• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Day Of The Animals: Tales Of Man Vs Beast (And Man Suffers)

Barnsley house blast caused by dog chewing deoderant can

This is the damage caused by a teething dog which bit through a can of deodorant – and caused a window-shattering explosion.

Six-month-old saluki greyhound cross Zeus, who has since been sold, chewed through a can of Lynx and caused an explosion so intense it shattered a double glazed bay window in his owners’ house, blew through the floorboards and set fire to the sofa.

Kerry Leech, aged 20, and her partner Matthew Heckler, 22, said they are thankful they were out of their home in Goldthorpe, near Barnsley, when the can exploded.

Firefighters initially suspected the explosion was due to a gas blast.

But after checks revealed no evidence of a leak, they now believe Zeus chewed through an aerosol can next to the boiler in the house on Frederick Street, causing gases to leak.

It is thought that when the central heating came on just minutes later, a spark ignited the gas and caused the explosion. . . .
Click to expand...

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/barnsley- ... -1-6364308[/quote]
 
Squirrel trashes home leaving £7,000 repair bill
Homeowner feared she had been burgled and ran downstairs to find the squirrel trapped in the front room
By News agencies
9:28AM GMT 14 Jan 2014

A homeowner was left with a £7,000 repair bill after her house was trashed by a squirrel overnight.
Margaret Bousfield, 64, came downstairs in the morning to find the angry rodent had ransacked her living room.
The squirrel had fallen down her chimney and clawed, bitten and soiled her curtains, furniture, sofa and carpets.

It had even made a desperate attempt to get out - by scratching through the plastic double-glazing window frames.
Margaret, a magistrate, was asleep at the time but was eventually woken up when the squirrel triggered the burglar alarm.
She feared she had been burgled and ran downstairs to find the squirrel trapped in the front room.
The mum-of-two called in a neighbour who tried to corner the animal and opened a window to let it escape.
Margaret, of Hartlepool, had to replace her carpets and sofa and was left with a bill of over £7,000.

She said: "The first thing I heard was the burglar alarm go off as it woke me up.
"My first thought was that someone was downstairs. My neighbour entered the room holding a cushion to his chest.
"The squirrel was going wild but he managed to open a window and it was covered in dirt and it shot from the house like a bullet."

Margaret has now completely refurbished the room following the incident, but luckily the cost was covered by insurance.
The former headteacher added: "The room's smell was a combination of smoky soot from the fire, squirrel urine and pollen and stale water from a knocked over lily vase.

"The disruption was unbelievable. My first thought was 'I'll just clean this up'. I didn't realise how long the damage would take to sort.
"I'm quite a strong critter but I had chosen the sofa material with my late husband, John, so when I was told the sofa and carpets had to be replaced it really did affect me."

Margaret is not sure if it was a red or grey squirrel, adding "it was a black squirrel from the soot". 8)
She has now stepped up security at her home with a new mesh placed over the fireplace to deter a return visit.
Margaret believes the squirrel may have knocked itself out on falling down the chimney and reacted so violently after it woke up because it was disorientated.

Squirrel expert Ian Bond, Hartlepool Borough Council's ecologist, said: "This type of thing can happen in other areas with far more trees than we have because squirrels are always on the hunt for the right environment to build a home.
"They do not just have to live in trees and are known to take up residence in lofts and attics.
"It may well be that it was looking for somewhere desirable to live when it fell down the chimney."

Mr Bond believes the intruder was likely to have been a grey squirrel as the rarer red variety has not been spotted in Hartlepool since 2005.
He added: "They have a formidable pair of incisors and have a go at gnawing anything to get to where they need to be."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... -bill.html
 
Paignton Zoo monkeys banned from eating bananas
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-25728179

Macaque monkeys

Macaque monkeys at Paignton Zoo tuck into a healthy snack of sprouts

Monkeys at a zoo have been banned from eating bananas because keepers say they are too sugary.

Paignton Zoo in Devon says giving monkeys bananas cultivated for humans is like giving them cake and chocolate.

Amy Plowman, head of conservation, said that is because they are too ripe for monkeys and can cause gastrointestinal problems.

