Out Of Place Animals

[strainseir]

Another crocodile sighting in Germany, this time in Hessen. According to news sites, a young crocodile about 1m in size was spotted on the 27th of August near a brook. The man who saw it also took a picture, which has been confirmed as being authentic. There have been no further sightings of the animal since then.

I couldn't find anything showing the actual photo, so I'm assuming it hasn't been released to the public.

Link to news article (German)

 

[Spookdaddy]

Apologies in advance - this won't be as dramatic as some of the other episodes related here.

The weekend of the 8th 9th August - that ridiculously hot one - I was in London, staying within spitting distance of Marylebone Station.

I'd gone out for a pint and an evening stroll and was walking back along the north side of Dorset Square towards Balcombe Street when out of the corner of my eye I spotted movement on the road just under the front end of a car I was about to pass.

I thought at first that it might have been a fox’s brush, sweeping the road as the animal sidled away from me, but as I got closer and focused, I realised it was something else: A rat – no. A rabbit - hmm? Then I noticed the black tips to the ears.

I would swear it was a brown hare! In central London?

It looked like a young animal, a fairly well grown but not yet mature leveret, but I would swear to my dying day that it was a hare.

All the references I can find to hares in Central London claim that they were there were once, but are no more. Regent’s Park is mentioned as having been home to a population, and that’s pretty close to Dorset Square (the central private green space of which is relatively small).

I’m farm born – and spend a lot of my time in the countryside. I would still entertain the possibility that I got it wrong, or that maybe I spotted an escaped pet rabbit of some breed that has black tips to it’s ears and looks like an immature hare. But I really hope I’m right. I love brown hares – if I ever need a totem, they would be it.

 

[maximus otter]

I love brown hares...

I like 'em too.

I was out on the farm a week or two ago, when I spotted one of the many hares on it moving steadily in my direction. On a whim, I froze in place. Despite the fact that I was standing in plain sight, away from any hedge or cover, on came Mr. Hare. Long story short, he strolled by so close to me that I could have nudged him with a barely-outstretched foot. As he passed I smiled, and felt compelled to say to him "Good morning, Mr. Hare!" He just paused for a heartbeat, gave me a quizzical look and ambled off.

I love nature.

maximus otter

 

[lordmongrove]

A colony of Australian snakes in Western New Zealand? https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/03-09-2020/i-went-hunting-for-the-legendary-snakes-of-the-west-coast-bush/?fbclid=IwAR1fN6Ahs_ZqvlNLEPiR7qlzpD8rTHMDM3ceCkdD7iKh0KmhwBABMgDDz5E

 

[Bullseye]

I love brown hares – if I ever need a totem, they would be it.

Nice accurate posting.
I'm a bit like that with deer, raptors and ravens, see them wherever I go.

As he passed I smiled, and felt compelled to say to him "Good morning, Mr. Hare!" He just paused for a heartbeat, gave me a quizzical look and ambled off.

As a kid I would go to Rye Harbour and just sit with my back to the old tank traps and watch the hares in Springtime going mad,they'd come right up to you if stayed still.

 

[hunck]

On a walk round the Isle of Sheppey a few years back we came across a sort of hare sanctuary - must've seen about 20 or 30 young ones. Never seen so many.

I almost trod on one once on another walk. It was in a shallow scrape in the ground & I never saw it until it shot off at a rate of knots from almost under my foot.

I think they're the UK's fastest wild animal.

 

[Spookdaddy]

...I almost trod on one once on another walk. It was in a shallow scrape in the ground & I never saw it until it shot off at a rate of knots from almost under my foot...

I remember as a wee crumbsnatcher walking one wild autumn afternoon with my grandad and his brother in law. We were up by a small reservoir - a place which had a slightly unsettling atmosphere at the best of times, not helped by the low frequency hum from the machinery in the pump house and the wind whistling through the ragged woods that surrounded it.

A hare broke cover and bolted when we were almost on top of it. We all jumped right out of our skin - off the ground, I reckon. My grandad and his brother in law were both veterans, who had gone on to work in very heavy industry - and would most likely have punched a marauding tiger right up its bracket under normal circumstances. I however was probably around six years old, and therefore had an excuse.

We're going off on a tangent, I know - but for anyone who is fascinated by the animal, I would recommend George Ewart Evans' classic, The Leaping Hare, and also Simon Carnell's Hare, from Reaktion Books lovely Animal series.

 

[ScarlettR]

Yikes - Deadly Indian snake found by child in rural Irish garden.

https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/20...k-sa9_C9777iLi0fae8iZsRk06P5BB6PE873-w57Wbwjo

 

[maximus otter]

Yikes - Deadly Indian snake found by child in rural Irish garden.

https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/20...k-sa9_C9777iLi0fae8iZsRk06P5BB6PE873-w57Wbwjo

St. Patrick must have been on a fag break.

maximus otter

 

[Lord Lucan]

St. Patrick must have been on a fag break.

maximus otter

I'm not quite sure how to take that sentence.

