Animals
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Butterfly

UK butterfly population crashes; fourth worst year on record


Butterfly Conservation.
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 17:25 UTC
Heath Fritillary
Heath Fritillary
UK butterflies suffered their fourth worst year on record in 2016 with the majority of species experiencing a decline in numbers, a study has revealed.

A mild winter followed by a cold spring contributed to conditions that saw both rare and widespread species struggle despite many parts of the UK enjoying a warm and dry summer.

Some 40 of the 57 species studied recorded a decline compared with 2015, the annual UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) led by Butterfly Conservation, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) revealed.

The highly threatened Heath Fritillary had its worst year on record for the second year running, while the Grizzled Skipper, Wall, Grayling, White-letter Hairstreak and White Admiral all recorded their worst ever years.

The Heath Fritillary, restricted to just a handful of sites in southern England, saw numbers slump by 27% compared to 2015. This ongoing decline raises fears for the long-term future of the butterfly whose numbers have fallen by 82% in the last decade.

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Wolf

Toddler hospitalized after pit bull attack in Elmwood Place, Ohio


wcpo.com
Thu, 13 Apr 2017 12:30 UTC
Dog attack
A toddler was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Wednesday night after a dog attacked her in her own back yard, according to police.

Keith McAfee said he was helping his cousin with yardwork nearby when he heard the sound of the girl's screaming.

"The next thing I see is a black pit bull had a little girl on the ground. (It) was basically shaking her around like she was a rag doll," he said.

He said he approached the dog and attempted to scare it away, but it continued to attack the girl. She only escaped, according to McAfee, when her mother stepped in to grab her and run. Multiple witnesses had called police, and the girl was taken to Children's Hospital in an ambulance.

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Arrow Up

Horse rescued from 14-feet deep sinkhole in Kittitas County, Washington


Komo News
Thu, 13 Apr 2017 11:45 UTC
Kittitas County firefighters helped rescue a horse after it fell into a sinkhole Tuesday evening, April 11, 2017.
© Lt. Crystal Campbell, Kittitas Co. Fire District #7Kittitas County firefighters helped rescue a horse after it fell into a sinkhole Tuesday evening, April 11, 2017.
Firefighters from Kittitas County Fire District #7 helped rescue a horse after it fell into a 14-feet deep sinkhole Tuesday evening.

The owner found the animal stuck in the sinkhole on his property on Book Lane, about eight miles west of Cle Elum off I-90, and called for help.

Firefighters said the sinkhole was about five feet wide at the surface and about 10 to 12 feet wide underground.

They helped harness and lower a veterinarian into the sinkhole to check on the horse named Copper.

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Eye 2

Tourist posing for a photo with snake in India doesn't even realize when the snake bites his face... 'then dies an hour later'

Dinesh Dubey
Daily Mail
Mon, 10 Apr 2017 15:53 UTC
This is the moment a tourist in Jodhpur, northwestern India, was bitten on the face by a cobra while posing for pictures with a snake charmer
This is the moment a tourist in Jodhpur, northwestern India, was bitten on the face by a cobra while posing for pictures with a snake charmer
This is the moment a man was fatally bitten by a cobra while watching a snake charmer in India.

Video shows the charmer attempting to put the snake around the tourist's neck while other people watch and film.

But the agitated reptile strikes out, biting the man on the cheek and delivering a deadly dose of venom.

The man does not immediately notice he has been poisoned, as he carries on posing for the camera.

Moments later he seems to sense that something is amiss, asking the charmer to check whether he has been bitten.

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Eye 2

Snake flies through a crack in the door of an internet café and bites man in Thailand

Scott Campbell
Daily Mail
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 15:39 UTC
In video of the shocking encounter, the slithering creature appears to fly through the air through a crack in the door
In video of the shocking encounter, the slithering creature appears to fly through the air through a crack in the door
This is the terrifying moment a 'feisty' snake seemingly sprang out of nowhere and attacked a man by biting him on the bottom.

In video of the shocking encounter, the slithering creature appears to fly through the air when the unsuspecting internet cafe customer cracks open the door.

It immediately latches on to his bottom sending the man running for safety in the venue in the Wiset Chai Chan District of Ang Thong, Thailand.

But its sharp teeth are clamped on so hard that he is forced to kick the snake then roll on the floor in a bid to shake it off.

It creates pandemonium in the internet cafe with other customers hit by his volley of kicks and a chair knocked over.

As the others flee for cover some of them can't help but laugh at the panicking man's dramatic reaction to the rat snake.

