Is it just me or has there been an awful lot of shark news lately? Hint: it’s not just me.

Not one, but two attacks took place last Friday when a shark bit a 6-year-old girl in South Carolina and another shark bit a 13-year-old from North Carolina. And in early June a shark bit an 18-year-old girl in Georgia. Fortunately, no limbs (or lives!) were lost.

But there have also been several shark sightings in the Hamptons near New York City, and recently and a great white shark was caught and then released in Massachusetts.

Now the U.S. National Park Service has announced that they are issuing an “enter waters at your own risk” warning for the area around Santa Barbara Island in Southern California. The Wednesday warning was due to three great white shark attacks on sea lions in the area and is in effect until further notice.

Holiday weekend, beautiful locations, and great white sharks. This sounds either like a movie plot or one of my worst nightmares.

And in a crazy coincidence, this summer marks the 35th anniversary of the release of Jaws. Which, if you didn’t already know, features one of the creepiest movie scenes ever, where the old fisherman, Quint, recounts the story of the USS Indianapolis. Terrifying!

via Shark Attack 2010: Feds Warn Southern California About Great Whites – TIME NewsFeed.

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

The top prize for “The World Most Venomous Animal,” would go to the Box Jellyfish. It has caused at least 5,567 recorded deaths since 1954. Their venom is among the most deadly in the world. It’s toxins attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. And the worst part of it is that jelly box venom is so overpoweringly painful, that human victims go in shock, drown or die of heart failure before even reaching shore. Survivors experience pain weeks after the contact with box jellies.

You have virtually no chance to survive the venomous sting, unless treated immediately. After a sting, vinegar should be applied for a minimum of 30 seconds. Vinegar has acetic acid, which disables the box jelly’s nematocysts that have not yet discharged into the bloodstream (though it will not alleviate the pain). Wearing panty hose while swimming is also a good prevention measure since it can prevent jellies from being able to harm your legs.

Jelly box can be found in the waters around Asia and Australia.

2. 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

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, don’t 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 is very small, only the size of a golf ball, but its venom is so powerful that can kill a human. Actually it carries enough poison to kill 26 adult humans within minutes, and there is no antidote. They are currently recognized as one of the world’s most venomous animals.

Its painless bite may seem harmless, but the deadly neurotoxins begin working immediately resulting in muscular weakness, numbness, followed by a cessation and breathing and ultimately death.

They can be found in tide pools in the Pacific Ocean, from Japan to Australia.

5. 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

Maybe Stonefish would never win a beauty contest, but it would definitely win the top prize for being “The World Most Venomous Fish”. Its venom causes such a severe pain that the victims of its sting want the affected limb to be amputated. It is described as the worst pain known to man. It is accompanied with possible shock, paralysis, and tissue death. If not given medical attention within a couple of hours It can be fatal to humans.

Stonefish stores its toxins in gruesome-looking spines that are designed to hurt would-be predators.

Stonefish mostly live above the tropic of Capricorn, often found in the shallow tropical marine waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans, ranging from the Red Sea to the Queensland Great Barrier Reef.

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.

8. Inland Taipan

The prize for “The World’s Most Venomous Snake” goes to the Inland Taipan of Australia. Just a single bite from this snake contains enough venom to kill 100 human adults or an army of 250,000 mice. Its venom is at least 200 – 400 times more toxic than a common cobra. The Inland Taiwan’s extremely neurotoxic venom can kill an adult human in as little as 45 minutes. Fortunately this snake is very shy and there have been no documented human fatalities (all known bites were treated with antivenin).

9. Poison Dart Frog

If you ever happen to be running through the rain forests somewhere in Central or South America, do not ever pick up beautiful and colorful frogs – it can be the Poison Dart Frog. This frog is probably the most poisonous animal on earth.The 2 inch long (5cm) golden poison dart frog has enough venom to kill 10 adult humans or 20,000 mice. Only 2 micrograms of this lethal toxin (the amount that fits on the head of a pin) is capable of killing a human or other large mammal. They are called “dart frogs” because indigenous Amerindians’ use of their toxic secretions to poison the tips of their blow-darts. Poison dart frogs keep their poison in their skins and will sicken or kill anybody who touches or eats it.

