Animals
S


Attention

Another shark attack in North Carolina - fifth in 2 weeks

Hilary Hanson
huffingtonpost.com
Sun, 28 Jun 2015 19:43 UTC
Image
Man bitten by shark in Outer Banks while trying to get others to safety
A North Carolina beachgoer was bitten by a shark Friday while trying to help other people avoid it.

The 47-year-old man was swimming near Avon, North Carolina, at around 11:40 a.m. with another adult and three children when he saw the shark nearby, local station WTKR reported. He yelled "Shark!" and was helping the others get out of the water when he was bitten.

The man, whose name has not been released, suffered injuries to his back and leg that are believed to be non life-threatening. No one else was injured.

This was the fifth shark attack reported in the state this year. On Wednesday an 8-year-old boy suffered minor injuries from a shark bite, Raleigh station WRAL reported. A shark bit a 13-year-old girl June 11 and took chunks out of her boogie board, according to WTSP in Tampa Bay, Florida. On June 14, a 12-year-old girl lost part of her arm to a shark bite; two miles away, a 16-year-old boy lost part of his arm to a shark just 20 minutes later.

Read More...
Attention

Hikers find 2 dead whales near Lost Coast Trail, California

John Ross Ferrara
lostcoastoutpost.com
Sat, 27 Jun 2015 19:31 UTC
Image
© Mark Scatchard, Shoogoo and JugglesA dead whale washed ashore on the Lost Coast Trail.
A group of hikers happened upon two dead whales this week during their 10th annual whiskey drinking trip down The Lost Coast Trail.

Hiker Mark Scatchard said the whales' locations were spread about 10 miles apart.

"On our annual pilgrimage down the Lost Coast Trail this week, we saw not one, but two dead whales," Scatchard said. "One in Cooskie Creek, not sure how it got up there, and one just south of Shipman's Creek. The one on the beach was freshly dead and there were no signs of net marks, crab pots, ropes or buoys."

Image
A badly decomposed whale found in Cooskie Creek
Read More...
Attention

Beaver attacks man at bus stop in Sweden


thelocal.se
Tue, 31 Mar 2015 14:21 UTC
A European Beaver
© Per Harald Olsen A European Beaver
A man who was bitten by a beaver at a bus stop in Tyresö, south of Stockholm, has been describing the snappy attack

Pentti Savola, 58, was among a group of early morning commuters waiting to get a bus to work when the animal came up to him and bit his leg last week.

"It was lightning fast. I never thought that an animal that looks so clumsy could be so crafty," he told Swedish news site mitti.se.

He said that he may have stressed the animal out when he tried to take a photo of it with his mobile.

But after his own stressful experience, he said he wanted to tell his story to warn children that they should not pet beavers without knowing more about the animals.

Savola was not hurt in the attack.

The beaver was hunted to extinction in Sweden by the end of the nineteenth century but was reintroduced during the 1920s and 1930s after eighty of the furry animals were imported from Norway, in what is often cited as one of the most successful animal conservation efforts in history.

The wood-loving, sharp-toothed, primarily nocturnal, semi-aquatic animals are the second largest rodents on the planet (after the capybara) and are most prevalent in North America.
Read More...
Attention

Belligerent beaver attacks two Bavarian bystanders in Germany


thelocal.de
Tue, 09 Jun 2015 14:12 UTC
Image
DPA
Beavers are normally peaceful animals shy of human contact. But experts are now warning that close contact can be dangerous after two attacks in the same spot near Starnberg, Bavaria.

The two attacks happened within a few days of each other on the river Würm. On May 29th a 24-year-old had taken his dogs to the banks of the river when the beaver bit him, reports the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ).

A few days later on June 3rd a 26-year-old was swimming in the river when the beaver attacked again.

"Just as I wanted to avoid him, I suddenly felt an intense pain. Shortly after a beaver emerged in the water next to me, swam along beside me and stared directly into my eyes for about five seconds," the young man told SZ.

The beaver had left a bite three centimetres deep and four centimetres wide in his thigh, meaning he had to go to the nearby hospital to be treated..
Read More...
Attention

Chaos at Canary Islands zoo after chimpanzees escape enclosure and attack 3 staff members

Ted Thornhill
Daily Mail, UK
Sun, 28 Jun 2015 14:04 UTC
Image
British holidaymakers were caught up in chaotic scenes at a zoo in the Canary Islands when three chimpanzees escaped. Pictured is chimp Cheeta receiving medical care after being shot by police
British holidaymakers were caught up in chaotic scenes at a zoo in the Canary Islands when three chimpanzees escaped their enclosure and attacked and injured three people, one seriously.

The three rescue animals - called King, Cheeta and Felipa - went on the rampage on Friday at the popular Oasis Park in Fueteventura, with police eventually having to shoot them with live ammunition after attempts to tranquilize them failed.

Two of the chimps, King and Felipa, were killed, while Cheeta survived after emergency treatment from vets.

