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

Wild turkeys have been making a comeback within the eastern USA in recent decades. One bird in the District of Columbia has been aggressively attacking bikers and pedestrians in park areas.
A wild turkey is on the attack in D.C.

There's a menace haunting the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail in Washington. It hunts the lonely, quiet stretch of woods between an aquatic garden and a recreation center. Suddenly, it appears in front of a biker, walker or runner and gives chase, flapping, slashing with its talons - and gobbling. It's a male wild turkey, and it's already sent someone to urgent care. ...

"We probably went four or five, six decades without turkeys in the district, unless it was a very, very small population that no one knew anything about," explains D.C. wildlife biologist Dan Rauch. ...

Wild turkeys were abundant before Western colonization. Indigenous peoples domesticated the bird across North and Central America, and most wild ones were relatively docile. ... Once abundant across North America, turkeys were missing from most of the East Coast by the 1920s. ...

On March 22, Clark Weigel, a special education specialist, was biking along the trail when he spotted a turkey in the path. Weigel dismounted and tried to leave, but the tom attacked, pecking and flapping. After throwing two phones and a radio at the enraged bird, Weigel finally threw his bike. The turkey slunk off. He left behind scattered feathers and a shaken but unharmed cyclist. "It's not something that I would expect to do at all, having to defend myself against a wild animal in D.C.," Weigel says. "I actually stuck around to file [a] report solely because I thought I had injured the animal."

That same day, the turkey appeared in the path of Terrance Savitsky, a research statistician at the Bureau of Labor Statistics out for a morning run. Savitsky backed up and tried to run the other way. The turkey ran, too. "Man, was it fast. I started running and realized it was gaining on me," Savistky says.

Another victim posted a photo of the turkey in full plumage to the local blog PoPville, reporting that he ended up in urgent care "with puncture wounds on my legs and I had to get a tetanus shot and antibiotics" after getting the wrong end of its talons. ...
FULL STORY: https://news.yahoo.com/wild-turkey-attack-d-c-132154060.html
 
An elderly man in Slidell, Louisiana, had his hand chewed up by an aggressive squirrel.
A squirrel viciously attacks a man in Slidell says police

Police say a 911 caller stated that “a 78-year-old elderly man was actively being attacked by a squirrel, who was eating his hand. The man was attempting to choke the squirrel, but was unable to obtain a good grip.”

When first responders arrived they found the man still being eaten by the squirrel.

With the help of first responders, the squirrel was killed and the elderly man hospitalized with what Slidell PD called pretty significant injuries.


Slidell PD says experts say it is very rare for squirrels to attack people ...

“A diseased squirrel may be more likely to show aggressive or hostile behavior towards human beings. However, when a squirrel does attack, it is not always possible to determine why” ...

This is the second reported squirrel attack in Slidell, this year. The first occurred in February, during a Mardi Gras parade.
FULL STORY: https://www.audacy.com/wwl/news/local/a-squirrel-viciously-attacks-a-man-in-slidell-says-police
 
Are squirrels the US equivalent of the UK's seagulls right now?

Do seagulls proactively attack and bite people?
 
A Colorado bear tore apart a car's interior to get at a tube of lip gloss.

Bear destroys car interior to get tube of lip gloss

Wildlife officials in Colorado said a bear broke into a car and destroyed the interior -- all to procure a tube of lip gloss.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife tweeted photos showing the car that was destroyed by a bear in the early morning of April 22.

"There was no food/trash left inside, but there was lip gloss. Its scent was enough to entice the bear to check it out," CPW tweeted. ...

"Keep unwanted guests out of your cars by locking the doors & removing anything with a scent," CPW said.
SOURCE (With Photo): https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/04/28/bear-destroys-car-lip-gloss-Colorado/5631651176201/
 
A woman in Queensland, Australia comes off second best after an encounter with a kangaroo.

