Out Of Place Animals

[Anome]

OK, we know what parakeets look like

- so what do real keets look like? :? 8)

Like a parakeet but without the para.

Parakeets are the ones with the red berets, aren't they?

 

[OneWingedBird]

remind me to stay away from scarborough for a while...

Giant python found dead at resort

A python measuring nearly 18ft (5.5m) has been found dead in a country lane at a North Yorkshire resort.

The snake, which was discovered by a dog walker, was found in Newlands Lane, Cloughton, Scarborough, early on Monday morning.

Police said they had no idea where it had come from, or the exact species of python it was.

Officers said the snake had been handed over to the local council to dispose of it.

Local resident Ann Tindall sent photographs of the snake to the BBC.

She said: "It was a real surprise to see it. You just cannot believe that something like that could be found somewhere like Scarborough.

"We measured it to find out how long it was and it came to about 17.7ft. We don't know if it had been living there wild, or had just been dumped."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nort ... 538949.stm

 

[Twin_Star]

An Orney White Wallaby

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ebc_1184588972

Love the "tch tch tch" noise the woman makes as she approaches aforementioned Albino marsupial. Gotta have escaped from some chavvy drug dealer / minor gentry's estate.

 

[SFegredo]

The Tsk Tsk noise

That's hilarious...and even more fortean than the wild white wallaby...it's the noise that Skippy the Bush Kangaroo makes, in the 70s TV series of the same name...funny how her ancient race memory of a naff children's TV series was dragged up at the sight of a wallaby....

 

[WhistlingJack]

OK, we know what parakeets look like

- so what do real keets look like? :? 8)

 

[WhistlingJack]

Tiger Feared On the Loose In France

Tiger feared on the loose in France

Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:14PM BST

BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) - Police in southwestern France are searching for a big cat, possibly a young tiger, that has been spotted prowling in a village near the city of Bordeaux, the village's mayor said on Thursday.

Officials from the National Hunting Office have also laid traps for the animal after a woman and her daughter saw it repeatedly in their garden.

"At first they didn't believe it, but the third time the animal was 10 metres (yards) away from them," Pierre Soubabere, mayor of Saint-Louis-de-Montferrand, told Reuters.

Another resident has seen the cat roaming the countryside, and its tracks suggest it is a young tiger, though it could be a jaguar or a leopard.

Soubabere said no such animal had been reported missing in the area, not even by circuses that spend part of the year in a neighbouring town.

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.

 

[WhistlingJack]

New Photos May Help Solve 'Penguin' Sighting Mystery

* Published Date: 19 July 2007

* Location: Fife

New photos may help solve 'penguin' sighting mystery



By Rosemary Dewar

A POSSIBLE answer to the St Andrews penguin mystery landed in the Citizen office on Monday.

In recent weeks, dog walkers on the West Sands have been left rubbing their eyes in amazement at what appeared to be a lone penguin standing looking out to sea.

Most were able to get within touching distance of the bird which experts said was more likely to be a guillemot.

Neither the St Andrews Aquarium nor Edinburgh Zoo say they have lost any livestock. St Andrews Aquarium does not have any penguins and representatives from both tourist attractions reckoned the bird would be a guillemot.

This week, photographic evidence of what the bird looked like appeared to prove it was an adult guillemot.

Philosophy student at St Andrews University, Johnpaul McGuire, and post graduate Chrystal Jessop, who are both caddying at Kingsbarns over the summer, saw the bird standing by itself on the small beach below the aquarium two weeks ago.

When they read about the mystery in the Citizen they remembered the picture 'JP' had taken on his mobile phone.

All rights reserved ©2007 Johnston Press Digital Publishing

 

[rynner2]

This sad story is especially upsetting to me, as it occurs in a place I used to know very well:

Whale beached in shipping river

A whale stranded in a Suffolk river used by large ferries has beached itself despite specialists trying to coax it back to the North sea.
The whale, thought to be a northern bottleneck, was reported to be on sand under the Orwell Bridge, near Ipswich.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) group was monitoring the animal but feared the whale would now die.

Trevor Weeks, the group's national co-ordinator, said: "I fear there is not going to be a happy outcome."

Teams went into the water to monitor the behaviour of the whale.

Many incidents

Mr Weeks said: "We have not yet confirmed the identity of the species, but we believe it to be a northern bottleneck whale.

"It is in the river Orwell just outside Ipswich but is moving around quite a lot. It is low tide, but it is not stranded.

"We will stay throughout the evening but I suspect it will be too dangerous for us to stay with it during darkness."

