CUYAMACA, Calif — A 67-year-old La Jolla man died from a rattlesnake bite he suffered while wading through an East Country stream as part of a trout study near Cuyamaca Reservoir, it was reported Saturday.

William “Skip” Price, reportedly an avid fly fisherman, was wearing water sandals when he was bitten on one foot by the rattler along Boulder Creek Wednesday, Gary Strawn of Santee, one of five people with Price, told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Strawn said Price stopped breathing within minutes, and he and others performed CPR for about 20 minutes until paramedics arrived.

A sheriff’s helicopter took Price to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, where he was declared dead about 1 p.m., according to the county Medical Examiner’s Office.

Strawn, conservation chairman of San Diego Fly Fishers, said he met Price that morning when they and four other fly-fishing volunteers carpooled out Boulder Creek Road, in the Pine Hills area northeast of Cuyamaca Reservoir, to take part in a study of native steelhead trout.

Price was bitten within minutes of starting the survey as he stepped over logs and boulders along the streambed, Strawn said.

Strawn said he never saw the snake, “but it must have been a big one. The bite marks on top of his foot were an inch and a half across.”

via La Jolla Man Dies From Rattlesnake Bite In East County – San Diego News Story – KGTV San Diego.

Wyoming Game & Fish and U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials are investigating the report of a bear-caused human injury west of Cody.

The report indicated that a hunter was injured early Thursday afternoon by a grizzly bear while hunting near Jim Mountain. The hunter received injuries to his right arm.

Initial information indicates the bear was shot and killed by the hunter after the attack occurred. The hunter was hunting with a partner, who was not in the immediate vicinity of the encounter.

After walking out three miles to the trailhead and driving himself to Cody, the hunter was admitted to West Park Hospital and remained in the hospital overnight for observation.

via Cody Enterprise: Home – Man allegedly kills griz after attack.

Wyoming Game & Fish and U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials are investigating the report of a bear-caused human injury west of Cody.

The report indicated that a hunter was injured early Thursday afternoon by a grizzly bear while hunting near Jim Mountain. The hunter received injuries to his right arm.

Initial information indicates the bear was shot and killed by the hunter after the attack occurred. The hunter was hunting with a partner, who was not in the immediate vicinity of the encounter.

After walking out three miles to the trailhead and driving himself to Cody, the hunter was admitted to West Park Hospital and remained in the hospital overnight for observation.

via Cody Enterprise: Home – Man allegedly kills griz after attack.

Orion Township — An Orion Township man bitten by an eastern massasauga rattlesnake, Michigan’s only venomous snake, is recovering after being treated with anti-venom at a local hospital and released Friday evening.

The unidentified man was walking with his beagle in the woods behind his home around 6:45 p.m. when he was bitten, according to Sgt. Mark Buffa of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Beaumont Hospital spokeswoman Karen LeDuc said the man was brought in shortly after the bite.

“He was treated by an anti-venom we received from the Detroit Zoo, and released,” she said.

Buffa said the man’s dog was bit first. When he “came up to investigate, he got bit,” Buffa said.

The dog’s condition was unclear late Friday.

The eastern massasauga rattlesnake is found in a variety of wetlands and woods throughout the lower peninsula.

It is the only Michigan snake with segmented rattles on the end of its tail and elliptical (“cat like”) vertical pupils in the eyes. The neck is narrow, contrasting with the wide head and body, and the head appears triangular in shape. It usually feeds on small rodents and frogs, and adults can grow to 2

to 3

feet long.

Friday’s incident marks the third snake bite involving an eastern massasauga rattlesnake in a month.

A dog was bitten by one in late September and also treated with anti-venom from the Detroit Zoo.

via Man recovering after rattlesnake bite | detnews.com | The Detroit News.

DELAWARE, Ohio — The actions of a neighbor may have saved the life of a 67-year-old man who was attacked and mauled on Tuesday by a group of dogs.

Family members said James Bright was walking to his aunt’s house, as he does each day, when four Cane Corsos began attacking him.

Louis Clegg said he came upon the scene and saw the dogs tearing away at Bright, 10TV’s Kevin Landers reported.

“(His) pants were tore apart, legs chewed up (and) the back of his head was mangled,” Clegg said.

Clegg said he jumped in his car and used the vehicle to scare the dogs away.

“I was a foot away from the man,” he said.  “I backed up, honked the horn and charged to scare them off.”

It was enough to stop the dogs from mauling Bright.  The owner of the dogs appeared a short time later and corralled the animals, Landers reported.

The owner, Virgil Mitchell III, has not been charged in connection with Tuesday’s attack, but court records showed he had been cited eight times from 2002 to 2008 for violations that included allowing his dogs to run at large and failing to immunize them for rabies, Landers reported.

Mitchell could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The dogs were being held at the Delaware County Animal Shelter.

Each of the dogs involved in the attack was being kept in a separate cage, 10TV’s Shayla Reaves reported.

The county’s assistant dog warden could not comment on the case, but police said animal control officers were finishing paperwork in connection with the attack.

Charges were filed against the dog’s owner on Wednesday afternoon,  Reaves reported.

Bright, who was airlifted by helicopter to Grant Medical Center in Columbus after the attack, was expected to survive his wounds. He was recovering from skin grafting surgery Reaves reported.

Bright’s son told 10TV News that he spoke with his father, and his father expressed relief that it was him and not a child that was attacked.

“When I talked to my dad that’s the first thing he said, ‘Thank God it wasn’t a kid,’” said John Bright.

via Delaware Man Uses Car To Stop Dog Attack | WBNS-10TV, Central Ohio News.

John Chelminiak, 57, a city council employee in Bellevue, Washington, was mauled by the black bear at the end of the driveway to his holiday home in Lake Wenatchee, Washington.

He had been out walking his dogs when the bear struck.

His wife Lynn Semler called 911 and said: “My husband has been attacked by a bear. He’s at the bottom of the driveway.”

In the background Mr Chelminiak could be heard saying he was dying.

He suffered wounds to the upper part of his body, and underwent surgery in Seattle where he is recovering.

His wife, who ran to help him, said: “I thought at first it was a black dog, and then just a couple strides down I realised it was a bear and John had been yelling bear, bear.”

The female black bear, thought to be about 10-years-old and without cubs, was killed a few hours after the attack.

via Man cried ‘I’m dying’ during black bear attack – Telegraph.

COLUMBIA STATION, Ohio — The Cuyahoga County coroner’s office determined that a Lorain County man killed in a bear attack died of multiple wounds.

Spokesman Powell Caesar said today there were no surprises in the autopsy of Brent Kandra.

He said the man suffered numerous sharp wounds and blunt injuries, “what would be expected in a bear attack.”

The black bear that mauled Kandra has been euthanized.

Sam Mazzola, the owner of the bear, had said he would leave the bear’s fate up to the Kandra family; they opted to have the animal killed.

Brent Kandra, 24, had played and worked with Mazzola’s animals about six years.

One of Mazzola’s nine bears attacked Kandra Thursday evening when Kandra was feeding it.

Black bears are considered indigenous to Ohio, but there are nearly as many of them in private ownership as in the wild. State officials Friday said there are 24 black bears registered to private owners in Northeast Ohio — nine of them belonging to Mazzola — and 20 more in other regions of the state.

State officials estimate Ohio’s wild black bear population numbers between 60 and 80. Most live in the southeastern part of the state where it’s less populated and more forested.

via Man killed by bear suffered multiple wounds | cleveland.com.

COOS BAY — An Oregon man says a great white shark knocked him off his surfboard near Winchester Bay.

David Lowden told “The World” newspaper in Coos Bay that he was paddling his board last week near the south jetty of the Umpqua River when a shark he estimated at nearly 14 feet broke the surface behind him.

