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Moncks Corner, SC – According to authorities, a woman that was walking a trail in Moncks Corner was bitten by an alligator Monday afternoon.

Officials say the attack happened at Cypress Gardens when the woman was walking a trail with her husband. Investigators say a 5 to 6-foot alligator bit the woman’s hand and leg.

Department of Natural Resources officials are searching for the gator but so far there haven’t been any sightings. Guests at Cypress Gardens are warned about the possibility of seeing animals and are told to keep their distance, but park officials say this time of year it is not unusual to see a dangeous gator.

Director of Cypress Gardens Dwight Williams says,”One of the attractions of Cypress Gardens is the possibility of seeing wild alligators. We don’t know how many are in the swamp. On a day like today, it is typical to see alligators sunning themselves beside the swamp as spring comes.”

Berkeley County took over control of Cypress Gardens in 1996 and officials say there have not been any alligator attacks here since that time. The victim has been taken to MUSC.

Authorities say the woman was able to walk out of the park on her own. Officials don’t believe her injuries to be life threatening.

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Five weeks after being bitten by a shark, an Invercargill teen on Saturday dived with her attacker’s larger cousins – the great white.

Lydia Ward, 14, gained international media attention last month when she fought off a shark – believed to be a broadnose sevengill shark – with her body-board after it latched on to her right thigh at Oreti Beach.

On Saturday, Lydia again came face to face with a predator at the top of the ocean’s food chain – albeit from the safety of a 2m-high dive cage.

Lydia, her father Tim and brother Alex, 10, flew from Invercargill to Stewart Island early on Saturday to be treated to an all-expenses-paid expedition courtesy of shark-dive operation Great White Southern Dive.

Lydia yesterday said a 3m-long great white had come within 1m of her soon after she got in the cage.

She said she didn’t have any flashbacks of the Oreti Beach shark attack, but had been a bit wary of the great white.

“I was just staring at it … and it looked like it was staring right at me. It had a lot of scars all over it.”

The experience had been “really cool”, Lydia said.

Mr Ward said his daughter had “hesitated very slightly” before getting into the cage, but she was fine once inside.

Though she had not swum at Oreti Beach since being attacked, Lydia believed she would be able to get back into the water, adding she had been coping just fine.

Her father agreed: “From the day after (the shark attack), when she realised she was at the wrong place at the wrong time and there was no man-eater cruising around looking for lunch, she was quite composed,” Mr Ward said.

Great White Southern Dive operator Peter Scott said he had offered the cage experience after seeing how much attention Lydia’s story had attracted.

“I didn’t want people getting the wrong impression (of sharks),” he said. “There can’t have been much else happening in the world.”

Two or three great whites had been in the water near the cage throughout the day-long expedition for the Ward family, Mr Scott said.

“They just come – they’re curious.”

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LEE COUNTY, South Carolina – Authorities said Ethel Mae Horton, 65, was killed in a dog attack on Thursday morning in the town of Lucknow in Lee County.

The coroner confirmed that the victim died Thursday from injuries she sustained in the attack.

According to Maj. Daniel Simon with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the attack took place at around 11:45 a.m. in the backyard of the victim’s home located on West Stokes Bridge Road.

Simon said that the woman’s husband named Jerry, was also injured and brought to a hospital in Hartsville. He would have to undergo surgery to treat his injuries.

The coroner said that Brutus, a 10-year-old dog was tied up, and that the couple may have been trying to feed the dog when the attack occurred.

According to investigators, the victims kept several dogs in a backyard pen of their residence. Apparently, the dog in question belonged to the couple’s nephew and it is uncertain if he would face any charges. Authorities said Brutus has been quarantined and will be euthanized prior to a rabies test.

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Rabid animals are a serious threat because they lack the part of the brain functioning that tells animals to relent, so they will literally attack until you are dead or until they are dead or subdued… This poor man.

By Kim Hackett

Call it an utter otter horror.

A 96-year-old man was ambushed and mauled by a rabid otter early Friday morning as he walked past brush near a lake in the Venice East neighborhood.

Morrell Denton was midway through his two-mile daily walk when the otter confronted him on the sidewalk. Denton said he thought it was someone’s pet.

But the otter “grabbed me by the foot and pulled on my leg and I went down,” said Denton in his living room, shortly after returning from the Venice Regional Medical Center’s emergency room about seven hours after the attack.

Covered in white bandages on both hands, and with nine stitches on his badly bruised forehead, Denton said he pulled the otter off with one hand before the animal started biting him on the other. The animal bit him to the bone on several fingers.

“I kept trying to get him off me,” Denton said. “It’s like nothing I’ve heard of.”

Two men saw the attack and raced to Denton’s aid, one striking at the otter with a shovel as the other called 911.

Christopher Janssen, 36, was bitten by the otter but the other rescuer, 53-year-old Raymond Duval was not injured.

An ambulance arrived minutes later, taking Denton and Duval to the hospital.

Both men were treated and released. Sarasota County’s health department issued a rabies alert Friday afternoon after the animal tested positive for the disease. Another otter tested positive for rabies in mid-February after attacking two horses in Sarasota County.

A biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said otters are not typically aggressive.

“They are skittish for the most part,” said biologist Jeff Gore.

Sheriff’s deputies shot the animal dead.

EARLIER REPORT

An otter attacked and wounded a 96-year-old man out for a stroll in Venice early today, and then turned on two men who came to his rescue, injuring another.

Morrell Denton, 96, and Christopher Janssen, 36, suffered unspecified injuries during the attack on Venice East Boulevard, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. The men were treated at nearby Venice Medical Center and released.

The otter was killed.

According to reports, Denton was walking along the 300 block of the roadway near an area of thick brush, sometime around 4:30 a.m. Friday, when the otter charged out and attacked him. The attack sent Denton sprawling to the ground.

Janssen and another man, Raymond Duval, 53, saw the attack and raced to Denton’s aid, striking at the otter with gardening tools as one of the pair called 911. Jensen was wounded during the scrap; Duval avoided injury.

The otter was killed.

Almost.

After a time, the animal roused again and began to head back into the brush. But after one attack on a human, there was concern the animal may be a danger to the public.

The otter was killed.

Definitely.

It was not immediately clear whether the rescuers or responding deputies put down the otter. Sarasota County animal service crews responded and took the otter to examine it.

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Through the doggie door! Wow, that would be such a surprise.

SALIDA, Colo. (AP) - Colorado Division of Wildlife says it has euthanized a mountain lion after it entered a Chaffee County home and killed a dog.

DOW says officers tranquilized the lion, but it appeared to be malnourished, and they decided to euthanize the animal.

The lion chased a small dog through a pet door of a home near Salida Thursday afternoon. Michelle Bese took her 5-year-old and hid in a bedroom where her 2-year-old was sleeping. Chaffee County Sheriff’s deputies arrived and helped the family escape through a bedroom window.

DOW officers arrived shortly after and tranquilized the lion. They say it was about 20 pounds underweight for its age.

The family had five dogs. One pup died and two were seriously injured.

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Not sure why they had to euthanize the bear… couldn’t they return it to a wild area? Or if that wouldn’t work out, a zoo?

TARIQ ZEHAWI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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The N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife Bear Response team tranquilized a black bear that was tracked to the back porch of a home on Fox Hill Drive.

In recent days, he’d become almost a familiar sight, trudging the street, checking trash cans for easy snacks.

“He’s been around here for a long time,’’ said resident John Rondi. “He hasn’t been aggressive. He’s been curious. He’s been taking garbage.’’

Until Wednesday, the bear hadn’t caused any harm in the suburban neighborhood he’d made his home.

But that changed fatally after nightfall, when he wandered into a fenced yard a few blocks away on Lyle Avenue after 11 p.m. and killed the 16–year border collie-Corgi mix — coincidentally named “Bear.” The attack prompted a police hunt through neighborhoods off Preakness Avenue the next day, put residents on alert and kept the township’s elementary school children inside for recess.

The search ended after police officers Robert Franco and Jack Belanger traced bear tracks through the snow from Lyle Avenue to 4 Fox Hill Drive, where residents had reported seeing the animal the night before. They found the bear asleep under the deck, Capt. Paul Ireland said.

Authorities notified members of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife Bear Response team who were in town looking for the bear. The wildlife staff tranquilized the bear as police stood guard with shotguns. Wildlife staff member Chuck Sliker said the bear was awake when he approached, but was not alarmed by people. Sliker shot the tranquilizer dart at the bear, which then fell asleep.

Six officers helped state staff carry the bear from the yard around 2 p.m. and load it into a pickup to be taken to a state facility. It was euthanized soon after.

Nirmeen Ibrahim, who lives at the home where the bear had been sleeping, said she had seen it walking through the neighborhood recently but had no idea it was living under her backyard deck.

“I feel bad for the bear, but it could have been dangerous,” said Ibrahim, who was home with her infant daughter. “I’m glad it’s taken care of. I’m worried about the kids here. … It’s kind of scary.”

The incident occurred as the state’s Fish and Game Council is to unveil the new Black Bear Management Policy. The Council will meet Tuesday and is expected to introduce the policy, a first step before the state can consider holding another bear hunt after a moratorium of several years.

The policy will contained an updated population estimate based on a DNA study by East Stroudsberg State University. It also will explain the state’s strategies for dealing with bears, including public education, garbage can maintenance, and hunting.

The dog’s owner, Marian Szal, said she was relieved to learn that the bear had been caught and would cause no further harm.

Szal said she had let the dog out one last time before bedtime. When Bear did not bark to come back in, Szal looked out a glass door and saw what seemed like the back of the bruin on all fours.

She rushed upstairs, and she and her husband shone flashlights through the door. When officers arrived, the couple went outside and called for the dog, in vain. Police followed bear tracks and found the dog dead on a hill near Szal’s property.

