Animals
S


Fish

Thousands of Tamban fish beach themselves at Tabisan, Sabah, Malaysia

Muguntan Vanar
The Star, (Malaysia)
Tue, 24 Dec 2013 10:46 UTC
Image
© The Star
Thousands of fishes splashed into the shores of Kg Tabisan in Sabah's eastern Lahad Datu district sparking speculations of what omen it brings in the year end.

Villagers rushed to scoop up the fishes, locally known as Tamban, while others were divided over whether it was good omen or bad omen.

However, local villager Suzila Abdullah, who operates a sundry shop in the village, said that the phenomenon had been occurring in the past three years.

"But it is different this year because the number of fishes are exceptionally high.

"In the past, most would have been scooped up by the end of the day but today there is still a lot more left,'' she said when contacted by on Tuesday.

Suzila said that she believed that strong currents and waves caused the fishes to come to shore during the current season but it only last about two or three days.

The villagers cooked the fish while some collected it and took it up to Lahad Datu and other districts to sell.

The Tamban fish is popular among villagers.
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Bizarro Earth

13 bald eagles found dead since Dec. 1; causes of deaths remain unknown

Keith McCord
Deseret News
Mon, 23 Dec 2013 14:00 UTC
Bald Eagles
© Scott G Winterton/Deseret NewsBald eagles are perched at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area Friday, Dec. 20, 2013. Eagles are turning up dead and officials are working to find out the cause.
Salt Lake City - More than 12 bald eagles have died in Utah since the beginning of December, and wildlife experts don't know why.

"We've never had this many birds come in, of one species, coming in as quickly and in this short of time span and having them all die," said DaLyn Erickson-Marthaler, executive director of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah.

Since Dec. 1, at least 13 majestic bald eagles have died. The latest, a 1-year-old female, died Saturday, Dec. 21. She was discovered last week near Centerville by a jogger and was brought to the rehabilitation center in Ogden.

"It's frustrating and heartbreaking," said Leslie McFarlane, Division of Wildlife Resources wildlife disease coordinator. "It's really hard because you want to be able to do something right now and we just can't."

About all anyone knows so far is that all of the eagles were experiencing the same symptoms.
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Eye 2

Man wakes to deadly brown snake on his bare stomach in Australia

Maddie Wines
Bendigo Advertiser
Thu, 19 Dec 2013 10:43 UTC

A Summerfield man has been woken by a metre-and-a-half-long brown snake slithering over his bare stomach.

John Watson believes he has cheated death.

He has told of his shock and disbelief at waking to the metre-long brown snake lying across his bare stomach in his home near Raywood.

Mr Watson, who suffers from Emphysema and is partially immobile, said he thought he was dreaming when the world's second-most venomous snake woke him on Thursday morning.

"I went to sleep at 5am and I woke up and looked down and here is a big, fat brown snake right over my stomach," he said.

"The reason I woke up was the feeling of it sliding across my tummy.
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Eye 2

Rare albino corn snake found on M3 in Hampshire, UK

Julian Robinson
Southern Daily Echo
Fri, 20 Dec 2013 14:19 UTC
Image
The albino corn snake found by the M3
This slithering snake was certainly not where it was supposed to be.

Mystery surrounds how the colourful non-native corn snake found its way on to the busy M3 at junction 13 - not far from Eastleigh's Premier Inn hotel.

The reptile was spotted wriggling along the verge by maintenance teams from EM Highway Services, who look after 1,200km of roads in the south.

Often kept as a pet, the albino corn snake is not venomous and is likely to have escaped a home or been abandoned.

EM Highway Services environmental manager Ricky Taylor, said: "Operatives were performing routine maintenance when they noticed some movement on the verge.

"They investigated it and found a non-native snake. They managed to capture and keep it safe until an EM ecologist arrived to identify it and arrange for its removal.

"This is one lucky snake as I'm sure it wouldn't have survived long in the current temperature.

"My assumption is that it's someone's pet from the local area. We have asked a reptile group to look after it, as it shouldn't be outside at this time of year. Hopefully it will be ok."
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Arrow Up

Surprise surge in orcas and humpback whales in British Columbia waters

Jeff Bell
Vancouver Sun
Sun, 22 Dec 2013 14:17 UTC
Image
© Victoria Times ColonistRecord numbers of transient orcas and humpbacks have been sighted in Island waters.
Someone forgot to tell the whales around Victoria and the San Juan Islands that this is their off-season.

Many whale-watching companies are holding off on their winter shutdowns because record numbers of transient orcas and humpbacks are in Island waters, said Michael Harris, executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association.

"It's the time when they pull out of the water and they do maintenance on the boat or they take their vacation," Harris said.