10. Puffer Fish

Puffer Fish are the second most poisonous vertebrate on earth (the first one is golden dart Frog). The meat of some species is a delicacy in both Japan (as fugu) and Korea (as bok-uh) but the problem is that the skin and certain organs of many puffer fish are very poisonous to humans.

This puffy fish produce rapid and violent death..Puffer’s poisoning causes deadening of the tongue and lips, dizziness, vomiting, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing, and muscle paralysis. Victims die from suffocation as diaphragm muscles are paralyzed. Most of the victims die after four to 24 hours. There is no known antidote, Most deaths from fugu happen when untrained people catch and prepare the fish.

Statistics show that there were 20 to 44 incidents of fugu poisoning per year between 1996 and 2006 in all of Japan and up to six incidents per year led to death. Since Fugu’s poison can cause near instantaneous death, only licensed chefs are allowed to prepare it.

via The World`s Biggests: 10 Most Poisonous Animals in the World.

It seems that as the mating season of the Alligators is nearing, the reptiles are busy finding a mate.

On Monday a 7-feet long alligator was found in a middle School in the coastal city of Tampa. The alligator was found roaming in the premise of the school building and reports claim that the authorities informed the Tampa police department at around 7 p.m.

The students of the school who had started arriving by then were kept away from the alligators. Before the police arrived to take hold of the situation and trap the alligator, the staff members of the school were able to coax the alligator and trap him inside the boy’s bathroom. The Police arrived with trappers from the Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Service to capture the alligator.

Marc Pellicano, a sixth-grade science teacher of the school has revealed to media sources that he noticed the giant alligator just after getting out of his car in the parking area of the school on Monday morning.

He said that he immediately got to action to see to it that the alligator did not attack anybody or nobody got close enough to the alligator. The alligator then according to another teacher entered the school building and stopped in front of the cafeteria.

From there on it was coaxed by the staff members into the toilet and locked from outside until the trappers and the police arrived.

David Rocco, one of the school teachers said that the alligator was not aggressive and that the only time it got a bit aggressive was when the noose was put around it.

Gary Morse of Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Service speculated that the alligator might have entered the school on Friday before the gates were shut.

via 7-Feet Long Gator Found In A Tampa Middle School.

A tornado unleashed a “war zone” of destruction in northwest Ohio, destroying dozens of homes and an emergency services building as a line of storms killed at least seven people and briefly threatened the Northeast on Sunday.

Storms collapsed a movie-theater roof in Illinois and ripped siding off a building at a Michigan nuclear plant, forcing a shutdown. But most of the worst was reserved for a 100-yard-wide, 7-mile-long strip southeast of Toledo now littered with wrecked vehicles, splintered wood and family possessions.

Tornadoes Sweep Through Midwest

The tornado ripped the roof and back wall off Lake High School's gymnasium at about 11 p.m. Saturday, several hours before the graduation ceremony was supposed to begin. The school board president said one of the victims was the father of the class valedictorian.

Two buses were tossed on their sides and another was thrown about 50 yards, landing on its top near the high school's football field. More than 10 hours later, its right turn signal was still blinking.

Lake Township Police Chief Mark Hummer flew over the damaged area and said at least 50 homes were destroyed and another 50 severely damaged, as well as six commercial buildings. The storm fell over an area of farm fields and light industry, narrowly missing the heavily populated suburbs on the southern edge of Toledo.

“It’s a war zone,” Hummer said. “It’s pretty disheartening.”

Hummer said Sunday afternoon all buildings had been searched and everyone was accounted for. Rescuers were searching a wooded area and a field near the worst-hit portion of town as a precaution.

The tornado turned a township police and emergency medical services building into a mishmash of 2-by-4 framing and pink insulation. Hummer was talking to a police dispatcher by phone when the storm hit.

“She started saying, ‘The building is shaking,’ and then another dispatcher came on and said, ‘The roof just blew off,” he said.

The storm ripped off most of the building’s back half and wrapped part of the metal roof around a tree. At least six police vehicles – half the township’s fleet – were destroyed, and one car was tossed into the spot where the building once stood.

The storm knocked out emergency services for a short time, and all the emergency dispatchers and 911 operators had to be moved to a nearby town.

“When the people who are supposed to help you are victims of the storm, it does take you a minute to catch your breath,” Hummer said.

Those killed included a person outside the police department and a motorist, Hummer said. He said a young child and two other victims were from nearby Millbury, a bedroom community of roughly 1,200 about 10 miles southeast of Toledo. Hummer said two other people died at hospitals but he did not have details.