“You hear about bear sightings, but not in your own yard,” Szal said. “It’s a tremendous loss. He [Bear] had a beautiful disposition, and he was great with everyone.”

Szal said her family is devastated by the loss of the gentle dog they adopted as a puppy from the Wayne animal shelter 16 years ago. He was named Bear because the fuzzy, black puppy looked just like a cub.

“He made our day every day,” Szal said. “He was a gentle, gentle soul, very smart, very well mannered, very affectionate.”

State officials said the black bear was killed because, in killing the dog, it was involved in a so-called Category 1 incident, exhibiting aggressive behavior.

The dog apparently died of a broken neck, which suggests the bear either took a swipe at it, or clenched it with his jaws, said Larry Herrighty, assistant director for the Division of Fish and Wildlife. He called the incident “an unprovoked attack.”

But bird feeders in the yard might have attracted the bear, he said.

And the recent mild weather might have stirred this bear to activity. Because of the state’s mild winters, bears in New Jersey don’t hibernate. They enter a winter dormancy called torpor and can rouse to forage for food.

“In another month, bears will be up and become very active,” Herrighty said.

Residents of Wayne, which have had numerous bear sightings in the past, should take heed and maintain trash correctly, he said.

Precautions

The Fish and Wildlife Divi¬sion of the New Jersey Depart¬ment of Environmental Protec¬tion offers the following tips to avoid attracting bears:

• Use certified bear-resist¬ant garbage containers, and store them outdoors. Those not using certified containers should place their refuse in containers with tight-fitting lids and store them in a secure lo¬cation – a basement, for ex¬ample – until the morning or evening of garbage collection.
• Wash trash containers with a disinfectant at least once a week to eliminate odors. Carefully rinse recy¬clables to rid them of food residue that can attract bears.
• Pet owners should avoid feeding their animals outside.
• The use of birdfeeders is discouraged in areas frequent¬ed by black bears. Those who insist on feeding birds should do so only in daylight hours between Dec. 1 and April 1, when bears are least active. Store feeders indoors at night, and clean up any spilled seeds daily.
• Thoroughly clean outdoor grills after use. Never dump grill grease on the ground. Store grills in a shed or garage after use.

Source: The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

– William Lamb

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(MYFOX NATIONAL) – A woman who was five months pregnant pulled her husband from the jaws of a crocodile saving his life reports the The Telegraph .

South African couple Lawrence and Kerryn Munro were taking a stroll along the White Umfolzi River on a game reserve 125 miles north of Durban. They stopped to wash their feet in the water and to rest by the shore.

In the next few moments, their quiet afternoon was interrupted by the attack of a nearly ten foot Nile crocodile.

Lawrence Munro said, “It was a matter of seconds. I grabbed hold of the rocks and started kicking the croc with my right foot. He let go and grabbed again, getting hold of both feet. I tried to get to my rifle, but I had been dragged closer to the water and couldn’t reach it. Kerryn grabbed under my arm and around my neck and started pulling. Eventually the croc let go.”

Once she knew her husband was safe, Kerryn Munro rushed for help at the Makhamisa Base Camp.

The Pretoria News of South Africa reports Lawrence Munro said, “After Kerryn left me to fetch help, I tore off my shirt and tried to bandage my feet. I haven’t seen my injuries since.” He was airlifted to a local hospital where doctors repaired tendons in his right foot.

The heroine is still recovering from the ordeal.

Jeff Gaisford, spokesman for Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, said, “She’s five months pregnant and a small little thing, so she’s resting after it all. There’s no doubt Lawrence is very lucky – this crocodile would have eaten him, no doubt. A man is meat to a croc.”

Gaisford said that there had recently been quite a few crocodile attacks around the camp. As the winter season approaches for South Africa, he says that crocodiles bulk up by eating more reports The Telegraph .

Lawrence Munro is thankful that his wife was there. He told the Pretoria News , “I am just glad Kerryn was with me and was able to help me get away from the croc. If she hadn’t been there, the ending would have been bad. I am also glad the croc took my feet and not hers, as she was sitting right next to me with her feet in the water.”

Lawrence Munro plans on returning to his job as senior ranger at the camp as soon as he heals.

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SVENSEN, Ore. – The 4-year-old granddaughter of Jay Browning and step-daughter of Jesse Browning from The History Channel’s series “Ax Men” has died after family said she was attacked by their pet Rottweiler.

Around 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28, deputies responded with fire and medical personnel to the home of Jesse and D’ette Browning at 42921 Hillcrest Loop Road, Svensen, Ore., just east of Astoria.

Jesse Browning called 9-1-1 with the frantic news that his 4-year-old daughter, Ashlynn Anderson, had been attacked by one of the two family Rottweilers. Paramedics tried to save the girl’s life and a LifeFlight helicopter landed in a nearby field to transport Ashlynn to Oregon Health and Science University hospital in Portland. The girl was pronounced dead on arrival.

Though Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin said only one of the two family dogs mauled the girl, both were taken from the home at the request of the family. The couple also has another child living in the home, a 1 year old.

Deputies transported the dogs to the Clatsop County animal shelter where they are quarantined.

KATU has uncovered reports that the family contacted the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office about four months ago to report a third dog “showing aggressive signs” who, according to the Associated Press, bit an adult family member. That dog was reportedly destroyed.

Clatsop County Medical Examiner Dr. Joanne Stefanelli will be involved with the autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Clatsop county detectives will conduct a follow-up investigation “after the family has time to grieve,” said Tom Bergin, Clatsop County Sheriff, in a prepared statement Monday. At this time, no criminal charges are being issued.

“This was a sad set of circumstances,” Bergin said, “and a very unfortunate death.”

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Who in the world keeps a 1 ton bull as a pet?

[+] Enlarge. Reading Eagle: Tim Leedy The 1-ton bull that officials believe killed his owner at the South Heidelberg Township farm Sunday where the attack occurred.

A Reinholds man found dead Sunday at a South Heidelberg Township farm was killed by a 1-ton bull he kept as a pet, officials in the Berks County coroner’s office said.

Ricky D. Weinhold, 52, died of multiple injuries Saturday – a day before his 53rd birthday – at the farm at 370 Mill Road near the Lancaster County line, officials said.

The coroner’s office ruled the death an accident.

All of Weinhold’s injuries apparently were inflicted by the hooves and head of a bull, Chief Deputy Coroner Charles E. Sweitzer Jr. said.

Sweitzer said it was the first bull-related death he could recall in his 28 years working in the coroner’s office.

Dale A. Zimmerman, whose father, David, owns the property, said he discovered Weinhold’s body in an outdoor pen late Sunday morning after he returned from a trip.

Sweitzer said tests indicated Weinhold died late Saturday afternoon.

Weinhold kept about 10 head of cattle at the 55-acre farm under a lease with David Zimmerman.

The Zimmermans and coroner’s officials believe the biggest of the animals killed Weinhold. The same bull cracked Weinhold’s ribs last year, prompting friends to urge Weinhold to get rid of the animal, Deputy Coroner Terri L. Straka said.

“He loved his pet,” she said.

Straka pronounced Weinhold dead Sunday at 2:04 p.m. No autopsy is planned.

Officials believe the attack began inside the barn’s stables, where a newborn calf was kept. They don’t know what Weinhold was doing when he was attacked.

The cattle were moved out of the stables and corralled behind the barn Sunday while officials investigated.

Dale Zimmerman said he and his father were waiting to hear what Weinhold’s family wanted them to do with the animals. Weinhold’s family could not be reached.

Township police continued to investigate.

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OCALA, Fla. – A 3-year-old girl who was attacked by a bulldog outside her Ocala-area home has died.

According to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, the girl was playing outside while her mother cleaned a dog pen Saturday. She got tangled in a dog chain when her mother went inside the home.

That’s when a male dog attacked the girl, whose name wasn’t immediately released.

The Ocala Star-Banner reports that four dogs were outside the home at the time of the attack, but investigators believe just one of the animals was involved. All the dogs were taken by county animal services officials.

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The not-so-good news for swimmers: shark attacks worldwide rose marginally in 2009. But the brighter news for those splashing into American waters is that attacks off U.S. shores plummeted more than 30 percent.

In 2009, there were 61 total shark attacks worldwide, five of them fatal. That’s up slightly from 60 attacks and four deaths in 2008.

“The big story is that the number of attacks in the United States dropped dramatically from 41 in 2008 to 28 in 2009,” he said George Burgess Director of the University of Florida Program for Shark Research and the annual report’s author.

More than half the attacks involved surfers, though the majority are relatively minor and the overall chances of being killed by a shark attack are “infinitesimal,” according to Burgess. In fact, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a person is nearly 20 times more likely to be killed by lightning.

In 2009, there were 61 total shark attacks, five of them fatal, including a 38 year old kiteboarder killed off the Florida coast last month, according to the University of Florida’s annual Shark Attack Report.

(Getty Images)

More easily quantifiable, is the most dangerous place to swim. Florida’s Volusia county, with eight shark attacks in 2009. Volusia’s strip of coastline was the site of 13 percent of all the shark attacks last year, reinforcing its dubious title of shark-bite capital of the world.

But the deadliest place to surf or swim was South Africa’s coast, where white sharks congregate in cooler waters and surfers go to hunt big waves. According to the Shark Attack Report, the six attacks off the roughly 1,500 miles of South African coastline last year included four of the five fatalities worldwide.

Volusia County, by contrast, saw no fatalities resulting from its eight attacks.

While shark attacks have risen steadily over the past century — in lockstep with world’s population growth, Burgess noted — the fatality rate has steadily declined, from about 60 percent at the turn of the 20th century to about 7 percent today.

Burgess credits vastly improved trauma care, the increasing professionalism of lifeguards and greater public awareness, for the change.