Mr Weeks said the whale was the latest in a series to arrive on the east coast over the past 18 months.

He said in 2006, one had appeared in the Thames, two at Skegness, Lincolnshire, one in The Wash off north Norfolk and one in the river Humber near Hull, East Yorkshire.

But all the whales had died, he said.

Mr Weeks suspected that the whale seen in the river Orwell had begun its journey off the Norwegian coast and found itself in the North Sea by mistake.

The whale would probably die of starvation or dehydration, Mr Weeks added.

Divers are continuing to monitor its progress.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/6919895.stm

 

[GNC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6920345.stm

Great White sighting 'possible'

A Great White shark is believed to have been spotted by a holidaymaker off the Cornish coast.

Richard Fletcher, from South Yorkshire, filmed a shark breaching in the water near a pod of dolphins about 200 yards (182m) from Porthmeor Beach, St Ives.

Cornish shark conservationist Richard Peirce, who saw the footage, said the possibility it was a Great White could not be ruled out.

But coastguards have dismissed the claims as "scare-mongering".

The footage shows an 8ft-long shark breaching almost three-quarters in the water in the vicinity of a pod of dolphins.

When Mr Fletcher returned home to Rotherham he spotted the shark among the dolphins he was videoing.

'Occasional visitors'

Mr Peirce, chairman of the Shark Trust, said it was impossible to make a conclusive identification and that it could have also been either a Mako or a Porbeagle shark.

He said: "If one accepts that White sharks are occasional vagrant visitors in UK waters, these animals could not be ruled out."

A spokesman for Falmouth Coastguard said there had never been a confirmed sighting of a Great White shark off Cornwall.

"We get Basking sharks and the odd sighting of a Porbeagle shark which looks similar fin wise to a Great White but they are a lot smaller and completely different.

"The poor tourist industry this year is having a really hard time. The last thing we need is scare-mongering over some footage."

British waters contain 33 different species of shark, of which Blue and Mako are considered dangerous to man, according to Mr Peirce.

A group of fishermen claim to have seen a Great White in 1999 although it has never been proven.

A 14-year-old amateur marine biologist also claimed she saw a Great White off the north Devon coast in 2003.

This might be more believable if Britain was having a hot summer. Anyone see the footage yet?

 

[disgruntledgoth]

I thought white sharks passed through british waters anyway

 

[rynner2]

Great white lookalike washed up

A dead shark similar to the great white which some claim they have seen off the Cornish coast has been washed ashore.
But the porbeagle shark, found at Gunwalloe on the Lizard, is probably not the great white lookalike allegedly seen off St Ives, say experts.

Predatory porbeagles are commonly mistaken for the feared great white and at 5ft (1.5m) long it is about the same size as the St Ives shark.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust said it may have been caught in fishing gear.

Holidaymaker Richard Fletcher, from South Yorkshire, filmed a shark breaching in the water near a pod of dolphins close to Porthmeor Beach in St Ives on Saturday, raising fears people would stay away from the county's beaches.

The National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth where the shark is being examined, said it was "probably not" the one filmed off St Ives.

Douglas Henderson told BBC News it was "quite likely" a larger, mature porbeagle that was filmed and mistaken for a great white.

"The dead shark was a juvenile only about 1.5m, whereas the one in the photo was about 3m."

Mr Henderson said great whites grow to about 5 or 6m, and adult porbeagles about 3m.

The Wildlife Trust said many families gathered around the porbeagle shark, while others continued to surf and swim, showing no apparent concern or fear.

Marine conservation officer Joana Doyle said porbeagles, which can often be mistaken for great whites, are now critically endangered in the north east Atlantic.

"The porbeagle does not pose any threat to humans. In fact, it is us that threaten their survival."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6925392.stm

"The porbeagle does not pose any threat to humans. In fact, it is us that threaten their survival."

True. There are commercial fishermen who catch porbeagles. I was asked to take part in this fishery myself, about 15 years ago.

 

[eburacum]

Just a note to say that I saw my first shark down in Cornwall the other day; a group of us emmets were standing on the cliff at Land's End, watching a brownish shark slowly cruising up and down in the foam at the foot of the cliff. Presumably it was a basking shark feeding on plankton or whatever. One interesting thing was the fact that the tail fin was visible a lot of the time.

 

[rynner2]

Rescuers are called to bat phone

A bat found roosting in a phonebox in Cornwall is likely to be released back into the wild later.
The bat was discovered in a phonebox in the hamlet of Penelewey near Truro on Wednesday.

Volunteers from the Cornwall Bat Group have been looking after the creature, a brown long-eared bat.