 

[maximus otter]

I'm not quite sure how to take that sentence.

Like a man!

maximus otter

 

[hunck]

Lammergeier spotted in Norfolk

The "bearded vulture" - dubbed "Vigo" - was snapped by photographer James Lowen near Dereham, Norfolk, on Monday.

The RSPB said the bird hatched and fledged in southern Europe last year, but had "wandered up" to the Peak District for the summer.

Mr Lowen said he saw "a huge bird surrounded by crows", and "pulled over and took a photo".

The bearded vulture eats only bones, which it is known to drop from high points onto rocks to break up

 

[Nemo]

The extraordinary looking and unusual creature that washed up on a Welsh beach.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Now, this looks pretty damned Fortean at face value ...

Disoriented elephant seal wanders streets of Chilean town

A large elephant seal that took a wrong turn and ended up wandering the streets of a Chilean town was guided back to the water by a group of police, navy officers and concerned locals.

Residents of Puerto Cisnes said they sometimes spot elephant seals far out in the water, but it came as a shock to see one wandering down the middle of a street several blocks from the shore. Witnesses said the seal was not acting aggressively, but appeared confused and frightened. ...

Police, navy officers and neighbors used black tarps to get the large animal to turn around and head back toward the water. ...

SOURCE (With Video): https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/1...anders-streets-of-Chilean-town/1141602101505/

 

[IbisNibs]

Sheep meets trampoline:

 

[hunck]

Now, this looks pretty damned Fortean at face value ...

View attachment 30477​

SOURCE (With Video): https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/1...anders-streets-of-Chilean-town/1141602101505/

My first thought was crikey that's a big snail.

 

[PeteByrdie]

Lammergeier spotted in Norfolk

The "bearded vulture" - dubbed "Vigo" - was snapped by photographer James Lowen near Dereham, Norfolk, on Monday.

Vigo was also sighted in and around Peterborough. What on Earth makes a bird accustomed to mountains make a stop over at a town on the edge of the Fens?

 

[hunck]

Vigo was also sighted in and around Peterborough. What on Earth makes a bird accustomed to mountains make a stop over at a town on the edge of the Fens?

When it was spotted in the Peak District in July it was speculated it may've been caught in a storm & blown away from it's home in the Alps but that seems a bit unlikely.

Some good pics from Lincolnshire on this blog & unconfirmed report it's since gone further south & been seen over the RSPB HQ in Sandy Bedfordshire & later over London.

The Vulture conservancy now have a couple of her feathers so we should at some point understand her a little better. It should also be noted that they are keeping a close eye on her movements and the threat each one makes to her. It is considered that her current location can provide food and shelter with the main threat to her being traffic and turbines.

 

[EnolaGaia]

An escaped cow in Australia wandered onto a trampoline and became stuck there.

Wandering cow gets stuck on a trampoline in rural Victoria

A bid to follow the herd turned out badly for a lone cow that got stuck on a trampoline in rural Victoria overnight.

The drama unfolded when a mob of about 40 cows went on a run in the dead of night in South Gippsland.

The herd was rounded up after a truck driver saw cattle in the middle of the road and doorknocked the nearest house.

Neighbours were woken to find cows scattered in their yards, and the mob was guided home.
But when dairy farmer Kay Laing did a second check of her yard to be extra sure, she found a black and white cow stuck on her in-ground trampoline. ...

“I would love to have seen her get on. I’m sure she must have been thinking, ‘What the hell?’ Anyway she ended up just plonking down and just sat.

“Thank God it was night time and she couldn’t see either because I’m tipping she would’ve been pretty terrified.”

Her neighbour brought his tractor around and, with some chains and a hoist, got the cow on solid ground.

“She was just fine, we lifted her off and then she walked home, maybe a kilometre and a half.

“We were back in bed by 3.30am.” ...

FULL STORY: https://www.news.com.au/technology/...a/news-story/bd5f9a2fd9f58f2495a2821c427669b9

 

[Bullseye]

The Bearded Vulture (Vigo) that spent the summer in the Peak District and was recently wandering around Eastern England shed a couple of feathers that someone collected. He sent them off, I assume to the Vulture Conservation Foundation, (they do great work re_introducing them back to their old European habitats). Turns out Vigo is a wild bred female from the French Alps doing what young vultures often do, going for very long wanders. Few days ago she turned up at Beachy Head, I was going to have a look for her as only 20 miles West of me, but someone watched her soaring and gaining great height, was so high almost out of sight, she then drifted off over the Channel on her way back home. Hope she makes it back safely.
Oddly, many years ago when on holiday in Majorca, I looked up and saw two massive birds gliding high over. When I got back to England checked my bird books and went to the library (pre interweb days), Bearded vulture best match.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Virginia wildlife officials were contacted about a weird snake with a prominent head. It turned out to be a large worm native to Asia.