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A 19-YEAR-OLD surfer suffered multiple lacerations on his right leg yesterday when he was bitten by a shark at Yellow Sands Point along the east coast.

Michal du Plessis and four friends were surfing near the Kwelera River Mouth when the shark bit him, injuring his upper thigh and just below the right knee.

Logan Philpott, one of the group surfing with Du Plessis, said they had been in the water for 1½ hours when he heard his friend shout: “Shark! Shark!”.

“I thought he was joking at first, but then everyone else started shouting.

“When I looked, I saw this thing, a tail and a fin, shaking itself against my friend,” he said.

Philpott said Du Plessis was fighting it off, trying to get away from it. He paddled towards his friend and the shark disappeared.

Du Plessis got back onto his surfboard and caught a wave back to shore along with his four friends.

“Then there was blood, a lot of it, covering the rocks.

“So we tied a (surf board) leash around his leg to stop it while others ran to get a car,” Philpott said.

Du Plessis’s friends put him into the back of a van and they sped off to a Crossways Pharmacy, where he was treated and bandaged and then taken to hospital by ambulance.

“When he arrived here he was in a lot of pain and had very deep wounds,” the pharmacy manager said.

He said they had given him medication to ease the pain, bandaged his wounds and handed him over to the Aldersons Ambulance paramedics who arrived soon thereafter.

Du Plessis’ wounds were very deep and it appeared he had been bitten to the bone, Aldersons Ambulance operations manager Alan Leicester said.

“We had to stabilise him and deal with the pain and we also gave him fluids since he had lost a lot of blood.”

The teenager was then rushed to Life St Dominic’s Hospital in East London. Leicester said Du Plessis would be going for X-rays to determine whether there was any damage to the bone.

Du Plessis was also expected to undergo surgery for his wounds.

“I have seen sharks close, but seeing it nibble at my friend was very scary,” Philpott said.

It was not clear what kind of shark had bitten him. — Daily Dispatch

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A woman savaged by a shark in the Whitsundays yestereday had made a sea change from Sydney to Airlie Beach with her husband only months ago.

The 60-year-old woman was snorkelling only 300 metres off the coastline near Dent Island with her husband and five other people when she was dragged under the water by the two-metre shark.

An RACQ-CQ rescue helicopter spokesman said the woman, suffering severe lacerations to her thigh and buttocks, was transported to Hamilton Island and treated by a local medical team before being airlifted to Mackay Base Hospital, where she is now listed as being in a stable condition.

“She lost several litres of blood and is undergoing emergency surgery,” the spokesman said.

He said the woman and her husband had moved to Airlie Beach only a couple of months ago and were on holiday, staying at the exclusive Paradise Bay Resort at Long Island.

She told Channel 7 today she was determined to live during the attack and punched the shark on the nose.

“I thought, this shark is not going to get the better of me,” she said.

“I started punching it on the nose, punching, punching, punching, and then it got me under the water – not much – because I started kicking it on its neck.”

“I came back up again and I punched him in the nose, punching, punching, punching.”

The CQ spokesman said an attack of this nature was “extremely unusual”.

“There hasn’t been an attack in this region for a very, very long time. Although there are sharks in the area, they’re normally well fed and no problem.

“I’d say this was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

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STUART, Fla. —  Employees of a Stuart hospital are being investigated for photos taken of a patient being treated for a shark bite who later died.

In a statement released Friday, officials said Martin Memorial Health Systems has launched an internal investigation regarding photos taken while Stephen Schafer was being treated in the emergency center on Feb. 3. The Stuart man was later pronounced dead.

Hospital spokesman Miguel Coty said “it appears photographs were taken of the patient’s injuries.” The investigation will focus on whether employees e-mailed those photos to other people.

The investigation was launched immediately after the hospital learned that employees may have violated patient privacy laws.

Coty said Schafer

s family was notified of the investigation.

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BRISBANE, Australia — A 60-year-old woman is in serious condition after being bitten by a shark off northeastern Australia and losing several pints (liters) of blood.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Community Services says the woman has severe lacerations to her buttocks from the Saturday afternoon attack.

She was being transported by dive boat from Dent Island in the Whitsunday Islands of Queensland state to the Australia mainland where she will be airlifted to a hospital, the spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to the media.

No other information was immediately available.

It is the second shark attack in Australia this week. On Thursday, a man was bitten in the leg at a Sydney beach and was treated for minor injuries.

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Authorities are investigating a surfer’s claim that he was attacked by a shark on Sydney’s Northern Beaches this morning.

Paul Welsh, 46, told a newspaper he had to cling to a rock to fight off a shark that he said had latched itself onto his leg.

Mr Welsh allegedly emerged from the water with a gash to his left leg around 8:00am (AEDT) at the Mona Vale Basin.

A New South Wales Health spokesman says the man had already sold his story to Channel Nine News by the time his wife had driven him to hospital.

He says doctors at Mona Vale Hospital found a fragment of tooth in Mr Welsh’s leg and released him around midday.

An expert from the Primary Industries Department is due to examine the fragment this afternoon.

The beach remains closed and a helicopter was sent to the area to look for the alleged shark, but there was no sign of it.

NSW Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan says efforts are being made to confirm the surfer’s story.

“We do need to confirm and see what type of shark it was or confirm that a shark was actually involved in the attack and if so, what type of shark it was,” he said.

“And that gives us a better opportunity to identify what might be around.”

The Manly Daily newspaper reported that it spoke to Mr Welsh minutes after the incident.

“I was pushing my son onto waves and it just belted me from behind,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

“I grabbed on to the pinnacle of a rock and held on as it tried to drag me out… and I won.”

Mr Welsh is now refusing to speak to any media except Channel Nine.

Police are helping the Primary Industries Department with its investigation. They initially told the media the man had been attacked by a four-foot shark.

Shark spotter Michael Brown earlier told the ABC he was in the water with his 13-year-old son when he saw “a whole lot of thrashing”.

“It’s launched straight up into him, knocked him out of the water and then latched onto his leg, and luckily, he had a chance to grab onto a rock and the shark’s actually thrashing, trying to drag him back into the water,” he said.

“He’s managed to release himself from the shark and crawl up onto the rocks and just had a big bite mark in his leg and blood just streaming out of it.”

Mr Brown said he believed the animal was a two-metre-long great white shark.

As the director of SurfWatch Australia, an organisation that patrols for sharks and charges people for helicopter joyrides, Mr Brown has been agitating against the State Government for greater protections against sharks.

After three attacks in Sydney last year, he accused the Government of ignoring an email that had warned of a sharp increase in shark numbers.

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The term “Killer Whale” isn’t a cute nickname. This is terrifying. I don’t understand how this particular whale has continued to participate in shows – this is the third human it has killed. And, don’t I remember children sometimes standing poolside as these whales swim below? How is that ever safe? I understand that the whale may have had no predatory intent – but rather playfulness – but that doesn’t make it any less dangerous, or the trainer any less dead.

Whale kills trainer as horrified spectators watch
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, February 24, 2010; 9:46 PM

ORLANDO, Fla. — A SeaWorld killer whale snatched a trainer off a poolside platform in its jaws Wednesday and thrashed the woman around underwater, killing her in front of a horrified audience. It marked the third time the animal had been involved in a human death.

Distraught audience members were hustled out of the stadium immediately, and the park was closed.

Trainer Dawn Brancheau, 40, was one of the park’s most experienced. Her sister said Brancheau wouldn’t want anything done to the whale that killed her because she loved the animals like children.

Brancheau was rubbing Tilikum after a noontime show when the 12,000-pound whale grabbed her and pulled her in, said Chuck Tompkins, head of animal training at all SeaWorld parks. It was not clear if she drowned or died from the thrashing.

Because of his size and the previous deaths, trainers were not supposed to get into the water with Tilikum, and only about a dozen of the park’s 29 trainers worked with him. Brancheau had more experience with the 30-year-old whale than most.

“We recognized he was different,” Tompkins said. He said no decision has been made yet about what will happen to Tilikum, such as transfering him to another facility.

A retired couple from Michigan told The Associated Press that they were some stragglers in the audience who had stayed to watch the animals and trainers.

Eldon Skaggs, 72, saw Brancheau on platform massaging the whale. He said the interaction appeared leisurely and informal. Skaggs that the whale “pulled her under and started swimming around with her.”

Skaggs said an alarm sounded and staff rushed the audience out of the stadium as workers scrambled around with nets.

Skaggs said he heard that during an earlier show the whale was not responding to directions. Others who attended the earlier show said the whale was behaving like an ornery child.

The couple left and didn’t find out until later that the trainer had died.

“We were just a little bit stunned,” said Skaggs’ wife, Sue Nichols, 67.

Another audience member, Victoria Biniak, told WKMG-TV the whale “took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off.”

Two other witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that the whale grabbed the woman by the upper arm and tossed her around in its mouth while swimming rapidly around the tank. Brazilian tourist Joao Lucio DeCosta Sobrinho and his girlfriend were at an underwater viewing area when they suddenly saw a whale with a person in its mouth.

The couple said they watched the whale show at the park two days earlier and came back to take pictures. But on Wednesday the whales appeared agitated.

“It was terrible. It’s very difficult to see the image,” Sobrinho said.

A SeaWorld spokesman said Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 after the woman lost her balance and fell in the pool at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia.

Steve Huxter, who was head of Sealand’s animal care and training department then, said Wednesday he’s surprised it happened again. He says Tilikum was a well-behaved, balanced animal.

Tilikum was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by SeaWorld security was found draped over him. The man either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water and died of hypothermia, though he was also bruised and scratched by Tilikum.

At the stadium, what appeared to be a body covered with a black shroud could be seen lying on the concrete near the water as the animals swam just a few feet away.

Later Wednesday, SeaWorld in San Diego also suspended its killer whale show. It was not clear if the killer whale show has been suspended at SeaWorld’s San Antonio location, which is closed until the weekend.