“As I’m flying off the board, I got a good look at the shape of the shark,” said Lowden, who was not injured in the encounter.

The shark emerged halfway from the water and broke the fins off his surfboard.

“That probably scared it a bit. It thrashed around a bit … and after that it disappeared,” he said.

Lowden, 29, and another man surfed to the beach while a third surfer, Lowden’s friend, Mark Lorincz, of North Bend, clambered onto the jetty and ditched his board.

Lowden phoned the U.S. Coast Guard to report the encounter, then contacted the Shark Research Committee, a private group that tracks shark attack data.

A release from that organization characterized it as an “unprovoked shark attack.” It was the only recorded attack this year in Oregon, and the fifth along the Pacific Coast.

Alan Shanks, a professor at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston, said the encounter described by Lowden is typical shark behavior.

Shanks said great white sharks often attack from below to stun seals, sea lions and other large prey.

“These guys are primarily big-thing eaters,” Shanks said. “A surfboard from below has a silhouette not unlike a marine mammal.”

Lowden said local surfers frequently see sharks. He has spotted six sharks while surfing on the Oregon coast, including one that bumped his board in 2006.

“I wasn’t that surprised, to tell you the truth,” Lowden said. “It’s not the first time I’ve had an encounter.”

via Oregon man reports encounter with great white shark | statesmanjournal.com | Statesman Journal.

(CBS)  An Arctic explorer survived a polar bear attack.

Sebastian Nilssen, of Norway, says he woke up with his head in the bear’s mouth last week.

Ht told the website Asylum.com, “I grabbed for my shotgun and tried to shoot it but the polar bear had snapped the gun in half. It must have been only a minute I was in his jaws, but it felt like forever.”

As the bear stood up with him in its mouth, a friend shot the bear dead.

Nilssen says he’s not angry at the bear — because it was probably very hungry.

Asylum says, “Nilssen was airlifted to the hospital and underwent three hours of emergency surgery to repair a pierced lung and stem the flow of blood from bite marks on his neck, which were inches from a vital artery. ”

via Man Wakes Up with Head in Polar Bear’s Mouth – The Early Show – CBS News.

Ever since Jaws, great whites have had a reputation as killing machines that has never seemed much point questioning.

However, that could all be about to change – after a study into the fearsome predators’ dining habits.

Scientists towed a 36ft Brydes whale carcass into a well-known hunting ground for the animals in an exercise aimed at documenting how they tackled the huge free lunch.

And these amazing pictures show how up to 30 of them stripped a single whale carcass – and gave an ‘extraordinary’ insight into how the much-feared predators behave.

But while many would have expected a feeding frenzy and potentially lethal fights between the razor-teethed gians, the behaviour observed was quite different.

The sharks appeared to select choice cuts of the dead whale and did not appear to be aggressive towards each other.

Free lunch: The 30 great white sharks were provided with a whale carcass so scientists could study their eating habits

Tasty findings: Alison Kock was the principal scientist at Save Our Seas Shark Centre and Shark Spotting Programme, at Cape Town in South Africa and was surprised by the sharks

Alison Kock, 33, the principal scientist at Save Our Seas Shark Centre and Shark Spotting Programme, at Cape Town South Africa, said: ‘Contrary to their reputation as mindless killers, the level of selectivity for which parts of the dead whale they ate was extraordinary.

‘They targeted the energy-rich blubber, often making repeated “test bites” where no flesh was removed, and removing flesh only once they had determined it was what they wanted. If they got a mouthful of muscle, they often spat it out.

‘They were very picky.’

It’s thought the huge whale was killed after being struck by a boat and was found floating towards Miller’s Point near Cape Town, South Africa, where the clean up operation for the local authorities would have been difficult as their huge bodies are harder to remove on land.

It was also feared the body – giving off oils that attract predators like sharks – may have drawn in great whites to an area frequented by swimmers.

Kock added: ‘Permission was granted by the authorities to have the dead whale towed to nearby Seal Island where the carcass was less of an issue and the sharks could help solve the clean-up problem.

‘In addition it provided an unparalleled opportunity to document white shark behaviour and record the number of sharks in the area.

‘Whale carcasses are believed to be a very important source of food for white sharks with some scientific evidence suggesting they follow whale migrations possibly to, opportunistically feed on dead or sick whales.’

Jaws: Alison Koch said: ‘Contrary to their reputation as mindless killers, the level of selectivity for which parts of the dead whale they ate was extraordinary’

Blubber: During the nine-day experiment Kock and her team made some shocking discoveries, including the fact that the sharks seemed to have a huge preference for soft blubber over tough muscle

During the nine-day experiment, which ended on Saturday, Kock and her team made some shocking discoveries, including the fact that the sharks seemed to have a huge preference for soft blubber over tough muscle.

‘In the case of the whale carcass the sharks knew exactly what they wanted,’ said Kock.

‘It provides evidence that when they bite into a surfboard, or kayak or person wearing a wetsuit they can immediately determine it’s not something they want to eat.

‘It’s very common in attacks on humans for white sharks to take a single bite and leave it at that. Our study provides more evidence that they are simply tasting and looking for meat that is nutritious. It shows that they are not just swimming around mindlessly eating everything they come across, as they are sometimes portrayed.’

She added: ‘I was surprised at the total number of white sharks that fed on the dead whale over the nine days we documented the event. We recorded over 30 different sharks in total. At one stage we had up to four white sharks feeding simultaneously on the carcass.

‘The first two days were the busiest with the most sharks, and the activity slowly decreased as the sharks had their fill. The last two days we recorded no sharks feeding on the carcass.

‘Many of the sharks I recognised as individuals hunting seals around the island from this shark season, as well as previous years. We used their unique dorsal fins to identify them, but there were also new sharks that I had never seen before.

‘The sharks showed very little aggression towards one another in the presence of such a large food source, often feeding side by side.

‘Some of the sharks we observed were gorging on the blubber and you could actually see their bellies getting fuller.

“Some would arrive quite skinny and by the end of their session they looked pregnant with their bellies bulging.’

During the study, the sharks reduced the carcass down to less than seven feet (two metres) of bone and muscle, having removed all the blubber.

Shark enthusiast Kock, added: ‘This is the ultimate example of the very important role sharks play in the ecosystem. That of recycling life, and of keeping our oceans healthy by removing dead and decaying animals like dead whales.’

via Shark attack: Incredible pictures of 30 great whites stripping a whale carcass provide ‘extraordinary’ insight into eating habits | Mail Online.

Chuck Patterson was stand-up paddle boarding when two juvenile great white sharks swam up to investigate. Luckily, Patterson had the camera on a pole….which is a little bit safer, I guess.

Here’s his description of the footage:

[...] within 5 minutes a 9 ft shark came out of no where and circled twice and slapped his tail on my board before disappearing. then a minute later a 7 ft young juvenile Great White swam circles around me for 12 minutes. It was an unreal experience that I will cherish forever

Gives you chills, no?

via Man films his near-miss shark attack.

White Shark Sightings On The Rise On East Coast : NPR.

From NPR, I’m Ira Flatow.

Over the last few years, there have been more and more confirmed shark sightings at beaches on the East Coast, and this summer is no exception. Just last week, lifeguards closed part of Rockaway Beach, that’s here in Brooklyn, after surfers spotted a shark.

Further north, officials closed a remote beach in Cape Cod when a spotter of planes saw not one, not two but at least three great white sharks lurking near the shore a couple weeks ago. No one’s been allowed in the water since then.

And then just yesterday, Cape Cod’s Chatham Harbor was closed to swimming due to the sighting of a 14-foot great white shark. Scary, huh?

But before you call in Quint and his too-small shark boat in “Jaws,” to put this in perspective, there hasn’t been a fatal shark attack in New England since way back in 1936. So why are we spotting so many more great whites today?