Samantha Smith, from the group, said the bat appeared to be healthy and had probably sought shelter in the box due to the wind and rain.

"I think he just got caught out by lots of rain and wind and found shelter wherever he could," she said.

The bat was discovered by Nina Davey who was out walking her dog when she spotted it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6948704.stm

 

[rynner2]

Duck-devouring turtle snaps up last meal in country park pond

CALDICOTT
What is as big as a dustbin lid, green and eats ducklings? The answer, wardens at a country park have found, is a 20lb (9kg) alligator snapping turtle (Simon de Bruxelles writes).

A native of the southern United States, it is thought to have been abandoned in the pond at Caldicott Country Park, Monmouthshire, nearly 20 years ago, during the craze for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The turtle, 29in (74cm) from nose to tail, has been named Snappy by park wardens and has now outgrown his adopted home on a diet of ducklings and fish.

Denis Manning, the head warden, said: “He is king of the pond and will eat anything he fancies. Nothing is safe when Snappy is around. He spends most of his time in the depths of the pond but I’ve often seen him feeding on the surface. He eats anything but he has a particular fondness for ducklings.

“He is like a vicious submarine. Visitors have reported seeing a dustbin lid moving by the pond because that’s what he looks like.”

Alligator snapping turtles thrive in warm, humid conditions and can live to 150 years old.A tortoise and turtle charity has now found Snappy a new home at a sanctuary in West Wales.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 547591.ece

 

[rynner2]

German town builds anti-millipede wall
By Michael Leidig in Vienna
Last Updated: 2:19am GMT 12/11/2007

Residents of a German village are celebrating victory over an unwelcome invader: thousands of millipedes which have turned their streets, gardens and homes into something from a horror film.

A foot-high wall, which will eventually encircle Obereichstaett in Bavaria, has finally stemmed the nightly flow of the crawling creatures, which have afflicted the village every autumn for hundreds of years.

Bernhard Koderer, 45, who lives with his wife and two children, said: "Last year was the worst so far. The road to my house was completely covered.

"You couldn't take a step without crushing a dozen underfoot. The smell was disgusting."

Hans Harrer, the mayor, said: "We have tried a complete blackout on street lamps in the autumn. But switching them off was not the solution."

Zoologists called in to advise were unable to tell the inhabitants where the millipedes - Megaphyllum unilineatum - came from, and instead helped design a metal-lined wall with an overhanging lip.

Poison was not a solution because so much would be needed.

Now, the creatures can instead be seen in their thousands crawling around the wall every night.

The problem is far from new: in the autumn of 1900, trains in the vicinity ground to a halt when millipedes on the tracks prevented their wheels from gripping.

http://tinyurl.com/28q4d4

 

[rynner2]

Two for the price of one (click)!

Whale found deep in Amazon jungle :shock:
By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo

A 5.5m long minke whale has been spotted more than 1600km (994 miles) from the Atlantic Ocean, deep inside the Amazon rain forest.
The whale ran aground earlier this week but after being freed with the help of vets and biologists it disappeared shortly afterwards.

It is the second time this week in Brazil that a lost animal has been spotted in an unexpected location.

The minke whale ran aground on a sandbar deep inside the Amazon.

Local people had been splashing water on the whale's back and fin while it was exposed to the hot Amazon sun.

The whale is said to weigh about 12 tons.

Reports of a mysterious animal in the area had been causing alarm among locals near to the Tapajos river, a tributary of the Amazon.

Experts say the animal could have been in the area for a couple of months.

After the whale was freed, helicopters and boats were involved in a search of the area but nothing was found.

A biologist said it was thought the animal became separated from its group and swam upstream, until it ran aground near Santarem in Para state.

While it is not unprecedented, it is unusual for whales to venture so far into fresh water.

Beach alligator

The whale is not the only animal to get lost in Brazil this week.

On Thursday a young reptile - which was 1.5m long - turned up at a popular beach in Rio de Janeiro and had to be rescued by firemen.

They had been searching for the alligator for some time and had closed Barra beach, but despite this some swimmers insisted on entering the water.

The caiman, or yellow stomach alligator as it is known in Brazil, was taken to a local zoo for treatment for a broken leg.

This endangered species is normally found in freshwater swamps and marshes, and the fire service in Rio said it was the first time they had rescued one from the sea.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7099625.stm

 

[Kondoru]

Nope, dont buy it

Minke Whale are filter feeders, no way one could have been around for months, it would have starved to death

 

[rynner2]

A sad ending....