Woman “stomped on” by kangaroo on Gold Coast golf course​

A 69-year-old woman has suffered gruesome injuries after being attacked by a kangaroo on a Queensland golf course.
The woman was playing at Arundel Hills golf course, on the Gold Coast, at 9am on Friday morning when a large kangaroo attacked her from behind.

QAS Operations Supervisor Joel McEwan said the kangaroo had kicked the woman to the ground and stomped on her “a number of times”.

Advanced and critical care paramedics arrived at the scene to find the woman with multiple lacerations to her face, legs and jaw.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/...e/news-story/30c539534e36e271a56972200e43d6ca
 

California toddler is mauled by coyote on Huntington Beach - just yards from her unaware family


Distressing beachcam footage showed a toddler being mauled by a coyote on a California beach for 15 seconds before her family members noticed.

Video footage taken by a surveillance camera positioned some distance away from the shoreline at Huntington Beach caught the moment the animal went after the youngster knocking over her onto the sand.

WARNING: Some may find this footage distressing:


It then sunk its fangs into the youngster's head, and savaged her in full view of the camera.

Family members who were with the child didn't even appear to notice what was going on feet away from them.

The youngster who is expected to make a full recovery, then got up and ran to one of its parents who reacted in horror.

The little girl, aged between two and three, was rushed to a hospital by ambulance, with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ACE-bloodthirsty-coyote-Huntingdon-Beach.html

Nice of "Mum of the Year" to tear herself away from her phone so promptly...

:headbang:

maximus otter
 
In this instance, I shall refrain from making ''They had a whale of a time'' type jokes.

whale.jpg

Whale lands on tourist boat off coast of Mexico​

Shocking footage has emerged of the moment a massive humpback whale crashed down on top of a tourist boat off the coast of Sinaloa, Mexico.

The incident was caught on camera by people in a nearby boat, who were audibly distressed by the confronting scene.

Authorities have blamed the incident on the boat driver, for getting too close to the creature.
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wildlife/whale-lands-on-tourist-boat-off-coast-of-mexico-c-6829120
 
In Minnesota a duck crashed through the windshield of a police helicopter, injuring the pilot. No mention of the duck's fate, but I have no doubt it was death ...
Duck crashes through Minnesota State Patrol helicopter windshield, pilot injured

Authorities say a Minnesota State Patrol pilot was injured Wednesday night after a duck crashed through the patrol’s helicopter windshield.

The state patrol says a trooper flight was requested at around 10:15 p.m. to help law enforcement in Wabasha County. While pilots were returning from the mission, a duck crashed through the helicopter’s windshield.

According to the state patrol, one of the pilots suffered a suspected head injury, and the helicopter flew to the St. Paul Downtown Airport to land and get treatment for the pilot. ...
FULL STORY: https://kstp.com/kstp-news/local-ne...e-patrol-helicopter-windshield-pilot-injured/
 
Lion bites off man's finger at a Jamaican zoo, after he taunts it.
WARNING: The story below also includes Twitter footage of the incident, so it's not for the squeamish, but it is the perfect example of how to act like an idiot and how not to behave at a zoo.

https://zeenews.india.com/india/lio...rifying-footage-goes-viral-watch-2466270.html
The lion gave him fair warning. What an idiot.
Oh yeah, and all the people behind him were getting it all on their mobiles without doing anything to help him.
 
An elderly man in Slidell, Louisiana, had his hand chewed up by an aggressive squirrel.

FULL STORY: https://www.audacy.com/wwl/news/local/a-squirrel-viciously-attacks-a-man-in-slidell-says-police
There may be more to this story . . .

If the squirrel was diseased, well, that's pretty much the whole story. If, on the other hand, the old man was feeding the squirrel, and the squirrel was habituated to humans, the squirrel may have been trying to get food from the man's hand.

It's not a good idea to get a squirrel to eat from your hand. They have VERY sharp teeth and claws, and they often don't exercise good judgement and self-restraint.

