In the past month, four runners have been attacked by owls in separate incidents, Runner's World magazine notes.

Two of the attacks occurred near Washington, D.C., one in England, and one in Vancouver. Two happened at dusk, and two in early morning, by different species of owls. No one was seriously injured, but the 17-year-old British boy was knocked off his feet.

Four attacks doesn't make a trend, or even a trendlet, but it puzzles Rob Bierregaard of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he studies suburban barred owls, nonetheless -- especially because such behavior would usually be associated with spring, when owls are nesting.

"Barred owls are so used to humans that they've pretty much lost all fear of them. But I can't stretch that to explain why an owl would pop a jogger on the back of the head," he told The Washington Post. "The only thing I can come up with is these are playful young."

If a runner accidentally disrupted a nest or came too close to a young owl, the attack would make more sense, said Bierregaard, who wears safety glasses and a lacrosse helmet when he works with owls.

An invading force is laying the groundwork for a coup in the United States this year, and it's going on right under our noses. The brown marmorated stink bug, an insect species from Asia that has been steadily expanding its range since it landed on the East Coast 15 years ago, will begin to sneak into the homes of unprepared Americans by the hundreds in the coming weeks, entomologists say.

And because of an unusual late-season surge in the invasive pest's numbers, scientists and crop specialists worry that the bug could make one of its strongest showings ever when it comes out of hiding in the spring.

"We've seen increases in populations over the last month or so," said Tracy Leskey, a research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "This is something that's different than in 2011."

Behind the invasion

In early fall, the stink bugs start to look for shelter in warm, indoor crannies, and attics are among their favorite places to set up thousands-thick overwintering settlements. A late batch of stink bug nymphs was born last October, but the majority probably perished in the field before maturing, Leskey told Life's Little Mysteries.

This year, however, two full generations have already managed to reach maturity ― likely due in part to an early spring ― so more will be ready to weather the winter and start multiplying as soon as spring arrives, according to Leskey.

In the United States, brown marmorated stink bugs are most prevalent in the Mid-Atlantic states. A recent national survey conducted by Hometeam Pest Defense found that 59 percent of Washington, D.C., homeowners had had problems with the bugs, making the nation's capital their densest urban stronghold. But the invasive species has now spread to 38 states, including California and Oregon, according to USDA-funded research.

The first confirmed case of "zombie bees" in Washington state has been found by a Kent beekeeper. Discovered in California in 2008, the bees are infected by a parasitic fly that causes the bees to lurch around erratically before dropping dead.

Mark Hohn didn't pay much attention to the dead bees scattered outside his shop when he got home from vacation a few weeks ago. He just pulled out a leaf blower and blasted away the mess.

It took him a few days to realize he had an invasion of the living dead on his hands.

"I joke with my kids that the zombie apocalypse is starting at my house," said the novice beekeeper. The dead and dying honeybees from Hohn's 1.25-acre spread in Kent are the first in Washington confirmed to be infected by a parasitic fly that causes the bees to lurch around erratically before dropping dead.

The discovery expands the range of the so-called "zombie bees" first discovered in California in 2008 by San Francisco State University biologist John Hafernik. Through his website ZombeeWatch.org, Hafernik is recruiting a network of citizen scientists, like Hohn, to help determine how widespread the parasite is and whether it is contributing to the demise of bee colonies across the country.

"We really would like to get more samples from Washington and from all over," Hafernik said.

Unlike healthy bees, which spend the night tucked up in their hive, infected bees fly after dark and tend to congregate at lights. Hohn noticed bees buzzing around the light in his shop, flying in jerky patterns and finally flopping on the floor.

Authorities in Kashmir have launched a hunt for a 'large mysterious' lizard, which created panic in a village in the outskirts of the capital Lawaypora

People in Lawaypora locality are frightened for the past couple of days after an 'unusual lizard-like' creature appeared in the village. Nobody in the village knows exactly what the creature is.

Rumours were rife across the city that "a great African lizard" has appeared. Others talked about the giant carnivorous Komodo dragon walking through roads in the locality.

"Scared villagers informed us about a very big reptile, something which is unheard of in the valley," said Ghulam Mohiuddin, station house officer of the concerned police station. He said wildlife officials were informed on Friday and they had now set up a trap to nab the reptile.

"We have laid a snare at the mouth of a septic trench as the residents said the creature went inside it and had not appeared since then," said wildlife warden at the nearby Hokersar wetland, Abdul Rouf.

Missouri, US - People in a St. Louis neighborhood are trying to figure out what's happening to small animals in the area. About three weeks ago they noticed a string of small animal deaths.

"I found three underneath the clubhouse and two in the grass up near the siding," said neighbor Joe Dobbs.

Dobbs found eight dead rabbits in his yard alone. Now, neighbors are concerned about what's happening.

"It seems like it happened over night," said neighbor Chuck Hart.

The Department of National Resource says they can't figure out how the rabbits are dying. Neighbors are concerned that West Nile is killing off the rabbits. The Department of Natural Resources says that's an unlikely scenario.