Whale lost in Amazon found dead

A minke whale that had strayed deep into the Amazon rainforest has been found dead.
The 5.5m (18ft) whale was believed to have become lost in the Amazon's many tributaries after leaving the Atlantic more than 1,600km (1,000 miles) away.

Attempts by conservationists and volunteers to catch the animal and transport it back to sea failed.

Biologists have conducted an autopsy on the minke whale to determine the cause of death.

Beached

The whale was first spotted last week in the Tapajos River, a tributary of the Amazon, where locals reported seeing a mysterious animal in the water.

Experts say that it could have been in the area for up to two months after getting lost on entering the massive river delta.

It had beached itself on sandbanks several times and had been freed once by rescuers.

Local people were seen splashing its back with water to protect it from the Amazonian heat.

On Sunday, biologists and volunteers tried to contain the animal, said to weigh 12 tonnes, in a small area of river before taking it back to sea by boat.

But it broke away from the area and its corpse was spotted on Tuesday by local people who reported it to the authorities.

Experts had earlier said that although whales could survive many months without food, the animal would be disorientated.

Milton Marcondes, a veterinarian with the Brazilian Humpback Whale Institute, which was involved in the rescue attempt, said that the whale would be stressed and could easily become ill.

"We can't forget this animal has been away from its natural habitat for a long time," he told the Associated Press.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7105578.stm

 

[GNC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7145863.stm

Teams recover dead humpback whale

A humpback whale has been found dead off the south Wales coast near Aberavon.
The animal, which is about 15ft (4.5m) long, was reported floating in the Port Talbot harbour area at 0920 GMT.

A spokesman for Swansea coastguard said Port Talbot lifeboat and a coastguard team were sent to tow the animal back to shore.

Strandings Co-ordinator for Wales, Rod Penrose, is on his way to the scene to examine the whale.

He said it was possible the dead animal was the same humpback whale which had been spotted in Swansea Bay last month.

However Mr Penrose said he was not certain it was the same one.

Samples

He said if the animal had recently died a pathologist from London Zoo was on standby to carry out a post mortem examination on the whale on Sunday.

If it has been dead for some time, Mr Penrose said he would take some samples from the animal himself.

Mr Penrose said he understood a large number of people had gathered on the beach to see the whale.

He said humpbacks were not common around Wales.

"There has been an example of one or two in the Irish Sea but it's quite a rarity in UK waters."

Let's hope it died from natural causes. Not a shark, though.

 

[JuliaM2]

Out of place squirrel

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories ... -20303908/

It's not often you'll look out on your chilly English garden and see an exotic little creature like this.

But that's exactly what Trish Bushell has been doing since Boxing Day when she first spotted the colourful rodent nibbling food left out for the birds.

It's a mystery how the Prevost's squirrel from South East Asia, suddenly found itself at the mum-of-two's home in Leeds.

But with its black, white and reddish-brown stripes it certainly stands out from the usual crowd of dull grey squirrels in her garden.

Advertisement
Trish, 37, said: "It comes twice a day, in the morning and at dusk.

"My girls, Matilda, two, and Melissa, one, love to watch them."

Prevost's, also known as the tricoloured or beautiful squirrel, usually live in the lowland forests of Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra.

Blackpool Zoo head keeper Peter Dillingham, 51, said the animal was probably an escaped pet.

He added: "Not many zoos here keep them so it would have been missed if it went.

"This fella's doing well. I'm surprised he's lasted as they are from warm climates. But as long as he's got somewhere warm to sleep he should be OK."

Hopefully this won't be another problem for the UK's endangered red squirrels

 

[marion]

Prevosts aren't too unusual in the exotic pet rodent world, I expect some one dumped it when they got fed up with it.
We have a snapping turtle at college that was found dumped in a lake, unfortunately a good home can't be found for it and its going to be put down

 

[rynner2]

Aquarium cares for second turtle

A rare sea turtle is being looked after at an aquarium in Cornwall after becoming stranded on a beach in Devon.
The 20cm (8in) juvenile loggerhead turtle was discovered on Putsborough Beach, near Woolacombe, and taken to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay.

It is the second such turtle to be found in the South West in a week.

The aquarium said it was rare to find two such turtles and it was doing what it could so they could be released back into the wild.

The first turtle was found by a woman out walking on Blackrock Beach, near Bude, last week.

Both are now recovering at the aquarium in special quarantine tanks after receiving a veterinary examination.

Blue Reef curator Matt Slater said: "It's rare for two turtles to strand within such a short space of time.