Is their population growing, or are we just more paranoid and getting better at spotting them? Here to sort out some of the facts from fiction is my guest. Greg Skomal is a senior biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He joins us by phone. Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY, Dr. Skomal.

Dr. GREG SKOMAL (Senior Biologist Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries): Thank you, Ira. It’s good to be here.

FLATOW: Good, thank you. Are there more sharks these days, or are we seeing more of them?

Dr. SKOMAL: I think it’s a function, it’s a number of variables we’re dealing with here, and it’s hard for us to really tell if there’s more sharks or just simply more effort.

Certainly, a lot of the sightings along the East Coast of the United States have to do with more people utilizing the shoreline, utilizing the water for various recreational activities and otherwise.

But in think in some areas, specifically off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts and Monomoy Island, we are indeed seeing more white sharks. And I think what we’re seeing is a shift in distribution of the white shark in that particular area.

FLATOW: And what is attracting them to that area?

Dr. SKOMAL: Over the course of the last couple of decades, we’ve been seeing a steady increase in the number of gray seals and a growing gray seal, resident gray seal population in that area. I believe it’s drawing these sharks closer to shore.

FLATOW: And why would we be seeing more gray seals now?

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, back in the early ’70s, we passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and it’s taken the last few decades for this population to actually recover to levels that pre-existed before we eradicated the species over the course of the last several decades. So we’ve got a growing population in response to protection by the U.S. and state governments.

FLATOW: So I guess what you’re saying is that we’re seeing a restoration of this coastal ecosystem to the way it used to be.

Dr. SKOMAL: Exactly, at least that’s the way we perceive it at this time. You know, we could be going back to what existed several hundred years ago, with a robust seal population being preyed upon by a robust white shark population.

FLATOW: 1-800-989-8255. We’re talking to Greg Skomal about the sightings of great white sharks along the East Coast. Maybe if you’ve seen one, you’d like to call in and talk about it. You can also Twitter us, send us a tweet @scifri, @-S-C-I-F-R-I. Or join the discussion on our website, on sciencefriday.com.

You, what do we you know, aside from watching “Jaws” and all the scary movies about sharks and Shark Week on cable channels everywhere, how much do we really know about white shark populations?

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, there are certain parts of the world where you can predictably find white sharks. And these areas, which include, you know, the Pacific Coast, California, parts of South Africa and South Australia – these are areas where scientists have had the luxury, if you will, of going out and studying these animals at great levels.

And we’ve been able to garner quite a bit about their biology in those areas, I think. One of the spots that we know very little about the white shark is the Atlantic Ocean. And perhaps, this change in ecosystem that we’re going through up here in New England, may begin to provide us some access to these animals so we can start to tease away some aspects of their biology.

FLATOW: And you are involved in tagging sharks, are you not?

Dr. SKOMAL: Correct, correct. Yeah, last year we had a chance, for the first time, to put satellite-based technology tags on white sharks in this area, and we are already getting insights into their biology from those tags.

And already this year, we’ve placed four tags out, and we hope to be able to continue to do that over the course of the next month.

FLATOW: How do you get, you know, how do you know when it is time to reopen these beaches that have been closed?

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, you know, the local municipalities are in charge of those beaches, and all we can do at the Division of Marine Fisheries is provide information to those folks who are making these decisions.

You know, we’d like to provide real-time information on the presence of sharks as acquired through our research activities so they can make well-founded decisions on opening and closing beaches.

FLATOW: What are the odds of getting bitten by a shark?

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, you yourself indicated that the last fatal attack in Massachusetts was back in the 1930s. So that gives you a sense of what the probability is. That being said, I think it’s important to realize when you place people in close proximity to the prey of sharks, namely gray seals, you could potentially increase the risk modestly.

So I think it’s important for people to make wise decisions when getting in the water and choose areas that may be free of white shark prey.

FLATOW: Henry(ph) in Aurora, Illinois. Hi, welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY.

HENRY (Caller): Hello there. Being landlocked, I just have an idea that possibly, there’s less fish out there for the sharks to feed on because you could ask any fishermen why are they still in port. And the sharks will wander farther around, looking for food. That’s my idea. Thank you.

FLATOW: You’re welcome.

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, I’ll tell you, that’s an interesting point, and it points to fisheries management and population management and the importance of looking at bait species and to find relationships between sharks and their prey and whether or not we’re, you know, overexploiting their prey and forcing sharks to other areas to exploit other resources.

That being said, I think it’s well-defined, the behavior of the white shark, when it comes to feeding, these animals are clearly going through, clearly prefer larger prey, namely marine mammals and specifically seals and sea lions.

So I think what we have going on off the coast of New England is actually just a national predator-prey relationship and not anything exacerbated, perhaps, by humans.

FLATOW: Let’s go to Roy(ph) in Sumter, South Carolina. Hi, Roy.

ROY (Caller): Hi, thank you so much for taking the call and specifically on this topic. It’s always been an interest. I’ve been recreational fishing in the Atlantic for 30 years. And over the last three or four years, we’ve noticed a tremendous increase in the number of small sharks that we’re catching.

It used to be something, we may catch one shark every two or three trips, and now we probably catch 10 sharks every trip. These we refer to them as bonnetheads. I dont know if that’s an accurate terminology, about a three, three-and-a-half-foot long shark, always catch them on the bottom, never catch them trawling. And I’ll take my answer off the air, but again, thank you so much for this topic.

FLATOW: All right. Could there be many big sharks because there are a lot more little sharks now?

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, you know, the bonnethead is indeed a species. It’s considered to be a healthy population off the Southeastern U.S., according to the fisheries’ statisticians. It’s not a fish that’s heavily exploited commercially, although it is sold in some numbers, and recreational fishermen like to catch it, as well.

You know, there are some folks who believe – some scientists who believe that with the removal of very, very large sharks that consume these smaller sharks, we’re seeing more species, you know, more smaller sharks out there. That may be the case, although it hasn’t been clearly demonstrated by scientists.

So it’s an area where there is quite a bit of work, but we have no real conclusions yet.

FLATOW: Have sharks been over hunted?

Dr. SKOMAL: In certain parts of the world with certain populations, absolutely. We have enough information on, for example, the dusky shark to indicate that that population off the Eastern U.S. has been overexploited and reduced dramatically.

The same is true for the sandbar shark. For other populations of sharks, they continue to be robust, and I think the bonnethead falls into that.

FLATOW: All right, let me go to Mark(ph) in New Britain, Connecticut. Hi, Mark.

MARK (Caller): Hi, thanks for taking my call. As you said, I’m in Connecticut, and I’ve noticed changes in the water temperature of Long Island Sound. It’s been creeping up, year over year, and I’m wondering if the climatic changes, increases in ocean temperature, are a possible source of increased activity.

FLATOW: Good question.

Dr. SKOMAL: Yes, an excellent question, one we anticipate a lot of research trying to answer over the course of the next decade. We know that with climate change and global warming, we’re going to see changes in the structure of fish populations in terms of the diversity of species, with a shift north of tropical species.

And it has been demonstrated for some, already. I imagine with warming water temperatures in Long Island Sound, you’re going to see a change in the fish diversity in that body of water, as well.

So, you know, it’s an area that we’re going into. We anticipate changes, and some of them have been documented. In terms of sharks, we haven’t seen any kind of dramatic shift as of yet, but some of the species that typically occur south of Cape Cod and not north, have indeed been starting to creep around the Cape. So we’re starting to see some indications that the fish populations, including sharks, are changing.

FLATOW: Steve(ph) in Cambridge, Mass. Hi, Steve.

STEVE (Caller): Hey, how are you doing? Thanks for taking the call. Great show. I think the shark thing is just a bunch of media hype, frankly. I mean, it just, you know, it makes people tune into the news shows, and I’m not sure there’s any more or less. I just think the sightings are more – maybe because there’s more fishermen out there.

