ROBBINSVILLE, N.C. — Graham County police say a 2-year-old boy remains in critical condition after being mauled by pit bulls that belonged to his grandmother.

Sheriff’s Capt. Joseph Jones said Monday the boy was bitten on his neck, stomach and legs while he was playing in his yard where several of the dogs were running free Saturday.

Police have quarantined five pit bulls at the Haywood County animal shelter and they likely will be killed. Jones said the family kept the dogs as pets and were not breeding them.

The boy’s grandmother told investigators she had been trying to give the dogs away.

Jones says no charges have been filed.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported that a deputy shot one dog at the scene.

via NC toddler in critical condition after dog attack :: WRAL.com.

GIG HARBOR, Wash. —The bear that mauled a woman near Gig Harbor remains at large.The traps remain set Monday, and agents plan to kill the bear because it harmed a person, said Fish and Wildlife Department spokesman Craig Bartlett. Officials also want to test the animal for disease.The woman who was attacked Sunday while walking her dog is in satisfactory condition at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma.She doesnt want her name, age or the nature of her wounds released, said hospital spokeswoman Jacquie Goodwill. The woman is expected to fully recover and should be released in about a day.Wildlife Capt. Dan Brinson told The News Tribune of Tacoma on Sunday that the woman suffered a severe laceration to an arm and bites to her back.She was found by a couple driving by.Wildlife agents hunted for the bear with dogs Sunday, but they lost the scent in the rain. Two traps were set out, baited with doughnuts, maple syrup and vanilla.Bartlett called the attack “highly unusual” and says its surprising there would be two attacks within two months of each other in Washington.John Chelminiak, a Bellevue city councilman, was mauled Sept. 17 while walking his dogs at a vacation cabin near Lake Wenatchee. He suffered serious wounds and lost an eye but is recovering.The Gig Harbor woman surprised the bear while walking her dog along a frequent route, said Goodwill.The woman expresses her thanks to the police and medics who responded and to everyone who has expressed their prayers and concerns, Goodwill said.

via Local News | Bear that mauled Gig Harbor woman still out there | Seattle Times Newspaper.

A 12-year-old Seward boy was attacked by a brown bear while walking to school this morning.

According to Alaska State Wildlife Enforcement Trooper Marc Cloward, the boy was walking to the bus stop early Tuesday morning.

Although it was dark, when he heard a noise, he wasn’t too concerned.

“He’s thinking that the sound he’s hearing is rain and snow falling off the trees,” Cloward said.

It wasn’t, though.

“He looks over and sees a sow and cubs and he’s already too close,” Cloward said.

The boy began to back away, but the sow growled and huffed and rushed, knocking him to the ground.

The boy screamed and wiggled, until he remembered what he had been told to do in case of a bear attack.

So he made himself go limp. He played dead as the bear ripped and bit at the backback he wore across his back.

According to Cloward’s estimates, the backpack absorbed the brunt of the attack.

The boy was taken to Providence Seward Medical Center, where he was examined and released to the care of his parents, according to Alaska State Troopers.

“I was impressed by how mature he was,” Cloward said. “He said to me during the interview, ‘I think she was just as scared as I was. She just wanted to get her cubs and get out of there.’”

The attack happened on Bear Lake Road near the fish weir.

“It’s kind of a bear thoroughfare there,” Cloward said. “They’re passing through, feeding and making a living.”

Cloward tracked the bear about a half mile toward the mountains. He’s unsure if it will return to the area.

If it does, it will have to be dispatched, according to Soldotna Fish & Game biologist Jeff Selinger.

“If a bear makes contact and we can identify it as the bear, it’s time to put that bear down,” he said.

Alaska Fish and Game Soldotna wildlife technician Larry Lewis was a little more forceful.

“The bear stepped over the line,” he said. “It’s a public safety issue now. People come first.”

If the bear is dispatched, the cubs will be also, since placement could not be found.

Low light and late hibernation

According to Selinger, the majority of documented bear attacks happen in low light conditions.

“I think a lot of it has to do with visibility, from both the bear’s and person’s aspect,” he said, adding that the potential for a bear encounter can happen at any time, regardless of lighting.

This time of year is also what he called the fringe season, when some bears have already gone into their dens while others choose to linger a bit longer.

“It’s just like people, there’s individual differences among bears,” he said.

One of the prompts behind the delay is a readily available food supply.

“That could be berries, salmon carcasses or human related,” he said.

All bears don’t hibernate for the whole winter, either.

“Some will sleep for a little bit and then wake up,” he said. “We’ve seen bear activity in every month of the year.”

For the most part, though, bears tend to become more lethargic as they prepare to den.

“They’re fat, they’re happy, they don’t have to be out intently searching for food. Life is just sort of puddling along for them,” he said.

