Lord Lucan
Justified & Ancient
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2017
- Messages
- 4,615
Wow, that's a hard head!
Squirrelly situation: Critter causes South Carolina outages
A section of South Carolina’s capital city was without power Monday after a squirrel scurrying across equipment caused damage that led to a blackout.
Dominion Energy said the critter caused the outages in downtown Columbia.
“The squirrel came into contact with the protective device around the transformer,” company spokesman Matt Long said. “I don’t know that this is what happened, but usually, let’s say if an animal touches an energized part and a grounded part, that would create a current flow through the animal’s body and stop its heart from beating.”
Long could not say whether that was exactly what happened Monday but did say the transformer itself was not damaged during the “shocking” situation, just the device surrounding it. ...
Long confirmed the squirrel was killed while damaging the equipment. ...
Deer steals hunter's gun, flees into woods
A hunter in the Czech Republic was charged by a deer that snagged the man's gun on its antlers and fled into the woods with the weapon, police said.
Police in the South Bohemian Region said a hunter contacted authorities to recount the story of how he lost his gun while hunting near the village of Horni Plana. ...
The man said one of the hunting dogs in his group startled a stag in a wooded area, causing the panicked deer to run directly toward him.
The deer's antlers ripped the man's sleeve and ended up snagged on his .22 Hornet rifle, which had been slung over his left hand at the time.
The animal ran off into the woods with the hunter's unloaded gun still attached to its antlers, the man told police.
Police said another hunter reported spotting a deer with a rifle dangling from its antlers more than half a mile from the scene. ...
Maximus otter's worst nightmare ... Having a deer make off with his rifle ... .... And confronting a deer with nothing more destructive than a .22 Hornet ...
FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/11/25/Deer-steals-hunters-gun-flees-into-woods/3701606319899/
Keyhole Wasps May Threaten Aircraft Safety
Over a period of 39 months, invasive keyhole wasps (Pachodynerus nasidens) at the Brisbane Airport were responsible for 93 instances of fully blocked replica pitot probes — vital instruments that measure airspeed — according to a study [to be] published November 30 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Alan House of Eco Logical Australia and colleagues. As noted by the authors, the results underscore the importance of risk-mitigating strategies, such as covering pitot probes when aircraft arrive and setting up additional traps to intercept the wasps.
Interactions between aircraft and wildlife are frequent and can have serious financial and safety consequences. But the risk posed by wildlife when aircraft are on the ground is much less understood, and specific threats posed by insects have not been quantified before. In the new study, House and his colleagues investigated the possible role of keyhole wasps in obstructing pitot probes at Brisbane Airport. A total of 26 wasp-related issues were reported at the airport between November 2013 and April 2019, in conjunction with a series of serious safety incidents involving pitot probes. ...
The researchers used 3D-printing technology to construct a series of replica pitot probes, which they mounted at four locations at the airport. All nests in these probes were made by keyhole wasps, and peak nesting occurred in the summer months. ... According to the authors, P. nasidens poses a significant risk to aviation safety, and further work is warranted to develop strategies for controlling or eradicating persistent populations of this adaptable, inventive, and highly mobile species. ...
More beavers released in Devon's River Otter
BBC Radio Devon
Posted at 11:17
More beavers have been released in East Devon as part of the five-year project to see if the animals can be reintroduced into the wild.
One adult female and one adult male beaver were released at a secret location on Monday evening, on private land close to the River Otter.
The colony is said to be England's first licensed beaver re-introduction and monitoring project.
More...
Beaver buddies to increase genetic pool of wild family
Rachael Thorn
BBC News Online
Posted at 16:06
New beavers have been released into the River Otter to join England's to increase the genetic pool of England's only wild beaver family.
DNA analysis showed the wild beavers, first spotted in 2014 after centuries of extinction in England, were "quite closely related", Steve Hussey from the Devon Wildlife Trust said.
Mr Hussey said finding the right beavers, which included "making sure that they're captive UK bred UK animals" to reduce risks of disease, had taken "quite a lot of time".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-devon-36345211
Cracked glass doors blamed on wandering sheep
The mystery of a possible breaking and entering attempt at a Michigan business was solved when the culprit responsible for cracking glass doors was identified as a wandering sheep, police said.
The Walker Police Department said an officer dispatched to investigate the possible breaking and entering Monday at a business in the north district noticed there appeared to be some wool or fur on the glass. ...
Walker police and Animal Control officers were dispatched later in the day Monday when a sheep was spotted running loose in the same area.
"After running amok all morning, it took Animal Control, Walker PD, Walker Fire & some helpful citizens about an hour to corral this rascal," the police department said. ...
‘One night we heard someone playing the piano in the middle of the night and wondered what the hell was going on.
‘When we got up we saw it was Dexter and we just couldn’t believe it.
‘He’s just this big goofy dog who plays the piano
‘This is the worst year’: Black vultures harass Pa. homes
Flocks of black vultures are roosting on roofs and in trees in one Pennsylvania town, causing damage to homes and property and generally harassing residents.
The birds, which can have wingspans up to 5 feet (1.5 meters), are protected under federal laws ...
Especially in the fall and winter, they roost together and prefer warm areas like dark roofs. The birds peck at the rubber on the roofs and target plastic things like porch furniture and garbage cans for destruction, the newspaper reported. ...