But I was wondering if you might know why there’s a lot more jellyfish in the bay this year.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, you bring up a couple of excellent points, and a lot of the shark phenomenon, or shark frenzy, if you will, is driven by the media – and it’s something we have to deal with all the time.

I can tell you that some of the shark sightings data absolutely indicate a shift that’s going on over with white sharks, and some of it’s just generated by a media frenzy. Somebody sees a fin, it may not be a shark fin, but it gets reported as such, and that just compounds upon itself.

I wish I could be of more help with you with jellyfish. I’ve been hearing a lot of folks complain about jellyfish in the bay over the last several weeks, but unfortunately, I study things a lot bigger.

FLATOW: All right, we’ll have to take a look at that, with some jellyfish folks, on a future program. But I want to thank you for taking time to be with us today.

Dr. SKOMAL: Oh, my pleasure. It’s great to be here.

FLATOW: Have a good weekend.

Dr. SKOMAL: Yes, you, too.

FLATOW: Greg Skomal is a senior biologist in the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in New Bedford, Mass., and he was joining us by phone from there.

When we come back, we’re going to switch to electric cars, plug-ins. Do you want a plug-in? How about a Chevy Volt or a Nissan Leaf? We’re going to compare the two. Maybe you could talk to us about what you’d like to see the perfect plug-in to be. What would you are these two cars the kind you might purchase? If not, what do you want to have?

Our number, 1-800-989-8255. You can tweet us @scifri, @-S-C-I-F-R-I, or go to our website at sciencefriday.com, where you can chat around with some folks that way.

So stay with us. We’ll be right back after the break.

(Soundbite of music)

FLATOW: I’m Ira Flatow. This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR.

A teenaged girl was attacked by a coyote while sleeping at a campground in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park early Monday, Parks Canada says.

Cape Breton RCMP said a 911 call was received around 4:30 a.m. and was attended to by Parks Canada.

The girl suffered two bite wounds to her scalp. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released later in the morning.

“It’s difficult for us to say exactly what happened. It doesn’t appear that the bite was provoked by anything the person did,” said Derek Quann, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada. “It’s important to mention that she was in a sleeping bag outside of her tent, close to the tent, when this occurred.”

Parks Canada considers this a “serious incident,” Quann said.

The agency is working to increase awareness among visitors about coyote behaviour and how to stay safe in the event of an attack. Efforts are also being made to attract the animals into an area where they can be safely and humanely trapped, Quann said.

The Department of Natural Resources said it has received a record number of calls from the public about coyotes since last fall, when Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto, died after being attacked in the national park by two of the animals.

Mitchell’s death triggered warnings about coyote safety in the park. Parks Canada organized open houses to inform hikers about coyote behaviour to try to prevent future attacks.

This spring, the province announced that it would keep 15 trappers on call to deal with complaints about aggressive animals. Coyotes found near communities would be captured and killed, the province said.

The government also announced in May it would start paying trappers $20 per coyote pelt when the trapping season begins on Oct. 15.

There are an estimated 8,000 coyotes in Nova Scotia. Provincial officials say as many as 4,000 could be killed by next spring.

via CBC News – Nova Scotia – Coyote attacks girl in N.S. national park.

A teenaged girl was attacked by a coyote while sleeping at a campground in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park early Monday, Parks Canada says.

Cape Breton RCMP said a 911 call was received around 4:30 a.m. and was attended to by Parks Canada.

The girl suffered two bite wounds to her scalp. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released later in the morning.

“It’s difficult for us to say exactly what happened. It doesn’t appear that the bite was provoked by anything the person did,” said Derek Quann, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada. “It’s important to mention that she was in a sleeping bag outside of her tent, close to the tent, when this occurred.”

Parks Canada considers this a “serious incident,” Quann said.

The agency is working to increase awareness among visitors about coyote behaviour and how to stay safe in the event of an attack. Efforts are also being made to attract the animals into an area where they can be safely and humanely trapped, Quann said.

The Department of Natural Resources said it has received a record number of calls from the public about coyotes since last fall, when Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto, died after being attacked in the national park by two of the animals.

Mitchell’s death triggered warnings about coyote safety in the park. Parks Canada organized open houses to inform hikers about coyote behaviour to try to prevent future attacks.

This spring, the province announced that it would keep 15 trappers on call to deal with complaints about aggressive animals. Coyotes found near communities would be captured and killed, the province said.

The government also announced in May it would start paying trappers $20 per coyote pelt when the trapping season begins on Oct. 15.

There are an estimated 8,000 coyotes in Nova Scotia. Provincial officials say as many as 4,000 could be killed by next spring.

via CBC News – Nova Scotia – Coyote attacks girl in N.S. national park.

A teenaged girl was attacked by a coyote while sleeping at a campground in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park early Monday, Parks Canada says.

Cape Breton RCMP said a 911 call was received around 4:30 a.m. and was attended to by Parks Canada.

The girl suffered two bite wounds to her scalp. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released later in the morning.

“It’s difficult for us to say exactly what happened. It doesn’t appear that the bite was provoked by anything the person did,” said Derek Quann, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada. “It’s important to mention that she was in a sleeping bag outside of her tent, close to the tent, when this occurred.”

Parks Canada considers this a “serious incident,” Quann said.

The agency is working to increase awareness among visitors about coyote behaviour and how to stay safe in the event of an attack. Efforts are also being made to attract the animals into an area where they can be safely and humanely trapped, Quann said.

The Department of Natural Resources said it has received a record number of calls from the public about coyotes since last fall, when Taylor Mitchell, a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto, died after being attacked in the national park by two of the animals.

Mitchell’s death triggered warnings about coyote safety in the park. Parks Canada organized open houses to inform hikers about coyote behaviour to try to prevent future attacks.

This spring, the province announced that it would keep 15 trappers on call to deal with complaints about aggressive animals. Coyotes found near communities would be captured and killed, the province said.

The government also announced in May it would start paying trappers $20 per coyote pelt when the trapping season begins on Oct. 15.

There are an estimated 8,000 coyotes in Nova Scotia. Provincial officials say as many as 4,000 could be killed by next spring.

via CBC News – Nova Scotia – Coyote attacks girl in N.S. national park.

BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) – A Rockland man is in critical condition after being struck by lightning on Castle Island.

Steve O’Brien, 50, is in critical condition at Boston Medical Center.  His family tells us that he was taking his normal post-work walk around Castle Island when he was struck in the head by a bolt of lightning.

The bolt struck his head and exited his back, causing burns on several parts of his body.  Someone revived O’Brien, but the family is unsure who.

O’Brien lives in Rockland but was born in Southie.  His family tells us that he often walks around Castle Island after work.  They say he’s a great guy and  hard worker.  The family is holding vigil by his hospital bed.

via Man in critical condition after being struck by lightning.

A Sneads man is in critical condition after being bitten four times by an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake Sunday outside his home on River Road.

Frank Shelfer was in the critical care unit at Southeast Alabama Medical Center as of Tuesday.

His mother, Minnie Lee Shelfer, said he was bitten just after he walked outside to get his first breath of fresh air after gall stone surgery last Friday.

“He had picked up a limb and went over to put in on a pile of other limbs outside, and he said he was bitten when he took a step to lay it on the pile,” Mrs. Shelfer said.

He doesn’t have much sensation in his left leg, due to an old injury, and he didn’t know he’d been bitten until he looked down, his mother said.  According to Jackson County Fire Rescue Chief Tony Wesley, the four bites were to Shelfer’s left foot and ankle. Shelfer’s mother said she thinks she remembers her son saying he saw the snake’s fangs sliding off his shoe as the reptile departed.