According to a profile of Brancheau in the Sentinel in 2006, she was one of SeaWorld Orlando’s leading trainers. It was apparently a trip to SeaWorld at age 9 that made her want to follow that career path.

“I remember walking down the aisle (of Shamu Stadium) and telling my mom, ‘This is what I want to do,’” she said in the article.

Brancheau worked her way into a leadership role at Shamu Stadium during her career with SeaWorld, starting at the Sea Lion & Otter Stadium before spending 10 years working with killer whales, the newspaper said.

She also addressed the dangers of the job.

“You can’t put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you,” Brancheau said.

Steve McCulloch, founder and program manager at the Marine Mammal Research and Conservation Program at Harbor Branch/Florida Atlantic University, said the whale may have been playing, but it is too early to tell.

“I wouldn’t jump to conclusions,” he said. “These are very large powerful marine mammals. They exhibit this type of behavior in the wild.

“Nobody cares more about the animal than the trainer. It’s just hard to fathom that this has happened.”

Brancheau’s older sister Diane Gross, of Indiana, said the trainer “would not want anything done to that whale.” Gross said her sister loved working at the park and thought of the animals like she would her own children.

Gross tells the Associated Press that news of her sister’s death “hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Mike Wald, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in Atlanta, said his agency had dispatched an investigator from Tampa.

Wednesday’s death was not the first attack on whale trainers at SeaWorld parks.

In November 2006, a trainer was bitten and held underwater several times by a killer whale during a show at SeaWorld’s San Diego park.

The trainer, Kenneth Peters, escaped with a broken foot. The 17-foot orca that attacked him was the dominant female of SeaWorld San Diego’s seven killer whales. She had attacked Peters two other times, in 1993 and 1999.

In 2004, another whale at the company’s San Antonio park tried to hit one of the trainers and attempted to bite him. He also escaped.

Wednesday’s attack was the second time in two months that an orca trainer was killed at a marine park. On Dec. 24, 29-year-old Alexis Martinez Hernandez fell from a whale and crushed his ribcage at Loro Parque on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Park officials said the whale, a 14-year-old named Keto, made an unusual move as the two practiced a trick in which the whale lifts the trainer and leaps into the air.

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In what is believed to be the first fatal dog attack in Philadelphia in more than a quarter-century, a pit bull sank her teeth into the neck of a 38-year-old Fishtown woman and killed her yesterday.

The victim, Christine Staab, had been arguing with her mother in their Oxford Street rowhouse and fell backward. At that point, the dog leaped on Staab, said her mother, Barbara Erb.

Erb, 59, said she tried frantically to pull off the dog, Jade, but could not get the pit bull to relax her grip on Staab’s throat.

The dog “was in some kind of protection mode,” Erb said.

After struggling with the dog, Erb let go and darted to confine her other dogs and call police. Arriving about 7 a.m., officers shot and killed Jade. They then shot and killed Bear, a second pit bull that lunged at them after he jumped over a barrier that had penned him and four other pit bulls in the kitchen.

The four surviving dogs were taken to the SPCA’s Animal Care and Control Team shelter on Hunting Park Avenue and quarantined.

Erb said she would like them back. “It was just a horrible, horrible incident,” she said.

Detectives in the East Division are investigating.

Erb said no one had suggested to her that she might face arrest.

A spokesman for the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office said the death was being investigated as a fatal dog attack. An autopsy is to take place today.

Despite about 70 million dogs in the United States, fatal attacks are relatively rare.

According to the organization Dogsbite.org, dogs killed an average of about 30 people a year nationwide over the last three years. According to a review of Inquirer archives, the previous fatal attack in Philadelphia occurred in 1981, when Mary Logan, 81, was killed by several of the mongrel pets she kept in her house in Northern Liberties.

Dogsbite.org advocates breed-specific legislative action to control violent dogs. According to the group, pit bulls make up only 5 percent of the dog population in this country, but account for more than 40 percent of deadly attacks.

Erb spoke with an Inquirer reporter yesterday as she stood on her street moments after police gave her clearance to return to her home.

According to Erb, her daughter – the mother of a teenage son who lives with his father – had long fought a battle with drugs, shaking her addiction only to succumb again. Staab came into their house about 6:30 a.m. and appeared to be high, Erb said.

“I said to her, ‘I can’t deal with that anymore. You have to go,’ ” Erb recounted. “She was telling me where was she supposed to go?”

She said the dispute had not escalated into a physical fight and that their voices had not been raised.

As they argued, Erb said, her daughter took a step back and tripped over a mirror on the floor. She fell back, taking a lamp down with her. Erb said she was clutching at Staab’s sleeve as she fell.

This enraged Jade, who went “nuts” and attacked, Erb said. “I couldn’t get her off.”

At some point, Erb said, she rounded up the other five dogs and put them in the kitchen, blocking the doorway with a three-foot-high barrier. She called police.

Erb said she found the attack hard to explain because Jade, 6, knew her daughter well.

“I never had a problem with a dog,” she said, describing the six pit bulls as “house dogs” that were well cared for and even had microchips installed for identification.

“They were spoiled rotten,” Erb said. “They were not neglected in any way.”

A neighbor agreed, saying, “The dogs were very sweet. They never had a problem with them.”

The door of the house had one sign that read “Beware of dog,” and another saying that in the case of fire, rescuers should save the six dogs inside. It listed their names: Paige, Peaches, Maggie, Satan, Bear, and Jade.

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…Like “getting caught in a washer machine with a shark.” Great quote. So, both a rip current and a shark at the same time. That’s just bad luck.

DEAN Everson was back surfing his favourite break yesterday, just days after using his bodyboard to fight off what he believes was a 2.5 metre white pointer shark at Yamba’s Turners Beach.

Under overcast skies, the 18-year-old Yamba man was taking advantage of big swells in dirty water at the popular surfing beach on Saturday afternoon and was about 20 metres from the rocks when he got the shock of his life.

“The shark threw itself out of the wave at me,” Dean said.

“I was in shock.”

He said the potential killer was so close he got a good view of its teeth.

“All I could think to do was throw the board at it,” he said yesterday.

The board made contact with the shark and probably distracted it, but the ordeal was not over.

Dean was trying desperately to swim back to shore and was struggling against the waves, getting caught in the same rip that almost claimed the life of a young boy a few days earlier.

“It was like being in a washing machine with an eight foot shark,” he said.

It took him about 10 minutes to get out of the water and onto the rocks.

“The set was big and I was probably under water for about 45 seconds at one time,” Dean said.

“The waves kept coming and I was being pulled by the rip and pushed by the waves.

“I was ready for it. I thought I was done for.

“I yelled at the other surfers to let them know.”

When he finally scrambled onto the rocks, horrified onlookers told Dean he was lucky to be alive.

“One guy said that he had been watching the shark move around and he thought it was following me,” he said.

With shaking hands and an amazing story to tell, Dean immediately warned others of the threat.

“I went to see Shane Henwood at the Yamba Backpackers straight after,” he said.

“I wanted to warn them not to go out.”

Dean, the son of a fourth generation professional fisherman with 35 years’ experience, works at the Yamba Fish Market and also the fish co-op in Maclean.

He said the shape of the shark’s tail indicated it was a white pointer.

“The tail is large and has a distinct shape … it gives it away,” he said.

When Dean told his parents, he said his mum was ‘pretty freaked’.

His father, Steve Everson, said Dean came home fairly shaken, but calmed down after a while.

“There’s no shortage of sharks in the area,” Steve said.

“There are probably many more near misses that we don’t hear about.

“I’m just happy everything has turned out all right.”

For most people, a close encounter of this kind would deter them from the water, probably for good.

But Dean felt he needed to get back into the surf, which he did on Monday and again yesterday at the same location.

“He left it for a day or so, but you’ve got to get over these things,” Steve said.

“As a parent you are always worried about your kid, but you can’t stop them from doing what they love.

“It’s just one of those things. It’s a life experience he will never forget.”

Allan Bodycote, a commercial fisherman with more than 30 years’ experience, catches sharks in the estuary and the ocean for a living.

“There are plenty of sharks out there,” he said.

“The place is full of sharks. It’s their territory.

“People shouldn’t worry about it. You have more chance of being hit by a bus than being taken by a shark. We are not their natural food.”

He said last year was a record year for shark catches locally and there were more and more reports from around the world.

Mr Bodycote says bronze whalers and bull sharks are the most common large fish he catches, and that while he hadn’t seen a white pointer in the area, they were around.

“They have a distinctive shaped, fin, colour, eye and head.”

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Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) — The death toll from heavy floods and mudslides in Mexico increased Tuesday to 41, a government agency announced.

Most of the deaths — 30 — have occurred in eastern Michoacan state, on the central Pacific coast. The state attorney general’s office released a list of the deceased Tuesday.

Another 12 people are missing after mudslides from two large hills, Michoacan Gov. Leonel Godoy said Tuesday.

The remaining 11 deaths resulted from a mudslide Saturday near the small town of Temascaltepec in neighboring Mexico state.

Interior Secretary Fernando Francisco Gomez Mont has declared a state of natural disaster for the Michoacan cities of Angangueo, Ocampo, Tiquicheo de Nicolas Romero, Tuxpan and Tuzantla. The declaration makes those cities eligible for money from the federal natural disaster fund.

The death toll in Michoacan had been 27 until three additional bodies were discovered Tuesday.

Godoy said officials are focusing on three tasks: searching for anyone who is alive, recovering bodies and removing boulders and downed trees. Officials are under pressure to act quickly, he said, because another cold front with more possible rain is expected within the next few days.

More than 3,500 Michoacan residents are homeless, the state government said on its Web site.

In addition to Michoacan and Mexico states, unusually heavy rain in the past week also flooded parts of Mexico City, the nation’s capital.