One of the victims was the father of Lake High School’s valedictorian, said Tim Krugh, president of the school district’s board. Krugh said the school has rescheduled graduation for Tuesday evening at a Toledo community college.

Neighbors said the house of the valedictorian’s family was destroyed, and all that was left was a basement filled with water.

More than 30 people in the Toledo area were hospitalized. Two adults and two children were in critical condition, said Mercy hospital system spokeswoman Gloria Enk.

In southeastern Michigan, severe storms and high winds ripped siding off a building at the Fermi 2 nuclear plant, causing it to shut down automatically, said Dan Smith, the public information officer for Monroe County. Investigators were inspecting the nuclear plant on the shore of Lake Erie on Sunday morning, and the plant was expected to go back into operation, Smith said.

About 35,000 people were without power but it wasn’t clear whether that was directly related to the nuclear plant’s shutdown or because of damage to power lines in the area, Smith said.

In Dundee, Mich., 11 people were injured after high winds blew off part of a roof at a waterpark, reports CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano.

Tornadoes also were reported in Illinois. More than a dozen people were injured in Dwight, where about 40 mobile homes and 10 other homes were destroyed, Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson said.

The roof of a movie theater collapsed in Elmwood, Ill., about 30 miles west of Peoria. State Trooper Dustin Pierce said 150 to 200 people had been inside, but they had been evacuated to the basement and no one was hurt.

The storms left a trail of damaged homes in northern Indiana and two tornadoes were reported, but no one was injured. In eastern Iowa, buildings were damaged and one person was hurt when a tornado touched down in Maquoketa.

A cold front colliding with warm unstable air produced the storms that struck Saturday night, meteorologist Marty Mullen of the National Weather Service said, and that front was draped from New England south through the mid-Atlantic region later Sunday. The storm weakened as it headed east and a tornado watch for much of New England was canceled.

The day after the Toledo-area tornado hit, residents were searching fields looking for anything salvageable.

The storm destroyed Ronald Johns’ house and barn and flung his cast-iron bath tub into a wheat field, but his wife managed to find a wristwatch, still working, amid the scattered bits of their rural home near Millbury.

On Saturday night, Johns looked out the window and couldn’t even see the barn directly across the road. The chimney fell through the first floor as soon as the retired couple made it to the basement, pinning Johns with bricks until his wife, Jan, managed to free him.

Ronald Johns, 74, said they were lucky. “We didn’t get down there five seconds too fast,” he said.

Truck driver Carl Gooden, 54, said he, his wife and his adult son were sitting on the porch when they heard a roar and ran for the bathroom.

Wind tore off most of the home’s roof and ripped open the north side of house, exposing a bedroom and a closet where sweat shirts and dresses were still on their hangers. In the front yard, a sliver of aluminum siding from a neighbor’s barn was wrapped around a teetering telephone pole.

Gooden said his family lost two garages and five vehicles. The front yard was littered with decades of memories: a Loretta Lynn album, a porcelain lamp and a green golf bag were among the recognizable items.

“My heart sinks,” Gooden said. “I worked a lifetime for all this.”

But he wasn’t about to go in to retrieve items such as his wife’s jewelry or his NASCAR collectibles. His home was knocked 5 feet off its foundation and basement washer and dryer were all that was holding it up.

“It’s not worth dying for,” he said.

via 7 Killed as Storms Sweep Through Midwest – CBS News.

Link

A New Jersey family still recovering from the accidental death of a daughter four years ago is now grieving for a second daughter who was killed in a crocodile attack last week.

Lauren Failla, 25, was attacked by a crocodile on April 29 while on vacation with her boyfriend off India’s Andaman Islands, authorities said.

A graduate of Vanderbilt University who was studying at Sotheby’s Art Institute in London, Failla was snorkeling in the water off Radhanagar Beach when the crocodile attacked. Her boyfriend, who was videotaping the scene, caught the gruesome attack on camera. Failla’s body, which was quickly taken away by the waves, was found on a neighboring beach the next day.

The incident has prompted demands for the Andaman administration to have trained lifeguards on duty in tourist destinations like Radhanagar Beach, which is considered one of the top 10 beaches in the world.

Michael Tran, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said roughly 24 crocodile attacks — four of them fatal — have been reported in the area over the last 25 years. Experts have arrived on the island to help catch the killer crocodile.