Once he realized he was bitten, he did what he could to keep the poison from spreading through his body as he went for help.

“He hopped on one foot to the door of the house and called out to his wife (Lynne),”  his mother said

He was flown to Southeast. From the ambulance that took him to the helicopter, his wife called the church, where his mother was attending services, and let her know about the bite.

His mother said the church members been praying for her son ever since.

He is being treated with anti-venom, his mother said, and as of Tuesday was still unable to move about. But he was able to talk with friends and family.

It is not known what prompted the bite. Herpetology expert Paul Moler said it’s possible that Shelfer, not seeing the snake, may have stepped on it.

Until his retirement, Moler led the herpetology research section for the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Conservation Commission in Gainesville. He still volunteers for the section and for other departments at the agency.

He said the best defense against snakebite is being watchful and careful.

The Eastern diamondback can be found anywhere in its home region — from southern North Carolina to Florida, and west to Louisiana, according to National Geographic. It prefers open fields with plenty of seeds for its typical prey, like rabbits, rats and squirrels.

They don’t usually like heavily wooded areas with lots of canopy, Moler said, because there’s less seed there to attract the prey. Still, he’s seen them there, too.

“Just be aware of your surroundings,” Moler said. “Watch where you put your feet and hands. The snakes don’t really want to run into you at all. But when they’re feeling attacked, they’re going to do what they can to defend themselves. Frequently, their bites are dry bites, where they don’t even inject any venom. They’re basically trying to say, ‘Don’t tread on me.’  The other thing you can do is wear boots that protect the ankles in high grass, but the most important thing is to watch where you’re going. Keep your eyes glued to the ground.”

Moler said there are many myths that don’t hold up when it comes to avoiding snakes. For instance, wearing bells on one’s shoelaces won’t probably have any effect.

“Snakes are essentially deaf, but they feel vibrations and they probably know you’re there anyway,” Moler said. “But if they feel like they’re hidden and safe, it is rare for them to bite. It’s only when they feel threatened that you have to worry.”

If bitten, he said “the best first aid is your car keys” when in a remote area with no one close by to call for help. Minimize movement, but drive to a medical facility as quickly as possible.

The field remedies once regularly recommended — like tourniquets and cuts in the skin to suck out the venom — can be almost as dangerous as the bite itself and leave the victim maimed for life, Moler said.

via wmbb.com – Sneads Man in Critical Condition From Snake Bites.

Solvang officials are urging the public to be aware of their surroundings after a mountain lion was seen in and around Hans Christian Anderson Park on Sunday and Monday, according to Parks and Recreation Director Fred Lageman.

“We have three permanent signs in the park warning of mountain lions, however we put two more in the road to make sure the public sees them and knows what to do if they spot one,” Lageman said.

State Fish and Game officials were called to the park Monday but weren’t able to find the animal, which was reported to be about the size of a Labrador retriever, Lageman said.

Lt. Julie McCammon of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department said the easiest way to report a wild animal sighting is to call 9-1-1 so deputies can contact Fish and Game or county Animal Control if necessary.

Although wild animals are Fish and Game’s responsibility, it’s possible that deputies “can corner him and keep him calm until they get there,” McCammon said.

According to Fish and Game, more than half of California is mountain lion habitat, and they generally live wherever deer are found. They are solitary and elusive, and their nature is to avoid humans.

Mountain lions prefer to eat deer but sometimes they also eat pets and livestock. Mountain lions that threaten people are killed immediately. Those that prey on pets or livestock can be killed by a property owner after the owner gets the required depredation permit from Fish and Game.

Mountain lion attacks on humans are extremely rare, the agency says, but conflicts are increasing as California’s human population expands into mountain lion habitat.

Fish and Game advises anyone who encounters a mountain lion not to run, but instead to face the animal, make noise and try to look bigger by waving arms, and even throwing rocks or other objects. If attacked, people are encouraged to fight back.

For more information on mountain lions and other wild animals, visit www.dfg.ca.gov.

via Mountain lion seen in Solvang park.

BUDAPEST — Authorities said a 35-year-old man was fatally bitten by a hog on Sunday in Zala County in southwestern Hungary. The hog, which the man had been raising, weighs 140-150 kg and belongs to a Hungarian breed called a mangalitsa, sometimes called as a curly-coated pig. According to the local wire service MTI, the hog broke out of its pen and as the man tried to force it back inside, it bit him on the thigh, severing a major artery. The victim, a father of three, bled to death before the ambulance chopper dispatched to help could reach him. He was also tried to be resuscitated for two hours but the effort failed. Veterinarian Laszlo Belso, the victim’s employer, said the man had always shown a high level of expertise when working with animals. Belso added that the hog had broken out of its pen several times in the past. Police are investigating the incident.

via Man Fatally Bitten by Hog in Hungary – Animal attack – ubAlert.

BETHUNE BEACH — As Judy Fischman swam in the Atlantic Ocean here Thursday, she suddenly found herself lifted above the water on the back of a large dark animal.

“My first thought was ‘I hope this is a manatee,’ ” Fischman said Friday. “Then I saw the black tail.”

“Shark,” she thought. “Then I saw other sharks and I thought, ‘My God, how am I going to escape a whole group of sharks?’ ”

From her vantage point on the street overlooking the scene, Martha Williams wondered the same thing.

Williams and her husband Ron had stepped out of their car to look out at the ocean. They first noticed a woman swimming alone, a couple hundred feet off shore. It was about 7:15 p.m. Then, as they watched, she said sharks appeared in the water, swimming parallel to the shore between the beach and the lone swimmer.

“I said to Ron, ‘Oh my God, I hope they totally ignore her, just don’t even see her.’ Then all of a sudden they all veer off and they’re all heading to her,” Williams said Friday. “I about screamed and said, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, they’re heading right to her, right to her.’ ”

As they watched, the ocean surface around Fischman erupted in churning water and the swimmer was suddenly lifted above the surface of the wave, arms and legs flailing, she said. “It was just so frightening.”

Back in the water, Fischman said she realized she “was on the back of a huge shark. There was another shark next to me.”

“I screamed,” she said, “but I don’t remember what I screamed.”

Fischman said she remembered advice she’d seen on television for fighting off sharks — giving them “a good punch and let them know you could hurt them.” She started punching the animal. As it seemed to roll on its side, she said it seemed to sort of wrap its tail around her.

“Then a wave came. All of a sudden they were gone,” she said. “They probably realized I’m not food and let go.”

“Maybe they thought I was a seal,” she said. “I had on a black bathing suit.”

Ron Williams ran down to the beach expecting to find the swimmer in need of medical attention, but instead she walked back to shore.

“It was really something,” Martha Williams said.

Fischman told her story to a Beach Patrol officer Thursday night, and on Friday afternoon, Fischman and Martha Williams spoke with George Burgess, director of the shark attack file at the University of Florida. Burgess isn’t yet sure what kind of animal surfaced under Fischman. He said it could have been a shark, or it could have been some kind of dolphin or small whale.

Williams and Fischman agreed to fill out witness statements for Burgess and he’ll try to figure out whether it was a shark encounter.

“It was possible it was a shark attack,” he said. “It’s also possible it was an encounter with a marine mammal.”

Sharks were spotted elsewhere in Volusia and Brevard counties on Thursday.Volusia’s Fischman swims regularly for exercise and said she often sees sharks. She likes to swim far enough out to get past the breakers, in water not quite 6 feet deep.

Fischman, a Bethune Beach resident since 2002, figured maybe a guardian angel was watching out for her. She emerged from the encounter with nothing but scrapes on her legs. And, she headed right back into the water on Friday afternoon.

She’s also had some close encounters with manatees during the past couple of years. “It’s very startling,” she said. “You can get lifted out of the water.”

via Woman: Shark took me for a ride – News.