Up to 37,000 people nationwide have been affected, government officials said.

On Sunday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon toured Valle de Chalco, another city in Mexico state on the eastern outskirts of the Mexico City metro area.

National Water Commission Director Jose Luis Luege said Tuesday that contaminated water from a sewage network there that overflowed Friday will continue to flood the town for at least another 48 hours. The break in the sewage pipe had been fixed, but it burst again.

Officials also built two dikes to contain the sewage but were unable to use them out of concern that they would burst under the intense pressure from the floodwaters, Luege said.

“It’s a very complicated operation,” he said.

More than 3,000 homes in Valle de Chalco were flooded.

Mexico state is bordered on the west by Michoacan and adjoinsMexico City on three sides — north, east and west.

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SAO PAULO – A 13-foot (4-meter) alligator has reportedly attacked and killed a girl who was swimming in a Brazilian jungle river.

Firefighters tell local media that 11-year-old Gigliane do Nascimento Bira was playing with friends in shallow water in the northern state of Rondonia, in the Amazon region.

The Agencia Estado news service says the reptile was found about 300 feet (100 meters) from the site of Sunday afternoon’s attack. Authorities shot it dead so her body could be recovered.

Calls to Rondonia authorities were not immediately answered Monday.

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Normally mountain lions are so solitary that meet-ups result in one of them being killed. If this picture is authentic, it’s pretty remarkable.

Photo by Courtesy photo

A Durango Herald reader sent in this photo of five mountain lions and said it was taken recently in La Plata Canyon, “out by the mine.” It is unusual behavior for the solitary animals, said Patt Dorsey, area wildlife manager for the state Division of Wildlife.

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This is a strange story. Normally, mountain lions are solitary creatures, with ranges of miles and miles.  I almost don’t believe it. But I’m glad they aren’t embarking on a mountain lion killfest because of it.

Two brothers hiking in Pescadero Creek Park in San Mateo County had a close encounter of the threatening kind when they came face to face with two aggressive mountain lions, prompting the temporary closure of the park.

The California Department of Fish and Game reports that the men were hiking in the park late Sunday afternoon when one of them was approached by a mountain lion showing aggressive behavior. The man picked up a large stick and started swinging it at the lion while shouting. His brother, who was nearby and heard the shouting, came to his aid and then noticed a second lion approaching.

The mountain lions remained outside the range of the swinging stick, but just a few feet away. Together, the men eventually scared off both animals.

The hikers told DFG wardens that they were confronted for an estimated two to four minutes, which is highly unusual for mountain lions. Thus, the animals were deemed a threat to public safety and the park was closed.

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Columbia County, N.Y.–Columbia County Health Officials put out a warning after a fox attacked and bit a boy in Stockport on January the 23rd.

According to Columbia County Public Health Sanitarian Ed Coons, two eight-year-olds were playing in the woods when they came across a fox den. When the boys saw a fox they turned around and ran. The boy in the rear fell and the fox bit him in the leg deep enough to warrant post exposure rabies treatment; a series of 4 shots given over a 14 day period intra-muscularly in the upper arm. The shots used to be administered every day for a 21 day period into the abdominal muscles. The fox was not caught so officials could not be sure if it was rabid.

“Though you should not live your life in fear, be aware of your surroundings,” warns Coons. “Most of the wild terrestrial animals are nocturnal; feed at night, and the attack occurred at 9:00 a.m., so seeing them out in the day is cause for alarm at this time of the year.”

On January 25th, a dog was attacked by a raccoon in a residential neighborhood in Elizaville. The dog owner responded by trying to pull the raccoon off of the dog and was scratched during the scuffle. Another neighbor grabbed a rake and hit the raccoon killing it. The raccoon tested positive for rabies.  Without knowing if the man was scratched by the raccoon or the dog, the man needed to receive post rabies treatment, according to Coons. The dog was not up to date on it’s shots so it needed treatment and to be quarantined for 6 months.

“Having two incidents within a three day period is very rare,” says Coons, “this is breeding season.”

Coons describes another incident involving a rabid skunk: “There was an incident that occurred a few years back where a dog in kennel was attacked by a rabid skunk that actually climbed the 6 foot tall chain link fence to go after the dog.” News10 asked, “Was the skunk going after the dog?” “Yes…the animal was shedding the virus and seeking to bite to keep the virus going…once they become clinical they no longer eat or drink and just look to bite,” says Coons.

The 2010 Rabies Clinics are beginning in March and they are free to Columbia County residents, according to Coons, who offers this advice, “Keep you pet’s vaccinations current, especially since there free.”

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It appears the experts have backed off the theory that he was killed by a number of sharks.

STUART — A shark attack that killed a kiteboarder on Wednesday was the rarest and most frightening kind of strike, a case of a powerful 9-foot predator likely meaning to kill and eat its human prey, a leading shark expert said Friday.

“There’s a big difference between the normal hit-and-run bites that we see on the coast of Florida and what we’re unfortunately experiencing here this week,” said George Burgess, keeper of the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File. “This thing here was closer to our preconception about what a shark attack is.”

That preconception, stoked by books and movies, doesn’t hold for the vast majority of shark bites, which occur when sharks snap at humans while going after fish. But in rare instances, a shark will come across a human bobbing in the waves and attack with intent.

That’s what happened to Stephen Schafer, 38, in the water south of Stuart Beach on Wednesday, Burgess said.

“This was the real thing,” Burgess said. “This was a bigger shark apparently seeing a human as an appropriately sized item worth pursuing.”

About 4:15 p.m., Schafer was a quarter-mile offshore when at least one large shark, probably a bull or tiger, attacked and mortally wounded him, according to Burgess and autopsy results. The Stuart man died of blood loss despite a Martin County lifeguard’s efforts to save him, said Dr. Linda O’Neil, who examined Schafer’s body Thursday night.

O’Neil said Schafer was bitten twice, once on the buttocks and once on the right thigh. She said the bites, which were 9 to 10 inches in diameter, likely came from the same shark.

Schafer had a set of puncture wounds on each buttock, “like it bit across his bottom,” O’Neil said. “The upper jaw got one side and the lower jaw got the other side.”

The shark delivered a fatal, tearing bite to Schafer’s right thigh, a wound so deep that one tooth struck his femur, O’Neil said.

“The femoral artery was intact but all the smaller arteries that lead to the femoral in the region of the right thigh were severed,” O’Neil said, which led Schafer to bleed out while lifeguard Daniel Lund, 46, fought wind and waves to drag him to safety.

Schafer probably lost more than 2.5 liters of blood, or half the blood in his body, O’Neil said.

The doctor said Schafer also had a bite wound to his right hand. He probably got it trying to fend off the shark as it bit his thigh, she said.

The autopsy couldn’t determine how long Schafer had been bleeding before he was dragged in, but O’Neil said it likely was a matter of minutes before the lifeguard got to him.

Burgess also examined Schafer’s body Thursday night and agreed with O’Neil’s findings. He said the size of the bite marks and the manner of attack indicated the shark likely was 8 or 9 feet long.

Bull and tiger sharks roam the Florida coast year-round. A bull shark was responsible for the state’s last fatal attack in 2005 in the Panhandle, which Burgess said was “very similar” to Wednesday’s incident.

This was the first fatal shark attack ever recorded in Martin County.

Some scientists have theorized that bull sharks are more aggressive because their bodies produce more testosterone, a hypothesis yet to be proven.

About four fatal shark attacks are recorded worldwide each year.

As Burgess studied Wednesday’s attack, he offered these words of warning to surfers and swimmers: “To reduce risks, it’s recommended people stick together in groups and stay close to shore.”

Teague Taylor, a close friend of Schafer’s, said Schafer always stressed to him the importance of the buddy system.

“I grew up watching way too much Jaws,” Taylor said. “If there’s anybody who’s hesitant or, for lack of a better word, scared, it’s me.”

But, he added, he and other surfers were determined to get back in the water.

“It’ll be good for all of us,” he said. “We all need to get back out there. The more we prolong it, the more that fear kind of sets in .”

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My money’s on Bull Sharks. Those things are scary.

Related Stories

• Shark attack: Lifeguard hailed as a hero in rescue attempt
• Florida shark attack a Great White?

Scientists have not yet conclusively identified the species of shark responsible for a fatal attack on a kite surfer off a Stuart, Fla., beach, but they have ruled out any involvement by a great white shark.

Some media reports speculated that a group of white sharks might have attacked the kiteboarder on Wednesday. Florida-based shark experts say the reports were based on an apparent misquote and media hype.

“Our investigation definitively indicates it was not a great white shark,” George Burgess, director of shark research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said on Friday.

Instead, he said, an examination of the victim’s wounds suggests that the attacking shark was eight to nine feet long and was more than likely a bull shark or tiger shark.

He said that although the lifeguard who attempted to rescue the kiteboarder saw several sharks nearby, only one shark bit the man. According to officials, there was a very deep and fatal bite to his thigh, a second bite to his buttocks, and a defensive wound to his hand.

Most shark attacks are hit-and-run

Most Florida shark bites are quick nips, like a hit-and-run, experts say. This attack was different.

“The attacking shark really meant business. This was not likely to be a mistaken-identity situation,” Mr. Burgess said. “This was a shark that was attacking with some real meaning.”

Although Burgess was able to narrow the range of potential species involved in the attack, officials have made arrangements to consult a second shark-bite expert to help solve the mystery.

Grant Gilbert, a research scientist in Vero Beach, says he will meet on Monday with the Martin County medical examiner to try to match the victim’s wounds with an extensive inventory of shark jaws. It is a kind of forensic shark-bite version of “CSI.”

“Sharks can be identified by their dentition [teeth],” he says.

A tiger shark has saw-edged teeth on both its upper and lower jaws. In contrast, a bull shark has pointed teeth on its lower jaw and triangular, serrated teeth on the upper jaw.