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Eye 2

Father fighting for his life after rare snake attack near London

Martin Robinson
Daily Mail
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 15:28 UTC
The adder, which is the only venomous snake living wild in the UK, continued to thrash around near his boys Sebastian, two, and Lincoln, three, as Mr Rose collapsed.
The adder, which is the only venomous snake living wild in the UK, continued to thrash around near his boys Sebastian, two, and Lincoln, three, as Mr Rose collapsed.
A young father was left fighting for his life after being bitten by a 3ft snake hiding under his toddler son's buggy.

Josh Rose, 27, from south-west London, was taking his children for a picnic last Saturday when he was attacked by the adder.

Mr Rose was sent into anaphylactic shock and was temporarily paralysed while he helplessly watched the snake slither close to his two young sons.

The builder had seen the so-called 'crack' adder, which hides between rocks, under his two-year-old son Sebastian's pushchair on Hounslow Heath last Saturday.
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Blackbox

Hundreds of dead fish mysteriously washing up in Chesterfield Township, Michigan canal


Fox 2 Detroit
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 14:18 UTC
dead fish michigan
Several residents in Chesterfield Township are concerned about hundreds of dead fish that have been washing up near their property.

The fish have been turning up in a canal behind Lighthouse Pointe, a residential street off Jefferson Avenue.

The canal flows into Anchor Bay in Lake Saint Clair. One homeowner tells us some of the fish are still alive and appear to be struggling in the water. Neighbors say they've never seen anything in their backyards like this. "I've lived here five years, and there's been dead fish in the water before but not by the hundreds," Magdaleno Dias says.

He says he saw about two or three hundred dead fish in the water just on Tuesday morning. He'd like to see environmental officials come out and test the water.
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Better Earth

Shining Sea: 75% of Ocean's animals glow

Stephanie Pappas
Live Science
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:43 UTC
bioluminescent creatures
© Richard A McMillin/ShutterstockThe sea is full of bio-luminescent creatures, like this moon jellyfish.
The ocean is a dark, dark place. Below about 656 feet (200 meters), light doesn't penetrate. Considering that the average depth of the ocean is around 14,000 feet (4,267 m), that leaves a lot of room for inky blackness.

Marine life has figured out a way to cope. New research finds that a full three-quarters of sea animals make their own light.

The study, published April 4 in the journal Scientific Reports, is the first to really quantify animal bioluminescence in the ocean. It turns out that the ability to glow isn't rare at all.

"I'm not sure people realize how common bioluminescence is," study researcher Séverine Martini, a postdoctoral researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), said in a statement. "It's not just a few deep-sea fishes, like the angler fish. It's jellies, worms, squids ... all sorts of things." [Gallery: Images of Glowing Aquatic Life]
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Wolf

Stray dog attacks 5 students in Houston, Texas

Miya Shay
abc13.com
Tue, 11 Apr 2017 13:21 UTC
Dog attack
Several YES Prep students were bitten during recess by a stray dog at the southeast campus.

Roosevelt Padilla was one of those students. Tuesday afternoon, he showed Eyewitness News his still bandaged foot as he recounted what happened.

"I was walking and stopped to look at the dog and he bit my foot and I dropped to the floor. I blacked out for a few seconds," Padilla said.

School officials said a total of five 7th grade students were attacked when the dog got onto the playground Tuesday afternoon in the 300 block of Crenshaw Road.

"The kids started playing with him, and then the dog just started biting shoes and everything," said Ashley Davila, a student who witnessed the attack.

Teachers managed to put a sweater around the dog and put him in a car until City of Houston Animal Control officers arrived. The dog will now be in quarantine for 10 days.

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Fish

Thousands of dead fish found along rivers in Costa Rica

L. Arias
The Tico Times
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 11:04 UTC
Coast Guard officers and staff from the National System of Conservation Areas collected samples from the river and submitted them for lab analyses.
© FECONCoast Guard officers and staff from the National System of Conservation Areas collected samples from the river and submitted them for lab analyses.

Residents of Costa Rica's northern Caribbean reported a massive number of fish deaths on the Pacuare and other nearby rivers between Sunday and Monday.

Mauricio Álvarez, president of the Costa Rican Conservation Federation (FECON), told The Tico Times that his organization received reports that the dead creatures included various species of fish, including rainbow bass, sea bass, jurels and sardines, as well as crustaceans. Many of the dead fish appeared floating on the Goshen river.

Most of these fish are part of the diet of various species of birds. Therefore, environmentalists and local residents say they fear that the damage will expand to other animals.

Álvarez said he believes that incident could be linked to the use of agrochemicals at farms in the area. Matina and other northern Caribbean regions are home to extensive plantations of bananas, pineapples and rice, among others.

Coast Guard officers and staff of the National System of Conservation Areas collected water and fish samples from the river and sent them for laboratory analysis.
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