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) – In the front row of Lake Grove Missionary Baptist Church Saturday morning, relatives held each other and wept as 71-year-old William Parker was memorialized.

“I just don’t want to see them close the casket,” said Parker’s daughter, Gardenia. “I don’t want them to close the casket.”

Gardenia Parker was overcome by emotional and physical pain after losing her father.  She was among the injured on July 20th, when two lose pit bulls attacked her, her father and two paramedics.

Gardenia survived, but William Parker went into heart failure and died.

Days after the attack, city officials moved controlling vicious and stray animals to the top of their priority list.

“Clearly we think it’s a problem,” city CAO George little said earlier this week. “It’s a problem we’d like to move forward on.”

City government is considering a number of animal control ordinances, including mandatory spay and neutering, and a finder’s fee for citizens who capture stray animals.

But changing animal control laws won’t reverse the Parker’s family tragedy.  Still, family members said knowing that William Parker didn’t die in vain will help them heal.

If you want to help William Parker’s family, you can make a contribution at any Bank of America branch. The official name of the account is “The William Alvin Parker Memorial Fund.”

via Family says goodbye to father killed in pit bull attack – WLBT 3 – Jackson, MS:.

CBS  Clayton Schulz told his worried mom nothing would happen when he was surfing — then something did. The 20-year-old pitcher for the University of North Florida was surfing with his girlfriend last Friday off Jacksonville Beach when a shark attacked his left foot. It took over 400 stitches to repair that damage. Pictures: Swimming with the Sharks On “The Early Show,” Schultz shared his story, saying first, hes pretty lucky to still have all five toes. He said hes lucky the shark reached his foot only. “Didnt even get into the ankle cavity,” he explained. “Tore all the flesh off, cut across the tendons, the four tendons across the top. Tore everything up, so it was pretty — you know, pretty — Im lucky to have a foot still.” The surgery took two doctors five-and-a-half hours to reattach everything except one tendon. Schulz, a surfer for eight years, said hes heard about shark attacks, but never imagined one coming after him. He said, “Sharks are always there, year-round, you see them jumping in the distance and stuff, but its never — you never think it would be you. Its such a rare — I mean, youre more likely to get struck by lightning, so its very rare. But you never think its going to be you.” Schulz explained he was surfing about 100 yards out when he caught a wave in to shore. Thats when he felt it: “All I really felt was teeth,” he said. “I dont remember everything exactly to the point, but — a lot of teeth.” He said he knew it was a shark. “I pretty much knew the way it grabbed my foot,” he said. “It was kind of violent. Didnt feel good.” After the shark let go, Schulz hauled himself onto his board, stunned. He said, “I told the others — there was another surfer there away from me and I yelled to him, I said, Man, I just got attacked by a shark, can you help me out here? He said, paddle in. I caught a wave in. He got the lifeguard. I crawled up on the beach, I waved at my girlfriend. She was laying there. I was like, Come on, I just got bit.” Jacksonville lifeguards ushered Schulz to an ambulance. As for the shark, Schulz said no one else saw it after his bite. Schulz said, “It went through my mind when I was paddling in, Is this thing following me? But, no, never saw it after that. You know, Im lucky. The surgeons did a great job. You know, when I first saw it after the surgery, it looks like a foot, still looks like a foot and it didnt look like a foot before.” The shark was so elusive, Schulz never even saw it — he only felt it. Schulz told “Early Show” co-anchor Erica Hill, “Never saw it. It was completely by surprise. You know, when you think shark, you think, you know, farther out than everybody else, but it was actually more in towards the shore. Thats why it really caught me off guard.” Will he surf again? “Yeah, I think I will,” Schulz said. “Its a scary thing, but the chance — if I get bitten twice, then — ” “Then you should look out for the lightning,” Hill joked. Schulz said, “Thats the sign I need to get out of the water.”

via Shark Attack Victim: “All I Felt Was Teeth” – The Early Show – CBS News.

JACKSONVILLE — A 20-year-old baseball player from the University of North Florida is recovering with a foot wound after being bitten by a shark.

Clayton Shulz of Stuart says the shark grabbed his foot before letting go.

Shulz needed 400 stitches on his foot Sunday night.

via Man gets 400 stitches after shark attack near Jacksonville | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY.

WALPOLE ISLAND, Ontario – Police are investigating the death of a Northeast Ohio man, who they suspect was killed by lightning.

The 41-year-old Ravenna resident was out on his boat with friends and family on the south end Bassett Channel Friday afternoon.

Walpole Island Police say when the storm moved in, people on the boat tried to seek shelter in some reeds.

According to witnesses on the boat, they heard a loud crack and saw a bright flash.

Immediately after lightning struck, they found the victim lying on the deck unresponsive.

Shortly after 2:00 p.m. Friday, a 911 call was made and the Coast Guard was able to locate the boat and get it to shore.

An autopsy is scheduled for later today. The name of the victim is not being released until family is notified.

via Northeast Ohio Man Killed by Lightning in Canada – WJW.

A TOURIST told yesterday how he was bitten by a poisonous sea snake – in Cornwall, UK.

Shocked Dan Muldowney was left in agony, bleeding and feeling dizzy for ten days after the attack.

The 4ft creature sank its fangs into his bare shin while he was bodyboarding on holiday with his family – leaving a double puncture wound.

It also bit him on the thigh but failed to penetrate his knee-length wetsuit.

Dan, 27, who believes he was the victim of a tropical species normally found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, said: “I felt something like a clump of seaweed against my leg, then a bang.

“When I looked in front of me I saw a snake with a black head shaped like a cobra – I clearly remember seeing its wide neck. No sooner had I seen it than it was gone.”

The attack at the popular resort of Newquay came just weeks after a fisherman saw a sea snake swimming at Whitsands in south-east Cornwall.

Dan, a surveyor, was enjoying a break with girlfriend Kenize Akhtar and their four children when he was bitten.

via Man’s 10-day agony in poisonous sea snake attack | The Daily Telegraph.

Depending on where you are in the Rockies this year, the annual summer bear season could mean black-bear sightings in your front yard or a near-death experience while looking through the jaws of a hungry bear.

Already, the list of bear attacks across the Rockies this summer is beginning to mount.

On Saturday morning, a bear attacked a homeless man sleeping in Durango near the Animas River. The man survived, but the bear didn’t after Colorado Division of Wildlife officials turned their guns on it after the attack. A necropsy of the bear’s carcass was completed at CSU.

Last Thursday, a bear broke into a home in Bailey, southwest of Denver, biting a man.

Other bears have been sighted plundering porches and backyards in Livermore and Rist Canyon.

In the past month, bears have turned outright hostile in New Mexico, where they’ve developed an affinity for tents and a taste for the people sleeping in them.

“They’re coming down and acting kind of aggressive right now,” said Dan Williams, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

New Mexico wildlife officials killed a bear at the end of June after it jumped on a tent and took a swipe at the man sleeping in it at Philmont Boy Scout Ranch, a 137,000-acre camping and backpacking ranch just south of the Colorado state line west of Raton.

There were two more incidents there: The same day, another bear was found with a goat in its mouth, and a Philmont staffer killed it. On Wednesday, a bear bit a 14-year-old Boy Scout through his tent, leaving a deep gash in his head.

“It kind of peeled back the scalp there,” Williams said.

Both campers who were attacked were carefully following strict bear-safety protocols in place at Philmont, he said.

Those incidents followed another in June when a bear swatted a man tent-camping in the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque.

But all the ursine nastiness in some parts of the West doesn’t mean there’s anything unusual going on this year, particularly in Colorado and Wyoming.

Bear activity is quite normal throughout Colorado, DOW spokesman Tyler Baskfield said.

