Animals
S


Question

36 dead gulls found at park in Portland, Maine

Beth McEvoy
wcsh6.com
Thu, 22 Sep 2016 19:46 UTC
Juvenile herring gull
Juvenile herring gull
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is asking the public to report any dead birds they may find in the Portland area.

They say over the past three weeks, 36 dead juvenile herring gulls have been found at Deering Oaks Park.

Three of these gulls were sent to be tested at the National Wildlife Disease Lab in Wisconsin and the results of these tests are expected in the next 7-10 days.

Inland Fisheries and Wildlife say herring gulls are the only type of dead birds found at the park even though there are many other species there.

Portland's Parks Director though says Deering Oaks is still a safe place to visit.

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Attention

'It started charging at us': Man recalls beaver attack on couple in Falls Church, Virginia

Dana Hedgeth
The Washington Post
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 20:36 UTC
Beaver
It was "a big, black thing" and coming "straight at" David Souvannaphan, 52, and his wife as they walked along a path in Falls Church, Va.

And before he could figure out what it was, it attacked his wife's sneakers. Turns out it was a beaver, animal control experts said, and in a rare move it attacked the couple.

When Souvannaphan kicked it, he said, the beaver bit him. He fell, grabbed the beaver, looked it in the face and punched it several times in the head with his left fist as it bit and held onto his leg.

The beaver eventually crawled away. Police in Fairfax County said the county's animal control division later responded to the incident.

Comment: Beaver attack reports from across the globe for the last few years: Aggressive beaver attacks 2 swimmers in Killingly, Connecticut

Beaver attacks paddle boarder in Asheville, North Carolina

Beaver attacks man at bus stop in Sweden

Belligerent beaver attacks two Bavarian bystanders in Germany

Woman is savaged by an angry beaver in Russia

Oregon men hospitalized, recovering after rare beaver attack

Animals losing the plot: Couple attacked by beaver in Watchung Reservation, New Jersey

Animals increasingly losing the plot: Vicious beaver attacks snorkeler off Nova Scotia's coast, Canada

Paddling family of three attacked by a beaver in Austria

Vicious beaver attacks and kills man in Belarus

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Alarm Clock

Thanks BigAg: Bumblees have been proposed for U.S. endangered species status

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Thu, 22 Sep 2016 00:00 UTC
bumblebee
Earlier this month, mosquito eradication efforts in South Carolina, gone horribly wrong, resulted in almost total devastation to the indigenous bee populations. The pesticide used to target the Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti species of mosquito, which can carry and transmit the Zika virus, killed off millions of bees. This single incident is one of many that have been laying waste to beneficial pollinators which has now led to the bumblebee's proposed listing as an endangered species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday proposed listing the rusty patched bumblebee, a prized but vanishing pollinator once widely found in the upper Midwest and Northeastern United States, for federal protection as an endangered species, according to Reuters.

The Bumblebee is one of several wild bee species seen declining in the last couple of decades. It has now become the first ever bee in the continental United States formally proposed for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
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Attention

Young sperm whale euthanized after washing up at Sandbridge, Virginia


13newsnow.com
Wed, 21 Sep 2016 11:53 UTC
baby sperm whale
Members of the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center's Stranding Response Team were on Sandbridge Wednesday afternoon after a sperm whale beached there.

Matt Klepeisz, Public Relations Manager for VAMSC, told 13News Now the whale appeared to be young and was very weak.

After assessing the whale's condition, team members determined that the whale should be euthanized.

A necropsy may help determine what caused the whale to come ashore.

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Fish

Thousands of dead fish wash ashore at Hingham, Massachusetts

Kathryn Sotnik
NECN
Thu, 22 Sep 2016 20:22 UTC
Dead fish
Dead fish
Hingham residents are reacting after a large amount of bait fish, commonly known as pogies, have been washing ashore along the Hingham Yacht Club and surrounding beach areas.

"It's thousands and thousands," said one resident Wednesday night.

"Well, we first noticed the smell when we got out of the car, and it was different — much stronger than usual," said Hingham resident Libby Lewiecki.

Chuck Azonderman is a former lobsterman who's spent time in and around the Hingham harbor for decades.

He says around 11 a.m. he found the fish "all over the place."

"I'm surprised to see it like this," Azonderman said. "I haven't seen it like this since the 80's."