The pointed teeth are designed to hold prey, while the upper teeth are built for cutting. According to Gilbert, puncture wounds produced by the lower jaw would be present in a bite from a bull shark, but not from a tiger shark.

Forensic evidence focuses on bite marks

But that may not end the inquiry, he says. Two other sharks, the dusky shark and the silky shark, share similar jaw configurations with the bull shark. At that point, Gilbert says, the sharks may be differentiated by the number of teeth in the upper and lower jaws. Much depends on the evidence from the bites, he says.

In 1998, a 9-year-old boy was killed by a shark near Vero Beach. Gilbert worked on that case as well. The two main suspects, he said, were a bull shark and a tiger shark.

The bite characteristics allowed officials to rule out the bull shark. They concluded the attack was caused by a tiger shark.

Tiger sharks prey on sea turtles, and their jaws are evolved to the task, Gilbert said. “It was a young tiger shark, and it thought it had a sea turtle,” he said, of the Vero Beach attack 12 years ago.

Migrating sharks not probably involved

Televised reports about the Stuart shark attack have included stock footage of sharks migrating up Florida’s east coast, Gilbert says. But those migrating sharks, the research scientist says, are probably too small and unlikely to be involved in an attack like the one Wednesday.

Gilbert says he suspects that the kite surfer plunged into the water at exactly the worst place. “It is possible that he actually fell on the shark,” he said. “If there were a number of sharks out there, it could be that he just fell at the wrong spot at the wrong time.” The researcher added, “We’ll never know.”

There have only been 28 recorded shark bites in Martin County since 1882, says Mark Perry, director of the Florida Oceanographic Society in Stuart. This week’s attack was the first fatality in the county.

The victim, Stephen Schafer, was well known in Stuart, said Mr. Perry, whose office is across the street from Stuart Beach, where the attack took place.

A memorial ceremony is set for Saturday at Stuart Beach, where Mr. Schafer’s friends will hold a barbecue and a “paddle out,” in which surfers paddle offshore and form a large circle in remembrance.

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Looks like a Great White to me. I didn’t know they were in Vietnam. It’s a shame they killed it.

The fisherman is from Song Cau district in the neighboring province of Phu Yen. The shark is 5m long and the fisherman says it is the largest shark he has ever caught .

He has already been offered over 30 million dong (over $1,500) to buy its fins but the fisherman, named Dang, hasn’t agreed a deal. Until then the shark will remain kept fresh in sea water.

Experts from the Nha Trang Institute for Oceanography met the fisherman, but in order to test to define the species and find out whether it is responsible for recent attacks, the institute would have to pay Dang 40 million dong.

The institute’s representative said that they hoped the shark could be displayed at the Nha Trang Institute for Oceanography following research.

In mid-January, a number of people were hospitalized with serious injuries. The Nha Trang Institute for Oceanography confirmed that these injuries caused by a shark but they couldn’t specify the species.

Quy Nhon authorities offered a prize of 10 million dong in cash for anybody who catches the share and set up a team of shark hunters. This is the first shark netted since that day.

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STUART — A Martin County Sheriff’s Office report released this morning said the 38-year-old man who died of a possible shark attack off Stuart Beach on Wednesday had an 8- to 10-inch bite on his right thigh and numerous teeth marks on his right and left buttocks.

The report also said Stephen Howard Schafer had bruising inside his right arm, and his right hand had wounds that could have occurred as he tried to fight off a shark.

Schafer was kiteboard surfing south of Stuart Beach at about 4:15 p.m. when lifeguard Daniel Lund looking through binoculars spotted him floating about a quarter-mile offshore in an unguarded stretch of ocean.

The lifeguard paddled to him on a rescue board. He saw blood in the water and said Schafer was screaming that a shark had bit him. Lund began swimming back to shore with the victim in tow, the report said.

Schafer was talking to Lund as they swam, but eventually stopped.

Rescue workers gave Schafer CPR before paramedics brought him to Martin Memorial Hospital, where he died.

Schafer was in a good mood Sunday, sharing a warm conversation over dinner with his mother and stepfather and making plans for the future.

Schafer’s stepfather Edwin Cox on Thursday said it was the last time he saw Schafer before his death.

“His mother had just talked to him yesterday,” Cox said. “We were supposed to have dinner again last night.”

Cox said Schafer’s mother, Kathryn Cox, was distraught over her son’s death and declined to make any comment.

It is still unclear what type of shark may have been responsible for Schafer’s death, but experts say it is likely one of the larger species known to inhabit South Florida waters such as a bull, tiger or even a white shark.

George Burgess, keeper of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History said early this morning he was trying to reach Martin County authorities to get more details on the incident.

It is the first shark attack death in Florida waters since 2005.

Burgess said he didn’t want to guess on the exact type of shark involved without more details, but that considering the attack was fatal, it’s unlikely it was some of the smaller sharks more common to South Florida waters such as the spinner or black tip.

“Those are the species involved in the occasional nips off the east coast, especially in Volusia County, but they are not man-eaters,” Burgess said. “If, indeed, the gentleman yesterday was bitten by sharks, it’s far more likely it was a larger species such as a bull or a tiger, or a white shark if it was in the area.”

Burgess said white sharks typically don’t make it much further south than Jacksonville because of they like the cooler water temperatures.

“The white shark is indeed in the area, or conceivably could be, but they are very irregular visitors,” Burgess said.

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the death, said sheriff’s Capt. Mark McKinley.

“I’ve been here 25 years,” McKinley said. “To my knowledge, this is the first shark-related fatality we’ve seen.”

In fact, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties have all escaped fatal shark attacks until now, according to the International Shark Attack File.

According to reports this morning, authorities have re-opened Stuart Beach to the public.

In addition, schools of sharks were seen off Palm Beach this morning. There were easily more than a hundred in the water off Reef Road, according to reports.

No beaches are reported to be closed.

Schafer’s friends told TCPalm.com they are shocked by his death.

“I’ve never heard of multiple sharks in this area surrounding someone and fatally wounding him,” said the victim’s childhood friend, Teague Taylor, 36. “He was the nicest person ever.”

On Tuesday, the day before the fatal attack, Taylor told TCPalm.com he was surfing near where his friend was attacked and he saw several sharks.

“You always think in the back of your mind that they (sharks) are out there,” he said.

Jordan Schwartz, who has known Schafer for five years, told TCPalm.com that Schafer was a very experienced kiteboard surfer.

“He was a super nice guy. Always mellow. I don’t think he had any enemies,” he said.

Sharks have been gathering along Palm Beach County beaches recently in their annual chase of baitfish, Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue Lt. Don May said last week when a hammerhead shark was caught off Ocean Reef Park.

Lemon, bull and hammerhead sharks often are seen off area beaches this time of year, Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue Lt. Don May said.

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MARTIN COUNTY — The death of 38-year-old kiteboard surfer Stephen Howard Schafer of Stuart, who was attacked by sharks Wednesday afternoon, put Martin County and the Treasure Coast in the national and international spotlight.

The attack was one of the lead items on national television morning shows on Thursday, including the “Today” show and “Good Morning America.”

A lead video on ABCnews.com featured the attack, including an interview with Daniel Wouters of Martin County Fire Rescue. Wouters said that when lifeguards reached Schafer, they found he had been “bitten several times’ and that they first moved him onto a surfboard “to somewhat protect him.’

The video also featured a witness identified as Jim Smith, who said of the lifeguards’ efforts: “I can’t emphasize enough they did their best. The guy just wasn’t moving.

“It was heartbreaking in a way.’

ABCnews.com pointed out that the attack was “at the height of Florida’s busy tourist season.’

The lead video on MSNBC.com Thursday morning was entitled, “Sharks swarm, kill kiteboarder off Fla. coast.’

Even the celebrity Web site lalate.com had “Stuart Beach Florida Shark Attack!’ as its second item under news on Thursday morning.

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STUART — The research scientist who matched tiger shark teeth to bite wounds during an autopsy of the Treasure Coast’s only other shark fatality says young great white sharks — the fish of Jaws notoriety — are among suspects in Wednesday’s fatal attack off Stuart’s coast.

A 38-year-old kiteboard surfer, Stephen Howard Schafer, 38, of Stuart was attacked by sharks Wednesday afternoon and died from his injuries, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

The scientist, Grant Gilmore, said the size and type of shark in Wednesday’s attack can be learned the same way it was in the 1998 death of 9-year-old James Willie Tellasmon north of Jaycee Park in Vero Beach: By comparing characteristic bite patterns from among many species that live or visit off the Treasure Coast to wounds.

“It can be done,” Gilmore said. “It would be nice to have closure on this, to know what it was, especially since the man, tragically, died.”

Great whites prefer colder northern Atlantic Ocean waters and aren’t usually thought of as a Florida shark. But smaller 6- to 8-foot ones migrate to Florida’s east coast during winter.

Of the many types of sharks off the Treasure Coast, three of the four species known to attack humans — great hammerheads, bulls and tigers — prefer warm water. They leave the area or go deep in winter.

“The only other species that gathers in abundance out there in the winter are the juvenile great white sharks,” Gilmore said. They eat their way through a migrating parade of 3- to 4-foot sharpnose sharks that travel south from New England waters to Florida.

Cooler ocean water usually keeps great whites north of Cape Canaveral, Gilmore said, but this winter has been unusually cold.

Gilmore said it is very unusual to have a person bitten by a shark off Florida’s east coast this time of year. With only early news accounts for information, he wouldn’t guess which species was involved in Wednesday’s attack.

Doctoral work done by Jon Dodrill documented fishermen catching great whites off Florida’s east coast between Cape Canaveral and Daytona Beach. Gilmore was Dodrill’s professor when Dodrill did the census in the mid-1970s that is still considered an authoratative source for which sharks live and travel off Florida’s east coast.

