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Out Of Place Animals

Was chatting with a friend from the local animal shelter, when he said, "We have a genet." Seems that animal control got a call about the funny animal sitting on someone's window sill. It's not horribly friendly; bit one of the shelter workers. Not sure where it came from, but apparently they're legal to own here.
 
Piranhas found in Manchester pond

Two dead piranhas have been found in a pond in Middleton, Greater Manchester, environmental officers have revealed.

The flesh-eating fish were netted by a local fisherman at the Rhodes Lodge pond in Middleton.

Environment Agency officers believe the piranhas were put in the water as live bait to lure other fish.

"Putting tropical fish in lakes and ponds is not only illegal but extremely cruel," said the agency's tropical fish specialist Bernie Chappel.

"The water would have been far too cold and the fish would have suffered a slow death."

£2,500 fine

Introducing non-native species of fish into UK waters without authorisation from the Environment Agency is illegal because it can damage the country's natural fish stocks.

The ban even extends to goldfish.

If those responsible for the piranha's presence in the pond are caught, they face a fine of up to £2,500.

The Agency has appealed for anyone who knows who owned the fish to contact them.

Although piranhas are supposedly capable of stripping the carcass of an animal within minutes, experts believe their fearsome reputation is exaggerated.

The species cannot survive in temperatures below 15C

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/3778891.stm

Published: 2004/06/05 07:54:37 GMT

© BBC MMIV
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Well this was a long time coming - I had started to doubt it existed at all!!

Rogue Hong Kong crocodile bagged

An infamous crocodile that survived in Hong Kong's muddy waterways, evading capture for seven months, has finally been caught.

The 1.5m (5ft)-long reptile won notoriety by outfoxing a succession of hunters from Australia and China.

But the tide finally turned for the scourge of Hong Kong's ditches when it strayed into one of several traps.

Crocodiles are not native to Hong Kong; this specimen is believed to have begun life in a home or on a farm.

The animal has become a celebrity in the Chinese territory, known more as a concrete jungle than a haven for wildlife.

Nature reserve

It has been variously nicknamed Croc Croc Chan after the family that first spotted it last year, and Gucci, because of the local popularity of the designer's crocodile skin handbags.

"Yes, we've got it," a spokesman for the Agriculture and Fisheries Department confirmed on Thursday.

Cheung Chi-sun, a wildlife protection officer from the department, said fishermen found the saltwater croc trapped in a steel noose and secured it in their nets.

Live TV pictures showed the reptile writhing as it was carried from a dinghy and slung in the back of a truck.

Local radio said the animal had been taken to a quarantine centre, from where it would probably be taken to the Kadoorie Farm nature reserve.

The crocodile was first sighted in the polluted waterways of Hong Kong's New Territories last November.

Local media swiftly latched on to the phenomenon. The animal's profile rose as it defied the best efforts of a succession of hunters.

Australians derided the beast a "just a tiddler", and sent their best man - experienced crocodile hunter John Lever - to snap it up.

But the reptile outmanoeuvred his nightly attempts to capture it.

Then several hunters from mainland China came, but left embarrassed and empty-handed.

Tourists flocked to take its picture and locals lived in dread of falling prey to its jaws as it prowled the water's edge, living on dead fish in the dirty creeks.

Radio listeners even voted it "personality of the year".

Experts say the creature could grow to a length of eight metres (26 ft). The species to which it belongs has a record of attacks on humans.

It is thought the reptile may have been a pet set free when it grew too big - or an escapee from a crocodile farm in neighbouring China.

What should happen to the crocodile? Send us your comments using the form below.