“Such an unnecessary death: if there had been proper warnings and statements that there are in fact man-eating crocodiles nearby, I am sure Lauren would not have risked swimming,” Failla’s cousin, Gloria McLean Hiratsuka, wrote to the Daily Record of New Jersey. “She thought she was safe. Her father made a point of saying she was not a big risk-taker, always a little reserved, all the more since her sister’s untimely death four years ago.”

Failla’s older sister, Emily, a 24-year-old teacher, fell to her death while rock-climbing in Washington state in July of 2006. A Family member said the young women’s parents were still mourning their first daughter when Lauren died.

A memorial service was to be held for Lauren on Saturday, with a funeral to be held on May 15.

Link

CHANDIMANDIR: In a rare attack, a 12-foot Rock Python nearly killed a daily wager at Army’s Shiwalik Golf Course (SGC) at Chandimandir on Tuesday morning. The snake attacked Id Mohammad around 7am, when the youngster and his companions Lakhbir Singh and Jaspreet Singh, were crossing a thick lantana forest in Shiwalik foothills.

The python, which was lying in ambush along a narrow forest path, leapt out and wrapped its muscular body from the tail-end around Mohammad’s leg, making the labourer fall and also tearing his trousers in the process.

‘‘My companions were about 500 yards behind. When the snake leapt out, I screamed for help. Despite trying hard to free myself, I couldn’t do it. The python’s grip was so strong that I couldn’t move… I thought it would kill me,’’ Mohammad told TOI.

When Lakhbir and Jaspreet caught up, they were also attacked by the hissing snake. ‘‘They threw stones at the python but it would not let go. Finally, a huge boulder hit it on the head, weakening the snake’s clutch. I managed to free myself,’’ the daily wager from Chandkotla village added. The repeated punches left the huge snake dead.

Usually, snakes attack humans only when they are provoked or stepped upon. However, this python ambush was quite extraordinary. Nodding in agreement, SGC honorary secretary Lt Col (retd) Gurdial Singh, who visited the spot, said, ‘‘Many snakes of different varieties have been spotted here. However, this is the first such attack. The forest abounds in wildlife with plenty of sambhar and wild boar often seen roaming around. There is a chance that the python may have been very hungry and mistook labourers for its natural prey.’’

Capt (retd) Suresh Sharma of Panchkula-based Snake Cell said, ‘‘Only anacondas in South America are known to lie in ambush for human beings. In my experience of 18 years, I have not come come across an incident where a python has attacked a person.’’ Pythons fall under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The monstrous proportions of the python sent a shiver down the spine of golfers and caddies after it was brought out of the jungle to be buried in a deep pit at the golf course. Searching for lost balls, caddies often chance upon the unlikely visitors that are spotted on the back nine holes of SGC during monsoons.

Link

Crocodile kills 35-year-old

Statesman News Service 
KENDRAPARA, April 30: In the latest outbreak of man-animal conflict, preying estuarine crocodiles have killed a 35-year-old woman and attacked at least four people in and around the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary. 
It’s pertinent to note here that two adult crocodiles were killed in retaliatory attack by the locals since past two months. 
An adult crocodile pounced on 35-year-old Mrs Rangalata Pati near a creek in Dangmal village killing her instantly. 
Four people including a woman were wounded in Iswarpur, Dangmal and Talchua villages under Rajnagar tehsil as crocodiles straying into village water bodies pounced on them. The injured who sustained multiple wounds are stated to be out of danger, according to Rajnagar block headquarters hospital sources. 
There are official reports of saltwater crocodiles from the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary straying into the Petashala and Kharasrota rivers. 
With the breeding season of crocodiles fast approaching, they have turned restive and perturbed over human interference into their habitat. 
The residents of Gobardhanpur, Naranpur, Arakhadiha, Rajeswarinagar, Chandibaunsamula, Padmanavapur, Iswarpur, Sanagoji, Okilapala and a dozen other seaside villages are thoroughly exposed to possible attack by these crocodiles and accordingly the local sarpanchs and GP representatives have been instructed to alert the villagers, forest department sources said.

Link

Success and Survival Tips From An Alligator Wrestler

Posted by: lance in Dog Swimming Pool

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In the film ‘The Waterboy’, a teacher asked: “Why are alligators so aggressive?”