Garbage away, and walk your kids to school

Alaska Fish and Game Soldotna wildlife technician Larry Lewis recommends parents walk or drive their children to and from the bus stop and school this time of year.

“In the dark, it’s very easy for a child to walk into wildlife situations,” he said.

According to Lewis, there’s been a lot of bear activity around the peninsula lately, most dealing with easily accessible food sources around homes.

“I can tell you we are having an inordinate amount of problems with garbage bears,” he said. “I can’t say there’s any correlation to what happened in Seward, but bears usually move through neighborhoods looking for easy food sources.”

At the same time, he added, the Seward situation played out more like a defensive attack: The sow attacked and and it perceived no threat, it retreated.

“The best thing to do when in a brown bear attack is to play dead and the boy did just that. He played limp.”

He also showed a maturity well beyond his years.

“He conducted himself in a manner that didn’t make the situation worse,” Cloward said. “To be able to keep his composure like that is amazing.”

via The Seward Phoenix LOG – Bear attacks boy walking to bus stop.

COVINGTON, Ga. — A 9-month-old baby is in critical condition at an Atlanta hospital after she was attacked by two raccoons while sleeping in her crib in the same room as her mother.

Authorities say they are investigating how the raccoons got inside the home and whether the family was keeping the animals as pets.

Newton County Sheriff’s Lt. Tyrone Oliver says authorities arrived about 4 a.m. on Wednesday after the mother called 911 to say the baby had been attacked. She was bitten severely on her head and on other parts of her body.

Oliver says the raccoons were outside the family’s house when deputies arrived, and that one was aggressive and fatally shot by a deputy. The other raccoon was given to animal control to be tested for rabies.

via Raccoons attack Georgia baby in her crib.

Beachgoers shouldn’t be afraid to go into the water despite the fatal shark attack on a Romoland teen near Lompoc, oceanographers and biologists said.

Lucas Ransom, 19, was killed Oct. 22 by a great white shark while bodyboarding with his roommate, about 100 yards off shore from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

His UC Santa Barbara roommate, Matt Garcia, reported Ransom was swimming when Ransom was pulled under the water. His bodyboard popped back to the surface with a 13-inch chomp taken out of it, and the water filled with blood. Ransom’s left leg was severed. He was pronounced dead on the shore.

Such attacks are rare, and sharks don’t prefer humans as their prey, experts said. In Ransom’s case, and similar shark attacks, the sharks usually mistake humans for other ocean mammals such as seals or sea lions. State Fish and Game officials said they believe that confusion occurred when Ransom was lying on his bodyboard with his feet hanging off the end.

Beachgoers just need to be aware of sharks’ presence and avoid coves and areas where seals and sea lions may congregate, Fish and Game officials said.

“More people are in the water up and down the coast and we know the sharks are out there looking for food,” Fish and Game Marine Biologist Carrie Wilson said. “Every once in a blue moon we have these things occur. When you look at the number of people in the water, (the number of attacks is) pretty small. The shark wasn’t doing anything sharks don’t do. It was just looking for prey.”

Wilson said the attack was likely a great white, based on the aggressive behavior and the reported length of the shark, estimated at 14 to16 feet.

“These sharks really don’t have much interest in humans. We’re too skinny compared to seals and sea lions,” Wilson said. “They want the blubber and high meat content.”

“The behavior is what you’d expect from a great white,” Wilson added. “The typical mode of hunt is an ambush predator. They like to take their prey by surprise and come from underneath.”

There have been 95 attacks on humans off the California coast in the past 50 years, Wilson said.

There have been four fatal great white shark attacks in the past decade, compared to eight others in the 50 years before, according to Fish and Game. Before Ransom, the most recent came in April 2008, when a man was killed off Solana Beach.

More sharks have moved closer to California beaches since the state banned fishery gillnets off the coast within three miles, Wilson said. That has lead to an increase in seal populations and a rise in great white sharks. The sharks tend to prefer the coastline’s temperate waters.

After the attack, Lucas’ father, Matt Ransom, e-mailed friends and family members, thanking them for their support and condolences.

Ransom and Garcia both swam competitively at Perris High School.

“He lived real well and he died real well. He was in the water for about 45 minutes before the shark got him and his buddy told us he was getting the rides of his young life, on a day with big swells,” the e-mail read.

“He and his brothers have always been an inspiration for me as their father. A big part of him will remain with me until we meet up again. All you parents should enjoy and hold close your sons and daughters. They are only on loan from God.”

via Beaches are safe despite shark attack, experts say | Local News | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California.

Nineteen-year-old Elyse Frankcom was leading a swimming with dolphins encounter in waters off western Australia on Saturday when the shark bit into her hip and buttocks.

“As the shark bit her, it brushed aside a fairly large man who grabbed hold of the tail of the shark, which then made it let go,” Fremantle Sea Rescue senior skipper Frank Pisani said.