Dr Plowman said it had not been too hard to wean the monkeys off bananas and give them vegetables instead.

She said: "Fruit cultivated for humans is much higher in sugar and much lower in protein and fibre than most wild fruit.

"It can also cause gastrointestinal problems as their stomachs are mostly adapted to eating fibrous foods with very low digestibility."

Bananas 'a treat'
She said monkeys had their banana intake reduced slowly.

A typical monkey diet now features lots of green leafy vegetables, smaller amounts of other vegetables and as much browse - leafy branches - as possible.

Animals do still get bananas if they are unwell and the keepers need to make sure they take medication.

Dr Plowman said: "Putting it in a piece of banana works really well, as it's such a treat now."

Senior head keeper of mammals Matthew Webb said: "Reducing the sugar in their diets has calmed them down and made their group more settled."
Click to expand...
 
Wildlife expert rejects calls to control sea eagles
David Miller
By David Miller
BBC Scotland environment correspondent
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-e ... e-25921453

One of Britain's leading wildlife experts has rejected calls for the number of white-tailed eagles in Scotland to be controlled.

Prof Des Thompson, principal adviser on Biodiversity at Scottish Natural Heritage, has told BBC Scotland there is no reason why the white-tailed eagle population should not reach "several hundred breeding pairs".

The calls for control measures have come from farmers and crofters, amid an increasingly-heated dispute about the impact the birds are having on sheep.

The birds, which are also known as sea eagles, were reintroduced to Scotland from Norway after centuries of persecution here.

The return of the white-tailed eagle to Scotland's skies is seen by conservationists as a success story.

But sheep farmers say they have deep concerns about the increasing numbers of the birds. There are about 80 breeding pairs on the west coast of Scotland and sea eagles have now begun breeding on the east coast.

'Death knell'
The controversy centres on claims the eagles are killing live lambs in large numbers.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

We can't start moving them around because they will simply come back and fill the vacuum”

James Reynolds
RSPB Scotland
Scientists say the birds are much more likely to feed on lambs which have already died on the hillside, and attacks on live lambs are comparatively rare.

Farmer Robert MacDonald, from Skye, denies that's the case and is warning the issue could "sound the death knell" for sheep farming in the north west of Scotland.

He told BBC Scotland: "The scientists are not out there. They're not seeing what the eagle is actually doing, so I don't see how they can say that. They would say anything to support the continuing rise of the sea eagle."

Scottish Natural Heritage says the population of white-tailed eagles is growing at between 8% and 10% a year.

Euan Warnock, of NFU Scotland, argues that underlines the need for some form of control on the size of the population, but has stopped short of calling for a cull.

Sea eagle
Des Thompson, from Scottish Natural Heritage, said Scotland could eventually have several hundred breeding pairs of sea eagles
He said: "I don't think we are at that stage, but we might need to look at the possibility of relocating individual birds where they're having a disproportionate impact on local farms."

NFU Scotland wants to see its members compensated for their losses. A sea eagle management scheme, which provided support for farmers and crofters in the north west of Scotland, ended last year.

Mr Warnock said: "We want the management scheme to carry on in some form but we have to have a radical look at new options because it was in no way compensation to the farmers for the impact the birds are having on their farms."

'Plenty of space'
Scottish Natural Heritage has pledged to work with farmers and crofters. But Prof Thompson believes management measures other than population control represent the best way forward.

He said: "The population is still growing and we may eventually have several hundred breeding pairs of sea eagles.

"That shouldn't be a concern. Scotland is a big country. There is plenty of space for them. Why on earth would we talk about controlling sea eagles?

"There are lots of good management measures we can put in place. We can look at improving livestock husbandry and ensuring that there's ample prey for sea eagles."

Meanwhile, RSPB Scotland has dismissed suggestions that sea eagles could be moved to other areas.

Spokesman James Reynolds said: "Sea eagles are mobile. They fly and will go where they wish. They will make sure they can set up home in habitats that can support their numbers.

"We can't start moving them around because they will simply come back and fill the vacuum."
Click to expand...
 