The waterboy replied: “Momma tells me alligators are ornery because they have all those teeth but no toothbrush!”

Nigel Marven, the wild life expert, was not content with what his mother told him about alligators. He spent a year in Southern Florida in 2002 studying their ways and making films about them.

A collection of his experiences on film are called ‘Nigel Marven’s Alligator Adventure’. Nigel, back in England, had noticed an advertisement which read:

“Wanted! Alligator Wrestler. Must Be Brave and a Risk Taker!!! No Experience Needed.”

The ad described Nigel exactly. Alligator wrestlers were needed because Southern Florida was in its second year of drought. Nigel commented:

“One and a half million alligators are getting desperate and have started coming into town in search of water causing big problems. That’s where my special mission will come in – dealing with nuisance alligators.”

Nigel realized that some kind of training would help him to survive and to succeed in his job. He chose to train with an experienced alligator wrestler, a Miccosukee Indian, called Kenny.

The Miccosukee have lived and hunted alligators in this area for centuries.

An alligator’s jaws have a crushing power of 3000lbs per square inch. Their teeth are not as sharp as crocodiles so they do not chew their prey. They thrash their victims around till body parts are ripped off and can be swallowed whole.

Another difference is that crocodile snouts are narrow and pointed whereas alligator snouts are broad and round.

Kenny waved his hat in front of the eyes of a ten foot alligator to get it to open its mouth. He tapped above its snout several times with his hand

He then put his hand close to its mouth. When it snapped its jaws shut and then opened them, he moved in fast and closed its jaws with his left palm underneath and his right palm on top. He finally gripped its jaws with his thumbs on top and his fingers underneath.

He moved closer bending the alligator’s neck back with his left knee. He then moved anticlockwise round the left side of the alligator stepping first with his right leg, holding its jaws shut with his left hand alone until he could sit on its back pulling its head back with both hands. Again his thumbs were on top and his fingers underneath.

It was Nigel’s turn next. He had a go at a five foot alligator. What it lacked in size, it would make up for in speed. He approached it from the rear. It took him a while to get his courage up for his first move.

He then moved in fast squatting on its back just behind its front legs and covering its eyes with his left hand which also slammed its head towards the ground. This closed its mouth so Nigel could grab its jaws with his thumbs on top of its upper jaw and his fingers underneath the lower jaw.

To tie up its jaws he would have to bend its neck back until the alligator’s closed snout could be held in a clamped position under his own chin! The alligator did not enjoy this experience:

“I can hear that hissing. It’s going all through my body.”

He got off by putting its head down and then moving quickly away from its jaws.

Nigel decided he had learned enough grappling techniques and headed off to see the creatures in the wild. He was, after all, a wild life scientist as well as an alligator wrestler!

That evening he travelled to a small pool packed with alligators. He could see orange red eyes and feel the tension in the air. It would have been suicide to try and swim in this pool so he punted his way in.

One alligator came right up alongside his boat:

“They are curious about anything new and it is clear they are really hungry. 
This is magical. You can see them gliding through the water. Some are hunting.

“They’ve eaten all the turtles and the fish and all there is left is each other. The smaller alligators try to keep out of the way of the bigger ones by sticking to the shallows but sometimes there is no escape.”

One huge alligator attacked an adolescent alligator:

“It is shaking it like a dog shaking a rat. They can’t chew. They can only grip so they thrash and crash until they dismember the bodies of large prey.”

Later in daylight, Nigel moved close in the shallows to a large alligator and started tapping it on top of its nostrils until it opened its mouth wide. It clearly enjoyed having its snout rubbed.

Nigel put one hand in its mouth to point out the stubs of teeth that the alligator grips with. He was at the same time talking to and looking at the camera!

He then put his head in its mouth to give viewers a closer look at the throat! A camera was attached to his forehead. An alligator has no lips to seal its mouth from water so it has a false palate which seals its throat instead.

Nigel was determined to show a close up of this amazing design feature. He moved his head further and further in. Suddenly, the alligator lost patience and snapped its jaws twice.

Nigel narrowly escaped without losing his head or his arm not to mention the camera!

“Wow! Wow! I had to be fast there, didn’t I really? Pheaw! That nearly spoiled my weekend!”

Alligators cannot survive for long outside water so, in times of drought, they create their own ponds or ’swimming pools’. They push mud back with their front legs and then sweep it away with their back legs and tails. These pools help other species to survive as well.

