Animals
S


Attention

20ft whale washes up on beach near Hornsea, UK

James Campbell
Hull Daily Mail
Sat, 08 Oct 2016 14:53 UTC
Minnie the dog surveys a whale has washed up on a beach between Hornsea and Mappleton
Minnie the dog surveys a whale has washed up on a beach between Hornsea and Mappleton
Dog walkers got a shock today when they came across a large whale that had washed up on the beach after a high tide.

The whale, possibly a minke, washed up earlier today between Hornsea and Mappleton and appears to have been dead for some time.

Julie Haggitt, of Hornsea, posted photographs of the whale on Facebook.

She said: "I was just walking my dog Minnie along the beach between Hornsea and Mappleton when I came across the whale.

"I could see three massive gashes in the body and the tail was missing. It looks like it may have got caught in a ship's propeller. It was quite big when you got up close and it must have been about 15 to 20ft long.
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Attention

Dead Bryde's whale found on beach in Maharashtra, India

Ranjeet Jadhav
Mid-day
Sat, 08 Oct 2016 14:40 UTC
Dead Bryde's whale.
Dead Bryde's whale.
A decomposed body of a 35-40 long Bryde's whale was washed ashore at the Guhagar beach in Ratnagiri district on Friday morning. The body of the whale was spotted by the local villagers who informed the forest department about the same.

An official from the forest department confirmed the same said, "On Friday morning, the body of a whale was ashore on the Guhagar beach."

It should be noted that over the years there has been an increase in the number of marine creatures dying at various beaches in Maharashtra. The autopsy was also not conducted on these animals. The NGOs working in the field of wildlife and environment have been demanding that there needs to be a better coordination and experts should be appointed to conduct the autopsy so that the main reason behind the death of these marine creatures is revealed.
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Eye 2

Signs and Portents: Two-headed snake discovered in Moscow, Idaho

Daniel Uria
UPI
Fri, 07 Oct 2016 10:45 UTC
Sword swallower, Brad Byers, found the two-headed reptile slithering around the parking lot of the University of Idaho campus on September 16
Sword swallower, Brad Byers, found the two-headed reptile slithering around the parking lot of the University of Idaho campus on September 16
A sideshow performer in Idaho discovered a rare two-headed snake while working in a university parking lot.

Brad Byers shared video of the wandering garter snake with two heads, which he found while driving a forklift.

"I found this two headed baby snake slithering across the parking lot. At first glance I thought it was injured by the forklift I was driving at the time," he said. "I got down and got a closer look at the tiny little guy and found he had two heads!"

Byers works on the University of Idaho campus but also holds a world record for most swords swallowed, according to KTVB.

"What's the odds of a sideshow guy finding a snake like this slithering along?" Byers said.

Byers said the snake was just a baby when he first discovered it on Sept. 16, and that he plans to raise it to adulthood.

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Attention

Rabid honey badger attacks couple in South Africa

Bianca Pindral
Krugersdorp News
Thu, 06 Oct 2016 18:58 UTC
Honey badger
Honey badger
A honey badger attacked two people near the Cradle of Humankind on Sunday, 2 October leaving them with multiple puncture wounds and a rabies scare.

Gail and Dave Coleman were enjoying a calm Sunday afternoon when they suddenly heard their dogs, three Dobermans, barking aggressively in their yard in Zwartkrans.

Upon investigation, the couple found their dogs fighting an aggressive honey badger. They ran inside the house and called the dogs. It is believed they wanted to protect their dogs from the badger and called them to get them inside. Once the dogs were inside, the security gate was closed, but despite all their efforts to prevent the badger from entering the house, the smart animal wiggled itself through the gate. Badgers are known for their intelligence and perseverance which explains the behaviour of the attacking animal.

The honey badger bit Gail on her ankle. She had to get five stitches.
The honey badger bit Gail on her ankle. She had to get five stitches.
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Health

Woman attacked by fisher cat in Coventry, Rhode Island


abc6.com
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 12:36 UTC
Image
A Coventry woman says she feared for her life when she was attacked by what she says was a fisher cat.

It happened in her backyard, and now she's warning others in the area to be on the look out in fear the animal may strike again.

ABC6 News would like to warn you some of her injuries in the photos attached are graphic.

Stitches
© Honey Marie Meaker
"All of a sudden I felt immense pain of my right foot and I just screamed really loud because I was trying to scare it away," said Honey Marie Meaker, who is still shaken up form the traumatic experience after being attacked by what she calls a vicious animal.

The injury she sustained is so bad she's now on crutches.

"I had no idea what it was, I didn't hear any noise, didn't hear any sounds. I just felt the pain, this excruciating pain," said Honey Marie.

It happened when she and her 13-year-old daughter took out the trash.

Honey had no clue what attacked her, but her daughter got a better look at it saying it was a fisher cat.

Comment: See also: Boy bitten by a fisher in Rehoboth backyard, Massachusetts

Unusual fisher attack on dog in Ledyard, Connecticut

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Question

Starlings fall to the ground along motorway near Vienna, Austria


The Local au
Thu, 06 Oct 2016 17:06 UTC
Starling
© Philip HeronStarling
A flock of drunken starlings caused chaos on an Austrian motorway earlier this week when they fell onto a stretch of the A2 road between Inzersdorf and Vösendorf, causing traffic jams several kilometres long.

Witnesses described the scene as like something out of a horror film. Some people commented on the unusual event online, joking that the birds ought to have been tested for "air worthiness".

Ornithologists were initially confused as to what had caused the birds to fall into the road but now believe that they had gorged on fermented berries - which contain naturally occurring alcohol - and got drunk on them.

Rain and foggy conditions further confused them, so that they didn't know where they were going and lost their bearings over the motorway, crashing into cars and trucks.