The three injured were a park staff member and two of the owners, one of which was airlifted to a hospital in Las Palmas and given plastic surgery, according to the zoo.

It said in a statement that human error was to blame, with the animals escaping after 'an incident in the security protocol'.

The park owners, it's understood, fearlessly tried to lead the chimpanzees away from the public and back into their enclosure.
Read More...
Red Flag

Oregon men hospitalized, recovering after rare beaver attack

Courtney Sherwood
Yahoo News
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 16:21 UTC
Angry beaver
© Unknown
Two Oregon hikers who were assaulted by a beaver after they climbed onto its dam have been hospitalized for injuries incurred during the rare attack, law enforcement officials said on Friday.

Clayton Mitchell, 23, told the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office that he and a friend had been hiking along a river near his central Oregon home on Thursday when they climbed onto a beaver dam.

A resident beaver emerged from the dam, knocking Mitchell into the Deschutes River and trapping his friend, 31-year-old John Bailey, in a tangle of submerged logs, according to the sheriff's department incident report.
Read More...
Ambulance

Surfer loses leg in shark attack off South Africa coast


The Times (South Africa)
Sun, 28 Jun 2015 11:05 UTC
Surfer
© Andy Colwell/Penn State University/MCT via Getty ImagesA surfer rides a wave off the coast of Lladudno, South Africa, a small beach town near Cape Town.
A man in his early twenties lost a leg in one of two shark attacks off the southern Cape coast on Saturday, emergency medical services reported.

ER24 said the man was surfing with friends at Buffelsbaai just outside of Knysna on Saturday afternoon when he was attacked by a shark.

"The people that were with him in the water loaded him onto a surfboard and brought him to shore. When ER24 paramedics arrived on scene they found that the shark had taken off his right right leg.
Read More...
Attention

Hundreds of thousands of mussels wash up in False Bay, South Africa

Helen Bamford
iol.co.za
Thu, 25 Jun 2015 10:04 UTC
Image
© Willem LawA mysterious mass of Black Mussels have washed up on Muizenburg beach where the Sandvlei wetlands drain into the ocean.
People have been feasting on mussels which have washed up in their hundreds of thousands on False Bay beaches in recent weeks - but authorities say it isn't a good idea to eat them.

They cite a red tide, which has been known to contaminate shellfish, but this hasn't stopped people collecting the delicacy by the sackload.

Local fisherman Godfrey Permall scoffed at concerns that the mussels may be toxic.

He says they wash up every winter - and when they do, he is waiting.

Permall, from Vrygrond near Muizenberg, fills around eight or nine plastic bread packets with the mussels, which he sells for R30 each.

He comes to the beach every day but it is in winter when the ocean's bounty is most generous and helps put food on the table.
Read More...
Bug

Arizona man dies after being stung by hundreds of Africanized bees


The Seattle Times
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 09:52 UTC
Image
© APThis undated photo provided by Trez Garvin shows bees gathered around a full-blown, wild hive in all its stages in Arizona.
A man who was stung hundreds of times in a bee attack in western Arizona has died.

The Mohave County Sheriff's Office confirmed Friday that the man died Sunday at a hospital in Kingman.

Authorities say the man was watching a property in Valle Vista, a community about 14 miles northeast of Kingman, June 12 when he was attacked by a hive of Africanized bees.

He was stung between 500 and 1,000 times.

Beekeeper Johnnie Hoeft, who was called to the scene, says the hive was inside an old tool cabinet in a shed.

The Today's News-Herald in Lake Havasu City identified the victim as John Wade.

Family friend Betty Crippin told the newspaper that Wade had suffered a heart attack after the bee attack.

Source: The Associated Press
Read More...
Sheeple

At least 40 sheep killed by giant hailstones in Nisland, South Dakota

Colleen Brunner
Rapid City Journal
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 18:07 UTC
Image
© Sean RyanJim Mickelson Jr. scratches the head of one of his sheep while walking through a pasture Thursday afternoon at his farm east of Nisland. Mickelson lost around 30 lambs and 10 ewes during a hail storm June 19, but he still hasn’t been able to get a full head count of his sheep.
In addition to suffering extreme damage to their roofs, a shed and expensive farm equipment to giant hail stones that fell last week, the Mickelson family is still reeling from a more emotional and heart-wrenching loss.

The hail that was as large as softballs crashed down upon their farm near Nisland and directly killed or led to the death of around 30 head of lambs and 10 ewes.

The loss of the animals has also taken a huge financial toll, since the family operation run by Jim Mickelson Sr., Jim Mickelson Jr. and his wife, Deanna, had planned to take the lambs to the fattened stage.

Earlier this week, Jim Jr. said he had not yet been able to get out in the pasture to check the livestock he had there.

"There may be more dead out there that drifted in the wind and rain," he said. Many of those that perished were in the small lot just south of the couple's home.

Comment: See also: Huge hailstones pound Nisland, South Dakota

Read More...