Your comments

He should be kept in a safe enclosed area, with other crocodiles like him.
Harry Underwood, Tokyo, Japan

A huge crocodile sandwich and make it snappy!
Chris James, Phuket, Thailand

I think the crocodile should be slaughtered and the meat sold in an auction to the top restaurant. Crocodile meat is absolutely delicious!! The money should then be used to help the poor and needy in the city.
Jason Jeffery, Thatcham, UK

Set it free again, it was good for tourism!
Andi, Sofia, Bulgaria

Handbags at dawn.
KK Lee, HK

A nice pair of shoes, and a crocodile skin belt will do nicely!
James, Norwich

The crocodile should either be released back into the wild, in a place where crocodiles are native, or, perhaps a really good wildlife park that specialises in crocodiles - such as Australia Zoo run by Steve Irwin.
Mary, Bristol

Let it retire in the swimming pool in Government House.
George, London

I think the croc should be set free in the Big Brother house and the housemates given the task of capturing the animal. Would make interesting viewing.
Roy Butterscotch, Cardiff, Wales

I believe that Croc Croc Chan should be sent to a zoo that is capable of looking after him, or set free in a part of the world that would suit him. He is now a celebrity after all and killing him would be tragic.
Wesley Mason, Maidstone, England

The crocodile should be transferred to a well-kept zoo where its widely known recent adventure would become a tourist attraction in itself.
Ariel Daliot, Jerusalem, Israel

Nothing....until it has cast its postal vote.
Peter Kao, Huntingdon , Cambridgeshire

A suitcase. And if there is anything left maybe a matching purse and pair of boots....
Steve H, Stratford upon Avon

Such an intelligent croc shouldn't be killed. The authorities should send it to an Australian croc farm.
Rafeh, Edinburgh, Scotland

It will probably end up being used for Chinese herbal remedies!!!
Rebecca, Wales

The Croc should be made into some of those cheap, fake handbags you see in the street-markets in Kowloon!
Neil, London, England

One word - Boots!
Jack, London, UK

Keep and culture it. Find a mate for it so that they multiply.
Lordwin Mlongoti, Kitwe, Zambia

Make a nice handbag and matching shoes - perfect for materialistic Hong Kong socialites.
Mark, Hong Kong

The crocodile should be released in its natural habitat.
Kamran Ezdi, Lahore, Pakistan

A nice pair of ridiculous shoes, with matching handbag and belt would be lovely!
Victoria, Portugal

Put it back into captivity or some sort of reserve where it and citizens will be safe from harm.
Richard Telford, Newcastle, UK

I believe the usual procedure in Hong Kong is to award it a passport and amnesty, and then revoke them 3 weeks from now, once the deportation papers are ready.
Mark, Auckland, New Zealand

Let him/her go free in the wild where it belongs.
W.Cowell, Hove UK

The crocodile should be given a home at Hong Kong's Ocean Park, which has the space and expertise to look after it, and where it would help to attract more visitors.
Rod Parkes, Hong Kong

I think the crocodile should be sent to a zoo in China, where it can retire gracefully from public life.
Ian, UK

Put it back in the Hong Kong Canals.
Jack, Manchester, England

As a celebrity with more charisma than most, a move into films is inevitable. Can we get Paul Hogan to dust off his hat to co-star in "Crocodile Dundee III : Escape to London"?
David Thomson, London

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/3793055.stm

Published: 2004/06/10 10:05:01 GMT

© BBC MMIV
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Welsh wolf/Llandudno lupus

Natural born killer

Jun 11 2004


By Matt Withers Daily Post


ANIMAL experts are investigating reports of a large wolf-like creature on the prowl in a North Wales town.

Cat owners in Craig y Don, Llandudno, have been warned not to let their pets out at night following sightings of the creature, which some believe is a wolverine.

The RSPCA has received calls after residents spotted a grey predator roaming the streets of the village terrorising cats.

It is thought the creature may be living in nearby woodland and coming into residential areas in the early hours to scavenge for food.

Pensioner Roy Chambers came face-to-face with the beast and told how he scared it off to save his cat, Bibby.

The 70-year-old said: "It was about 4am and Bibby woke us up by bringing a mouse in. I took it outside but Bibby followed me.

"Then I saw it across the road - the size of an Alsatian, grey and with a long snout. It wasn't a dog, there's no doubt about that, but it definitely wasn't a big cat either.

"It went after the cat, so I ran out banging and shouting, and picked up a handful of stones to throw at it." There have been several reports of missing cats in Craig y Don in recent weeks and these had initially been treated as thefts. An RSPCA spokesman said residents who had seen the beast would be interviewed.