Mysterious 'snake' spotted in Virginia turns out to be invasive worm

... Virginia Wildlife Management and Control posted photos to Facebook that were sent in by a caller to the company's Snake Identification Hotline after the creature was spotted in Midlothian. ...

"We've never seen anything like it before and we're not sure if it's a freak of nature," the post said.

The company later posted an update after experts identified the 10- to 12-inch animal as a hammerhead worm, an invasive species native to Southeast Asia.

The species is notoriously difficult to kill, as even a small fragment of its body can regenerate into a complete worm.

SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/1...-turns-out-to-be-invasive-worm/9101604435139/

VIDEO (At agency's Facebook page):

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=266314148143755

 

[Lord Lucan]

I was looking at election results in some far away land when I noticed this story in the headlines:

Wallabies are on the loose in Britain — and we've mapped 95 sightings

When you think of kangaroos and wallabies, you probably don't think of the temperate climate, unsettled weather and agricultural lands of England. Yet on such pastures, the red-necked wallaby has found a home.

Red-necked wallabies have been present in Britain for more than a century, originally being imported for zoos and private collections where they were popular attractions.

However they also proved to be adept escape artists that were adaptable enough to survive in the British countryside.

Many were intentionally released during the Second World War, as keepers and collectors had other priorities.


This increased the number of feral animals in Britain and, eventually, a population became established in the Peak District (though it has probably been extinct since 2009).

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11...oose-britain-mapping-their-sightings/12848756

 

[lordmongrove]

Monitor lizard kills feral cat in Australia (maybe this is what a fight between a megalania and a thylacoleo would have looked like, scaled down).

 

[ramonmercado]

Eeeek!

A couple were left hiss-terical after finding a 4ft (1.2m) royal python curled up behind their tumble dryer.

It was a case of snakes and larders when the reptile was found in the utility room of their home in Southport, Merseyside.

"I was shocked, it's not what you expect when you want to do a bit of laundry," the woman told the RSPCA. The charity collected the snake and is hoping to find its owner soon - serpently by Christmas.

"I was quite surprised at the size of the snake," said RSPCA rescue officer David Hatton, who attended the home in Beecham Road on Sunday.

"The fact it is in such good condition makes me suspect it is a pet that has escaped. I am not sure how it managed to get into the utility room but it was probably attracted by the warmth from the drier when it was on."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-55395136

 

[Sharon Hill]

Monitor lizard kills feral cat in Australia (maybe this is what a fight between a megalania and a thylacoleo would have looked like, scaled down).

Difficult to watch. Maybe if it actually KILLED it.

 

[hunck]

Sheep on Garage Roof

Ella Aldred was surprised to see the woolly animals had managed to make the three foot jump from the garden.

She said they regularly wander down off the moors into her housing estate in Whitworth, near Rochdale.

They roam the estate after coming down from the nearby hills, eating
grass and plants from gardens and verges.

The garage roof is covered in ivy, so they may have been keen for a snack.

Ella said: ‘They’re regular visitors. You see them wandering round the
estate quite a lot.

‘I think they’re coming down from the moors looking for something green to eat because it’s covered in snow up there.

 

[GNC]

Mares eat oats and does eat oats and great big sheep eat ivy?

 

[Kondoru]

Little lambs!

(Dad told me that one)

 

[EnolaGaia]

Ruh-roh ... The pigeon called Joe somehow traversed the Pacific to get from the USA to Australia, and now Australia wants to capture and kill him.

Australia to kill pigeon that crossed Pacific from Oregon

A racing pigeon has survived an extraordinary 13,000-kilometer (8,000-mile) Pacific Ocean crossing from the United States to find a new home in Australia. Now authorities consider the bird a quarantine risk and plan to kill it.

Kevin Celli-Bird said Thursday he discovered the exhausted bird that arrived in his Melbourne backyard on Dec. 26 had disappeared from a race in the U.S. state of Oregon on Oct. 29.

Experts suspect the pigeon that Celli-Bird has named Joe, after the U.S. president-elect, hitched a ride on a cargo ship to cross the Pacific. ...

Joe’s feat has attracted the attention of the Australian media but also of the notoriously strict Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service.

Celli-Bird said quarantine authorities called him on Thursday to ask him to catch the bird.

“They say if it is from America, then they’re concerned about bird diseases,” he said. “They wanted to know if I could help them out. I said, ’To be honest, I can’t catch it. I can get within 500 mil (millimeters or 20 inches) of it and then it moves.’”

He said quarantine authorities were now considering contracting a professional bird catcher.

The Agriculture Department, which is responsible for biosecurity, said the pigeon was “not permitted to remain in Australia” because it “could compromise Australia’s food security and our wild bird populations.”

“It poses a direct biosecurity risk to Australian bird life and our poultry industry,” a department statement said. ...

FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/pacific-...nited-states-faae5a66c336c8b2dc902b1ed4270345

 

[GNC]

That's what they tried to do to Johnny Depp.