German cows cause methane blast in Rasdorf

Methane gas released by dairy cows has caused an explosion in a cow shed in Germany, police said.
The roof was damaged and one of the cows was injured in the blast in the central German town of Rasdorf. :shock:

Thanks to the belches and flatulence of the 90 dairy cows in the shed, high levels of the gas had built up.
Then "a static electric charge caused the gas to explode with flashes of flames" the force said in a statement quoted by Reuters news agency.

Emergency services attended the farm and took gas readings to test for the risk of further blasts, said local media.
Cows are believed to emit up to 500 litres of methane - a potent greenhouse gas - each per day.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25922514
 
Bluey the dog's special boots for grass allergy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-sout ... s-25924607

Bluey the dog

Bluey "walked like a clown" at first
'
A dog with a seasonal allergy to grass has been fitted with £50 set of boots specially made for him in Canada.

Bluey, from Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire, spends hours licking his poorly paws after just a few minutes outside during autumn and winter.

The eight-year-old Weimaraner has had the problem since he was a puppy but his owner noticed it worsen when they moved away from the city.

Velcro straps the boots to his feet.

Owner, Julie Farr, 38, said: "We have had Bluey since he was a puppy and we have noticed the problems before but it got much worse after we moved and he was spending more time outside.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

Bluey is getting on very well with the boots, prancing around like a puppy”

Julie Farr
Owner
"His feet were often inflamed and red. He would lick and bite them until I covered his feet in a blanket.

"I even tried tying carrier bags round his feet to ease the problem, but it wasn't very practical, so I found the boots online.

"At first he wasn't impressed, but now he will happily wear them. It's fantastic to see him running round without any problems."

As soon as the symptoms appeared, Julie took Bluey to the vets, who was unable to diagnose exactly what the dog is allergic too, but said that it is likely to be something outdoors.

Bluey was already unable to eat any meat other than fish and turkey and had to take allergy tablets.

Carrier bags
"I also had to wash his feet in surgical soap, before putting E45 cream on and giving him some socks to wear to stop him biting at them," Julie says.

"But the socks were soaking after just a few minutes outside so I tried tying carrier bags round them, but it just wasn't a practical solution.

"I decided to shop around and see if I could get Bluey some boots to wear. I couldn't stand to see my poor boy moping around."

Julie bought Bluey a set of Neopaws boots. Made in Canada, the boots strap to his feet using Velcro.

Bluey the dog
Bluey has been wearing the boots for three weeks and his paws have almost fully recovered
He has now been wearing the boots for three weeks and his paws have almost fully recovered.

Julie added: "Bluey is getting on very well with the boots, prancing around like a puppy.

"He wasn't keen to put them on at all at first but I mentioned it to Ronnie, the lady at Neopaws and she advised giving treats to encourage compliance, and just getting the boots on and going out so he doesn't have time to worry about them.

"He walked like a clown at first, very uncoordinated, but within a few minutes he was fine. He sounds like a horse now when he runs around.

"I think he quite likes them because they keep his feet warm and dry."
Click to expand...
 
At least it was a live parrot.

M62 learner driver 'accompanied only by parrot'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-25928491

Parrot found by police

The speeding driver was found to be accompanied only by her parrot, police said
A motorist stopped for speeding on the M62 in West Yorkshire was a learner driver accompanied only by her pet parrot, police have revealed.

The female 4x4 driver was pulled over by officers near junction 22 of the M62 at about 08:45 GMT on Sunday.

Provisional drivers are only allowed to drive if accompanied by a qualified motorist and are banned from motorways.

"Since parrots are not allowed to supervise learner drivers, her vehicle has been seized," police tweeted.

The driver will also be dealt with later for motoring offences including speeding, West Yorkshire Police's Road Policing Unit said.

Ch Insp Mark Bownass said: "The rules of the road exist for a very good reason and it is important to remember that if this lady had been in a crash or incident, she would not have been covered by insurance as she was not licensed for the journey."
Click to expand...
 
Komodo Dragons on Flores

Komodo dragons make new island home
Komodo dragons, the world’s largest lizard species known for its poisonous bite, have been found living outside their national park home in Indonesia
By Natalie Paris
5:22PM GMT 12 Feb 2014

The rare beasts were once thought to be unique to the small and arid Komodo and Rinca islands, but have recently been discovered hiding out in Mbeliling Forest on neighbouring Flores, a much larger and well-populated island located an hour by speedboat from Rinca.