Comment: The mundane explanation proffered above for this strange event (that of starlings becoming drunk after eating fermented berries), does not really stand up to close scrutiny. Starlings are largely insectivorous and forage close to the ground and probably only eat berries when their natural prey items are not available to them, for instance, during adverse weather conditions of prolonged snow cover or severe frosts.

See also this substantial catalogue of similar reports from over the last 6 years:

Dozens of dead and dying starlings found on road in Wichita, Kansas

Dozens of dead birds found on street in Elmira, New York

Dozens of dead birds found along I-5 in Redding, California

Two dozen dead birds discovered along road in Chantilly, Virginia

100 birds found dead on roadside near Picher, Oklahoma

Dozens of dead birds found along highway in Youngstown, Ohio

Flock of dead starlings falls out of sky in Bolton, England after 'loud bang' heard overhead

Scientists baffled by over 100 dead starlings in Missouri

Dozens of disoriented birds fall out of the sky in Spring Hill, Tennessee

Hundreds of birds mysteriously dying in El Reno, Oklahoma

Dead birds falling from the sky in Oklahoma, experts say 'no cause for concern.' Right!

Over 30 birds fall dead from the sky in Norman, Oklahoma

Hundreds of birds fall dead from the sky on Aden Road in Nokesville, Virginia

Dead birds fall 'like raindrops' In Winnipeg's North End

Double deja vu on December 31st? Up to 300 starlings litter roadway and fields in Seymour, Tennessee

Dead birds "falling from the sky" in Port Arthur, Texas neighborhood

Dead birds fall out of the sky near Fort Worth, Texas - Second time in 5 months

Meteoric Deja-vu: Exactly one year later, dead blackbirds fall again in Beebe, Arkansas

Alabama: Hundreds of Dead Blackbirds Found Along I-65 In Athens

More birds fall out of the sky, this time in Sweden

US, Kentucky: Over 30 Birds Mysteriously Die on Montgomery County Road

Now HUNDREDS More Birds Fall from the Sky in Kentucky and Louisiana and Tens of THOUSANDS of Dead Fish Wash Ashore

A Sign for the New Year: 1,000 Birds Fall From the Sky in Beebe, Arkansas

'Crazy': Dozens of dead birds fall from the sky in New Jersey

Mysterious Bird Deaths Investigated Near Dacono

US: Thousands of Dead Birds Picked Up in Arkansas Town

US: Hundreds of dead blackbirds found in Louisiana

US: Hundreds Of Birds Found Dead in Oklahoma

Grisly Mystery After Scores of Starlings Fall Out of the Sky and Lie Dying...in a SINGLE Front Garden

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills six cows in Pakistan


Dawn
Thu, 06 Oct 2016 14:48 UTC
lightning
© 123RF
Six cows perished when lightning struck a herd in Raisar village of Tharparkar district on Tuesday night as widespread rains coupled with thunderstorm continued to lash most areas of the district for a third consecutive day, Wednesday.

Intermittent moderate to heavy spells of rain had started on Monday evening lashing Mithi, Kaloi, Naukot, Chelhar, Diplo, Islamkot, Bhalwa, Dahli and many other areas. Many rural areas of Mirpurkhas district also received light rain on Tuesday bringing down the temperatures and providing relief to growers.

A maximum of 62mm rain was reported from Mithi while other areas of Tharparkar district also received several heavy spells during the last three days.

After a long spell of widespread heavy rains lasting more than two weeks and ending in the first week of September, growers of Tharparkar had returned to their lands from other areas and started cultivating their crops. The fresh spell was welcomed by them as, according to them, this would add to the soil fertility.
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Attention

Fisherman killed by shark off southern Mozambique; second fatal attack for the region in a month


News24
Wed, 05 Oct 2016 17:45 UTC
Shark attacks
A fisherman has been attacked and killed by a shark off the coast of southern Mozambique in the second fatal attack in a month, local reports say.

The man, named only as Julio, was fishing with a friend last week in waters near Maxixe, O Pais reported.

Maxixe is the economic capital of Mozambique's Inhambane province, which is well-known for its beautiful beaches.

The man was attacked when he was just 5m away from his colleague who could only watch helplessly, the newspaper said.

Shark attacks are not frequently reported in Inhambane province, according to a timeline of incidents in the last 100 years provided by Sharkattackdata.
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Attention

Woman killed in suspected moose attack near Wasilla, Alaska

Zaz Hollander
Alaska Dispatch News
Tue, 04 Oct 2016 14:14 UTC
Moose
Moose
A 74-year-old woman died Sunday in the Settlers Bay area, and her death appears to be the result of a fatal moose attack, Alaska State Troopers said.

Troopers identified the woman as Pattie Cucinello. Her next-of-kin have been notified, they said. No foul play is suspected in her death.

Few details were available Monday. Troopers responded just after 3:15 p.m. to a report of a dead person on South Timberview Drive outside Wasilla, according to an online dispatch. Cucinello was found in her driveway, the dispatch says.

Her death "appears to be a fatal moose attack," but troopers are waiting on autopsy results from the State Medical Examiner Office for confirmation, troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said in an email Monday morning.
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Bullseye

Bumblebees, for the first time ever, are on the endangered species list

Justin Gardner
The Free Thought Project
Tue, 04 Oct 2016 21:51 UTC
dead bees
"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live." — Albert Einstein (allegedly)

On September 22 we reported that the rusty-patched bumblebee was proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be listed as an endangered species. This is a wake-up call to the problem of habitat destruction and pesticide use - particularly neonicotinoid pesticides - as this native bee is the first in the continental U.S. to be formally proposed for endangered species listing. However, as bees are concerned, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

While the plight of the bumblebee is finally getting the attention it deserves, other native bees are on a fast track to extinction and have already been declared endangered.

Comment: See also:

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