Today, Dodrill runs Florida’s artificial reefs program.

The attack on James in 1998 happened in shallow water and was attributed to a young tiger shark about six feet long.

It was Martin County’s first fatal shark attack, according to records going back to 1882.

About 4 p.m. Wednesday, a lifeguard was looking through his binoculars and saw Schafer, the kiteboard surfer, in distress about a quarter of a mile off shore from an unguarded beach just south of Stuart Beach, officials said.

When the lifeguard paddled out to Schafer, he was encircled by sharks, officials said.

The lifeguard put Schafer on his rescue board and paddled to shore where Schafer said he had been bitten by a shark, authorities said. Officials performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the victim, who had multiple bite wounds, and he was rushed to Martin Memorial North Medical Center, where he later died.

Schafer’s friends said they are shocked by his death.

“I’ve never heard of multiple sharks in this area surrounding someone and fatally wounding him,” said the victim’s childhood friend, Teague Taylor, 36. “He was the nicest person ever.”

Normally, sharks appear in the area to feast on bait fish migrating to the area.

Taylor said he was surprised to see the sharks because they normally come around the spring. On Tuesday, the day before the fatal attack, Taylor said he was surfing near where his friend was attacked and he saw several sharks.

“You always think in the back of your mind that they (sharks) are out there,” he said.

Jordan Schwartz, who has known Schafer for five years, said he was a very experienced kiteboard surfer.

“He was a super nice guy. Always mellow. I don’t think he had any enemies,” he said.

Including Wednesday’s fatal attack, there have been about 14 deaths in Florida attributed to sharks, according to records provided by University of Florida Museum of Natural History.

REDUCING RISK OF SHARK ATTACKS

Always stay in groups; sharks are more likely to attack a lone person.

Do not wander too far from shore — this isolates an individual and additionally places one far away from assistance.

Avoid being in the water during darkness or twilight hours when sharks are most active and have a competitive sensory advantage.

Do not enter the water if bleeding or if menstruating — a shark’s olfactory ability is acute, and sharks are attracted to blood.

Do not wear shiny jewelry because the reflected light resembles the sheen of fish scales.

Use extra caution when waters are murky and avoid uneven tanning and bright-colored clothing — sharks see contrast particularly well.

Refrain from excess splashing, and do not allow pets in the water because of their erratic movements.

The International Shark Attack File Web site, University of Florida Museum of Natural History, www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm

TREASURE COAST SHARK ATTACKS

Indian River County: 17 (one fatal, 1998)

St. Lucie County: 29 (none fatal)

Martin County: 28 (one fatal, 2010)

Source: International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida Museum of Natural History and media reports

SHARK ENCOUNTER OCCURRENCES

Attacks are most common in Central Florida. Here’s a look at unprovoked attacks in the state from 1882 to 2008.

231:Volusia

96: Brevard

58: Palm Beach

28: Martin

29: St. Lucie

17: Indian River

11: Broward

10: Dade

19: Florida Keys

Source: International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida Museum of National History.

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A man was killed by sharks in a rare fatal attack this afternoon in the waters off Stuart, authorities said.

Stephen Howard Schafer, 38, of Stuart was kite surfing south of Stuart Beach about 4:15 p.m. when the sharks attacked him, according to Bureau Chief Doug Killane of Martin County Fire-Rescue and Martin County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Rhonda Irons.

A lifeguard through his binoculars spotted the man floating about a quarter-mile offshore in an unguarded stretch of ocean, Irons said. The lifeguard paddled to him on a rescue board, pulled the man away from the sharks and carried him back to shore.

Rescue workers gave the man CPR before paramedics brought him to Martin Memorial Hospital, where he died.

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the death, said sheriff’s Capt. Mark McKinley.

“I’ve been here 25 years,” McKinley said. “To my knowledge, this is the first shark-related fatality we’ve seen.”

In fact, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties have all escaped fatal shark attacks until now, according to the International Shark Attack File compiled at the University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History

Schafer’s friends told TCPalm.com they are shocked by his death.

“I’ve never heard of multiple sharks in this area surrounding someone and fatally wounding him,” said the victim’s childhood friend, Teague Taylor, 36. “He was the nicest person ever.”

On Tuesday, the day before the fatal attack, Taylor told TCPalm.com he was surfing near where his friend was attacked and he saw several sharks.

“You always think in the back of your mind that they (sharks) are out there,” he said.

Jordan Schwartz, who has known Schafer for five years, told TCPalm.com that Schafer was a very experienced kiteboard surfer.

“He was a super nice guy. Always mellow. I don’t think he had any enemies,” he said.

Sharks have been gathering along Palm Beach County beaches recently in their annual chase of baitfish, Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue Lt. Don May said last week when a hammerhead shark was caught off Ocean Reef Park.

Lemon, bull and hammerhead sharks often are seen off area beaches this time of year, Palm Beach County Ocean Rescue Lt. Don May said.

It was unknown whether Stuart Beach would be open Thursday.

According to the International Shark Attack File compiled at the University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History, Martin County had never had a fatal shark attack before. A person was killed in Indian River County in 1998.

The last shark-bite fatality in Florida was in 2005, according to the file, in Walton County in the Panhandle.

However, in 2008, Florida had the most unprovoked attacks in the United States — the total of 32 attacks was equal to the 32 reported in 2007. Surfers/windsurfers were at highest risk, with nearly 57 percent of the reported attacks in the report’s compilation.

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(CBS) How can you surprise a shark?

Fourteen-year-old Lydia Ward would say you could just give it a good whack with a boogie board.

Why? Because that’s just what she did Monday when she felt something latch onto her hip and wouldn’t let go.

Lydia was swimming with her 10-year-old brother at Oreti Beach near the southern New Zealand city of Invercargill when she brushed her foot on something in the shallow water.

“I wasn’t quite sure what it was,” she said on “The Early Show.” “I tried to stay afloat, so that it would just pass with the current.”

However, the animal didn’t float away — it hung on with its teeth.

Lydia said, “When I put my foot back down, I touched it again and that’s when I knew something wasn’t right.”

She said when she looked back at her brother and saw his shocked face, she looked and saw a massive gray body clamped to her side.

Lydia said she thought “yuck” and began slamming the shark with her only weapon: her boogie board.

The shark let go instantly.

As the swimmers paddled back to shore, Lydia said she didn’t feel anything.

“It wasn’t until I got about knee deep that I realized I had a bite mark through the wet suit,” she told “Early Show” co-anchorMaggie Rodriguez.

A closer inspection revealed nearly a dozen holes pierced the side of her suit.

Tim Ward, Lydia’s father, said his daughter and son were very calm when they came ashore.

“There was no fuss. There was no shouting or waving of arms or anything,” he said. “I didn’t think there was anything going on. Lydia came right up to where I was on the edge of the water, and said that something had bitten her and showed me the side of her wet suit, and thought, that wet suit is just pierced, but then I noticed there was blood trickling down the back of her leg from the wet suit.”

Lydia went to the hospital, but has since been told she’ll be fine.

But will she be fine going back into the water?

Lydia said she knows it was a freak accident, and plans to go back in “after a while.”

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So it turns out that whole “I thought it was a stick in the mall parking lot but oh my goodness it was actually a cobra, in Baltimore… in freezing weather” story didn’t hold together.

BALTIMORE — Police with the Department of Natural Resources have charged a woman with possession of a venomous snake after she recently claimed she was bitten by one.

Last month, 58-year-old Betsy Nighthorse claimed she was bitten by a cobra that she discovered in a White Marsh parking lot.

Police investigating her claim found another snake — a Neo Tropical Rattlesnake — at her home in Hydes. The snake was about 4 feet long and 4 inches in diameter.

The rattlesnake was taken to the Catoctin Mountain Zoo in Thurmont, as was the cobra.
Nighthorse is due in court in April. She could get a $1,000 for each count.

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A 14-YEAR-OLD New Zealand girl escaped serious injury in a shark attack by furiously beating the creature about the head with her body board until it let go.

Lydia Ward was in waist-deep water near the southern city of Invercargill when the shark lunged at her and wrapped its jaws around her hip.

She told Radio New Zealand she bashed the “big, grey, slippery thing” with her polystyrene body board and fled from the water when it let go.

“I showed Dad and he didn’t really believe me but then I showed him my wetsuit with all the blood coming out and he believed me,” she told Radio New Zealand.

Her mother, Fiona Ward, told the Southland Times that Lydia thought she had stood on the shark before it attacked and that its teeth penetrated her wetsuit and her skin.

Lydia required hospital treatment for two of the deeper wounds, however she was not seriously injured, Fiona Ward said.

The girl’s brother, who was swimming next to her, estimated the shark was about 1.5m long.

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This story is awesome just for the amazing pictures that accompany it.

A she-bear chases a man who tried to tranquillize her Photo: EPA

A man who shot a marauding bear with a tranquilliser gun had an almighty scare when the beast awoke as he approached, and proceeded to attack him.

The female bear had been injected with a sleep-inducing drug after it appeared near the village of Chorzow in Poland.

Unfortunately for the rangers tasked with capturing the animal, it woke up from its apparent slumber as they came near and gave chase to the man who had shot it.
Thanks to the efforts of both men, the bear was eventually brought under control. Reports said authorities plan to take it to a local zoo.

The same bear had reportedly been released in a nearby wood three weeks ago, after it was captured near a school in Przemysl.

It is believed that the bear had broken free from a Ukranian wildlife park 25 miles away.

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10 Most Poisonous Animals in the World info and 10 Most Poisonous Animals Photo Gallery Pics

It is really hard to tell which animal is the most poisonous in the world. The one that has the most toxic chemicals? The one that kills the biggest amount of people a year? Or maybe the one with the biggest amount of poison?