There were reportedly two dolphins by Ms Frankcom’s side when she dived into the seven-metre deep water and a shark came up from the bottom and bit into her.

Ms Frankcom has had surgery for her injuries and was in a stable condition in hospital on Sunday, and was expected to be released soon.

Media reports said the unnamed hero refused to speak to journalists when the tour boat returned to dock. “All I want is the girl to be OK,” he reportedly said.

via Australian swimmer saves woman by pulling shark’s tail – Telegraph.

The mother of a young Perth woman who was attacked by a shark says her daughter will not want the animal to be destroyed.

Elyse Frankcom, 19, was attacked on Saturday by the unidentified, three-metre shark as she led an underwater dolphin tour in waters off Garden Island, about 50 kilometres south of Perth.

Linda Frankcom says her daughter underwent several hours of surgery in which fragments of the shark’s teeth were removed from Elyse’s lower body.

She says her daughter plans to return to the water once she has recovered and that Elyse would not want the shark harmed.

“There’s no way she would want that shark hunted down – she had entered into their territory and she knew she was at risk entering into there,” she said.

Linda Frankcom also says Elyse has been in good spirits throughout the ordeal.

“She was conscious through the whole thing and she was in pretty good spirits, so she’s a bit of a joker sometimes so she was joking around and laughing but obviously in a bit of pain as well,” she said.

Department of Fisheries spokesman Tony Cappelluti said the shark was reportedly a great white or a whaler shark, but he was yet to confirm the species.

Elyse was saved from the jaws of the shark by a man on the dive who grabbed the shark by the tail as it attacked her.

Skipper of Fremantle Sea Rescue, Frank Pisani, said as the shark bit Ms Frankcom, it brushed past a “fairly large” man on the tour who grabbed it by the tail.

“She started to sink to the bottom but he grabbed hold of her and brought her to the surface and got her back on board the boat,” he said.

Ms Frankcom, who is deeply passionate about dolphins, declared on Facebook earlier this month that she “wouldn’t give in my job for the world”.

In another posting Ms Frankcom said she was aware of the risk sharks posed but was not worried about an attack.

“Hasn’t stopped hearing bout these 3 great whites … if I get attacked or die, at least I die happy and doin the thing I love,” she wrote.

“Time 2 use our shark shields soon maybe.”

Ms Frankcom was reportedly wearing a shark shield at the time, which sends out electronic impulses to deter the creatures.

The site of the attack is just kilometres from where 51-year-old Brian Guest was taken by a large great white when he was diving in December 2008.

In August this year, Busselton man Nick Edwards, 31, was killed by a shark when he was surfing at Gracetown beach, south of Perth.

via Shark attack victim in good spirits – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

A COURAGEOUS man has been hailed a hero after he pulled the tail of a shark as it savaged a young tour guide on a snorkelling expedition near Rockingham.

Rescuers praised the man’s brave actions, saying he saved the woman from further injury from the jaws of the ocean predator, believed to be a 3m great white shark.

Do you know who this unsung hero is? If you can shed light on the identity of this fearless lifesaver -  so we can nominate him for Australia’s highest award for heroism – please contact us on: staff@perthnow.com.au

Nineteen-year-old Elyse Frankcom had been hosting a swim-with-the-dolphins tour for Rockingham Wild Encounters when the shark attacked – biting into her hip and left buttock at 12.30pm.

Last night (Saturday), Miss Frankcom was in a stable condition in Royal Perth Hospital following surgery to repair the damage.

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The attack happened off Garden Island Naval Base, at the northern end.

It came just 10 weeks after Busselton surfer Nick Edwards was killed by a monster great white off Gracetown in the South-West.

And it took place just 35km north of  Port Kennedy, where father-of-three Brian Guest was mauled to death by a big great white while snorkelling with his son in December 2008.

The unnamed hero calmly walked off the tour boat when it returned to shore and was too modest to stop for a media interview.

“All I want is the girl to be OK,” he said.

Recovering in Royal Perth Hospital

Concerned family and friends of Ms Frankcom kept vigil at Royal Perth Hospital.

Her older sister, Samantha, said Ms Frankcom was in good hands and would not likely be deterred from returning to the water.

“Elyse is in high spirits. She should be okay to leave hospital tomorrow,” she said.

Samantha said her younger sister would definitely return to the water, despite the brush with death.

“She loves the water. You can’t tear her away from it,” she told The Sunday Times.

“This won’t scare her away. She will definitely go back. It’s been a passion for her since she was a child.”

The 19-year-old diver recently commented on shark attacks on her Facebook page.

“If I get attacked or die, at least I die happy and doin (sic) the thing I love,” she said.

Her parents formerly operated a scuba diving business in Mandurah.

“My sister was training to become a `dolphin girl’ for the dive tours,” Samantha Frankcom said.

“Her job would be to find the dolphins and bring them to the surface for people to swim with.”