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Fish

Thousands of dead fish wash up on Longboat Key, Florida

Rick Adams
My Suncoast
Thu, 22 Sep 2016 20:01 UTC
Dead fish
Dead fish
Dead fish are popping up all over Longboat Key, causing a lot of concern among residents and visitors.

"It's makes me very sad," said Claude Lewkowiez, a Tampa resident visiting Longboat Key.

Lewkowiez and her husband Emile are vacationing on Longboat Key this week.

"It's not pleasant to the eye and it's even less pleasant to the smell," said Emile.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has confirmed the fish died from a high concentration of red tide. State wildlife officials say the red tide is most likely a little further offshore, and there are patchy spots of it.

"There was fish on the north end and the central part," said Dave Bullock, Longboat Key town manager. "(Tuesday night) when our police boat was out, he did a little survey and he suggested the presence of fish is moving south."

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Fish

Singing fish: Fish recorded singing dawn chorus on reefs just like birds

Greta Keenan
New Scientist
Wed, 21 Sep 2016 15:19 UTC
Bat fish ballad
© Norbert Probst/GettyBat fish ballad
The ocean might seem like a quiet place, but listen carefully and you might just hear the sounds of the fish choir.

Most of this underwater music comes from soloist fish, repeating the same calls over and over. But when the calls of different fish overlap, they form a chorus.

Robert McCauley and colleagues at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, recorded vocal fish in the coastal waters off Port Headland in Western Australia over an 18-month period, and identified seven distinct fish choruses, happening at dawn and at dusk. You can listen to three of them here:
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills two buffaloes in India


The Tribune (India)
Wed, 21 Sep 2016 13:35 UTC
lightning
Two buffaloes of a farmer died after being struck by lightning at Mirpur village near here today.

Ravinder Singh, son of the farmer, Sukhwinder Singh, said a short rain took place during afternoon amidst lightning. They had tied their buffaloes in the yard of their house. Suddenly at about 1.30 pm, a loud sound of lightning was heard and in no time it struck their buffaloes. Two buffaloes died on the spot.

Ravinder Singh said the buffaloes were of Mura breed. One of the buffaloes provided milk and the other was yet to deliver. He said they suffered a loss of about Rs 1.5 lakh as they were dependent on selling milk for their livelihood.

Meanwhile, a Congress leader and Zila Parishad member, Harkeet Singh Bhari, Hardev Singh Meerpur, Gurcharan Singh Goslan and others demanded compensation for the farmer from the Punjab government for the unexpected loss.
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Attention

Man attacked by grizzly bear in Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park, British Columbia

Colette Derworiz
Calgary Herald
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 18:07 UTC
Grizzly bear
Grizzly bear
A man was attacked by a grizzly bear Sunday near Forum Lake in Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park in southeastern British Columbia.

The unidentified man was attacked after he surprised the bear as he was hiking in the area, which can be accessed from the Akamina Parkway in Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta.

"There was an encounter between a hiker and a bear," said John Stoesser, a spokesman for Waterton. "Parks Canada responded to a request for assistance."

He said they sent three people to help, but referred any further comment to BC Parks.

The province's environment ministry declined an interview request, but sent out a statement Monday afternoon confirming that they responded after a man was attacked by "what is suspected to be a male grizzly bear" on Sunday.
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Attention

Woman attacked by 2 raccoons in her backyard in Arlington, Virginia; 2nd attack in neighborhood since June

Anjali Hemphill
fox5dc.com
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 17:46 UTC
raccoon
Raccoon
An Arlington neighborhood is on edge after a woman was attacked by a raccoon in her own backyard, and it is not the first time this type of incident has happened in recent months.

There have been several sightings of raccoons in the Fairlington area and at least two violent attacks since June. Some residents here are concerned for their safety, especially at night.

One woman living on 29th Street S was scratched and bitten by raccoons while she was in her backyard in June. The incident sparked a community meeting on how to safely interact with wildlife.

But last Sunday night, two raccoons jumped on another woman in her backyard on 28th Street while she was taking out the trash.

Bonnie Crouch told FOX 5 her husband heard the screams and came out to help. He ended up fighting the raccoons off the woman with a broom. Crouch, a nurse, helped tend to the victim's injuries afterwards.
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