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Out Of Place Animals

Turtley unexpected.

A leatherback turtle weighing about a quarter of a tonne (250kg) has been found washed up near an Essex river.

A team from South Woodham coastguard found the body of the animal after getting calls from the public. The animal has been taken to the Natural History Museum in London for examination and preservation.

South Woodham station officer Andrew Dale said: "At 1.7m (5ft 7in) long we have no record of such a sighting on the east coast before."

The turtle was found washed up in Mundon Creek, just off the River Blackwater, at about 15:00 GMT on Wednesday. The team reported the find to the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), which records the discovery of sea creatures such as whales, porpoises, dolphins and sharks.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-50784094#
 
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ramonmercado said:
Turtley unexpected.

A leatherback turtle weighing about a quarter of a tonne (250kg) has been found washed up near an Essex river.

A team from South Woodham coastguard found the body of the animal after getting calls from the public. The animal has been taken to the Natural History Museum in London for examination and preservation.

South Woodham station officer Andrew Dale said: "At 1.7m (5ft 7in) long we have no record of such a sighting on the east coast before."

The turtle was found washed up in Mundon Creek, just off the River Blackwater, at about 15:00 GMT on Wednesday. The team reported the find to the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), which records the discovery of sea creatures such as whales, porpoises, dolphins and sharks.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-50784094#
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Must have been quite a startle seeing this giant washed up, they're somewhat rare as well. I was under the impression they inhabited warmer waters?
 
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'Tis the season? ....
Australia couple finds 10-foot python in Christmas tree

An Australia couple returned home from work and were shocked to find a 10-foot python coiled up on their Christmas tree.

Leanne Chapman of Brisbane said she and her partner returned to their home in the Highgate Hill area Thursday afternoon and noticed the birds on their balcony were acting unusually distressed.

"My partner's gone out there was actually videoing them because they were going mad," Chapman told 7News. "As he's turned around and stepped back, he didn't realize he was leaning on the Christmas tree with the snake wrapped around it."

She said they were both stunned when they spotted the serpent.

"It was a bit of a shock to begin with," she said. "You don't really expect to see a snake in your Christmas tree."

The couple said they left the snake alone and it left on its own accord after a few hours.

"After the initial shock wore off, it was a really beautiful snake," Chapman said. "It was actually quite nice to see it that close up because I've never seen anything like it before."
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SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/1...in-Christmas-tree/1331576267876/?spt=slh&or=2
 
Tribble said:
Looks like they can be found as far north as the British Isles. Hardy critters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leatherback_sea_turtle#Atlantic_subpopulation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leatherback_sea_turtle#/media/File:Dermochelys_coriacea_map.svg
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I suspect despite the map that they show the extreme at which the leatherbacks are found. They "were" once common off Florida, Mexico and the caribbean. However it's amazing how far migratory animals will migrate and or stray. An amazing giant beast that nearly gives the saltwater crocodile a run for the heaviest living reptile. Specimens have exceeded a 1 ton. Cool post.
 
To add to Florida's list of wild non native species - pythons, iguanas,

Furry, cute and carrying herpes: what to do with Florida's invasive monkeys?

The monkeys are said to be descended from six macaques released in the 1930s. A man called Colonel Tooey, who operated a glass-bottom boat tour along the picturesque Silver River, came up with a cunning plan to boost riders. He released the monkeys on to an island, hoping to wow passengers with scenes of the primates swinging through the trees.

What Tooey apparently did not realize is that rhesus macaques are strong swimmers. The monkeys promptly swam away from the island and took up residence in the forest surrounding the river.

Undeterred, Tooey and other operators used food to lure the monkeys to shore for passengers’ pleasure. The scheme worked so well that Tooey dispatched another six macaques to the river in 1948.

It turned out that the monkeys were well-suited to the lush forests of central Florida. By 1980 there were an estimated 400 macaques roaming the area around the river.

The monkeys’ natural habitat spans thousands of miles of Asia, where they are found from Afghanistan to the Pacific coast of China, Johnson said. They have the largest range of any non-human primate.