Rescuer praised ‘hero’ who grabbed shark’s tail

Fremantle Sea Rescue senior skipper Frank Pisani, one of the first rescuers on scene, said Ms Frankcom would not likely have survived the vicious attack had one of the passengers not bravely intervened.

“As the shark bit her, it brushed aside a fairly large male who grabbed hold of the tail of the shark, which then made it let go,” Mr Pisani said.

“The girl then started to sink to the bottom and he grabbed her and brought her to the surface and got her back on board the boat. He certainly was instrumental in making this a good outcome.”

Mr Pisani said there was a paramedic on the boat, but no first-aid equipment, so sea rescue volunteers worked to stabilise the badly bleeding victim.

“We used all our first-aid equipment and did all we could to stem the bleeding before the RAC rescue helicopter arrived,” he said.

“There were very deep puncture wounds, quite wide but there was no actual loss of flesh.”

Ms Frankcom was taken to HMAS Stirling base, where she was treated by naval medics before being airlifted to RPH.

Rescuers said Ms Frankcom, who remained conscious after the attack, told dive boat operators and first-aiders that she believed the shark was a great white.

It is understood Ms Frankcom is a videographer and tour guide with Rockingham Wild Encounters, which operates the Apollo 3 charter.

Rockingham Wild Encounters operations director Aaron Heath said Ms Frankcom was one of two crew members who were wearing shark shields, which are designed to repel attacks using electronic impulses.

She had recently praised the shields on her Facebook page, saying: “The ocean is a beautiful place and you feel so much safer knowing one genius was able to invent an incredible piece of technology to help enjoy it with more peace.”

via Hero snorkeller grabs shark to save attack victim | Perth Now.

The mountain goat that fatally gored a man in Olympic National Park several weeks ago wasn’t diseased or disabled, but it was in breeding condition, or the rut.

Preliminary necropsy results show the mountain goat, an adult male, did not have viruses such as rabies, encephalitis, plague or tularemia, according to a news release from Olympic National Park.

The animal was killed after its Oct. 16 attack on Robert Boardman, 63. Boardman was hiking in the area with his wife and a friend.

Barb Maynes, a spokeswoman for Olympic National Park, said the rut “may have been a contributing factor,” but said that hikers have been around goats during breeding season before and it hasn’t been a problem.

“It’s unprecedented,” she said.

During the rut, she said male mountain goats are typically known to “keep an eye on their females,” and can be aggressive toward other males.

Rangers and wildlife biologists began monitoring daily goat behavior Oct. 18 but stopped Sunday because of recent snowfall. There were no observations of aggressive mountain-goat behavior.

Park biologists have put out a call for more information about mountain goat-human interactions from across the animals’ range. This winter, they will review the reports in detail, Maynes said.

Additional test results on the mountain goat are still awaiting completion, including one for Listeria, a chronic wasting disease. Maynes said those results should be released in another week.

via Local News | Goat that killed Olympic National Park hiker was in ‘rut’ | Seattle Times Newspaper.

PORTLAND, Maine — A scuba diver who came face-to-teeth with a shark used a camera to fend off the animal when it came at him with its teeth bared — and he has the frightening video to prove it.

Scott MacNichol, 30, was shaken up but uninjured after a porbeagle shark apparently mistook his camera equipment for food Saturday while diving near Eastport, off the eastern tip of Maine.

He estimated the shark was 8 feet long and weighed about 300 pounds.

MacNichol saw the shark swimming above him while he was filming the ocean floor under empty salmon pens as part of an environmental assessment for Cooke Aquaculture Inc. The animal then came at him, jabbing at the camera with its snout. In the video, its sharp teeth fill the frame before it swims off.

“He took a couple of bites at the camera. When he did that I was pretty much petrified,”MacNichol said Wednesday. “If you watch the video, you can hear me screaming underwater.”

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Porbeagles are coldwater sharks that have a similar body shape and tail to mako and great white sharks. Their diet is primarily herring, mackerel and other bony fish.

The shark was probably drawn to MacNichol from the camera’s light, batteries and silver casing, said Chris Heinig, owner of MER Assessment Corp., who was on the dive boat on the surface when the shark lunged at MacNichol.

“I think it came up and bumped the camera to see what it was,” Heinig said. “But I honestly don’t think the shark attacked Scott.”

While hundreds of shark attacks have occurred in Florida, California and other warm-water states, they are rare in New England. The last fatal shark attack in New England was in 1936, when a boy died after being attacked in Massachusetts, according to the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida’s Museum of Natural History, which tracks shark attacks.

MacNichol, who has been diving commercially since 1998, took a day off from diving after the attack but doesn’t plan to give it up for good.

“People get in car accidents every day and that doesn’t keep them from driving,” he said.

via FoxNews.com – Maine Diver Has Face-to-Teeth Encounter with Shark.