Animals
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Attention

Belligerent beaver attacks two Bavarian bystanders in Germany


thelocal.de
Tue, 09 Jun 2015 14:12 UTC
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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..
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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© 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.
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Bug

Arizona man dies after being stung by hundreds of Africanized bees


The Seattle Times
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 09:52 UTC
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© 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
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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
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© 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

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Wolf

Wolf hybrid bites baby boy in Culpeper, Virginia

Allison Brophy Champion
The Star-Exponent
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 17:23 UTC
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Hybrid wolf-dog
A wolf hybrid bit a 4-month-old boy in the abdomen Friday morning in eastern Culpeper County, requiring the infant be transported by helicopter for medical treatment.

The animal remained at large as of 8 p.m. Friday.

The reported incident occurred around 8:41 a.m. in the 30400 block of Eleys Ford Road in the Richardsville area, according to a sheriff's office news release.

After biting the baby, the wolf hybrid fled the scene, but then returned. It ran away again after the baby's grandfather shot at it and the animal was last seen traveling toward an open field.

The dog is a three-year old black-and-gray wolf-Husky hybrid last seen wearing two collars: one orange and one black.

Law enforcement searched for the animal Friday with the use of police K9. Residents were asked to keep children and pets inside.
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Attention

Farmer injured by hyena in Prakasam village, India


The New Indian Express
Sat, 27 Jun 2015 17:12 UTC
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Hyena
A 41-year-old farmer was seriously injured in an attack by a wild animal in Jillalamudi village of Kandukur mandal in Prakasam district on Friday morning. Initially, it was assumed that a leopard had attacked him, but later it was confirmed that it was not a leopard but a hyena.

B Narasimha Rao along with his family members was engaged in farm work at around 11 am when suddenly he was attacked by an animal that was of the size of a big dog with spots on its fur. Alerted by his screams, others in the field rushed to the spot shouting, which drove the animal away.

Rao, who suffered a deep gash on his thigh and scratches on arms and legs, was immediately rushed to the government hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Guntur, where his condition was reported to be stable. Alerted by villagers, the Kandukur police rushed to the spot. At the same time, receiving the news of a wild animal attack, sub divisional DFO K Mohan Rao along with Ongole forest ranger T Venkata Rao and 20 forest guards rushed to the spot.
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Fish

Russian fishermen catch monster fish with reptile head and fossilized scales


RT.com
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 21:25 UTC
Weird Fish
© RIA Novosti/Olga Kropova
A mysterious fish featuring the head of reptile and petrified scales has reportedly been caught by fisherman in Russia's northern Arkhangelsk region.

The mutant fish was caught in a net in the Northern Dvina River near a ferry terminal in Bereznik-Osinovo, Arkhangelsk Oblast, local media reports.

The fishermen were unable to identify what kind fish it was. The creature's head reminds one of a tortoise and its scales are fossilized. It also has thorny needle-like barbs and a sucker.

Its appearance is a bit similar to the angler, a predatory European deep-sea fish. Some people say it may be a rabbit fish which, however, is also a sea-fish - not a river one. The mouth of the fish looks like that of a sterlet - but the whole fish is a far cry from it.
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