Archive for the ‘animal occurrences’ category

Beer Bear!

October 20, 2009

Beer Bear– -A bear walked into a beer department in Wisconsin…no, it really happened last Thursday!  The 125-pound black bear wandered into a Hayward grocery store, went up and down the aisles, and then decided to check out the bruin, going into the beer cooler in the liquor department, and climbing twelve feet up onto a shelf!  No other customers were in the store at the time, and the single store clerk just kind of blocked things off and summoned authorities.

The bear sat on the shelf for about an hour until Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officers tranquilized the bear, and removed him unceremoniously from the store.  No bottles of beer were broken…

…was the bear hangin’ with his Bud?Hey, hey, hey!–He’s smarter than the average bear!–If the Ranger had given him one more pic-a-nic basket, this might not have happened!

Spider Pope!

September 28, 2009

Spider PopeIs it an omen?– – A large arachnid appeared on Pope Benedict XVI’s white robes as he addressed politicians and diplomats in Prague on Saturday afternoon (see speck on shoulder)!  The Pope didn’t seem to notice at first, but the not so itsy-bitsy spider made journalists flinch as the arachnid inched towards Benedict’s neck!

The spider disappeared from view for a moment, but then could be seen crawling up the right side of the pontiff’s face- –eww! When it reached his ear, Benedict gave it a swat…but the persistent arachnid reappeared on the Pope’s left shoulder and then scampered down his robe.  As the Pope left Prague Castle’s Spanish Hall, the spider could be seen hanging from a piece of web!

– -Well, that spider’s now darned to heck…but will the Pope  gain amazing arachnoid powers?- –That would be so cool!!!- -And what a recruitment tool for the church!- –I’d warm a pew for that!- -I can see a Marvel Comics cover now!

<sings> Spider-Pope!- -Spider-Pope!- -He does everything a Spider-Pope does!

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(Disclaimer:  No disrespect intended to the Pope or Catholicism, yada yada…remember, “Comedy is not pretty.” – – Steve Martin) 😉

Crocodile Mafia Enforcer!

September 27, 2009

caiman– -A crocodile could be the ultimate Mafia enforcer, a hit-reptile, if you will.- -Well, one Mafia crime boss appears to have employed such cold-blooded muscle in his operation!

Officers in Italy’s anti-Mafia police unit say that they have seized a crocodile (specifically, a caiman) from the home of an alleged mob boss in Naples!  The owner used the 88-pound, 5.6 foot long reptile to intimidate extortion victims, local businessmen from whom he demanded protection money.  In what sounds like bad TV writing, the boss supposedly would invite the extortion victims to his home and threaten to set the animal on them if they didn’t pay or grant him favors...in other words, he made them an offer they couldn’t refuse!

Now caimans normally live in Central and South America, and it is not known how this one got to Italy…rather than pasta, the croc was fed a diet of live rabbits and mice.  He was placed in the care of Italy’s forestry service, and will probably wind up writing a book in a witness protection program…

Mobile Dog Fighting…

September 26, 2009

dog fighting– -This picture is a mild example of dog fighting; most are bloody and sickening.–How are dog fighters adapting to increasing law enforcement against their despicable activities?–By going mobile, in a practice called “trunking”…

in “trunking,” large cars with spacious trunks are used to stage dog fights while loud music is played to muffle the sounds of the brutality.  The vehicle may actually be kept moving while the fighting transpires, then stop.  Whichever dog is still alive at that point is the winner, with the dead loser simply tossed to the side of the road.   As the entire operation is mobile, it’s difficult for law enforcement to target it and close in.

Animal control officers in Paterson, New Jersey are stepping up enforcement and warning the public about the practice, with arrests having occurred in other states.  The Humane Society is offering a $5,000 reward for information on anyone participating in trunking…

Cougars in Seattle!

September 5, 2009

mercury cougar— No, not the Mercury Cougar…we’re talkin’ cougars as in mountain lions, pumas, panthers, and catamounts.  The big cats more commonly attack pets and livestock than people, but a 5-year-old boy was mauled in the Northeast corner of Washington state last Wednesday, and in the past year other attacks have been reported in a few Western states, including Washington and Wyoming. In June of 2008, a cougar killed a 55-year-old man in New Mexico.

Associated Press reports that Seattle’s largest park, Discovery Park, is currently off limits as state wildlife agents try to trap a cougar in or near Discovery Park.  The last time that a cougar was seen in Discovery Park was 1981.  It was dubbed “D.B. Cougar” after the elusive hijacker, D.B. Cooper!

This past Friday morning, a man in that area said that he saw a cougar (no, not the Mercury!) in his driveway as he went to pick up his newspaper. So we’ve got foxes in Detroit, leopards in upstate New York, and cougars in Seattle…It’s a start, right?cougar

“The Real Moby Dick”

August 27, 2009

sperm whale— Sperm whales are pretty awesome; equipped with a massive “battering ram” type head, they can dive to 10,000 feet and remain submerged for over an hour!  They also grow for 50 of their 80 year life cycle, and so must eat constantly. Oil contained in two chambers of their head was once burned, fueling the New England economy of an earlier day; one sperm whale could provide 100 barrels of oil.

When whales were hunted by wooden ships, the tables occasionally got turned, and the whales got to take a few whalers and their vessels with them. One such ship, the Essex, was sunk by a whale in 1820, the incident providing the inspiration for Herman Melville’s classic, Moby Dick. The 20 crewmen of the Essex endured for 3 months in open whale boats following the sinking of their ship, and only 8 crewmen ultimately survived.  Now Melville used a natural history book of the day for factual information on sperm whales, then exaggerated their aggressive qualities.  His legendary white whale was almost an embodiment of evil, but hey, I wouldn’t like being harpooned, either!

So the MonsterQuest team went searching for aggressive albino whales in the Atlantic off Portugal in a recent offering, and initially spotted dolphins, fish, and turtles; one diver even suffered a nasty facial sting from a Portuguese Man o’ War.  When whales were actually spotted, they tended to dive before the team got into position; can you blame them?  Eventually, pilot whales were inspected up close by team divers.

While sperm whales were not sighted muchless any white ones, the episode was nonetheless interesting for the lore on whales and whaling, which thankfully is no longer widely practiced.  Most intriguing was the fact that Melville apparently changed his ending to Moby Dick, originally planning to have both the whale and the ship perish in the finale.  In his published version, the whale takes out the Pequod and survives, heading out to parts unknown of the sea, a malevolent force of nature unconquered by man…

…now that’s what I call a happy ending!You rule, Moby!–Woo-hoo!

Killer Chimps in America!

August 13, 2009

killer chimp— Killer Chimps in America was a recent MonsterQuest episode that did not pertain to Mojo Jojo, simian nemesis of (-ugh!) The Powerpuff  Girls. Rather, it concerned the possibility of wild chimpanzees loose in the swamps of Florida and possibly in California.   It was not the best MonsterQuest episode, dragging at times and appearing pieced together…but it was not the worst episode, either.

The intrepid MonsterQuest team searched for chimps in the Green Swamp in central Florida, a mere 40 miles away from Orlando, where great merchandising beasts are loose.  The team used camera traps including thermal units as well as gyroplane aircraft, one of which I must add to my Xmas list!  Anyhow, the camera traps detected bobcats, whitetail deer, wild turkey, owl, boar, and even a red wolf but (–surprise!)  no chimpanzees.

Now immature chimps have long been paraded on TV as cute and lovable creatures who can be dressed in clothes and otherwise embarrassed by training them to perform human-like behaviors.  The problem is that sexual maturity causes chimps to become stronger and more aggressive.  This is why the late Michael Jackson sent Bubbles the Chimp to a Florida simian sanctuary after palling around with him in the 1980’s.  As the Travis the Chimp mauling demonstrated so horrendously in recent months, a chimp possesses several times human strength, and can readily take a person apart with nothing other than their hands and teeth.   In the Travis attack, the lady targeted lost her nose, eyes, lips, and hands.  MonsterQuest profiled another man who together with his wife suffered a chimp attack, and his injuries were also horrendous.  Primates often target the face, by the way…and while chimps in nature often build up to a frenzied stage before an actual attack, domestically-raised chimps can attack instantaneously without telegraphing behaviorally their intentions.

…Now roadside carnivals and zoos in the 1920’s through 1940’s often exhibited chimps in Florida, with P.T. Barnum himself exhibiting chimps there as early as 1896.  Sadly, such road shows had been known to simply set the chimps free after they were done exhibiting them.  This would lend some credibility to the assertion that wild chimp populations were out there.  A cartographic comparison by MonsterQuest of the Green Swamp with Mali, Africa revealed that the areas had minimal differences despite variances in vegetation and elevation.

Despite many eyewitness sightings, physical proof of a wild chimp population in Florida remains elusive, however, and resources are not judged sufficient to maintain such a population.  It is also deemed unlikely that an escaped chimp could survive undetected in Central Florida; he would inevitably gravitate to Disney World, and probably attempt to butt in line at the attractions.

An underlying issue presented in the episode was that 13 states don’t regulate ownership of exotic animals that would include chimpanzees, and chimps are near the top of the list of animals that make bad pets for home ownership…


Woman Killed by Bear

August 11, 2009

Yogi bear— It’s not a good idea to feed the bears.  They might become extremely annoying, like Yogi Bear and Boo Boo…or they might kill you!

This just happened to a Denver woman in her 70’s suspected of feeding bears on her property for over a decade despite repeated warnings; the woman reportedly had up to fourteen bears on her land at the same time.  An autopsy revealed that she bled to death quickly from deep slashes to her head and neck. It’s an offense to feed bears in Colorado, with the first offense drawing a $100 fine, the second $500, and the third $1,000.

black bear — Bears are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders that primarily forage for berries, nuts, and insects.   They will, however, also consume human food, carrion, and small animals…feeding a bear alters their behavior, potentially with catastrophic results...

Chain Saw vs. Mountain Lion!

July 27, 2009

images— In an incident reported July 17th, a Colorado man used an 18″ chainsaw to successfully fight off a mountain lion that attacked him during a camping trip with his wife and two toddlers in northwest Wyoming!  The adult male lion was described as being emaciated and showing other signs of starvation when he pounced on the man, an ex-Marine…Semper Fi, Dude!

The camper met the lion head-on with his chainsaw running, inflicting a six- to eight-inch gash on the lion’s shoulder and suffering only a small puncture  wound on his forearm.  Knowing when it was outmatched, the lion ceased the attack.

The mountain lion was later killed by wildlife officials after it attacked a dog brought in to track it.  Rabies tests were negative on the mountain lion, although other diseases have not been ruled out and starvation seems likely to have contributed to his unusual behavior…

(…chainsaws:  good  for cutting wood and predators down to size!   And remember…when chainsaws are outlawed, only outlaws will have chainsaws!  <fires up a big Stihl chainsaw…BRAPPP!>  Bring it on, baby, yeah!)



Snake Kills Toddler

July 3, 2009

Python_Strangling__t450— A nine-foot long Burmese python recently killed a two-year-old child in Oxford, Florida when the reptile escaped from its terrarium.  The snake when found had constricted around the child, and was stabbed until it relinquished its grip, although unfortunately it was by then too late for the toddler.  The python had bitten and then squeezed to death the little girl.  The owner of the snake may face criminal charges…

…unanswered is the question of why would anyone allow a predator in the same house as a young child…