principal rabies hosts today are wild carnivores and bats.

But, it was a June 7 report that a rabid feral cat with a tipped ear bit a person trying to help it which caused Veterinarian Katie Thompson to state, "Despite the panic witnessed with Ebola, rabies is the deadliest virus on the planet."

Comment: See also: Surge of vicious raccoon attacks on people in the United States

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Wolf

Man dies from dog attack injuries in Fostoria, Ohio


The Courier
Tue, 25 Jul 2017 12:50 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
A Fostoria man died late last week after trying to break up a fight between his dog and another canine, and one of the pets bit him.

Michael Parks, 60, was bitten at about 11 p.m. Thursday while attempting to stop the two dogs from fighting.

He was taken to ProMedica Fostoria Community Hospital by Fostoria Fire Division's EMS squad, where he later died.

According to a report on file with Fostoria Police Division, Amy Loving, 42, of Fostoria, was walking her dog near 845 Davoli St. at about 11:04 p.m. when Parks' dog attacked it.

When Parks intervened, he was bitten multiple times. As of Friday afternoon, police are unsure if he was attacked by one dog or both of them.

"We're not exactly sure which dog bit him, if it was the one or both," Fostoria Police Chief Keith Loreno said. "He did have serious injuries as a result."
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Fish

Giant new sunfish species discovered off the coast of New Zealand


RT
Mon, 24 Jul 2017 14:50 UTC
new sunfish species
© Patrick Yananton / Facebook
A massive new two-ton species of sunfish has been discovered after it washed up on a beach in New Zealand.

A group of international researchers had been studying the Indo-Pacific region for four years before making their fascinating discovery. It is the first new species of this type of fish in 130 years.

"The new species managed to evade discovery for nearly three centuries by 'hiding' in a messy history of sunfish taxonomy, partially because they are so difficult to preserve and study, even for natural history museums," said lead author of the study Marianne Nyegaard.
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Attention

14 killed in wild animal attacks in Chitwan National Park, Nepal in 2016/17; compared to 5 for previous year

Rastriya Samachar Samiti
The Himalayan Times
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 14:29 UTC
Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
The number of people killed in wild animal attacks in Chitwan National Park and buffer zones has increased.

According to the record of the CNP, as many as 14 people have lost their lives in the wild animal attacks during the last fiscal year (2016/17) as against five people killed in the previous fiscal year (2015/16).

Of them, seven were killed in rhino attack, five in elephant attack and two in tiger attack.

Similarly, 30 people were injured in the wild animals' attack in the last fiscal year, shared CNP information officer Nurendra Aryal.

Six people were also killed due to attacks by wild animals while collecting fodders in the buffer zones of the Park.
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Wolf

Pit bull terrier breaks through window to attack man on road in Denison, Texas


KXII-TV
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 14:22 UTC
broken window
Denison police are investigating after they say two pit bulls jumped through a window, one of them attacking a man walking nearby.

Police said the man was walking down Twining Drive Saturday afternoon when he was attacked.

We're told the victim was bit several times on his leg and foot but was able to punch the dog who attacked him to get away.

He was driven to Texoma Medical Center and treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Both dogs went back to where they came from, but have since been captured by Animal Control.

No word yet on whether any charges will be filed.
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Attention

Surge of vicious raccoon attacks on people in the United States


World Net Daily
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 13:00 UTC
Raccoon
Raccoon
Gina Chiarelli and her dog, an 11-year-old Maltese named Rocky, had just stepped onto the grass in the backyard of her east Vancouver home earlier this month when a raccoon charged at the pair and sank its teeth into Rocky's head.

"We were there maybe four seconds, and all of a sudden," she said, "a huge raccoon, bigger than my dog, came flying out from under the deck and grabbed my dog by his head with his jaws

She could not separate the raccoon from Rocky's head for several minutes. But once the raccoon finally opened its mouth, in an instant, it began attacking Chiarelli - viciously biting her, scratching, locking on to the back of her legs. The attack went on for 15 minutes.