"But they're still working and it's really demand-based and it's whale-based and it's weather-based."

Comment: See also: Volcanic eruptions, rising CO2, boiling oceans, and why man-made global warming is not even wrong

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Eye 1

Brown pelicans found dead with slashed pouches in Florida Keys


tbo.com
Sat, 21 Dec 2013 13:59 UTC
Image
© Scripps Media, IncThe search is on for the person wildlife rangers said slashed and ripped open the pouches of several Brown Pelicans in South Florida.
Authorities are investigating the deaths of several brown pelicans found with their pouches slashed in the Florida Keys.

Florida Keys Wildlife Refuge Director Maya Totman said Friday that 10 pelicans have been found dead.

The birds are being found with the large pouches they use to catch food almost entirely cut through. The pelicans are left unable to hunt and swallow their food, leaving them to starve to death slowly.

"With the way the cuts are done, fish slide out of the pouch and the bird can't eat. It gets weaker and weaker and dies," Totman tells The Key West Citizen.

Nancy Finley, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services at the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Big Pine Key, said the cuts don't appear to be a natural occurrence.

"The cuts are deep, all the way to the windpipe," she said. "It appears to be a knife slice."

Some pelicans also have been spotted flying around with their pouches slashed, raising concerns more could die, Totman said.
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Hardhat

Bird invasion: Thousands of Galahs take over outback town in Australia


mnn.com
Sun, 22 Dec 2013 13:29 UTC

Thousands of distinctive pink and grey galahs have descended on the Queensland town of Boulia, seeking relief from drought. But their arrival is creating havoc for locals and the galahs have finally outstayed their welcome.
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Black Cat 2

20 Cats found tortured, burned and murdered in Santa Fe, Texas

Judy Molland
Care2.com
Sat, 21 Dec 2013 07:00 UTC
Cat
© Care2.com
Warning: this is the most sickening story of cruelty to animals that I have ever written about.

Last Friday, police in Santa Fe, Texas raided a house with the intention of finding drugs. They succeeded: during the search of the home of 39-year-old Brain Cheek and his 38-year-old wife Veronica Springer, investigators found roughly nine grams of crystal methamphetamine, a scale for measuring the drugs, packaging materials for sales and a stolen all-terrain vehicle (ATV) valued at $14,000.

That wasn't all they found.

From WebProNews:
Unfortunately, as the search went on, investigators later found a grueling and morbid discovery: 20 dead cats, ranging from kittens to fully grown mature cats. Police stated that the dead cats had all appeared to undergo various forms of torture before their demise.

Investigators stated that there was evidence of blunt force trauma, disemboweling, strangulation, and burning as well as evidence of cats being burned. One of the murdered felines was found in a box in the bed of Cheek's truck.

Galveston County Sheriff's Office Animal Cruelty investigators picked up the remains of many of the cats which will be later examined by necropsy, thus finding out the actual causes of the cats' death.
So far, Cheek has been charged with the first-degree felony of manufacturing and delivering controlled substances, and is being held on a $300,000 bond, while Springer has been charged with possession of controlled substances and her bond set at $20,000.

As the investigation continues, felony charges related to animal cruelty are expected to be imposed on the couple who committed such heinous acts. Of course, animal cruelty charges must be brought against these disgusting human beings.
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Question

Unexplained mass animal deaths - documentary

Hong Vuong
youtube.com
Sat, 21 Dec 2013 15:31 UTC

Unexplained mass animal deaths from across the globe over the last two years. Featuring dead fish, birds, bees, bats, crabs, dolphins, whales and other species.
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Eagle

Dead bald eagle total increases to 13 in Utah


standard.net
Fri, 20 Dec 2013 15:06 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah)This undated image provided by the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah shows one of four bald eagle that was brought into the center, but eventually died. They each had symptoms: body tremors and paralysis. Four bald eagles have died in northern Utah in the past two weeks, raising alarms among state wildlife officials.
The recent deaths of as many as 13 bald eagles found in Northern Utah is alarming.

As predators, the poor health of bald eagles can be an indicator of bigger problems. Like a canary in a coal mine -- which was a warning for miners that their oxygen was being depleted -- the rash of deaths could be a sign of some environmental imbalance in the region.

Thousands of bald eagles migrate to Utah each winter, with many gathering at the Great Salt Lake where they feast on carp in diked freshwater reservoirs, such as Farmington Bay.

Bald eagles almost went extinct in the lower 48 states because of their susceptibility to pesticides they may have breathed in or ingested through fish. It wasn't until 1972 when DDT was banned in the United States that eagles began to rebound. In this case, the pesticide didn't kill adult eagles, but made males sterile and caused females to lay eggs that were too thin.
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