Better to just lay the food on the ground and let them take it from there.
 
Also a potential Fortean Headline:

Sheep sentenced to three years in jail for killing old woman in South Sudan​

The ram attacked the woman, butted her on the chest several times before she died

A ram has been sentenced to three years in jail for allegedly attacking and head-butting an old woman to death in South Sudan, local media reported.

The ram owner also has been asked to give five cows for the family of the victim towards compensation, a local court in Rumbek city, South Sudan, has ruled.
https://bimpers.com/sheep-sentenced-to-three-years-in-jail-for-killing-old-woman-in-south-sudan/
 
I suppose this incident represents a draw in animal / human conflicts ... A raccoon chewed a hole in a Santa Cruz (California) roof, then became stuck when attempting to crawl through it into the home's attic. The raccoon was rescued, but the homeowner now has a hole in the roof.

StuckRaccon-2205.jpg
Raccoon gets stuck head-first in California home's roof

A California animal shelter helped a local homeowner with an unusual problem: a raccoon with its head stuck through a hole in the roof.

The Santa Cruz Animal Shelter said in a Facebook post that a local resident called the Wildlife Emergency Services number on Monday to report a raccoon had chewed a hole in their roof and became stuck while trying to climb through the opening. ...

"Knowing that time was critical, they instructed the citizen how to push the raccoon through the hole so it wouldn't suffocate" ...

The post said Wildlife Emergency Services personnel are now helping the homeowner "set up a repellent barrier to safely and humanely have mama and her kids move along to a more appropriate home."
FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/05/24/raccoon-stuck-hole-roof-Santa-Cruz-California/6931653414594/
 
Enterprising raccoon—isn't this like ambitious criminals who get stuck in chimneys? Does that mean that a raccoon can be as smart as some humans, or are some humans as stupid as raccoons?
 
She was looking for a place for her and her babies, it seemed. She lost traction trying to get into the hole. I would venture a guess that there might have been an opening already that she enlarged. Anyway, the homeowner put a patch on it so she doesn't try again.
 
Man comes off second best after a kangaroo attack:

Shocking footage shows moment man stomped on by kangaroo in Ballina​

Wild footage has emerged of a man’s desperate fight against a kangaroo, who had the upper hand for the majority of the brawl.
The video, which is believed to have been shot at Ballina in northern NSW, shows the man having to pull out all the stops to fend off the feisty marsupial.

The terrified man can be seen running from the kangaroo in the background of the video before stumbling to the ground as he comes into frame.

The kangaroo appears to stomp on him before it circles back around ready for a fight.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/...a/news-story/c15b2837bbc6c799a57b0fe509f80a59
 
In Minnesota 4,000 utility customers lost their electricity because of a squirrel.
Nearly 4,000 lose power in Minnesota due to squirrel

Utility officials in Minnesota said nearly 4,000 customers lost power for a time due to a squirrel that wandered into a substation.

The Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative said the 7 a.m. Sunday outage in the Prior Lake area was caused by a squirrel that came into contact with substation equipment. ...

There was no word on the fate of the squirrel.
FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/06/06/4000-lose-power-due-to-squirrel-Minnesota/6261654550309/
 
She must have really pissed this elephant off!

Elephant tramples woman to death, then attacks her corpse at funeral​

A woman was trampled to death by an elephant, who later came to her funeral, grabbed hold of her corpse and threw it in the air.
A 70-year-old woman in India was trampled to death by an elephant — and her corpse was then bizarrely attacked by the same beast at her funeral, according to a report.
Police said Maya Murmu had been fetching water from a well in the eastern Indian state of Odisha on Thursday when an elephant came barrelling toward her, according to the Print India. The tusked pachyderm had apparently escaped from the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located in a neighbouring state.

The elephant trampled the woman, who ultimately died of her injuries at a nearby hospital, police told the outlet Saturday.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/...l/news-story/015696d8a245a347f8c7f75963dfc494
 
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