Nigel decided to explore a pool ‘owned’ by a large female alligator. He entered the pool while the alligator was recharging her energies at the side of the pool in the sun. He estimated this would take about half an hour.

He managed to unearth a salamander and an aggressively vicious snapping turtle that was only too keen to attack both him and the cameraman! Its jaws are designed for cutting and not grinding. A bite could snip off a finger or thumb.

Throughout the program, Nigel was full of enthusiasm. He was delighted to discover some of the most horrendous looking creatures that most people would pay good money to avoid.

He only just escaped the pool before the ‘owner’ reached him.

His next ‘adventure’ was to swim with huge bull alligators and female alligators during their mating rituals. He was told by an expert to keep at least twenty feet away from the bulls, to keep low in the water and to splash water towards an alligator if it moved towards him.

He ignored some of this advice and got within six feet of a huge bull alligator. The bulls lift their heads and tails high out of the water and bellow as part of the courting ritual.

They vibrate so much with the sound of the bellow and a deeper sound below the level of human hearing, that the water ‘dances’ in the air above their backs.

Female alligators bellow too but at a higher more ladylike pitch. The water does not dance on their backs.

Nigel entered the water, as planned, to get closer to the sounds and sights of this magical scene.

He was so absorbed in watching the amazing mating ritual of one bull that he failed to notice an alligator stalking him. Fortunately, he turned and saw it in time. The water was shallow and this helped him get out unscathed.

During mating the female is submerged underneath and if the pair gets carried away she may even drown. Normally, however, her eggs are fertilized and she lays them within two or three weeks and then after two or three months the little alligators emerge.

Nigel next swam with some manatees. These peaceful mammals can be fifteen feet long and weigh 3000 pounds – as much as a car or a rhinoceros.

They eat a hundred pounds of green stuff a day and have 150 foot long intestines to process all the plants they eat. Water hyacinths are their main diet in Florida.

They are so large that they do not need to fear the alligators. They usually come up to breathe every four minutes or so but can stay submerged for over sixteen minutes.

At one point an American crocodile joined the swimming party. There are only about 500 American crocodiles left – all in Florida. Nigel’s reaction was typical:

“For me swimming with one is a privilege indeed.”

In the next ‘adventure’, Nigel drew away an eight foot mother alligator from her hatching eggs so that he could get close enough to do some research. He was thrilled to hear the babies chirping as they hatched.

As he came close, she turned and snapped at him with stunning speed. But he backed off with equal speed. Maybe she was just snapping her jaws together to frighten him away. She snapped again.

He encouraged her to come towards him once more and tripped over some tree roots on his left. Luckily, he kept on his feet and survived yet again!

“Cor! That snap really got my heart beating. If they run at you they can run at twelve miles an hour. I should be able to out run her. Wow! Come on, Mum! Wow!” Each time Nigel said ‘Wow!’ the alligator came at him.

Eventually, Nigel lay close and low on the ground watching entranced as she helped the baby alligators to hatch by rolling the eggs around in her mouth:

“Astounding animal behaviour – this is what I live for. This gets the blood coursing through my veins. The baby alligators walk towards their mum. They know that she’s the best way to get to the water.”

When she went off to take one of two of her babies to the water, he examined the others to see what sex they were. Their sex is determined by the temperature they are incubated at:

“This is ridiculous! These are reptiles but I feel like a proud father. This is the first day of these little hatchling lives. They could live to fifty.”

Nigel also found some baby turtles in the alligator nest. He carried these to the water in his hands.

Alligator hatchlings stay together as a family for two or three years but only a few will make it to adulthood.

From day one they catch food for themselves but they are also hunted by predators like otters. The Mother alligator can’t be everywhere at once especially when she has about forty baby alligators to protect.

There is one alligator for every ten people in Florida. They can be tempted by different kinds of food like dogs. They take about a hundred a year but it is not just pets that are in jeopardy. Alligators can turn up anywhere. Fortunately attacks on humans are extremely rare.

Nigel met fourteen year old Edna Wilkes and her friend Amanda. They were swimming at night in a lake when Edna was attacked by an alligator. She had never seen alligators in that lake before and wasn’t scared about swimming there.

She thought her friend Mark was squeezing her arm and said: “Mark! Stop playing around!” Then she saw a snout. Her arm was in the alligator’s jaws.