The bears’ habitat is normal and healthy, he said, and there is no sign of increased bear sightings or attacks in any localized area, he said.

“We haven’t noticed anything that is different than we’ve seen in years when there’s decent, natural food,” said Ken Wilson, a professor of wildlife and conservation biology at Colorado State University.

“A bear has been into some trash cans in Rist Canyon,” he said. “One bear can decide it’s going to get into something, (but) it’s not all of them.”

Few bears have been seen at all in southern Wyoming, where wildlife officials consider black-bear habitat and natural food supply excellent, said Al Langston, spokesman for the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish.

In New Mexico, dry weather hurt the bears’ food supply and dried out the forbs and grass that usually get black bears through the spring.

The lack of food there is so dire that this year’s number of bear attacks hasn’t been seen in New Mexico for almost a decade, Williams said.

There are plenty of things homeowners and backcountry adventurers can do to keep bears away.

For people camping in the mountains, store food in bear-resistant containers away from your sleeping area, Wilson said.

The best way to keep plundering bears away from homes is to keep birdseed, trash and other potential food sources inside where bears can’t have easy access to them, Baskfield said.

“There’s no reason to feed birds this time of year” because natural bird food is plentiful, he said.

And, he warned city dwellers, just because you might live in Fort Collins doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep your home bear resistant.

“We get bears who wander into Fort Collins on a regular basis,” he said.

via List of bear attacks this summer grows | coloradoan.com | The Coloradoan.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: A man who survived a crocodile attack in Broome says he was curious about the animals because they came to him in his dreams.

Michael Newman nearly had his right leg taken off after he climbed into a crocodile enclosure at a wildlife park on Monday night.

The 36-year-old said he wanted to experience something he’d never done before.

David Weber reports.

DAVID WEBER: Michael Newman says that over the past few weeks he’s been having a lot of dreams about crocodiles.

MICHAEL NEWMAN: And the last dream I had was about a crocodile in the water, inside of my dream and he was in the water. He would’ve been like a two-and-a-half metre crocodile in my dream. And I picked up a big stone and a sound come out of the water and said ‘Where do you come from?’ and I threw the stone in the water and the crocodile swum off.

And ever since then I’ve had, um… I’ve had a way of trying to see a real crocodile because I hadn’t ever seen a real crocodile in my lifetime.

DAVID WEBER: Mr Newman says he decided on Monday night after he’d had a few beers that he might go into the wildlife park.

He says he was looking for two crocodiles he’d seen before.

MICHAEL NEWMAN: So I kept on walking around and I seen this really big alligator – the five metre one -over the fence, and he wasn’t far from the fence and I tried putting my hand through the fence to just feel it, the skin, what the skin feels like. So I couldn’t reach it and I thought to myself ‘Well, I’ll jump the fence and go from behind its tail and pat it and sit on its back’.

DAVID WEBER: That decision nearly cost him his life.

Fatso the Crocodile weighs about 800 kilograms.

He did not react well to having a strange man in his pen, as Mr Newman explains.

MICHAEL NEWMAN: Before I even just slightly touched its back, it already had me. It grabbed my leg here. Yeah I got a bandage on and it’s really like severe bites – all the skin here was ripped off and um, put a big hole through the sides of my leg here and I think they stitched it up.

DAVID WEBER: Michael Newman says the crocodile lost interest in him and went for his torch, and this gave him time to climb out of the enclosure.

MICHAEL NEWMAN: Then I’ve jumped the fence, and I kept on walking around in circles trying to get out.

Then I went to another fence and as I grabbed onto the other fence I’m thinking ‘If I climb this one, I’m out of here’, another croc’s come out and gone “ROAR” and I thought ‘Shit, that’s the wrong way out of here’.

And I’m walking and walking and I went past this incubating place, where they’re incubating the crocodile eggs. It was all lit up and they’re making babies in the eggs there. Then I looked over to my left and I seen the city, the lights, and then I remembered the way I got in.

So that way I went out and I climbed out that way and I felt the blood splurting out of my leg and as I’m putting pressure on my leg, I can feel on the side of all my kneecap that it’s all cracked and shattered.

DAVID WEBER: Now he’s been through several drips of antibiotics to combat any potential disease.

Malcolm Douglas, who runs the park, says the man’s lucky to be alive.

MALCOLM DOUGLAS: What can you do?

If someone wants to break into something, wouldn’t matter whether you had, we had triple… Well, we had three lots of fencing, he basically got through, it wouldn’t matter what you did. If you were that sort of person, there’s not a lot you can do about it is there?

They want to do something brave, they want to do something stupid, they want to do something to tell their mates. It would’ve been a shocking way to die and it would’ve been incredibly upsetting for me and our staff and family, and especially the whole of Broome. We don’t want things like this to happen.

DAVID WEBER: Fatso the crocodile is seemingly oblivious to his new-found fame.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: David Weber.

via PM – Man narrowly escapes drunken spree in croc pen 14/07/2010.

A man who was struck by lightning last weekend at an east-side golf course died Tuesday, police said.

Francisco Juarez died at University Medical Center after he was hit by lightning Saturday while golfing at Fred Enke Golf Course, 8251 E. Irvington Road, said Sgt. Diana Lopez, a Tucson Police Department spokeswoman.

Another golfer who was about 50 feet away from the man was treated and released for minor injuries after he was shocked during the lightning strike, said Tucson Fire Department spokeswoman Capt. Trish Tracy at the time of the incident.

The man, who was in his 40s, was at the driving range when he was struck, Tracy said.

via Man struck by lightning on Tucson golf course dies.

NAPLES — Beside Alligator Alley in Golden Gate, there is a canal that locals have named “the Crystal.”

Tracy Cusick, 39, and Chris Kight, 49, parked their van and set their white plastic chairs underneath a shade tree beside the Crystal, their favorite swimming hole, to enjoy some “tranquility.”

Cars repeatedly swoosh by on the interstate, but the trees act as a buffer between the couple and civilization.

“Normally when they drive past they, blow their horn at us,” Kight said.

In some places of the canal, the clear water makes it easy to see the bottom. Fish dash by and the surface of the water sometimes ripples as they go. In other parts, which Kight thinks can be as deep as 40 feet, the water is mysterious and dark.

Cusick and Kight have visited the Crystal to swim, fish and meet with friends for about 20 years, but they are worried they may have to fight to keep the swimming hole open after a gruesome alligator attack on Sunday left a young man without a hand.

Tim Delano, 18, was attacked by a 10-foot alligator while swimming in the canal with friends Sunday evening. The gator clamped its mouth around Delano’s left hand and then severed it when the teen got away.

Friends drove Delano a couple of miles to get help. Delano was airlifted to Lee Memorial Hospital, where he is recovering. A tracker, sent by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, later trapped and killed the gator.

Delano wants people to stop swimming at the Crystal. “I hope they shut it down, so no accidents like this will happen again,” he said.

Kight said what happened to Delano was a first.

“It was a freak accident,” Kight said.

Although Cusick and Kight were the only mid-afternoon swimmers at the Crystal Monday, Kight said there were about 75 people there Sunday.

People were listening to music, barbecuing and swimming in the canal, according to the couple.

“It’s just a hangout,” Kight said.

Parents bring their children to swim and fish.

“The kids are never unattended,” Cusick said.

The day of the accident, Kight and Cusick left before it got dark, around 7 p.m., because they won’t swim in the Crystal past sunset.

“A gator feeds at night like a shark does,” Kight said.

Unlike Delano, they have seen gators in the waters before. “Any canal you go in there’s a chance,” Kight said.

Kight learned what happened to Delano from a television news report later that night. He knew it was the Crystal right away.

“I recognized a tree,” Kight said.

There’s still a dried pool of blood where Delano stood after he got out of the water. Kight pointed it out on the dirt road. He said they are glad Delano survived, but they’re worried their favorite swimming hole won’t.