First of all, I have to admit that the title is a bit incorrect, because there is a difference between poisonous and venomous animals. A poisonous animal carries harmful chemicals called toxins primarily used for self defense. Therefore venomous animals deliver their toxins by stinging, stabbing, or biting. So poisonous animals are passive killers, while venomous animals are active killers.

Nevertheless, theory aside, they are all really dangerous. So look really closely at each photo, cause next time you meet them can be the last thing you ever see.

1. Box Jellyfish : If the yardstick for measuring the deadliest of the worlds mot poisonous creatures is assumed to be the number of deaths that have been caused by them, then the Box Jellyfish definitely tops our list of worlds most poisonous creatures. This creature, which is just about the size of a palm, has reportedly caused deaths to almost 6000 people till date. This number is the highest recorded number in the world. This blue colored jellyfish has one of the most powerful, tantalizing and venomous stings in the world and it is found around the coastlines of South East Asia and Australia.

Box Jellyfish Pictures and Photos

2. King Cobra :

King Cobra

The King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world’s longest venomous snake – growing up to 5.6 m (18.5 ft) in length. Ophiophagus, literally means “snake-eater” as it eats other snakes. One single bite of this deadly snake can easily kill a human. This snake is even capable of killing a full-grown Asian Elephant within 3 hours if the larger animal is bitten in a vulnerable area such as the trunk.

It’s venom is not as toxic as other venomous snakes, but King Cobra is capable of injecting 5 times more venom than black mamba and can result in mortality up to 5 times faster than that of the black mamba. It is quite widespread, ranging across South and South-east Asia, living in dense highland forests.

3. Marbled Cone Snail

Marbled Cone Snail

This little beautiful looking Marbled Cone snail can be as deadly as any other animal on this list. One drop of its venom is so powerful that it can kill more than 20 humans. If you ever happen to be in warm salt water environment (where these snails are often found) and see it, dont even think of picking it up. Of course, the true purpose of its venom is to catch its prey.

Symptoms of a cone snail sting can start immediately or can be delayed in onset for days. It results in intense pain, swelling, numbness and tingling. Severe cases involve muscle paralysis, vision changes and breathing failure. There is no antivenom. However, only about 30 human deaths have been recorded from cone snail envenomation.

4. Blue-Ringed Octopus : The blue ringed Octopus was considered one of the worlds most poisonous sea creatures till some time back, until the Box Jellyfish took over. Nevertheless, this creature is till capable of killing up to 25 humans in one bite. Found in the Pacific pools from Japan to Australia, this creature’s bite is impalpable in most cases, but the venom starts working immediately on the muscles and heart- causing weakness, seizure and death within minutes.

Blue-Ringed Octopus

5. Death Stalker Scorpion :

Death Stalker Scorpion

Contrarily to the popular belief most of the scorpions are relatively harmless to humans as stings produce only local effects (pain, numbness or swelling). However, the Death Starker Scorpion is highly dangerous species because its venom is a powerful cocktail of neurotoxins which causes an intense and unbearable pain, then fever, followed by coma, convulsions, paralysis and death. Fortunately, while a sting from this scorpion is extremely painful, it would be unlikely to kill a healthy, adult human. Young children, the old, or infirm (with a heart condition) are at the biggest risk.

Death stalker scorpions are spread in North Africa and Middle East.
6. Stonefish : The stonefish is the worlds most poisonous fish, and probably the ugliest also. It is often remarked that when a stone fish attack a human being, the pain is so severe that the person wants to amputate the area affected. Its bit may not be lethal and can be treated within hours, but if left untreated for more than 2-3 hours, a bit from the stone fish can result into death for the human beings.

StoneFish

7. The Brazilian wandering spider :
The Brazilian Wandering Spider (Phoneutria) or banana spider appears in the Guinness Book of World Records 2007 for the most venomous spider and is the spider responsible for most human deaths.

This spider is believed to have the most potent neurotoxic venom of any living spider. Only 0.006mg (0.00000021oz) is sufficient to kill a mouse. They are also so dangerous because of their wandering nature. They often hide during daytime in highly populated areas inside houses, clothes, boots, and cars.

Its venomous bite causes not only intense pain, the venom of the spider can also cause priapism – uncomfortable erections lasting for many hours that lead to impotence.
The Brazilian wandering spider

8. Inland Taipan :

Inland Taipan

The inland Taipan is recognized as being the worlds most poisonous snake, having the capability to kill over a hundred human beings within 45 seconds from a single bite. Found in Australia, the Inland Taipan is definitely the one to beware of.

9. Poison Dart Frog :

Poison Dart Frog

Poison Dart Frog
The poison dart frog is another creature you might find cute if you found it in the wild but just touching this little guy can put you in harms way. Native to South and Central America, the frog got its name because indigenous tribes used to use the poison as an addition to their blow darts.

10. Puffer Fish : The puffer fish is a delicacy in many part of Japan and China, but some organs of the fish are deadly to the human beings- making it one of the worlds most poisonous and lethal animals. The poison of the fish is devastating for the one who consumes it and results in deadening of the muscles, increasing of the heart rate, dizziness, vomiting and permanent seizure within minutes of consuming the deadly poison.

The Puffer Fish

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A SYDNEY man was attacked by a shark in the most unlikely of locations – the desert nation of the United Arab Emirates.

“I was in a bit of shock and yelled out to some mates surfing and we looked at my left foot and saw the severity of the wound.”

Mr Geraghty, who works in Dubai and whose family is from Avalon on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, was taken to Rashid Hospital – where doctors told him there were teeth marks marking a large gash across the ball of his foot.

Jonathon Ali Khan, the founder of a research project Shark Quest Arabia, said shark attacks in the Arabian Gulf were exceptionally rare.

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Everyone is accusing the lady of lying. It would be sad if she were telling the truth. (But she probably isn’t.)

Video: Woman Bitten By Cobra Bags Snake, Takes To Docs

Woman Bitten By Cobra Bags Snake, Takes To Docs

Woman Says She Was Bitten In Baltimore County Parking Lot

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. — A woman told authorities she was bitten by a poisonous cobra on Sunday in a Baltimore County parking lot.

Baltimore City Animal Control recovered the snake on Sunday, but where it came from has yet to be determined.

Authorities told 11 News the woman walked into a White March Patient First location with a snake bite — as well as the snake that bit her. She had stuffed it into a bag.

“What the patient told our medic crews is that she was in the parking lot of a local shopping center when she saw what she thought was a stick on the ground. She bent down to pick up the stick when it bit her. It turned out to be a snake,” said Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman Elise Armacost.

The snake turned out to be a venomous Asian cobra known as a monacle cobra.

Armacost said Patient First called 911.

“The staff at Patient First said that they had put the snake in a trash can and wanted to know what to do with it,” Armacost said.

She said as the patient was transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital, her team launched a search for the antivenom, first calling Falls Road Animal Hospital.

“If we’re going to use something this dangerous in a human, it has to be for human use only, and it can’t be out of date,” said veterinarian Dr. Kim Hammond, who has extensive experience with venomous snakes.

“In this temperature, there’s no cobra out there running wild. It would be frozen. It’s not just unlikely — it’s impossible.” - Dr. Kim Hammond, Falls Road Animal Hospital

Falls Road Animal Hospital played a key role in locating the antivenom, which was ultimately flown in from Philadelphia.

“There are so many different species of venomous animals that you have to — in order to get the correct antivenom — have the exact species. You have to know what antivenom to use, because the antivenom is toxic by itself,” Hammond said.

While the woman said she stepped on the cobra in a parking lot, the Maryland Poison Center said it’s not a public health issue and that they’re confident there are no cobras running wild in Baltimore.

Animal experts said that in January, that’s not even possible.

“In this temperature, there’s no cobra out there running wild. It would be frozen. It’s not just unlikely — it’s impossible,” Hammond said.

He said keeping a cobra as a pet is “stupid” and dangerous. It’s also illegal in Maryland.

Department of Natural Resources Police took the snake to the Catoctin Zoo in Thurmont. Officials said the cobra was clearly a captive snake and used to being hooked and handled and around humans.

It’s being quarantined for a few months in case it has a virus, and then it will join the rest of the collection, zoo officials said.

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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., Jan. 25 (UPI) — California prosecutors say they are seeking the death penalty against a man charged with starting a deadly 2003 wildfire.

Rickie Lee Fowler, 28, imprisoned for burglary since that year, was charged in October with murder and arson in connection with a firestorm that swept through San Bernardino County. Prosecutors now say they will seek the death penalty against Fowler, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

“A decision to seek the death penalty in a case is never an easy one. In fact, it’s the most difficult one we make as prosecutors,” San Bernardino District Attorney Michael Ramos said.

Six men died of heart attacks during the fire, five of which were deemed directly related to the stress of the 91,000-acre wildfire, which forced the evacuations of more than 30 communities and 80,000 people in the San Bernardino area.

Officials also say damage from the fire contributed to a Christmas Day 2003 mudslide that killed 14 people in a church camp.

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What do you know? You live in an enclosure with 40 venomous snakes, apparently you’ll get bitten. Who would have predicted that?

Swart was biten three times on the right arm by a puffadder on Friday night, confirmed Chameleon Village Reptile and Conservation Park director David Dennis.

“After surviving three bites, the risk is a little bit too much,” said Dennis.

Swart walked into the snake enclosure near Hartbeestport Dam on 15 August last year but was biten by a puffadder just six days later. He spent 27 days in hospital.

“I then started over on 23-10-2009 knowing that I must be more careful, but then I got biten again on the 27-12-2009 by a snouted cobra on the same foot that the puffadder bit me,” wrote Swart on his website.

On Friday night, Swart was biten by a puffadder while watching a DVD. Dennis said fortunately the snake was smaller than the puffadder which bit him last year.

He said he hoped that Swart would be discharged from hospital today.