Animals
S


Health

Woman is savaged by an angry beaver in Russia

Chris Pleasance
Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 14 May 2015 18:55 UTC
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While beaver attacks are rare, they are not unheard of. A fisherman died while trying to take a picture of a beaver in Belarus in 2013 after the animal bit through an artery in his leg, causing him to bleed to death
A woman in Russia who had her leg ripped open by an angry beaver was saved after a neighbour came running over and stabbed it in the head.

Evgenia Eliseeva, 24, was at home in her village in southwest Russia's Lipetsk region when she went outside to get a better phone signal to call her mum.

But as she started dialling she felt a terrible pain in her leg and looked down to see a large animal had bitten into her calf.

Miss Eliseeva said: 'I was in complete shock and had no idea what it was at first.

'I thought it might have been a dog that had jumped on me. It was quite dark but it seemed to be standing on its tail as it was so tall.

'Then it he got on all fours and charged at me again. Its teeth were in my leg and it was furiously shaking its head from side to side.

'I was screaming like a maniac and this man suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked the beaver.'

The woman's rescuer, local man Hleb Yefremov, 54, said: 'I heard the girl scream and saw this giant hairy beast attacking her.

Comment: Other beaver attacks in the recent past: Animals increasingly losing the plot: Vicious beaver attacks snorkeler off Nova Scotia's coast, Canada

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

Beaver mauls man near Rochester: 'It was like watching a horror film'

Paddling family of three attacked by a beaver in Austria

Vicious beaver attacks and kills man in Belarus

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Wolf

Police shoot dog following savage attack which left owner's flesh hanging off his arm and leg in Gloucester, UK


Western Daily Press
Thu, 14 May 2015 18:40 UTC
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A pit-bull type dog
A dog has been shot by police officers in Gloucester after it attacked its owner so badly he had "flesh hanging from his arm and leg".

A force spokesman said officers contained the animal in a garden in King Edwards Avenue at about 1.50pm.

An attempt to stun the dog using a taser failed and officers were forced to kill it using a shot gun.

The owner, who has been taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for treatment, was attacked by the dog after he attempted to put its collar back on.
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Fish

First warm-blooded fish found

Stephanie Pappas
LIve Science
Thu, 14 May 2015 14:01 UTC
Opah/Moonfish
© NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science CenterSouthwest Fisheries Science Center biologist Nick Wegner holds a captured opah, the first-ever warm-blooded fish..
The car-tire-size opah is striking enough thanks to its rotund, silver body. But now, researchers have discovered something surprising about this deep-sea dweller: It's got warm blood.

That makes the opah (Lampris guttatus) the first warm-blooded fish every discovered. Most fish are exotherms, meaning they require heat from the environment to stay toasty. The opah, as an endotherm, keeps its own temperature elevated even as it dives to chilly depths of 1,300 feet (396 meters) in temperate and tropical oceans around the world.

"Increased temperature speeds up physiological processes within the body," study leader Nicholas Wegner, a biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California told Live Science. "As a result, the muscles can contract faster, the temporal resolution of the eye is increased, and neurological transmissions are sped up. This results in faster swimming speeds, better vision and faster response times."

The result, Wegner said, is a fast-swimming fish with an advantage for hunting slow, cold-blooded prey. [See Photos of the Gigantic Warm-Blooded Opah (Moonfish)]
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Attention

Jumbo kills 80-yr-old man in Hanur, India


Deccan Herald
Wed, 13 May 2015 16:29 UTC
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Asian elephant
Kondaiah Naika, 80, was killed by an elephant at Gundekallu forest of the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary on Tuesday evening.

Naika hails from the nearby Bandalli village in the taluk. The incident occurred when he was on his way to get some forest produce. His body was found by Forest personnel who were on their routine beat. The body was handed over to Naika's family members after post mortem.

A case has been registered at the Hanur police station.
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Binoculars

Arctic terns arrive late on breeding grounds in Iceland

Zoë Robert
icelandreview.com
Tue, 12 May 2015 13:39 UTC
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© Jamumiwa/ Wikimedia Commons. Arctic tern
The Arctic tern has arrived in Iceland a week later than usual, according to ornithologist Jóhann Óli Hilmarsson in the South Iceland town of Stokkseyri, mbl.is reports.

The birds, which make a roundtrip of around 90,000 kms (56,000 miles) from Iceland or Greenland to their wintering grounds in Antarctica, take part in by far the longest known migration in the animal kingdom.