Big beast sightings

* In April this year, police marksmen scoured parts of Anglesey following reports of a panther-like creature. Paw prints found in fields near Llanddona Beach were examined by experts who believed they were almost certainly left by a black leopard.

* In April 1997, dozens of sheep were killed by a large cat-type beast, farmers in North Wales claimed. A large white animal, resembling a puma, was seen roaming the hills close to Bala. Some farmers said the "Beast of Bala" killed a number of lambs.

* The wolverine is the largest land dwelling member of the weasel family. Its gets most of its food by scavenging, though there are many tales of it driving wolves and even grizzly bears away from kills. It is also known as the carcajou, the skunk bear, and the Indian devil.
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http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk...2&headline=natural-born-killer-name_page.html
 
Exotic species threaten health of Great Lakes, smaller lakes


The Associated Press
6/12/2004, 1:31 p.m. ET


MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Vast populations of foreign fish, mussels and other creatures have invaded and damaged the Great Lakes in the last few decades, creating a more difficult problem than the industrial contamination that fouled the lakes in the 1960s, according to a published report.

The invasion began in the early 1800s, but accelerated after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened the lakes to oceangoing ships in 1959. More than 40 percent of the 179 alien species have been documented since then, with most arriving by ship from Europe or Asia, according to research data analyzed by the Star Tribune.

A new invader is identified in the lakes about every seven months, faster than scientists can study them.

Henry Regier, a professor emeritus of zoology and environmental studies at the University of Toronto, describes the Great Lakes basin as "a sick system." In 50 years of studying the lakes, he said, he has never seen such dramatic changes.

Professor James Carlton, director of the Maritime Studies Program at Williams College in Mystic, Conn., said the lakes have been permanently modified "on one of the greatest scales in any aquatic environment in the world."

Unlike industrial pollution, much of the new damage is nearly invisible, hidden in the lakes' murky depths. Yet biologists who study lakes say the evidence is mounting that the unintended introductions of species from around the world could soon dominate the lakes' ecology, the Star Tribune reported for its Sunday editions.

On the shores of Lake Erie, the destruction can be seen in the deaths of birds who have eaten the round goby, a 4- to 6-inch European fish with bulging eyes that has found a new home in the Great Lakes.

Often the meal is a death sentence. More than 50,000 loons and other birds died after eating gobies over the past five years — victims of poisoning. Scientists say the gobies become toxic food by ingesting quagga mussels, another recent invader from Europe, which accumulate botulinus toxin from the lake bottom.

Invasive species come with enormous costs. Zebra mussels, which look like thumbnail-sized clams with dark and light stripes, have cost industries, water companies and power plants nearly billion, according to Chuck O'Neill, a coastal resources specialist with New York Sea Grant, an extension program of Cornell University and the State University of New York.

The invaders have spread beyond the Great Lakes, too.

That has hit home for Bob Franseen, who learned in October that Lake Ossawinnamakee in north-central Minnesota, had become infested with zebra mussels. The lake, where he lives year-round, is 110 miles from the nearest known zebra mussel infestation in Minnesota. A worker found the mussels on several docks that he removed last fall.

"The news came like a grenade tossed into the middle of things," Franseen said. At the time, lakeshore owners were busy trying to stop the spread of Eurasian watermilfoil. Residents and state officials are concerned that the popular recreational lake will become the bull's-eye from which boaters and anglers inadvertently carry the mussels to neighboring lakes.

Michigan has 185 infested lakes, Wisconsin has 44, and Ontario has dozens, especially along a highway of interconnected lakes, rivers and canals that extends more than 200 miles between lakes Ontario and Huron.
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http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1087061942228590.xml
 
Quixote said:
On some Bill Oddie Wildlife programme on BBC2 last night there was a short film on naturalised ring-necked parakeets in London.
[/b]
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We had some of these here in a park in the center of Innsbruck (Austria). The first birds had been brought there in about 1976. Over the years the population has been up to 50 birds, but then only a few years ago a lot of them died, probably due to the cold winters then. Last year only one of the parakeets was seen.
 