A voracious new pest is gnawing its way through East County. The gold-spotted oak borer has already killed over 21,500 trees in San Diego's inland regions. Infestations have been found on federal, state, private and Native American lands across 1,893 square miles.

"Has anyone driven through Japatul into Julian lately? We did last weekend and it was a very SAD sight! Almost all of the Oaks are BARE SKELETONS or half brown and going fast," Jerry Williams of Deerhorn Valley wrote in an e-mail to ECM.

In California, San Diego is the only region impacted so far. The hardest hit area centers around Rancho Cuyamaca State Park and the Descanso Ranger District in Cleveland National Forest. County Parks are also infested, including Dos Picos in Ramona, William Heise at Julian and Louis Stelzer in Lakeside. Ramona Patch reports that officials also fear the beetle has reached Volcan Mountain Open Space Preserve near Julian.

The infestion reaches from Pine Valley north to Lake Henshaw. At least two city parks, Marian Bear and Kate Sessions, also have trees under attack.

Native to Guatemala, southern Mexico and southeast Arizona, the beetle was first discovered in San Diego County in 2004. Experts believe it most likely hitched a ride into the area on firewood, since the gold-spotted oak borer can survive for years in dead woods. It can attack and kill coast live oaks, California black oaks and canyon oaks. Engelmann oaks and other tree species are believed safe from the pest.

The University of California, Riverside has set up a webpage with lots of information on the gold-spotted oak borer.

Ware Shoals, SC (Carolina) - Finding a snake in your yard may be a little scary, but what about one with two heads?

A Greenwood County family is trying to figure out how this is possible, but they've been taking care of the little guy for weeks.

Savanna Logan and her brother, Preston, have been amazed by this two-headed snake and showing it off at school since workmen at their home found it three weeks ago.

A National Geographic article reports that two-headed snakes are rare but not unheard of. It said they're formed like Siamese twins. Typically, two-headed snakes have two heads on one side, versus the one this family found, with one on each end.

Savanna Logan's grandfather took the snake to the Ware Shoals High School biology department. Teachers told him this was a "rough earth" snake and not a baby. It was nothing they'd seen before, with two heads, two tongues and four eyes.

"One head's bigger and one's more dominant than the other, but they both seem to control the body, the main head will do one thing then the other part is trying to go the opposite direction," said Savanna Logan's mother, Tina Stewart.

Savanna's grandfather has been taking care of the snake. He said he's seen it multiple times, crawl one way, stop, then pick up the other head and crawl the other way.

SLIDESHOW: Family keeps two-headed snake

A day after watching a film about being lost at sea, Toakai Teitoi was trapped in his own nightmare, drifting in a wooden boat for 15 weeks - before a shark helped to rescue him.

The 41-year-old Kiribati policeman and father-of-six relived his harrowing voyage in the central Pacific when he arrived in Majuro on Saturday on the Marshall Islands fishing boat which picked him up last week.

He told of sleeping with the body of his brother-in-law who died during the ordeal, suffering severe dehydration and praying to be found alive.

Mr Teitoi's drama began on May 27 after he had flown from his home island of Maiana to the Kiribati capital of Tarawa to be sworn in as a policeman.

Following the ceremony, he watched a film about four men from Kiribati who were lost at sea. Only two survived by the time they were washed ashore in American Samoa six weeks later.

It was then that he changed his mind about flying home and joined his brother-in-law Ielu Falaile, 52, on what was supposed to be a two-hour sea journey back to Maiana in a 15-foot wooden boat.

But after stopping to fish along the way and sleeping overnight, they woke the following day to find they had drifted out of sight of Maiana and soon after ran out of fuel.

"We had food, but the problem was we had nothing to drink," he said.

As dehydration took hold, Mr Teitoi, a Catholic, said he turned to prayer as it gave him strength. But Falaile's health began failing and he died on July 4.

After reports of black caterpillars in Jogeshwari, the insects have made their way to Juhu Koliwada and Anushakti Nagar in Chembur.

However, the civic authorities are still wondering how to tackle the menace. "The caterpillars are creeping all over the place," said Kinberly D'souza, a class 10 student living in Juhu koliwada (Santa Cruz west).

In Chembur, Sena workers stuffed the caterpillars in a bag and showed it to Narendra Barde, assistant commissioner of M-west ward. "He has assured us that the insects would be cleared within 15 days," said Bhau Korgaonkar, Shiv Sena vibhag pramukh of the area.

Rahul Khot, entomologist and in charge of collection department of Bombay Natural History Society, said that it was a natural phenomenon and usually caterpillars breed towards end of monsoon. "The sudden outbreak must have baffled the residents," said Khot.

A plague of "super-slugs" has arrived in the UK from Spain, travelling on imported salads and flowers.

The Spanish invaders are mating with species already found in Britain to create a "mutant" species which threatens to eat its way through our crops and native slug species.

The giant Spanish slug, which can grow up to 15cm long, has already travelled as far as Wales. They produce hundreds more eggs than native slugs meaning they are capable of overrunning British species. They could also spread parasites and diseases that could wipe out native slugs.