She was pulled underwater before she had a chance to scream and the alligator started to spin. Alligators drown their prey and spin to tear off chunks of flesh.

Her friend could not ‘bear to see her die’ and handed her a board that Edna got her upper body onto. Edna used her free right arm to try to open the alligator’s mouth and to ‘mess’ with him:

“I guess I irritated him and he let me go!”

Edna kept her left arm although it had multiple fractures.

Now it was time for Nigel to put his skills and knowledge to the test.

A nuisance alligator had been spotted in a swimming pool. It was large and on the bottom of the pool. Nigel would have to swim underwater to capture it with his bare hands.

He was, not surprisingly, nervous. He asked for advice from Joe, an expert friend.

Joe advised: “Be slow, careful and deliberate. Cover the eyes and make sure the mouth is closed before grabbing its snout. If necessary, push its head to the bottom of the pool to close its mouth.”

Nigel’s swam up behind the alligator along its back His first attempt to grab its closed snout failed and he came up gasping for air. On the second attempt:

“His jaws just missed me!”

Third time lucky – he swam above the alligator and grabbed the snout with the jaws closed with his left hand. He brought the alligator in near the steps into the pool. His friend Joe helped him tape the mouth shut and then lift it out of the pool

As usual, Nigel saw the positives of this terrifying experience:

“This bloke gave me a beautiful ride in the swimming pool.”

Florida laws said that a nuisance alligator over four feet long should be killed but Nigel made sure that this one was released into an Everglades sanctuary where it could live on for many years to come. He commented:

“I just hope that the people in Florida never lose patience with their prehistoric neighbours. I have enjoyed my alligator adventure so much.”

My step brother emailed me this poem which shows that alligators are not necessarily the guilty party when it comes to attacks on human beings! It is called ‘The Purist’ by Ogden Nash:

I give you now Professor Twist,

A conscientious scientist,

Trustees exclaimed, “He never bungles!”

And sent him off to distant jungles.

Camped on a tropic riverside,

One day he missed his loving bride.

She had, the guide informed him later,

Been eaten by an alligator.

Professor Twist could not but smile.

“You mean,” he said, “a crocodile.”

Several success and survival tips can be learned from Nigel’s ‘adventures’.

Get training from the best in the business. Nigel sought advice from at least three experts. He also applied their advice although not all of it.

Maintain your enthusiasm for what you are doing even if you make mistakes. Churchill defined success as going from one failure to another without losing your enthusiasm. Nigel did not give up in the swimming pool.

Follow your passions. Nigel had bathed at home in his bath with young caymans from an early age. He later swam with alligators. He loved finding out about animals and reptiles.

Keep your childhood curiosity and sense of wonder so that you can enjoy your experiences on this amazing planet.

Chrissy Ogden wrote: ‘Keeping in touch with childhood memories keeps us believing in life’s simplest pleasures like a rainy afternoon, a swing set, and a giant puddle to play in.’ All through the film Nigel was playing in giant puddles.

Knowledge and fascination can lessen fear and panic. Nigel’s mind was so filled with his curiosity about the creatures he met up with that it did not have room for too much fear. Keep learning new things and your life will be less anxious and less fearful.

Don’t give up even if you feel your life is in the grip of an ‘alligator’ like debt or illness.

Be willing to take risks although I would not advise taking Nigel as your role model. I just checked on the internet to see if he is still alive. He is!

Link

Wildfires may keep Alligator Alley shut down through weekend

A growing wildfire in the Everglades has authorities warning that Alligator Alley, closed since Wednesday evening, could remain shut down until Monday.

Heavy smoke fills the sky Thursday at the 77 mile marker on Alligator Alley. The highway will remain closed through at least Friday, officials say. 

LOU TOMAN / SUN SENTINEL

BY DAVID SMILEY

DSMILEY@MIAMIHERALD.COM

A wildfire fueled for days by 10,000 acres of dangerously dry Everglades vegetation may force authorities to keep Alligator Alley closed for the weekend, creating headaches for travelers.

The Florida Highway Patrol has kept the highway closed since about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, when smoke from the fire began billowing over the roadway in spots of Collier County and Big Cypress National Preserve.