Latest Snakehead Is Bigger, Older Than Others

Two-Foot-Long Fish Caught In Virginia

POSTED: 6:46 am EDT June 18, 2004
UPDATED: 3:38 pm EDT June 18, 2004

HYBLA VALLEY, Va. -- Thursday night, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced that another northern snakehead was pulled from a Potomac River tributary that is bigger and older than the ones previously caught.

DNR officials said Cliff Magnus, a Maryland angler, caught the 24-inch, 5.14-lb., fish in Little Hunting Creek, which is on the Virginia side of the river.

This catch brings the total number of northern snakehead fish caught in the Potomac River since late April to six. Additionally, a single northern snakehead fish was caught in Pine Lake in Wheaton, Md. on April 26.

Thursday's catch is bigger than the other fish caught, which were about 12 to 14 inches long. Biologists believe Thursday's catch is 5 to 6 years old, compared to 2 to 3 years old for the other fish.

All of the snakeheads will be sent, or have been sent, to the Smithsonian Institute to determine if any are related. Biologists said it is possible Thursday's catch could be a parent of the other snakeheads, though that has not been confirmed.

Although the DNR, the Virginia Department of Inland Game and Fisheries and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are continuing to sample waters for additional northern snakehead fish, both states are also relying on recreational and commercial anglers to catch snakeheads in order to assess the number of fish and the corresponding threat.

Officials are worried that if the invasive species were to successfully establish itself in the Potomac River, it would disrupt the ecosystem by displacing native fish.

They said the northern snakeheads live in shallow vegetated waters and do not tolerate saltwater.

Anyone catching a northern snakehead is asked not to release it, but to kill it with a blow to the head, get it on ice as quickly as possible and turn it over to authorities.
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http://www.nbc4.com/news/3433201/detail.html
 
Quixote said:
On some Bill Oddie Wildlife programme on BBC2 last night there was a short film on naturalised ring-necked parakeets in London.
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It has also been covered in the Tabloids recently, emphasis on the Urban Myth paragraph my own.

Pretty boy invasion

By Tim Utton, Evening Standard Science Reporter
25 June 2004

The squawk of parrots could soon drown out the traditional birdsong of the English country garden.

Experts say the wild parrot population has exploded, with numbers expected to reach 100,000 by the end of the decade.

Ring-necked parakeets that have escaped or been released by their owners are building thriving colonies in parks and gardens.

Because the species is robust and highly adaptable, it can survive our winters - and numbers are now increasing by 30 per cent every year.

The parakeets are also thought to benefit from the shorter, milder winters of recent years.

The brightly- coloured birds, more used to the tropics of Africa and Asia, have adapted so well to the British countryside that they could even start to ruffle the feathers of native birds.

There are fears that established species such as starlings, jackdaws, kestrels and little owls could suffer as the more aggressive parrots muscle in on them.

Wild parrots currently number around 20,000 in Britain, it is thought.

Dr Chris Butler, of Oxford University - one of the foremost experts on the wild parrot population - said it is now too late to stop their spread.

Dr Butler, who has just completed a four-year study of their spread, added: 'It might have been possible when there were a thousand or so of the birds, but there are just too many of them now. It had been thought that their numbers were growing very, very slowly.

'But I have discovered that the number of parrots is actually increasing by 30 per cent every year. It is a phenomenal rate.'

One roost in Esher, Surrey, is home to 6,900 of the birds.

There are other colonies all over the South East of England and Dr Butler said there are at least 10,000 in London alone.

They have also been spotted in Wales and are gradually spreading across the entire country, with sightings in Merseyside, Hull and as far north as Glasgow.

Originally, the parrots flourished in the suburbs because they relied on food put out in bird-feeders to survive. But Dr Butler has found them living in the countryside surviving on fruit, nuts, berries, seeds and tree buds.

There are also concerns that as their numbers swell, the parrots will begin to inflict widespread damage on farmers' crops.

One vineyard in Southern England was recently so hard hit by the birds, which are particularly partial to fruit, that wine production fell from 3,000 bottles to 500.

Because the parrots are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, they cannot be destroyed without a licence. Parakeets have been popular pets since Victorian times and over the years many have escaped or been deliberately released.

Other reasons for the spread of the birds may have more to do with urban myth than reality.

It has been claimed that there was a mass breakout from a quarantine holding pen at Heathrow.

Others are said to have been released during filming of the 1951 Humphrey Bogart film The African Queen at Shepperton Studios in West London, or during the making of another film there in the 1970s.

Wherever the birds have come from, Dr Butler's research has revealed that they are breeding much faster than previously thought. Rather than rearing just one chick a year, he found they actually produce two. Because parrots can live for up to 34 years, it means each female could produce some 60 offspring.

Dr Butler also discovered that male parrots are reaching sexual maturity at the age of two, a year earlier than was thought possible.

Coupled with high rates of breeding, their territorial expansion means native species could come under intense pressure.

The balance is further shifted by the fact that the parrots nest - generally in holes in trees and other birds' nests - a month earlier than British birds, so allowing them to claim the best sites.
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This is London 25/06/04
 
Releasing Nemo Could Harm Local Fish Species
Wed 30 June, 2004 19:07

LONDON (Reuters) - Releasing pet fish into the open seas could have a disastrous effect on marine ecosystems and harm native species, scientists said Wednesday.

They have been spotting exotic species in waters far from their natural habitats and suspect they have been freed from aquariums.

"It's a 'Finding Nemo' story," marine biologist Brice Semmens, of the University of Washington, Seattle, told New Scientist magazine.

In the blockbuster animated film Nemo, a clownfish, strays from his home and ends up in a fish tank in a dentist's office in Sydney, Australia while his over-protective, timid father searches the oceans for him.

"Individuals are releasing their pet fish with the best of intentions, but in the wrong ocean. It is a really bad idea," Semmens added.

Exotic fish from the Pacific and Indian oceans and the Red Sea, including the predatory lionfish, varieties of angel fish and tang have been sighted off the coast of Florida.

If the fish breed and establish populations they could endanger local species.

The lionfish, which has now been spotted in waters from Florida to New York, is particularly worrying because it preys on a variety of fish, shrimps and crabs, according to the magazine.

"In the coming weeks the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and representatives from the aquarium industry will join forces to educate the public about the dangers of dumping pet fish into the ocean," the magazine said.
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http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=5556371&section=news
 
Parrots Go Wild in the UK

Here's one for Beak and other bird fans.

At:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3869815.stm

Wild parrots settle in suburbs

Parakeet in Ramsgate (from BBC News Online reader Mark Jobling)

The number of wild parrots living in England is rising at 30% per year, says an Oxford University research project.
Parks and gardens in the leafy London suburbs have been adopted as a preferred habitat by birds that are native to southern Asia.

In the Surrey stockbroker belt, a single sports ground is believed to be home to about 3,000 parrots.

The rate of increase, helped by mild winters, is much greater than had been expected.

The findings have also been echoed by a large number of e-mails from BBC News Online readers, who have reported how parrots - particularly parakeets - have now become familiar sights.

Parrot hotspots

These hundreds of e-mails, including photographs, highlighted hotspots such as west of London, Surrey and parts of Kent.


Jessica Gooch saw this parakeet in her Harrow garden

But there were also parrots reported in inner-London, including parks in Peckham, Brixton, Greenwich and Kensington.

And a few parrots had been spotted in East Anglia, the north west and in Scotland.

There were also sightings from readers overseas, reporting urban parrots in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain and the United States.

E-mails from readers also offer a range of theories about the arrival of parrots in Britain - including that they were brought by Jimi Hendrix, that they escaped during the making of a film and that they were released from aviaries damaged during the great storm of 1987.

Researchers have been tracking several varieties of parakeet, originally from countries such as India and Brazil, but which are now surviving in ever-greater numbers in southern England.

The findings, from Oxford University's Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, give a glimpse of exotic creatures in unlikely places.

Alexandrine parakeets have been spotted by Lewisham crematorium and orange-winged parakeets, native to the Amazon, have now set up home in Weybridge.

South American monk parakeets have formed a colony in Borehamwood and blue-crowned parakeets were observed in Bromley.

There have been reports that there could now be 20,000 wild parrots, including parakeets, living in England, with the largest concentration around London and the South East.

The population boom has been put down to a series of mild winters, a lack of natural predators, food being available from humans and that there are now enough parrots for a wider range of breeding partners.

In particular, they have been observed in growing numbers in the outer suburbs and the Home Counties, with trees in parkland and sports grounds becoming their homes.

Rugby fans

Esher Rugby Club's ground was observed to have had a parrot population that grew from 800 to 2,500 in the space of three years - and researchers estimate there might be 3,000 living there.

Project Parakeet, led by researcher Chris Butler, has been examining the growth of the population of wild parakeets - with the aim of finding whether the current sharp increase will continue.

If it does, there are concerns that wild parrots could become a pest to farmers or threaten other wildlife.

Grahame Madge, spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), says parakeets are bigger and bolder than some of their native rivals - and "are quite capable of evicting other birds".

They also like fruit and he says that if they moved into fruit-growing areas, it would pose problems for farmers.

Heathrow flights

At present, the RSPB says parakeets are particularly concentrated in the west London, south-west London and Thames Valley area - and this has given rise to the urban legend that the birds originally escaped from a container at Heathrow airport.

But Mr Madge says there has never been any proof of this theory.

Escaped parakeets have been spotted nesting in this country since the 19th century. Even though there was a wild population in the 1960s, the numbers remained very low through to the mid-1990s, when the population appeared to start increasing more rapidly.

Birdline UK's Parrot Rescue, which looks after abandoned birds, says parrots are now acclimatised to conditions in this country and are quite capable of living and breeding here.

But this is causing problems for other native birds, which are being pushed out by the growing numbers of parrots.
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There's quite alot of parrots in Richmond Park - people often think you're pulling their leg when you tell them this!
 
....and they used some of my very own photos of the parakeets in Ramsgate to illustrate the story :D
 
Someone should teach all the wild parrots to speak English. Then as well as birdsong in the park you could hear the nattering of parrots speaking to each other up in the trees.
 
Colin said:
Someone should teach all the wild parrots to speak English. Then as well as birdsong in the park you could hear the nattering of parrots speaking to each other up in the trees.
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The ones in Richmond Park make enough noise already - getting them to speak English is just asking for trouble ;)
 
One of my parrots was caught flying wild. He was very tame, though, so although no owner was ever found, I don't think he'd been out there long.
 
When I was around 10 I saw a bright green parrot sitting in my parent's garden. My dad tried to catch it but it kept flying just out of reach. In the end it flew completely away. Dad said that it wouldn't survive the winter. I remember feeling so sad that the bird was probably going to die. Well, it looks like it may have survived after all.
 
The ways in which exotic birds become established, boom and sometimes bust is very poorly understood. In the US there are large populations of different species of parrots/parakeets not just in places you'd expect (California, Arizona, Texas, Florida) but in the bone-achingly cold climates of Illinois and New York.

In the US at least, the two most common fears (and also cited in the news story), pushing out native species and becoming agricultural pests have not (yet?) materialized. They live almost exclusively in urban or suburban areas, existing on handouts from humans. In florida, california, etc. they don't seem to care for the food found in native plants, which is where you'd find the native birds. Miami, as an example, built over and planted with non-native flora, the dominant bird species there are starlings, pigeons and crows anyway.

Monks are interesting in that they're not cavity nesters, but build their own. They're not dependent on having natural holes available to breed in like other psittacines. In addition the nests are colonial so they can stay warm during harsh winters. (Seeing parrots flying around Chicago in February is surely a sight!)

There are estimated to be ~10, 000 monks living in Florida right now. Will they hold steady, expand, decline? Who knows? Thirty years ago there were something like 25,000 wild budgies in Florida. Today, maybe 200.
 
There has been a sizeable population of parakeets in the Hyde Park area of Chicago for years, though recently their main home there, a 100-plus year old tree fell over. Many of the chicks that tumbled out of the nests inside the tree were rescued by animal control according to this article:

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/061404_ns_parakeet.html
 
I like parrots....

...noisy, vicious, dirty creatures....

....just like me.

But I have never seen a feral one.

So what happened to the Florida budgies then?

I have heard there are free budgies in Tresco Abbey Gardens, appropriate, since it is a tropical place. (if you ever get the chance, go, even for a non gardener, its fastinating to see all those plants out in the open.) met some tame sparrows there when I visited.
 
Tarzan's Tiger Loose In Loxahatchee
People Nearby Asked To Stay Indoors

POSTED: 7:16 pm EDT July 12, 2004
UPDATED: 10:41 pm EDT July 12, 2004
LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. -- Nightfall Monday brought a temporary end to the ground search for a 6-year-old tiger that escaped earlier in the day from the home of an actor who played Tarzan, officials said.

Deputy sheriffs and state game officials set up a perimeter around their search area and plan to start beating the bush again at daybreak Tuesday, said Willie Puz, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The search area is about a half mile wide and two and a half miles long.

Searchers planned to use an infared-equipped helicopter during the night, hoping to spot the big cat so it could be stopped with tranquilizer darts, Puz said.

"It could just go back home on its own, and we're hoping for that," Puz said. "It could just lay down and go to sleep."

The tiger was reported missing around 3 p.m. from the home of Steve Sipek, who played Tarzan under the screen name Steve Hawkes in movies made in the late 1960s's, said Paul Miller, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

When the first deputies arrived on the scene, the cat jumped on top of their car, Miller said. Puz said searchers on the ground spotted the cat several times into the evening, but were never close enough to dart it.

People nearby were asked to remain indoors for their safety and the safety of the cat, Puz said earlier.

"There's no such thing as a tame wild animal," he said.

Sipek has another tiger, two lions, a black leopard and a cougar on his property, the Palm Beach Post reported. The cats, mostly castoffs from zoos, are usually kept in a mazelike series of interlocking cages.

The 5-acre property is about 15 miles west of Palm Beach. It is bordered by other similar sized estates and mini-ranches, many with livestock. Lion County Safari and the swampy Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge are a few miles away.

In February 2002, a 750-pound tiger mauled a woman who was helping Sipek during a photo shoot at his compound. She was bit on the head.
 
A Few People Have Seen Strange Moths

A couple people from my town believe they have seen an Atlas moth, although Maine has a nor'easter climate and moths of this type, which are adapted to rainforests, couldn't survive much of the year...

Since most of the people up here aren't very advanced, so to speak, I couldn't find an example on the net.

The next time I see my father I'll ask him about his experience with the huge insect...

Nick
 
Snow Leopard In Kentucky

DECLAWED 50-POUND CAT GETS LOOSE FROM OWNER'S HOME, ELUDES SEARCHERS

ASSOCIATED PRESS


SHEPHERDSVILLE - Attempts to capture a declawed snow leopard that escaped its owner's home this week have been unsuccessful, and the owner says he is afraid someone will hurt the endangered animal.

The 2-year-old leopard, owned by Tim Peveler, is white with black spots. Being declawed lessens the chance that it would harm people or other animals, said Mark Marraccini, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Officers and biologists with the department were combing the area near the caretaker's home just east of Shepherdsville in Bullitt County. They set traps to capture the 50-pound animal without harm but had not caught it as of Wednesday night, Marraccini said.

Snow leopards, an endangered species, are native to the mountains of Asian countries including China and India, and they're also common in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Peveler said Wednesday that he most fears that someone will harm the animal. He said he has searched for it exhaustively since it escaped Tuesday night.

The leopard grew up in Peveler's care and is comfortable around humans, Marraccini said. It's uncertain what the animal would eat if it gets hungry, he said. It likely wouldn't challenge a dog since it has no claws, he said.

Peveler said the leopard is one of several animals he keeps on the property. He has kept exotic animals for 30 years, he said.

"This isn't a business," Peveler said. "We're a licensed facility, and we deal with only other licensed facilities. We're just here to help preserve the species."

But Marraccini said that the Department of Fish and Wildlife hasn't found any record that Peveler has a wildlife transportation permit from the state, which he said would be needed to bring a snow leopard into Kentucky.

Marraccini said he was unsure who would get custody of the animal if Fish and Wildlife officials capture it.

If you spot the snow leopard, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife urges you not to approach it. Call the department at 1-800-252-5378.

Lexington Herald Leader
 
Stingrays may be breeding off Britain

Jamie Wilson
Saturday July 24, 2004
The Guardian

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water, it emerged yesterday that a young stingray has been caught off the east coast, fuelling fears that the hazardous creature is now breeding in British waters.

A fisherman, Nick Curtis, caught the juvenile stingray in his gill net off Southwold in Suffolk last week.

According to marine biologists at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science in Lowestoft, who are investigating the catch, stingrays are normally confined to the Mediterranean.

"Stingrays have been recorded off the east coast before, but normally they are much bigger," said Jim Ellis. "It is very unusual for one so small to swim this far so it might mean they are breeding nearer to our shores than before."

According to Louis Zammitt's Atlas of Mediterranean Fish, the stingray is nearly quadrangular in shape. In front it is pointed and at the back more round, tapering into a tail which is as long as the body.

The book also says: "The tail is equipped in its middle aspect with a prominent serrated poisonous spine."

The sting can cause profuse bleeding and excruciating pain that can last for months, accompanied by large swellings. Big stingrays even have enough force to break a wooden boat by lashing their tails. And if a person is unlucky enough to be stabbed in the chest or abdomen it could be fatal.

However stingrays are not aggressive by nature, usually lying peacefully on the sea bottom and only stinging people who step on them.

The stingray is just the latest in a number of strange or unnerving sightings off the cost of Britain in recent years, with some scientists blaming global warming for the arrival of species usually found predominantly in warmer waters.

These include the giant lion's mane jellyfish, and aggressive mako and thresher sharks. There has even been one unverified sighting of the scariest of them all - the great white shark.
Click to expand...

http://society.guardian.co.uk/environment/story/0,14124,1269327,00.html
 
Tropical fish caught at Southend

A tropical fish normally found in the Mediterranean has been caught by a man fishing off the pier at Southend.

The exotic-looking rainbow wrasse, which has red fins and yellow stripes running along its body, was caught at the Essex resort at the weekend.

The species is usually found in warmer waters but experts believe the catch is an example of rising sea temperatures luring tropical fish to Britain.

Expert David Knapp said the fish was a sign the Thames Estuary is warming up.

On the increase

[...]

He added: "The red mullet which used to be very rare has now taken up residence in our waters as has the European sea bass.

"Catches of unusual fish are definitely on the increase."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/essex/3592318.stm

Published: 2004/08/24 05:26:32 GMT

© BBC MMIV
Click to expand...
 
"Expert"?, David Knapp?..............................sea bass have always been off our coasts:rolleyes:
 
the catch is an example of rising sea temperatures luring tropical fish to Britain.

He must be joking, have you dipped your toes in lately.
:eek!!!!:
 
More snakeheads

Potomac Fisherman Snags 18th Snakehead

Tuesday August 24, 2004 9:50am



Fredericksburg, Va. (AP) - Another snakehead fish has been caught in the Potomac River.

That's number 18.

According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, a fisherman caught the snakehead on Saturday at a marina at Dogue Creek.

Scientists have focused their snakehead hunt on a 14-mile stretch of the Potomac below Washington, D.C.

Experts say northern snakeheads can dominate an ecosystem, eating or pushing out other species of native fish.

Snakeheads can grow to 40 inches and weigh up to 15 pounds. The largest caught so far in the Potomac was six pounds. Several were females carrying eggs.

The snakehead is considered an oddity because it can move short distances on land using its fins and live out of water for up to three days.
Click to expand...

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0804/168231.html
 
Is anyone here old enough to recall the Walking Catfish panic in the US during the 1970's? Like the Snakehead, they could cross dry land. At the time, it was said that the only thing that would contain them was winter weather (they'd die if it got too cold). Don't hear much about them anymore. I wonder if they died out, or just hit equilibrium?
 
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