Arctic tern nesting has gone badly in parts of Iceland in recent years due to a lack of sandeel for the young birds.

Comment: See also: Migrating birds still delayed by cooler than normal weather in Canada

Winter bird migrants from Himalayas stay south in Tamil Nadu, India

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Attention

Unusual fisher attack on dog in Ledyard, Connecticut

Jaimie Cura
patch.com
Thu, 14 May 2015 12:00 UTC
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Buca the dog attacked by fisher
When Buca the dog arrived at the back door covered in blood, his family had no idea what happened.

"Large pools of blood were all over the rear steps," Edward H. Wenke, III told Patch.

This was around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 6.

"We heard no disturbances prior to this occurring," he said. "The next morning we found his blood trail leading out of the woods in our rear yard."

The Wenke family lives on Colonel Ledyard Highway, near Wolf Ridge Gap in Ledyard. Buca weighs 18 lbs.

"We originally thought it may have been a coyote," Wenke said. "However, the following night, I heard a series of bizarre 'crying/screeching' from the same wooded area. After research on the web, I found several audio files of fisher cats that were exactly what I had heard."


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

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Attention

Woman buried alive by bear following attack in Russian woods

Will Stewart
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 13 May 2015 11:31 UTC
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Saved for dinner: Having left her with serious injuries, the bear mistakenly believed Natalya Pasternak to be dead and partially buried her beneath a pile of leaves - apparently planning to return later and eat her
A Russian woman has been buried alive by a bear which was apparently saving her for its next meal after attacking and seriously injuring her.

Mother-of-two Natalya Pasternak, 55, had a miracle escape after her friend managed to flee the forest near Tynda in the Amur region and raise the alarm.

Having left her with serious injuries, the bear mistakenly believed the postal worker to be dead and partially buried her beneath a pile of leaves - apparently planning to return later and eat her.

But having been rescued alive, the woman is now fighting for her life in nearby Tynda Hospital.
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Bizarro Earth

Giant squid washes up on New Zealand beach


The New Zealand Herald
Thu, 14 May 2015 02:24 UTC
Giant Squid
© Facebook, Kaikoura Marine Centre and AquariumThe giant squid washed up at South Bay in Kaikoura yesterday.
A monster from the deep has washed up on a beach in Kaikoura.

The giant squid, spotted at South Bay, is around 7 metres in length from top to tentacle.
Posted by Kaikoura Marine Centre and Aquarium on Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Photos of the creature were posted to Facebook by Kaikoura Marine Centre and Aquarium, who said they moved the find "before the birds got to it."

"We got help to move it to the aquarium where it is safe inside a freezer," they added.

The Marine Centre says the giant squid has a body over 2 metres long, with eyes that are 19 centimetres in diameter.

They have the squid in a freezer with glass windows so it can be viewed by the public.
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Wolf

Large dog attacks owner in Falls Township, Pennsylvania

George Mattar
Bucks County Courier Times
Tue, 12 May 2015 17:23 UTC
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A cane corso or Italian mastiff.
A Falls man was seriously injured Tuesday when his own dog bit him in the face, township police said.

Police were called to the 300 block of Trenton Road at 4:55 p.m. and found a female 2-year-old Italian mastiff, also known as a cane corso, had bitten its owner in the face, said Lt. Hank Ward.

The man suffered severe face trauma and was taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown.

It is unknown if the dog was provoked or what circumstances led to the attack, which occurred inside the house. There were no children present.

Ward said family members called 911. He said the township's animal control officer is investigating; the dog remains with the family.

An Italian mastiff can grow to 110 pounds, according to an animal website.

No further information was released because the injured man suffered facial trauma leaving him unable to talk to police, Ward said.
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Attention

Mystery surrounds dead fin whale found on beach in Cullera, Spain

Ashifa Kassam
The Guardian
Wed, 13 May 2015 17:09 UTC
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© Guardia Civil Guardia Civil agents spotted the whale in shallow waters on Monday morning.
Zoologists in Valencia are investigating the death of a six-tonne whale that washed up near the shore this week.

Guardia Civil agents patrolling the area spotted the whale in shallow waters on Monday morning. They said it was floating lifelessly towards the shore and deployed a boat to protect the animal from oncoming vessels.

Five hours later, the whale washed up on a beach in Cullera, a town about 30 miles south of Valencia. Police at the scene confirmed it was dead.

Zoologists from the University of Valencia have been investigating the animal's death. They confirmed it was a fin whale, one of the most common species in the Mediterranean.

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