"It's even more unusual for both of them to survive their ordeal and we're now doing everything we can to ensure they make a full recovery and can be released back into the wild."

Loggerheads (Caretta caretta) are categorised as endangered on the internationally-recognised red list of threatened species.

Colder waters

Mr Slater said: "Most loggerheads are born along the coast of Mexico and Florida, although there are separate populations in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

"During their first three years of life, many loggerheads migrate to the warmer waters of the Atlantic, circulating in a current of water known as the North Atlantic Gyre, which is rich in their favourite food, including jellyfish and squid.

"We believe both turtles were probably born on a beach in America or Mexico and, somehow, possibly following a severe storm, ended up getting pushed out of the gyre and further and further north.

"Most turtles are cold-blooded and, as they headed towards the UK coast, the colder waters would have initially stopped them feeding and eventually led them to become virtually unconscious."

The aquarium plans to nurse the animals back to health and have them airlifted to warmer waters at a later date.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7227151.stm

 

[feen5]

There is some debate about how out of place these turtles are. There is evidence that these turtles actually cross the Atlantic to British and Irish shores at certain times of the year to feed. I remember a programme about this on TV and the narrator/presenter was hunting for the them off the coast of Ireland. I can't remember the exact name of the programme but i'll have a look on t'internet and see what i can come up with.

 

[GNC]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/hig ... 380118.stm

Dead beaver discovered on beach

A police investigation has been launched after a dead beaver was found on a beach in the Highlands.

Its body was discovered at Eathie on the Black Isle in April.

Northern Constabulary's wildlife crime officer, Ch Insp Paul Eddington, said it was not known at this stage how the animal came to be there.

Once native to Britain, they were hunted to extinction more than 400 years ago. It is illegal to release beavers into the wild.

Ch Insp Eddington said: "Beavers are not currently found in the wild in Scotland so it is unknown where it has come from at this stage.

"The releasing of animals that are not used to the conditions is not only cruel but illegal."

"The fact that the animals are known not to like saltwater, which is where it was found, would make it appear that it was unfamiliar with the environment it found itself in."

He added: "We are appealing to anyone who may know the origins of the beaver or who may have seen the creature to contact police in Dingwall.

Last month, further evidence was discovered to suggest beavers were being illegally released into the wild in Scotland.

Damaged trees were recorded in Perthshire, Angus and Fife, and it is thought the animals could be to blame.

Plans to officially reintroduce beavers into Argyll are being considered - but conditions have to be controlled.

Last year an illegal beaver was caught in Perthshire. The punishment for the crime is up to two years in jail or a £40,000 fine.

The beavers have apparently been released near Forfar in Angus and near Aberfeldy in Perthshire.

Where does one keep a horde of beavers? Where does one acquire such things in the UK? And why bother releasing them into the wild?

It couldn't be that they never died out at all and are now making their return, could it?

 

[Waylander]

Nope, dont buy it

Minke Whale are filter feeders, no way one could have been around for months, it would have starved to death

Now! You take that back Kondoru! Sad ending for the whale indeed!

 

[escargot]

Hoo, just heard an item on Cryptozoology on the Today programme.

 

[Bullseye]

Hoo, just heard an item on Cryptozoology on the Today programme.

Heard it also,thought John came over very well (Michael hoping to make WeirdWeekend this year in August)

 

[escargot]

Yes, he came across very well indeed.

We can all listen again too, of course. 8)

 

[ramonmercado]

I bet they were made shell out for lasagne.

Confused sea turtles march into Italian restaurant

Posted 2008/08/19 at 4:58 am EDT
ROME, Aug. 19, 2008 (Reuters) — About 60 newly hatched sea turtles lost their way during their ritual passage to the sea and marched into an Italian restaurant instead, a conservation worker said on Monday.


The baby turtles -- which ended up under the tables of startled diners at the beachside restaurant -- were probably thrown off track and lured by the eatery's bright lights, said Antonio Colucci, who was called to help rescue the group.

"They saw the artificial lights and took the wrong route," said Colucci, who works on a turtle monitoring project for the conservation group WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature).

"The diners were at first quite curious and then someone alerted the coastal authorities."

The stranded turtles, which had hatched on a beach in the southern Italian region of Calabria, were released into the sea.

Female sea turtles nest on beaches and their offspring instinctively head to the sea after hatching from their eggs.

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/li1531 ... -turtles/#

 

[Waylander]

I bet they were made shell out for lasagne.

I bet they just escaped the kitchen and a special of turtle soup! So the restaurant concocted this story as a cover after someone alerted the coastal authorities! It's a conspiracy I tells ya! :lol: