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Pine marten seen in England for the first time in a hundred years - Nature - Environment - The Independent (http://www.independent.co... ) https://upload.wikimedia....

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 14 ] -

A dark shape moved rapidly through the woods and moments later, with a flash of its bushy tail, disappeared into the undergrowth. Keen nature-watcher Dave Pearce’s first instinct was to reach for his camera – and in doing so he took the photograph of a lifetime, capturing what is believed by some to be the first confirmed sighting of a wild English pine marten in a century. - Halil from Bookmarklet - -

2 other comments...

La martora eurasiatica! Wonderful animal, glad to know it still survives in England. - StefanoHBS - -

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Trail camera thought to record 2nd gray wolf in California - SFGate (http://www.sfgate.com/bay... http://ww3.hdnux.com/phot... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] -

"State wildlife officials say they found evidence of a gray wolf roaming the wilds of Siskiyou County near the Oregon border, news that could reignite a debate over whether the wolf deserves protection. After receiving reports early this year of possible sightings, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife set up several remote trail cameras in southeastern Siskiyou County. One of those cameras captured an image of what may have been a wolf in May, but an examination of feces proved inconclusive. In June, biologists found an apparent wolf track and placed another camera. On July 24, they found the camera had captured images of what they believe is a lone gray wolf. The sighting comes a little more than a year after OR-7, a wolf wearing a tracking device who wandered between California and Oregon for three years, settled down and mated in southern Oregon, according to wildlife officials." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

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East Texas Man Shot After Bullet Ricochets Off Armadillo | Blogs | San Antonio Current (http://www.sacurrent.com/... http://media2.fdncms.com/... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 5 ] -

"The man involved told deputies he was shooting at an armadillo and the bullet ricocheted and hit him in the head,” according to KRTE." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

1 other comments...

Ah, the "he had it comin" defense. - Jennifer D. - [ 1 ] -

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Halil to Plant Love, Nature, Halil's feed
Rare Snake flower adds beauty to Khamasom peak (http://www.thesangaiexpre... ) http://www.thesangaiexpre...

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 3 ] -

Ukhrul, Jul 30 : Unsighted for long, a typical and peculiar flower called Khamasom Van resembling as snake has been seen blooming at Khamasom Khayuipam , Khamasom village in Ukhrul district. The flower called Khamasom Van (meaning only Khamasom village flower) in the local dialect closely resembles a snake. - Halil from Bookmarklet - [ 1 ] -

The flower blooms during the monsoon season and this is one reason why it has not been detected for many years as trekkers and hunters seldom venture out during the rainy season. The flower starts to grow from mid May and blooms till July, that is for a span of 3 months. Despite its unique feature, Khamasom Van/snake flower is yet to be included in the botanical families of the world. - Halil - -

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Summer of Science - The Chincoteague Feral Ponies' Annual 4-Minute Swim - NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/in... http://i2.nyt.com/images/... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 4 ] -

"For almost a century, the Saltwater Cowboys of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department have been wrangling up wild ponies and sending them on a 4-minute swim across the Chincoteague Channel, just off the coast of Virginia. The last Wednesday and Thursday of July are the days that the ponies are scheduled to paddle 75 yards to the other side of the water before parading through town be auctioned off. Some locals call the ponies wild, but they are actually feral, meaning at one point they escaped domestication. The most popular origin story is that the Chincoteague ponies survived a 17th Century Spanish shipwreck. With little evidence to support that popular tale, however, a more plausible one is that settlers kept ponies on the island to avoid a 1669 horse tax." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

PONIES!!! :D :D - JustDuckie - -

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Ohio man must spend two days in jail for petting zoo cougars - Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/ohi... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - -

"An Ohio man who posted a video of himself petting cougars at a Columbus zoo appealed no contest to a trespassing charge on Wednesday and has to spend two days in jail and pay more than $200 in fines, court documents said. Joshua Newell, 35, jumped an outer fence to gain access to another fenced-in enclosure and called the cougars to him in order to pet them, the documents said. Newell then posted a nearly two-minute video of the encounter on YouTube where he enticed the animals by calling "Here, kitty, kitty" and "That's a good kitty."" - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

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Man in Trouble for Climbing Over Ohio Zoo's Fence and Petting Cougars - ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/US/... http://a.abcnews.com/imag... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - - [ 2 ]

"A visitor at Ohio’s Columbus Zoo is in hot water with zoo personnel -- for getting a bit too friendly with some cougars. With his camera rolling, Joshua Newell dropped his bag to the ground, climbed over a 4-foot fence, and petted two adult cougars through the final barrier on July 20. Zoo officials found out about Newell's antics after he later posted the video on YouTube. “It was very spontaneous,” Newell said. “I jumped the barrier and showed them some love.” " - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

*facepalm* I'm kinda surprised he left with both hands intact. - Jennifer D. - [ 1 ] -

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Elusive snow leopards captured in photos | GrindTV.com (http://www.grindtv.com/wi... http://cdn.grindtv.com/wp... http://cdn.grindtv.com/wp... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - -

"Few land animals are as adept at camouflage as the rare and elusive snow leopard, and with this in mind we challenge readers to see how quickly they can spot the large cat in the photo atop this post." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

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Deer chased by dog runs into a tourist in Kenting - Taipei Times (http://www.taipeitimes.co... http://www.taipeitimes.co... )

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"A tourist in Kenting’s Sheding Nature Park suffered minor injuries last week after a Formosan sika deer being chased by a dog ran straight into him, causing a cut that required stitches, the Kenting National Park Administrative Office said. It was the first time a human has ever been injured by a deer at the park, rather than the other way around." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

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Fremont County Sheriff's Blotter: Party reports she is 'being invaded' by raccoons - Canon City Daily Record (http://www.canoncitydaily... http://i.imgur.com/T1eed.... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] - [ 1 ]

"The reporting party called to report that she is "being invaded" by raccoons, they are in her house and she is scared they might attack her. Deputies responded. The party was referred to Rid-A-Critter." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

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Where did city squirrels come from? : TreeHugger (http://www.treehugger.com... http://media.treehugger.c... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 4 ] -

"It was in the late 19th century that landscape parks really took root and cities began implementing wide expanses of green space. With an understanding that nature and fresh air were efficacious curatives for the maladies that ailed, “pleasure grounds” and urban parks became a place to enjoy the health-giving effects of nature. And as parks became more prominent, squirrels became the focus of attention, as Etienne Benson of the University of Pennsylvania writes in the Journal of American History. Urban reformers, who thought of the squirrel as a rural mascot, wanted to bring the animal in to places like Manhattan’s Central Park in order to create “a bucolic atmosphere that was entertaining, enlightening, and salubrious.” In 1847 three squirrels were released in Philadelphia's Franklin Square and were provided with food and boxes for nesting. By the 1870s, the squirrel trend was in full swing." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

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Florida man, 72, shot while protecting sea turtle nest - NY Daily News (http://www.nydailynews.co... http://assets.nydailynews... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - -

"A 72-year-old former Marine who was shot while guarding a sea turtle nest in Florida with his own gun is recovering from the wound and does not regret bringing a loaded weapon to protect himself and the special habitat. "I figured if I showed a handgun that would be enough to diffuse any situation," Stanley Pannaman, 72, told the Daily News. "People may be nuts but they aren't crazy. I didn't realize I would be dealing with a crazy guy." The Vietnam veteran recounted a bizarre encounter on the beach Friday night with Michael Q. McAuliffe, 38, who Pannaman said had an odor of alcohol so pungent he could smell it 20 feet away. He also didn't realize the .32 caliber pistol Pannaman was holding was in fact a real gun and was shocked after he shot Pannaman with it." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

Should be entitled "Florida Man/former Marine brings a gun to the beach, gets it taken away from him, gets shot with it, acts surprised." There is a whole lot of stupid going on here. - JustDuckie - [ 1 ] -

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Halil to Nature, Halil's feed
“Wildlife, we are constantly told, would run loose across our towns and cities were it not for the sport hunters to control their population, as birds would blanket the skies without the culling services of Ducks Unlimited and other groups. Yet here they are breeding wild animals, year after year replenishing the stock, all for the sole purpose of selling and killing them, deer and bears and elephants so many products being readied for the market.

1 decade ago - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] -

Animals such as deer, we are told, have no predators in many areas, and therefore need systematic culling. Yet when attempts are made to reintroduce natural predators such as wolves and coyotes into these very areas, sport hunters themselves are the first to resist it. Weaker animals in the wild, we hear, will only die miserable deaths by starvation and exposure without sport hunters to control their population. Yet it's the bigger, stronger animals they're killing and wounding--the very opposite of natural selection--often with bows and pistols that only compound and prolong the victim's suffering.” ― Matthew Scully, Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy - Halil - -

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Man sells car after unsuccessful search for snake in vehicle - Taipei Times (http://www.taipeitimes.co... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 4 ] -

"As the family was preparing to get back in the car and return to Taipei, Chen said he saw a black “snake tail” sticking out of the glove compartment after his wife retrieved some tissue paper, adding that, out of concern that he might scare his wife and daughter, Chen pretended not to have seen the snake, allowing it to escape into the recesses of the vehicle. He then sought help at a nearby fire department, where a team of firefighters sprayed the vehicle with chemicals, took apart the dashboard and glove compartment and searched the engine compartment. After nearly two hours of searching, the reptile was nowhere to be found. Still concerned about the snake, Chen said he then drove to an auto repair shop and asked a mechanic to take his car to a service center to be properly dismantled and examined. Chen then changed his mind and decided to avoid the hassle, asking the shop to sell his car instead." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

2 other comments...

"nothing matters more to him than the safety of his family." -- esp not the welfare of strangers who will give him money for his car. - Andrew C - [ 2 ] -

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Halil to Nature, Halil's feed
The World Has Lost About 230 Million Seabirds in 60 Years (http://www.care2.com/caus... ) https://upload.wikimedia....

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - - [ 5 ]

Seabirds is a large umbrella category that lumps more than 300 bird species together. Gulls, terns, petrels, pelicans, gannets, cormorants, pelicans, auks and puffins can all be seabirds. Seabirds tend to share two distinctive qualities: 1) they breed on land, usually in their colonies, and 2) they fly many miles (sometimes, thousands) over the sea. And as the new research suggests, seabirds also share similar threats. According to the UBC press release, global seabird populations have dropped a whopping 70 percent since the 1950s. - Halil from Bookmarklet - -

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Bat reseachers closer on white-nose syndrome | Local News - WCVB Home (http://www.wcvb.com/news/... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 2 ] -

"It's clear that this is perhaps the biggest decline in wildlife from an infectious agent in the past century," Bennett said. --- Bennett's lab, which typically studies human fungal infections, is focusing on the substance the fungus secretes. The team has partnered with a pair of University of California researchers. "A lot of these pathogenic fungi, that's how they cause disease, they secrete," Bennett said. "We're looking at those potential factors that could allow it to cause disease in a bat. It's a relatively new direction for us - Halil from Bookmarklet - -

"I don't envision giving drugs to bats, but there may be a clever way to do something," Knudsen said. "It's such a dire prediction, we have to do something. Even if it's awkward and silly, I think someone clever will think of a way to perhaps spray a bat cave with some sort of antifungal agent." - Halil - -

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Sharks suspected off Kenting coast - Taipei Times (http://www.taipeitimes.co... http://www.taipeitimes.co... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 1 ] -

"A young bull shark captured last month off the coast of Jhukeng Village (竹坑) in Pingtung County might be an indication of a school inhabiting near-shore waters off the nation’s most crowded beaches in Kenting (墾丁). The shark was trapped by a fixed shore net and was slightly injured only 20km from a popular beach in Kenting. The shark is now living in a tank at the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium. The shark was the latest of five bull shark sightings in Pingtung over the past four years, with the sighting of a 2.5m bull shark in July last year and four bull sharks reported off Checheng Township (車城) in 2011, the Kenting National Park Administration said." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

"There has been no confirmed shark sighting in waters surrounding Kenting for nearly two decades, the administration said, adding that people should report suspected shark sightings to authorities." - JustDuckie - -

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Halil to Plant Love, British and Irish Residents, Nature, Halil's feed
Ecologists on fungus vigil | Herald Scotland (http://www.heraldscotland... ) http://www.heraldscotland...

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 3 ] -

"The concern for these species is longer-term because if the disease impacts trees as elsewhere in Europe, mortality of young trees is so great that it is unlikely that mature trees will be replaced once they die. So, it is the long-term loss of mature trees from our landscape that is a concern and it may take decades before the impacts on associated species are detectable." - Halil from Bookmarklet - -

1 other comments...

I think this is what we are all fearing, with the loss of ~90 million trees the long term effects on the whole ecosystem will not become apparent immediately and tragically when it does it may be too late to reverse the damage! :( - Halil - -

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Researchers identify the genetic footprint of horse domestication - Horsetalk.co.nz (http://horsetalk.co.nz/20... ) https://upload.wikimedia....

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 4 ] -

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Police charge a man for holding two deer captive in his house for a year - The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost... https://img.washingtonpos... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - - [ 2 ]

"On Friday, police said they responded to a report that deer were being kept inside of a house in Cabell County. Officers saw a deer standing in the middle of the house when they arrived and spoke with a man at the house. “While they were interviewing the subject, they could hear the commotion in the back part of the house, and the man tried to explain it away as a dog,” police spokesman Sgt. Gary Amick told The Post. “He finally confessed it was a second buck.” The man was charged with two counts of illegal possession of wildlife, with his prosecution pending, according to police. The misdemeanor can carry a penalty of $20 to $300 and the possibility of jail time." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

"The man told officers he picked the animals up as fawns, thinking they were injured, Amick added. That’s actually something a lot of people call the natural resources police about, particularly in the spring as people spot young fawns who appear to be abandoned. Their mothers may just be off feeding. People “misinterpret it. They want to bring it home, give it milk,” Amick said. “They don’t know how to care for a wild animal, and that becomes detrimental, and often times leads to their death.”" - JustDuckie - -

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US wildlife agency won't list wild horse as endangered (http://tdn.com/news/state... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 5 ] -

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has rejected a proposal to list the North American wild horse as a threatened or endangered species. Friends of Animals and The Cloud Foundation filed a petition last summer seeking Endangered Species Act protection for tens of thousands of mustangs they say are threatened with extinction on federal lands across 10 Western states from California to Montana. The conservationists argue the horses constitute a distinct population segment that has evolved as a native species over thousands of years separate from domesticated horses. But in a new 90-day finding refusing to study the matter further, the Fish and Wildlife Service concluded, effectively, that a horse is a horse. - Halil from Bookmarklet - -

6 other comments...

Thanks for the clarification Jenny, I wasn't 100% sure but kind of suspected that was the case. I don't know how legit this site is, but this is obviously a question some of us ask: Did Native Americans have horses when the Europeans came to the New World? http://boards.straightdop... - Halil - -

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Rare animal baby boom at Highland WIldlife Park as markhor twins arrive - Press and Journal (https://www.pressandjourn... ) https://www.pressandjourn...

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 5 ] -

“Unfortunately, much of the attention and funding is given to high-profile species such as the tiger and rhino, and it does mean that other lesser known animals, such as the markhor, sometimes don’t receive the attention or resources they deserve. “This is why we believe it is vital to breed this highly threatened species and why we are delighted at the arrival of the new kids.” - Halil from Bookmarklet - -

Halil to British and Irish Residents, Nature, Halil's feed
Dorset wildlife experts call for 'reptile tins' to be left alone - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news... )

1 decade ago from Bookmarklet - Comment - Hide - - [ 3 ] -

Rusty bits of tin found in Dorset nature reserves should be left alone, wildlife charities have urged. They are vital shelters for reptiles and are placed there by researchers counting protected species. Reptile conservationist Gary Powell said: "If tins are disturbed outside of an official survey then it can affect the results of the research". Disturbing protected species could result in breaking the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations Act. - Halil from Bookmarklet - -

5 other comments...

I get that people might think it is litter or garbage, but that's when I'd usually ask one of the folks who works on the preserve/refuge as an employee/ranger/volunteer, unless it is something more obvious (like a gatorade bottle in the middle of a trail.) - Jennifer D. - -

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Halil to Plant Love, British and Irish Residents, Nature, Halil's feed
Roadside verges 'last refuge for wild flowers' - BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news... )

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More than 700 species of wild plants - almost half of the native flora of the British Isles - are found on road verges, according to a study. Many plants once found in meadows now only thrive beside roads, where they provide essential habitat for insects, says charity Plantlife. But it says one in 10 of the plants is at risk of extinction, in part because councils cut verges too early. - Halil from Bookmarklet - -

Local authorities say shorter verges are safer for drivers and pedestrians. Dr Trevor Dines, botanical specialist for the charity, said more than 97% of meadows had been destroyed in England since the 1930s, with road verges becoming the last stretches of natural habitat for wildlife such as bees and other insects. - Halil - -

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Wolves are better hunters when monkeys are around: An unexpected co-existence in the Ethiopian highlands -- ScienceDaily (http://www.sciencedaily.c... http://images.sciencedail... )

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"Through extensive data collection from all-day follows on the Guassa Plateau in north central Ethiopia from 2006 to 2011, researchers studied a band of approximately 200 gelada monkeys, who regularly associate with the wolves living in the area. According to the study's findings, gelada monkeys would not typically move upon encountering Ethiopian wolves, even when they were in the middle of the herd -- 68 percent of encounters resulted in no movement and only 11 percent resulted in a movement of greater than 10 meters. In stark contrast, the geladas always fled great distances to the cliffs for safety whenever they encountered aggressive domestic dogs." - JustDuckie from Bookmarklet - -

"The Ethiopian wolves experienced a foraging advantage on subterranean rodents when among the gelada monkeys -- Ethiopian wolves foraged successfully in 66.7 percent of attempts among the gelada monkeys v. a success rate of only 25 percent when wolves foraged by themselves. The success rate may be attributed to the rodents being flushed out by the monkey herd, which disturb the vegetation as they graze or to what may be a diminished ability for the rodents to detect predators due to a visual or auditory interference posed by the grazing monkeys." - JustDuckie - -

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