About 25% of the monkeys harbor herpes B, which can be fatal to humans, and 4-14% of them were found to be “shedding the virus orally by mouth” – meaning a bite could transmit the virus.

“There’s a low risk, but very high consequence should something happen. Fortunately nothing has happened yet, but I wouldn’t want to have that looming over me if I was the state,” Johnson said.

As Johnson points out, there is no easy solution.

“If I was the manager I would want to try to have them removed,” he said.

“But it’s not an easy decision and it won’t be an easy task. It’s a lose-lose with the stakeholders. You’re gonna hurt a bunch of people if you decide to go in and remove them, and people aren’t gonna be happy with you if you allow them to stay.

“So it’s a complicated situation, no doubt.”
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Seals are for life, not just xmas.

A three-week-old seal pup is recovering after being found about 15 miles away from the sea on Boxing Day.

The RSPCA said the underweight pup was found by a family out walking their dogs on the banks of the River Bain in Lincolnshire. It is thought to have swum upstream in search of food from its home in the North Sea.

RSPCA inspector Kate Burris said: "The people who spotted him couldn't believe what they were seeing. The poor pup was trying to get into a small dyke when they noticed him. We think he had come down the weir and climbed up the bank."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-50974425
 
Leopard chases dog into house.

Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Wildlife officials in India were called to a home where a leopard chased a family's dog into their house and ended up locked in a storage room.

The Forest Department in Tehri said the leopard was chasing a dog Monday in Anguda, Bhilangna, when the canine fled into its owner's house and the big cat followed. Homeowner Nagendera Singh said the dog managed to give the leopard the slip inside the home and Singh's nephew was able to close and lock a storeroom door behind the wild animal.

Forest Department officials were summoned to the home and captured the leopard, which was taken to the Chidiyapur rescue center in Haridwar.

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/01/07/Leopard-captured-inside-home-in-Indian-village/2001578414028/
 
Sri Lankan hotel where an elephant is a guest

A video of Natta Kota - or short tail - wandering around the hotel while poking things with his trunk went viral over the weekend.

While many watched and shared the video in amazement, staff at the Jetwing hotel near the Yala National Park said the fully grown Asian bull elephant has been "the hotel's most loyal patron" since 2013.

"In the initial years, Natta Kota was a seasonal visitor, appearing for a few months of the year before disappearing once more into the bush. During this period, he paid frequent visits to other resorts along the beach stretch as well," a Jetwing spokesperson told the BBC.

"A few years ago, he took up permanent residence at Jetwing where he is allowed to be at peace. Natta Kota spends his days sleeping in the shade of the scrubs and taking walks along the hotel's footpaths."

Natta Kota is not always on his best behaviour. He has been known to steal fruit from cars and food supplies from the kitchen.

But rather than punish him, hotel staff let Natta Kota off for his "mischievous moments" but warn visitors to keep an eye on their fruit and vegetables. An electric fence in front of the kitchen door now keeps him away from the hotel's stores.

"Natta Kota's calm demeanour has made him a delight to guests and videos of him helping himself to the hotel's trees are aplenty," Jetwing said
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ramonmercado said:
A hoodwinker sunfish in sunny California.
A rare fish thought to live in the southern hemisphere has washed up in Santa Barbara, California.
The appearance of the seven-foot (2.1m) hoodwinker sunfish has baffled scientists, who question how the fish made it so far from its home waters.
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James_H said:
Mola Tecta was only 'discovered' (presumably as in discovered to be distinct from the regular ocean sunfish) in 2014. Therefore its distribution might not be fully understood yet.
Actually, it has visited the northern hemisphere before ...
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This online article describes how more specimens of Mola Tecta / hoodwinker sunfish have turned up, the crowd-based efforts to identify their actual range, and suggestions why their known range seems to have shifted so dramatically (if at all?).
How a bizarre, monster fish hoodwinked researchers and reeled in a wave of citizen scientists

A woman in Denmark has a chunk of a massive creature in her freezer, next to her peas. In New Zealand, a fisherman has pieces of the giant in a bottle of vodka. And in Alaska, a bush pilot hops in his seaplane to hunt down samples of the colossus, known to some as an enormous 4,000-pound floating head.

No, it's not the Loch Ness monster. And yes, it's safe to say that the behemoth that washed up on a beach in Southern California a year ago has created a worldwide furor. Scientists were shocked to find the weird fish – known as a "hoodwinker," or Mola tecta – in North America. When photos broke of the California find, fascination mounted around the globe.

"There’s this 'mola militia' that lives underground," said Patrick Webster, social media content creator for Monterey Bay Aquarium. "But every time something goes viral with a mola, people say, 'that’s my favorite animal!'"

Now, citizen scientists from South Africa to Japan are helping researchers find out why the weird fish ended up thousands of miles from home.

People in four corners of the Earth are hooked – the hoodwinker is reeling them in. ...
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FULL STORY: https://news.yahoo.com/bizarre-monster-fish-hoodwinked-researchers-120006781.html
 
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This poor python had been treated badly.

A three-foot long python has been found dead inside a bag on a Scottish beach.

The adult snake was emaciated and suffering from malnutrition when it was discovered by a passer-by on Musselburgh beach in East Lothian on 27 February.

The Scottish SPCA was alerted and the charity believes the reptile may have been dead before it was left in the bag.

They are now appealing for any information about the incident.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-51737256
 
Shetland Pony Visits Pub Every Day For A Guinness

Owner Kirk Petrakis decided to bring Patrick to the Drum Inn, Cockington, Devon so he would become desensitised to loud sounds before he starts work with children.

"The daily visit is part of his routine & is a highlight. He likes a sip of Guiness & a carrot".

Patrick has become so popular at the pub that a party will be thrown on March 17 to celebrate his second birthday.
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Goats on roofs in the Rhondda

A goat called Trouble has been living up to her name - along with companion Mabel - at their home in the south Wales valleys.

The pair escaped from their pen and were found on the roof of a neighbour's home.

Fay Wilson-Yeates said it's not the first time the goats have wandered. They have even tried to get on a bus.

"They tend to get out of wherever they are," said Ms Wilson-Yeates, who lives in the village of Blaencwm, in Rhondda Cynon Taff.

Trouble belongs to her best friend, and she cares for Mabel.

"They just go wandering around the village. They literally go wherever they want. They try to get on buses; they are really naughty.

Trouble got her name on the first day the two goats arrived in the village, after escaping and fleeing up the nearby hillside.

"She did a runner right up the mountain. It took us about three hours to get her back, on a boiling hot day."

Mrs Wilson-Yeates said the name has stuck ever since, but she thinks it is really Mabel who is the ring leader.

"I think she is the real trouble-maker and the other one just follows her," she said.

"There's never a dull day with these goats. They are so naughty and wicked and the things that they get up to you wouldn't believe."
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_111276307_wns_160320_goats_on_roof_04.jpg
 
Texas authorities executing a search warrant relating to drugs discover and recover a veritable menagerie.
Tiger among animals officials find in search of Texas home

Authorities seized animals including a white Bengal tiger, bobcat, kinkajou, porcupines, llamas, emus and deer after finding them at a South Texas residence while executing a search warrant last week.

Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Sammy Parks said Friday that the search warrant served on March 25 at the home on 5 acres in Mercedes, a city of about 17,000, was related to a narcotics investigation.

He said the narcotics investigation is ongoing but there were no arrests or charges related to the search warrant.

Parks said that going in they had information that there were exotic animals at the residence, so they brought along game wardens.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said in a statement that game wardens had to euthanize the bobcat and two deer because they were being held illegally without permits and their origin was unknown. The statement said it wouldn’t have been safe to reintroduce them into the native population.

Parks said the other animals were taken to the Austin Zoo for medical evaluation and rehabilitation if needed.
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SOURCE: https://apnews.com/da9e5de4e54b740f2156f8b0e9da0d75
 
Lots of wild life wandering about round here no doubt wondering were all the idiots
that they could scrounge a free feed off have gone.
 