"It was like a whirling dervish just attacking me relentlessly," she said. "There was blood all across the deck and all over the house. My pants were just soaked in blood, big huge holes in them. I seriously thought that animal was going to kill me. I really, really thought that he was going to kill me."

It may be one of the more dramatic and violent raccoon attacks of the last several months, but it's hardly an isolated incident. It's just one of dozens reported nationwide in states including Virginia, Maine, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Louisiana, Florida and New Jersey.
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Attention

Shark bites woman off the Florida Keys

Gwen Filosa
Miami Herald
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 12:17 UTC
Shark attacks
A 40-year-old woman was airlifted to a Miami hospital after she was reportedly bitten by a small shark Saturday near Snipe Point offshore Key West, the Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard Sector Key West received a call from a good Samaritan at 12:37 p.m. Saturday, reporting the incident and the location of the victim.

A 33-foot boat crew from Coast Guard Station Key West arrived on the scene.

The woman and her husband were taken to the station, where she was transferred to awaiting emergency medical services in good condition, the Coast Guard said.

Monroe County Sheriff's Office Deputy Becky Herrin said the woman was injured on her foot.
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Newspaper

City warns 'aggressive' squirrel that's gnawed on five people in Brooklyn park may have rabies

Andrew Keshner
New York Daily News
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 20:55 UTC

Call this squirrel Rocky - and stay away.

The city Health Department is putting out the warning on an "unusually aggressive squirrel" in Brooklyn's Prospect Park that's attacked and bitten five people.

Though squirrels rarely have rabies, city health officials are assuming this one does.
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Sheeple

Over 200 sheep dead after bear chases them off a cliff in the Pyrenees, France

Rory Mulholland
Telegraph
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 14:16 UTC
Sheep
© Andia Uig/Getty ImagesSheep in the Pyrenees
More than 200 sheep have died after they hurtled over the edge of a cliff in the Pyrenees mountains while being chased by a bear.

Their deaths have reignited the bitter debate over the presence of bears in the mountain range that straddles the French-Spanish border, where they were reintroduced 20 years ago after disappearing in the early 1990s.

The sheep belonged to a farmer in the Couflens area on the French side of the border, but their bodies were found last Sunday at the foot of a cliff just over the border in Spain.

The rest of the large flock was missing after dispersing over the mountains while fleeing the attack.

Local authorities sent experts to examine the scene during the week and they concluded that the sheep had been running away from a bear.

Comment: There's some doubt on the bear attack theory. Any farmer in the Pyrenees with sheep dead from unknown causes, i.e. where they are found dead with no evidence of animal attack, would most likely try to push the "bear said boo!" angle. These kinds of government/EU subsidies and compensation have been exploited by farmers and others across the EU for decades.

Although a bear attack can't be ruled out, we can suspect that the incident was created by a "weather event" or something that created a high impact explosion, like a sonic boom or lightning strike. Sheep have acute hearing and are prone to "instantly scatter" away from heavy percussion and the source of the vibration. Many of the sheep were found to have dispersed over the mountains. It's dubious that a bear attack would create that type of a reaction.

On the other hand, the Spanish news agency Europa Press said that bear fur had been found on one of the dead sheep. The fur would be analysed to try to establish exactly what had happened. But this is a bit strange that bear fur can be found so opportunely on a sheep. Another possibility is that the bear didn't come along afterwards and the sheep were spooked by something else.

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Attention

Tourist is attacked by shark off Mallorca, Spain

Rita Sobot
Daily Mail
Sun, 23 Jul 2017 14:12 UTC
Shark attacks
A tourist has been attacked by a 6ft shark on a crowded Mallorca beach in the third sighting this summer.

Swimmers were ordered to leave the waters of the Estanys beach in Colònia de Sant Jordi after the man was grazed on the arm by the female shark yesterday afternoon.

A shark sighting alert was relayed to nearby beaches and a red warning flag was raised.

The shark is thought to have come close to the shore due to the hot weather and tides, or become sick and disorientated.

This is the third time a shark has been seen in the waters of Mallorca in the last few weeks.
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