A homeowner in Marietta, which is located on the Susquehanna River outside of Lancaster, told the newspaper that he’s paid thousands of dollars to repair damage to his roof. ...
“This is the worst year,” John Enterline said. “There are many more of them.” ...
Goat, sheep, three lambs besiege municipal building in Turkey
A goat, a sheep and three lambs paid a surprise visit to a Turkish city hall and trapped municipal workers inside the building.
Nevsehir Municipality tweeted a video showing the group of animals wandering around just outside the municipal building and chasing after security guards who attempted to leave. ...
"We have been captured by 1 sheep, 1 goat, 3 lambs," the tweet said.
Animal experts were summoned to the scene and rounded up the aggressive gang. ...
It's an anti-kebab protest. They know what's inside the pitta breads!A goat and its sheep accomplices lay siege to a Turkish city hall ... Their problem with the town's governance is still unknown.
FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/1...e-municipal-building-in-Turkey/2541608220862/
Seriously, no one knows what’s in kebab meat!It's an anti-kebab protest. They know what's inside the pitta breads!
Soylent brown is sheeple!
Vultures are vandalizing a Pennsylvania town and bothering the residents. ...
‘The vultures are winning’: Small Lancaster County town besieged by giant birds
No one’s quite sure why the vultures, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, have chosen to converge on Marietta. Like their slightly larger turkey vulture cousins, black vultures are native to Pennsylvania, and residents said they’ve always been seen in summer months, soaring high above the river. What they lack in beauty, they make up for in resourcefulness, playing an important part in the ecosystem by eating carrion and roadkill. ...
In recent years, though, the vultures have moved inland once the frosts become consistent in late autumn. They roost in pine trees and line up on warm rooftops, spreading their wings — with spans of five feet — to soak up the sun. Residents say this year is worse than ever, an issue first reported by Lancaster Online this month. One homeowner who asked not to be identified said she’s spent several thousand dollars repairing damage the vultures have caused to her roof.
“My insurance company doesn’t cover ‘act of vulture,’ ” she said. ...
Oooh. I might go visit. Short drive from me. Vultures are an extremely common site around here. I think they're neat. But, they aren't on my house.Update ... More than 2.5 weeks later, the vulture problem in Marietta, Pennsylvania, hasn't abated. If anything, it's getting worse.
FULL STORY: https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylv...0201221-zrsiw4qh3ncmpgxwvigpxlp4ym-story.html
Italian woman mauled to death by five pet Czechoslovakian wolfdogs
An Italian woman has been mauled to death by her five pet Czechoslovakian wolfdogs, prompting a debate over the danger posed by the increasingly popular crossbreed canine.
Mariangela Zaffino, a 74-year-old pensioner, was attacked by her five pet dogs in her apartment in the town of Grugliasco near Turin.
She was found by her daughter, who said the dogs, a cross between wild wolves and German shepherd dogs that shares many wolfish characteristics, had never shown any signs of being dangerous in the past. ...
Police are trying to ascertain what may have prompted the dogs, named Ares, Aylen, Artù, Aragorn and Apache, to attack their owner. ...
Massimo Penz, a local police commander, said the dogs had been legally registered with the authorities. “We had never had any complaints about the dogs’ behaviour,” he said. ...
The Czechoslovakian wolf dog, which is more slender than a wolf but shares many of its physical characteristics, is a legally permitted breed that has become popular in Italy in recent years.
The breed was created in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s, when an Alsatian was crossed with a Carpathian wolf in an attempt to produce an aggressive breed that could be used as guard dogs along the Iron Curtain.
It was recognized as a distinct breed in 1982. Wolf dogs are highly intelligent, hard to train and need a lot of exercise. They are not recommended for families with children. ...
Fabrizio Rondalino, a former owner of a Czechoslovakian wolf dog, said that while the breed was highly intelligent and full of energy, “it should not be allowed to exit. It is a man-made invention, one of the worst breeds created.” ...
Has there been a significant decline in roadkill elsewhere, maybe? Due to people working from home? For even longer now than back in March?Update ... More than 2.5 weeks later, the vulture problem in Marietta, Pennsylvania, hasn't abated. If anything, it's getting worse.
Swan crashes through window into woman's bathroom
Animal rescuers in Britain said a swan crashed through a window into a woman's bathroom just moments after she had left for another room.
The RSPCA said a resident of the home in Shamrock Lodge, Barton-in-Fabis, Nottinghamshire, had just left the bathroom moments earlier when the swan came crashing through the window around 8 a.m. Monday. ...
Animal rescue inspector Keith Ellis, who responded to the scene to collect the swan, said it was a highly unusual incident.
"I have seen them crash-land on to busy roads thinking they are rivers but nothing like this. It is so bizarre," Ellis said.
He said the swan underwent surgery at a local veterinary practice and is now recovering at Stapeley Grange Wildlife Center ... Ellis said the swan will be released back into the wild once it is back to full health.
Ellis said it was lucky that the bathroom was unoccupied.
"The lady was so lucky when this happened as she had just been in the bathroom," he said. "Had she still been there when this swan crashed through the window, I am sure the glass shattering and the impact of the bird hitting her would have caused serious injury -- or even worse."
He said the swan must have been disoriented at the time. ...