Officials hoped to open the 78-mile stretch of Interstate 75 on Friday, but with no rain expected and firefighters stretched to the limit, authorities say it is probable that the road will remain closed all of Saturday and possibly Sunday.

”We’re doing this for public safety,” Big Cypress spokesman Bob DeGross said. “I know it’s an inconvenience, but we’re being cautious.”

The highway has already been shut down for more than 48 hours because of the blaze, longer than the 46 cumulative hours the highway has been closed since 2003 due to wildfires, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.

For many, the closure has been only an annoyance, forcing drivers to take one or two-hour detours on U.S. 41 or State Road 80 to make the trek from Sunrise to Naples.

And for those who rely on the highway for business and income, a weekend closure is troubling, as well.

`TIME IS MONEY’

”If they keep it closed all weekend, there will be a financial impact because we have to take alternate routes, spending more money on fuel to get to the East Coast and longer hours,” said Boris Espinosa, a dispatcher with B&G Carriers, a produce shipping company based in Naples. “Time is money.”

Businesses at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation have felt a hit, with few customers making the long detour to get to the reservation.

”We are down significantly,” said Cindy Malin, a spokeswoman for Billie Swamp Safari. “Mother Nature is in charge right now.”

And as Alligator Alley remains closed, money that would normally flood into the Florida Department of Transportation via tolls at either end of the highway has run dry.

More than $85,000 was lost between Wednesday evening and noon Friday, FDOT spokesman Chad Huff said.

Should the highway remain closed on Saturday and Sunday, the agency could stand to lose another $60,000 or so, he said.

Despite a strong easterly wind blowing over the fire and reducing smoke during the day, weather forecasts predict little relief.

Strassberg said South Florida has been abnormally dry during the past 16 months, particularly in Collier County.

”There is no chance of rain across the interior where the fire is,” said meteorologist Gordon Strassberg.

Strassberg said winds blowing from the east Friday and Saturday should disperse the smoke some, but likely not enough to make driving safe, given the location of the blaze — near State Road 29 toward the middle of Alligator Alley.

”It’s in a really bad spot,” he said. “It’s close enough to the roadway where there will at least be some effects no matter how strong the winds are during the day, and at night, the winds will likely calm and smoke will tend to settle near the ground. There could also be some patchy fog mixed in.”

He said rainfall at Immokalee, the location closest to Big Cypress where the National Weather Service measures precipitation levels, has been more than nine inches below average since October.

Strassberg said the fire is believed to have been sparked by lightning, meaning the blaze began smoldering during a thunderstorm.

DeGross, the Big Cypress spokesman, said about 100 firefighters from several state agencies have been battling spot fires to keep the blaze east of State Road 29.

HEALTH OF THE PARK

The park’s dry conditions have officials concerned that other fires could spark elsewhere in the 720,000-acre preserve, where most of the blaze has burned.

However, he said the fire has not damaged the park.

”It’s actually a benefit to the ecology of the forest,” he said. “Fires tend to remove heavy and old vegetation in areas for new vegetation to grow.”

Link

I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t even know there were bears in India. But I looked it up, and there are actually 3 different species of bear there.

Four survive bear attack

RAJ KUMAR

Ranchi, April 24: Four people were injured when a wild bear attacked them at Lathgaon village in Gumla district, about 132km from the state capital, this morning. The injured — Mohammed Nasir (60), Sukru Oroan (35), Bande Oroan (55) and Narayan Singh (40) — have been admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and Sisai primary health centre. Nasir was on his way to a neighbouring village to buy cattle, the bear appeared from nowhere and attacked him. “I was on my way to finalise a deal when the bear attacked. I somehow managed to struggle free and ran for dear life. However, my right hand was badly hurt,” he said. The next incident took place a kilometre away. Sukru was harvesting onions in his field when he saw the bear. Before he could do anything, the animal attacked him and the struggle continued for over 15 minutes. Sukru was saved by villagers who came to rescue him with traditional weapons. Scratches and bite marks were found on Sukru’s body and they took him to a health centre first. He was later referred to RIMS. The wild bear attacked two others barely 500m away. Bande and Narayan were also working in their fields when the animal pounced on them. Both managed to escape though not without injuries. The villagers, after coming to know about the incidents, chased the bear, which disappeared into a forest, about 5km from the Lathgaon. Principal chief forest conservator (wildlife) A.K. Singh said that such incidents were quite common because there were many bears in the forests around Gumla.