Like the Canadian Mounties who claim to "always get their man", it seems the Dutch police "always get their animal."
It may not be the animal they set out to apprehend, but still ...
Police investigating loose camel report find escaped emu instead

Police in the Netherlands said officers responding to reports of a loose camel ended up capturing an emu running wild through the city of Rotterdam.

Central Schieland Police said a call came in Friday morning reporting a camel with two humps was wandering loose in the Kiotoweg area of Rotterdam.

Responding officers could find no trace of a camel, but ended up capturing a loose emu.

"Small difference," police joked on Twitter.

Officials said they are still investigating whether its possible that a camel was also loose in the area.
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SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...eport-find-escaped-emu-instead/1791588949672/
 
Vid at link.

Would roo believe it? Wallaby goes walkabout in Wales
Wall Street may have had its wolf but a town in Wales has its wallaby.
The animal of the sort more usually found in Australia was caught on camera hopping away from police in the dead of night.
When Duncan Lewis watched the footage he saw the creature cross his drive in Cadoxton, Neath.
"I've been up this morning looking for zebra, lion and wildebeest, but no sign of those," he said.
 
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Reminds me of the time a 9' croc escaped from a local zoo (apologies no link happened decades ago).. According to the news at the time they had a very difficult time reigning it in. The croc wasn't happy about going back in the reptile center. The article read "Nile Croc has zoo in a stew". love crocs but wouldn't want to be the one taking responsibility of an angry and non cooperative nile croc.
 
Could it just be a croc of shit? I'm otterly confused.

Last month, Lee Collings, 46, told the Yorkshire Evening Post he believed he had spotted a four-foot long crocodile in the nature reserve. He said he had never seen anything similar in over 30 years as a wildlife photographer. Lee claimed to have spotted the crocodile/alligator in the Fairburn Ings nature reserve in West Yorkshire. ...

Now, the RSPB said they 'they suspect that the sighting could have been of an otter' - which have been seen on the site.
The RSPB called for people to stay alert for wildlife as lockdown restrictions begin to be lifted. The breeding season is now in full swing and wildlife is at its most vulnerable point of the year, the RSPB said.

Countryside birds, mammals and reptiles will normally avoid busier areas of human activity to ensure their nests and young are safe from accidental harm, steering clear of popular beaches, busy footpaths or dog walking hot spots.

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/new...mXMXn6l6kJjPTWLGAadIXoD8B-JCJI863ChfbG3QjSIWg
 
Castillan Croc.

Police and specialist wildlife officers are using boats and a drone to search a stretch of river in north-west Spain after three sightings of what is thought to be a Nile crocodile.

People in and around the towns of Simancas and Tordesillas in the Castilla y León region have been told to stay away from the banks of the Pisuerga River while the search continues.

Francisco Sánchez, a police officer in Simancas, saw the animal at 2pm on Saturday as he followed up earlier reports.

“It was a crocodile that measured between 1.5 metres and 2 metres,” he told the Guardian. “I saw it move through the water before it disappeared under the surface. I’ve never been that close to a crocodile before; it was kind of stomach-churning.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...iver-nile-crocodile-sightings-castilla-y-leon
 
Young Lord Fairfax has been removed to his long-term residence ...

FairfaxSnapTurtle.jpeg

​
Oh snap! Police capture 65-pound turtle from Virginia suburb

A 65-pound (29-kilogram) alligator snapping turtle with a face only its mother could love has found a new home at a Virginia zoo after freaking out residents in a northern Virginia suburb.

The turtle, dubbed Lord Fairfax, was repeatedly crossing a residential road in the Alexandria area, according to Fairfax County Police. Not native to the area, the alligator snapping turtle is generally found in the wild farther south.

Animal control officers initially took Lord Fairfax to the county animal shelter, and then to the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

The fisheries folks say the turtle is just a juvenile and could eventually grow as big as 200 pounds (90 kilograms). They say the northern Virginia climate would have been too cold for him to live in the wild.

He will live instead at The Virginia Zoo in Norfolk.
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SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...ijuana-delivered-to-wrong-home/8551592337122/
 
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