Conservationists found several of the dragons, who have been known to kill humans in the past, surviving not far from the villages of Golo Mori and Tanjung Kerita Mese last year.

While the dragons have also occasionally been sighted on the northern coast of Flores, these were caught roaming about by camera traps. It is hoped that the findings will help to promote conservation efforts in Flores.

“The discovery of a new community of Komodo dragons is a truly remarkable find,” comments Richard Hume, country manager for the Indonesian Tourist Board. “Not only does it provide renewed hope for the ongoing survival of this fascinating species, it also reinforces Indonesia’s position as one of the greatest wildlife destinations on earth.”

Komodos are large monitor lizards with an acute sense of smell, strong claws and a toxic bite. Although they eat mainly carrion, they prey on deer and water buffalo, and have killed a human as recently as 2009. They can swim, they eat their dead and are cannibals, forcing their young to live in trees for up to five years to avoid being attacked.

There has yet to be a study to determine the size of the new population, but it is thought that there are at least five dragons living in the coastal forest at Golo Mori and seven in Tanjung Kerita Mese, according to the Jakarta Post.

Tourists are able to visit the dragons on Komodo and Rinca by taking a boat tour from Labuanbajo on Flores, or by sailing into the Komodo National Park from Bali.

...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/trave ... -home.html
 
Dara Taylor Rescues 'Frosty,' Kitten Found Frozen To Road
AP
Posted: 02/19/2014 8:21 am EST Updated: 02/19/2014 8:59 am
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/1 ... 14642.html

ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) — A driver who found a gray kitten frozen to the road in northeast Ohio and rescued it says she initially thought it was a chunk of ice and was shocked when it tried to move.

Dara Taylor of Elyria (eh-LEER'-ee-uh) tells The Chronicle-Telegram (http://bit.ly/1kW9Z5x ) she found the cat Monday covered in ice, as though it had been in water, and it couldn't open its eyes. She says she freed the cat from the road and took it to the Friendship Animal Protective League.

The group's chief financial officer, Shelley MacDonald, says the male cat has warmed up and is being treated for a respiratory infection. Officials are hopeful he will fully recover.

The organization says it is already getting adoption requests for the kitten, which has been named Frosty.

___

Information from: The Chronicle-Telegram, http://www.chronicletelegram.com
Click to expand...
 
Police dogs 'attack 150 innocent people' in UK
By David Lumb
BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25883238

Police forces in the UK say police dogs are trained to high standards to respond to a variety of situations

At least 150 police dog attacks on innocent people have been reported in the past three years, a BBC investigation has revealed.

Police forces in the UK said they handed out a total of £120,000 in compensation between 2011 and 2013.

Claimants included children as young as 10, joggers and a photographer.

The grandmother of one victim wants the use of aggressive dogs for enforcement purposes banned but police bosses have said they perform a vital role.

Tom Cutbill was playing in his grandmother's back garden in Oldbury, West Midlands, when he was bitten on the leg by a police dog last year.

'Life changing'
Officers had been searching for four suspects when a dog handler entered the private garden and his German shepherd-Belgian Malinois cross attacked Tom, who was aged 10 at the time.

Tom's grandmother Bev Bakewell, 52, of New Henry Street, said no amount of dog training would eliminate the possibility of innocent people being attacked.

"The figures speak for themselves - they [police dogs] should not be used at all," she said.

She said the attack on Tom, who is yet to receive any compensation, had been "life changing" for him.

"He is apprehensive all the time, he won't stop in a room on his own," she said.

Tom Cutbill was bitten by a police dog in his grandmother's garden in New Henry Street in Oldbury
Tom Cutbill was bitten by a police dog in his grandmother's garden in Oldbury
A total of 48 police forces - 43 in England and Wales, Police Scotland, Police Northern Ireland and three national forces - were asked for details of police dog attacks on innocent bystanders in the past three calendar years and how much had been paid out in compensation.

Forty-two replied in some form, three refused and three said they did not hold the data.

Some forces declined to reveal how much compensation had been paid on grounds of "confidentiality". Some cases are still being investigated and some payments have yet to be decided.

The oldest alleged victim was a 69-year-old reportedly attacked by an Avon and Somerset Constabulary dog.

Out of the forces to reveal compensation payments, the Metropolitan Police, the largest force in England, paid the most: £44,535.70. Greater Manchester Police paid out £25,100.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission launched an investigation into South Yorkshire Police after 38-year-old Dawn Priestley was bitten by a police dog while she put out her washing in Sheffield.

Injuries to Dawn Priestley's arm
Dawn Priestley was bitten by a police dog as officers pursued a teenage boy
In Gloucestershire, police said a 10-year-old girl was allegedly bitten on the hand when a dog escaped from the back of a van.

Greater Manchester Police said a 47-year-old had launched a compensation claim after allegedly suffering stomach injuries and fractured ribs while helping someone who was being bitten by an escaped police dog last year.

'Highly trained'
In other reported incidents:

Merseyside Police said one its dogs bit the leg of someone in their late 60s who was helping them find a suspect.
Devon and Cornwall Police said a 55-year-old man was attacked by a police dog which had been let off its lead by a handler. Officers were arresting an offender in a garden when the victim left a house to investigate the commotion and suffered injuries to his right forearm.
Surrey Police paid £30.40 to replace the trousers of someone who was bitten while a police dog and its handler were being photographed in March 2011.
Cleveland Police paid £9,000 to a police officer bitten on duty in 2011 and a press photographer and jogger were the alleged victims in attacks reported in Warwickshire and Staffordshire respectively.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said an 11-year-old bystander was bitten in the groin after stepping out from behind a tree during a search for an offender.
South Wales Police reported four claims in the past three years. Police Scotland paid one claimant £500.
A BBC investigation in 2011 revealed £770,000 had been paid out to people bitten by police dogs over a three-year period.

Assistant Chief Constable Gareth Wilson, from the National Association of Police Officers' (ACPO), said police dogs are trained to high standards to respond to a variety of situations.

"All general purpose dogs are licensed to operate and continually assessed so that should their behaviour fall below the required standard then their licence will be withdrawn," he said.

"Of the thousands of incidents which police dogs attend nationally, very few result in injuries to innocent people.

"Where this does occur the circumstances are investigated fully and compensation awarded where appropriate."

More on This Story
Click to expand...
 
Opposite where I often catch a bus is an area of grass, and over the last couple of weeks I've often seen a herring gull there, paddling the ground with his feet to lure worms, etc to the surface. He seems to do quite well, catching several items a minute. Sometimes he's had a younger gull with him, who is also adept at the routine.

I don't think I've observed this behaviour before, although I know other birds do it. I wondered if gulls use this technique on hard sand at low tide, but according to Wiki:
"European Herring Gulls may be observed rhythmically drumming their feet upon the ground for prolonged periods of time in a behaviour that superficially resembles Irish stepdancing. This is for the purpose of creating vibrations in the soil, driving earthworms to the surface, which are then consumed by the gull.[20] It is believed that these vibrations mimic those of digging moles, eliciting a surface escape behaviour from the earthworm, beneficial in encounters with this particular predator, which the European Herring Gull then exploits to its own benefit in a similar manner to human worm charmers."

Still, it's good to see that herring gulls can make a living in our towns without robbing tourists and locals of their chips and pasties! In fact this gull seems to do very well on his underground diet, as he seems very fit and has good clean plumage. An example to all his race! 8)
 
China: Stray cats keep Beijing's Forbidden City clean
News from Elsewhere...
...as found by BBC Monitoring
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from ... e-26366744

A cat in Beijing's Forbidden City

Stray cats found in the Forbidden City are neutered then released

Officials at Beijing's Forbidden City have a policy of keeping about 200 cats at the imperial palace complex to keep rats and vermin away from the cultural relics, it's been reported.

While stray cats are an annoyance for residents in the rest of capital, the museum curators have neutered over 180 felines in the last five years, state-owned Xinhua news agency reports. Some of them might even be descendants of royal pets, says museum official Ma Guoqing.

"They are a powerful deterrent to museum rats and we have not found a single piece of cultural relics damaged by cat claws," Ma says. The museum vaccinates the cats, gives them vitamins, and lets them stay inside in cold weather, the People's Daily newspaper reports.

But Ma adds the cats could "pose a threat to visitors, and their excrement is definitely an eyesore". There are about 200,000 stray cats in Beijing, one survey suggests. One female cat giving birth to three or four litters every year could add as many as 100 cats to the stray population in its lifetime, Xinhua reports.

A cat in Beijing's Forbidden City

Officials say that the immunisation programme has been cost-effective
Click to expand...
 
Monkey steals GoPro camera and takes forest selfie
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/weird ... 59682.html

HEATHER SAUL Author Biography Friday 28 February 2014

A tourist who had his expensive GoPro camera stolen by a monkey discovered the animal had taken a selfie on the device when it was returned.

The photographer was busy feeding other monkeys in the Uluwatu Temple on the island of Bali, Indonesia when his GoPro was snatched by the mischievous primate.

“I was going to feed the monkeys with fruits and had the brilliant idea to shoot it with my GoPro,’ he explained.

“Suddenly, many monkeys started to approach and in a matter of second my camera was robbed."

Luckily for the tourist a local woman managed to persuade the monkey to return the device.

“After a few minutes of panic, a sweet lady who works in the temple made a ‘deal’ with Mr Monkey and traded my camera for some fruits," the tourist said.

“I lost the battery but got this awesome and unexpected video.”
Click to expand...
 
Australia: Snake eats crocodile after battle

A snake has won a lengthy battle with a crocodile in northern Queensland, wrestling it, constricting it and then finally eating it.
The incident at Lake Moondarra, near Mount Isa, was captured on camera by local residents on Sunday.
The 10-ft snake, thought to be a python, coiled itself around the crocodile and the two struggled in the water.
The snake later brought the dead crocodile onto land and ate it.


Tiffany Corlis, a local author, saw the fight and took these pictures.
"It was amazing," she told the BBC. "We saw the snake fighting with the crocodile - it would roll the crocodile around to get a better grip, and coil its body around the crocodile's legs to hold it tight."
"The fight began in the water - the crocodile was trying to hold its head out of the water at one time, and the snake was constricting it."
"After the crocodile had died, the snake uncoiled itself, came around to the front, and started to eat the crocodile, face-first," she added.

Ms Corlis said it appeared to take the snake around 15 minutes to eat the crocodile.
The snake was "definitely very full," when it finished, she said. "I don't know where it went after that - we all left, thinking we didn't want to stick around!"

Another witness, Alyce Rosenthal, told local media that the two creatures fought for about five hours. By the end, they appeared exhausted, she said.
"It's not something that you see every day," she said. :shock:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26413101
 
Josh Hennessy, Man Who Bravely Fought Off Bear, Actually Just Fell While Chasing It
The Huffington Post | by Sebastian Murdock
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/0 ... tent=Title

Posted: 03/03/2014 8:02 am EST Updated: 03/03/2014 9:59 am EST

A Florida man who claimed to have suffered injuries after fending off a vicious bear attack has now corrected his story to say he suffered injuries after he fell while chasing a bear Thursday night.

Josh Hennessy, 36, told multiple news stations that he fought off a black bear. He even posted pictures of injuries he claims to have sustained in the attack on his Facebook. They appeared to be mostly scratches.

bear attack

"[I was] sitting outside listening to music, and all the sudden I see a shadow go by me," Hennessy told WFTV. "I look off to the side of me and just, I thought it was somebody, and I went to meet whoever it was and it was a bear. "He got ahold of my clothes. I just started punching him and he ran off. I got right in his way.”

Hennessy said the bear dragged him around by his pant leg before he punched it and drove it off.

"It kind of charged at me," he said. "It was a tackle match for a second, he got ahold of my clothes and I just started punching him and he just ran off."

Hennessy's story of bravery and heroism quickly changed, however.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Hennessy admitted to officials in a sworn statement that his injuries were not caused by a bear attack. Instead, Hennessy said he sustained his scrapes and scratches after falling on the pavement while chasing a bear.

“Mr. Hennessy did see a bear walk by," said wildlife official Greg Workman. "He chased it up a paved road, and during this chase, he fell in the road."



Hennessy has now declined to speak to media. Neighbors of the man said they see bears often, and they are generally very skittish of humans.

"It's bull. It's phony. It's fake," neighbor Phillip Sulatycki told the Orlando Sentinel. "Anybody who has lived here in this park as long as I have, which is 15 years, knows the bears don't attack nobody. You drive up by them, they run. I literally come out my door at 1:30 in the morning to get in my car to go to work and, if the bear's sitting there, he's just looking at you. If he does anything, he just grunts."

Hennessy went to the hospital to have his minor injuries treated. The FCW law enforcement will decide whether or not to press charges against the man for "molesting wildlife."
Click to expand...
 
That sounds like a bloke telling his story in the pub. Until his wife brings him down to earth and tells everyone what really happened. :)
 
Vicious Pet Cat Traps Owners In Oregon Bedroom
Posted: 03/10/2014 8:32 pm EDT Updated: 03/10/2014 8:59 pm EDT
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/1 ... 37904.html

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Portland police had to be called in to subdue a 22-pound house cat that trapped its owners inside their bedroom after attacking their baby.

The baby was not injured in the Sunday incident.

Sgt. Pete Simpson, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman, said officers responded to a 911 call that evening from a couple who had locked themselves in their bedroom with the baby and their dog after the cat attacked the child.

Simpson said the 911 operator could hear the cat screeching in the background as the couple awaited help.

Officers used a dog snare to capture the cat and placed it in a crate.

Simpson said the owners told the dispatcher the cat has a history of violence. He said the cat remained with its owners.
Click to expand...
 
I just read a hilarious news article on BBC news:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazin ... r-26544284

Apparently a domestic house cat 'terrorized' a whole family 'forcing them to lock themselves in a room'.

I seriously 'wtf'ed' at this. A quick kick would put even the largest of domestic cats out of commission (not that ive tried it lol)

But seriously, they had to lock themselves in a room??

I once had a mental cat 'attach' itself to my leg, it was pretty painful, but I just grabbed it by the scruff of the neck (which pretty much made it go 'floppy')

Is this a joke??

Edit: Dog was also 'terrorized' by the cat and locked in with the aforementioned family. If your dog cant stand up to a cat... what is the point of having a dog??
 
Couple Attacked By Cat Will Get Help For Pet
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/1 ... 45056.html
Posted: 03/11/2014 8:20 pm EDT Updated: 03/11/2014 8:59 pm EDT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon owners of a 22-pound housecat that trapped them in their bedroom after attacking their baby say they're not giving up on their pet and are getting it medical attention and therapy.

Two days after police arrived to subdue the 4-year-old part-Himalayan cat, owner Lee Palmer of Portland said he's taking the feline to a veterinarian. A pet psychologist also is due at the house to see the cat, named Lux.

"We're not getting rid of him right now," Palmer said. "He's been part of our family for a long time."

Palmer says the animal attacked his 7-month-old child after the baby pulled its tail. The child suffered a few scratches on the forehead.

On the 911 call, Palmer tells the dispatcher he kicked the cat "in the rear" to protect his child. Palmer says the animal then "just went off over the edge" — leading Palmer and his girlfriend to barricade themselves, their baby and the family dog in the bedroom for safety.

The cat can be heard screeching in the background of the call as Palmer says in a panicked voice: "He's charging us. He's at our bedroom door." Palmer also tells the dispatcher the cat has been violent in the past.

Officers used a dog snare to capture the animal, and placed it in a crate.

The cat attack story gained national attention after police put out a news release about it Monday. Palmer says the family has had proposals from people wanting to adopt Lux, but the family is not taking them up on it.
Click to expand...
 
I suspect the cat's violent reaction is an indication that he may have been mistreated in the past, although not necessarily by his current owners. The cat likely interpreted the tail-pulling as an act of aggression and the subsequent "kick in the rear" as further provocation. Interaction between animals and young children should always be supervised, especially since a seven-month-old baby is too young to understand that pulling the cat's tail causes pain to the animal. Also, the cat could be jealous of the attention the baby is receiving. Kudos to the couple for putting time and money into seeking help for the cat.
 
AnacondaEq said:
Edit: Dog was also 'terrorized' by the cat and locked in with the aforementioned family. If your dog cant stand up to a cat... what is the point of having a dog??
Click to expand...

I don't know if it says what kind of dog it was, maybe he was very small, because 10 kg is huge for a domestic cat.
 
Even ordinary cats can be quite fierce. One of the neighbour's children hit a cat from the lady behind me with a stick. Next time she came to play the cat jumped on her back and scratched her. It was always nice to my daughter who loved animals though.
Also my mother in law had a persian type cat she had adopted as a stray.
One day we returned from shopping to see blood everywhere and a neighbour said that two large dogs had come in the yard so we feared the worst.
Then from the roof we heard a "miaow" and there was the cat with not a scratch on her. Those dogs never came back.
 
Even a small dog is capable of killing a domestic cat. I have known jack russels rip cvats to shreds after catching them in pidgeon coops.
Apparently greyhounds are notorious cat killers tooMy late farther's freind's next door neighbour had one that killed and ate several cats.
 
Some greyhounds do indeed have a strong ''prey drive''and will attack cats or anything else smaller than they are.

I also had a very gentle cocker spaniel that was just the same, though very docile with humans.

My beloved greyhounds, Zeno and Mr. Hogan adopted our kitten, Zipper as their own, they would all sleep together and lick each others ears. Zeno was a noble beast-he gladly shared his food, and Mr. Hogan loved cats, he always wanted to make friends with them.

Once, a tomcat who haunted our complex clawed Mr. Hogan when he tried to make nice. This made him cry(oh, Lord, the cry of a greyhound is heart-rending!) and Zeno, who was a brave dog and quite protective, grabbed the handle of the leash out of my hand with his jaws and went after that cat in a fury.

The cat made it to a tree with inches to spare, and the look on his face was priceless, sort of "What IS that thing?" He never came near us again.

Dogs and cats are intelligent enough to have distinct personalities, never generalize a beast. My Staffordshire mostly ignores my Maine Coon cat because she knows the cat is afraid of her. They will sleep a few feet apart, though, and when we go out to walk, the cat waits by the door-when we come back, she runs away.

Come to think of it, Lucy, the Maine Coon cat my wife and I had, pretended to hate the dogs, but when they were out, she sat on a chair by the door, looking out and crying.

Animals enrich our lives.
(Garrison Keillor once sang a song about a woman held hostage by a giant housecat on 'Prairie Home Companion', years ago. "It took six men to put him in a pen, and take him away to the zoo" It was sung to the tune of 'My Grandfather's Clock')
 
Hungarian Vizsla foster dog adopts orphaned puppies

A dog which had a stillborn puppy has adopted another bitch's four offspring.
Clara, the Hungarian Vizsla, who is the canine foster mother, has been feeding and cleaning the puppies after their mother died during labour.

Clara's owner, Catherine Donohoe, from Newton Abbot, Devon, was contacted by the owner of the Hungarian Vizsla puppies, which were born a week after Clara lost her single pup.
She added they were acting "just like a normal family".

The mother of the four puppies was called Spice and the puppies have been named after members of the Spice Girls.
"Originally five puppies arrived, but sadly one had to be put to sleep because it had a cleft palate," she said.
Ms Donohoe added: "They're just like a normal family... [and] I think it's almost unheard of in this breed."

She said a mutual friend had put the owner of the puppies in contact with her after a stillborn puppy was removed from Clara during a caesarean section.

Betty Smith, chair of the Hungarian Vizsla Club, said: "The Hungarian Vizsla used to be quite unusual in the UK but the number of people owning the breed has seen a steady increase.
"It's a very good looking breed and may be popular because it is not too big and has an affectionate nature."
Mrs Smith added the owner of the puppies was "very lucky" to find Clara

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-26568839

With cute photos...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top