“It would really bother me if they shut it down. There aren’t places to swim,” Cusick said.

She thinks it might be a good idea to post signs warning people about the potential dangers or to let them know what to do to stay safe.

“Everyone knows anyway, but to refresh their memories,” Cusick said.

But if there is a push to ban people from swimming in the Crystal, Kight said he’d start a petition to fight it.

“There will be a lot of people to sign it,” he said. “It’s the last swimming hole we have in Naples.”

via PHOTOS: Alligator attack doesn’t deter locals from swimming in the Crystal » Naples Daily News.

GOLDEN GATE ESTATES — An 18-year-old Golden Gate Estates man, who lost his hand after an alligator attack in the Estates on Sunday night, may be getting back what he lost.

Timothy J. Delano, 18, was swimming in a drainage canal called “The Chrystal” near the intersection of Everglades Boulevard and 42nd Avenue when a 10-foot alligator bit his left hand off, said FWC spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro.

Delano and two companions fled the canal and went to a gas station at Wilson and Golden Gate boulevards to call 911 at approximately 9:30 p.m., said Collier Emergency Medical Services spokeswoman Cherie Wilson-Watson.

Delano was airlifted to the Lee Memorial Hospital trauma center in Fort Myers by Collier EMS, officials said.

Ferraro said a trapper was able to find the attacking alligator last night. The gator was “harvested” and the victim’s hand was found in its stomach.

Attempts could be made to reattach the Delano’s hand, Ferraro said.

“Our goal is always to make a person whole again,” she said.

Delano is in good condition, reported Lee Memorial spokeswoman Pat Dolce.

Ferraro said people should recognize that any fresh water body in Florida could have alligators. She said those animals are most active at dawn and dusk.

via Alligator bites 18-year-old’s hand off; gator caught and hand recovered » Naples Daily News.

NAPLES, Fla. — A man is hospitalized in southwest Florida after an alligator bit off his left hand.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro said the man was swimming with three friends in a Collier County canal around 9:30 p.m. Sunday when the alligator attacked.

The men swam to shore and drove to a gas station, where they called 911.

A helicopter flew the victim to a Fort Myers hospital. His name was not released and his condition early Monday was not known.

Ferraro said the 10 foot 2 inch alligator was captured. The hand was retrieved from its stomach and flown to the hospital.

Wildlife officials advise people to stay out of freshwater canals and lakes this time of year because alligators are more active, especially around dawn and dusk.

via Man Loses Hand In Alligator Attack – Orlando News Story – WKMG Orlando.

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) ― Wildlife agents shot and killed a bear Saturday that bit a Durango man as he slept in his backyard.

Authorities say the man wasn’t seriously hurt and fled from the animal by going indoors.

But Colorado Division of Wildlife responded to the attack and tracking dogs led them to the bear that was only about 300 yards away.

DOW wildlife manager Patt Dorsey says the agents then shot and killed the animal.

Dorsey says bears that attack people or lose their fear of them are a serious threat to public safety.

via Wildlife Officers Kill Bear That Bit Durango Man – cbs4denver.com.

READINGTON TWP. — In July 1960, a sand tiger shark attacked then 24-year-old John Brodeur and ripped through his right thigh as he stood in the ocean at the Sea Girt beach.

50 years later, the Readington Township resident is grateful he lived through it to experience 40 years of marriage with his wife Celine, and life with his four children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

“I’m very happy with my life. It was just an incident along the way,” said Brodeur, a retired accountant, who has been featured in books about sharks and was once a guest on the “O’Reilly Factor.”

Brodeur was told the shark had been a 12- to 17-foot sand tiger shark, judging from the teeth marks in his leg, At the time of the attack, he was standing farther out than other bathers, his feet firmly planted in the sand.

“I ride waves and I was getting ready to ride a wave in,” Brodeur said. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I saw this big black thing coming toward me — I thought it was a telephone pole,” he said. The shark was long and black, and there had been a bad storm earlier that week.

When the shark bit him, Brodeur slapped the top of the shark’s head with his hand, and “eventually it let go,” he said.

“The lifeguard pulled me out of the water and then dropped me in the sand,” Brodeur continued. “My right thigh was all torn open.”

Celine Brodeur, who was not present at the time but knows the story well, said the young lifeguard panicked. “It’s not every day you get a shark attack,” she said.

A Marine veteran named Norman Porter, from the Bronx, took his belt off and used it to apply a tourniquet to Brodeur’s leg to slow the bleeding until he could be taken to the hospital. Because his nerves were severed and he was in shock, Brodeur does not recall feeling much pain.

He still thinks highly of Porter. “He saved my life. I was a lucky man.”

Celine noted that Porter has passed away, “but he’s been my husband’s hero.”

Brodeur’s leg had to be amputated, and he spent three months recovering in the hospital. Now with a prosthetic leg, he can’t run, but he can walk, and he enjoys playing tennis.

“I still go to the beach,” he said. In fact, the Brodeurs and their children will be taking a family vacation in Cape May this summer.

“He never, ever let one thing stand in his way,” his wife said. “It was never a handicap to him.”

In spite of the attack, John said he has always loved swimming in the ocean. But he warns other swimmers to be careful, especially because it is not always true that sharks will only attack someone who is already bleeding.

“Make sure that there are lifeguards, and other people in the water,” Brodeur warned.

via Shark attack!!! 50 years later, Readington man tells of having his leg mauled | NJ.com.

DELRAY BEACH — A man was taken to Delray Medical Center Friday evening after reports that he was struck by lightning.

Delray Beach Fire Rescue found the man, in his late 20s, near the Oakmont development on Old Germantown Road around 9 p.m.

The man, whose name was not released, appeared to be in stable condition was taken to the hospital for observation, Lt. Ed Beardsley said.

via Man struck by lightning in Delray Beach, in stable condition.

WEST MILFORD — The female bear hunted by New Jersey wildlife officials since it attacked a West Milford man and his dog on June 24 in Norvin Green State Park was trapped and euthanized Thursday night near where the incident occurred, the state Department of Environmental Protection said today.

The 188-pound, female bruin was caught at about 4:45 p.m. near a West Milford home where it had been causing new problems, said DEP spokesman Lawrence Ragonese, explaining the bear had just ripped into a chicken coop at the house before it ran into the baited, culvert trap set up by wildlife officials days earlier. The bear had three, six-month-old cubs which authorities said should be able to survive on their own.

“We had two previous aggressive incidents with this bear, and when it was caught it was being aggressive again. It was euthanized,” Ragonese said, adding that ten aggressive bears have been put down by wildlife officials and police this year.

The hiker was knocked down, but not seriously injured in the June 24 incident, and his dog is recovering from its wounds. The attack prompted a portion of the park to be closed and the postponement of a local fireworks display as authorities searched for the bruin.

via Bear who attacked West Milford hiker is captured, euthanized | NJ.com.

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.

Standing next to his young daughter in waist-deep water off Fripp Island on Friday afternoon, Craig Morris felt something softly nudge his leg.

Seconds later, something pulled 6-year-old Ella under the water.

That “something” was a shark, he said.

The 37-year-old father of three quickly pulled the child to the surface.

That’s when he saw the blood and the 9-inch gash on the little girl’s leg, said Heidi Morris, Craig’s wife and Ella’s mother.

“He threw the boogie board they had been using (away) and squeezed her leg together,” said Heidi Morris of the 1 p.m. incident near the Fripp Island Beach Club. “Then he carried her up the beach and booked it to the fire house. There was lots of blood. You could see her bone.”

A Beaufort County paramedic and Fripp Island Fire officers treated Ella until an ambulance arrived and took her to Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

It took 22 stitches to close the bite. Ella was released later that day, Heidi Morrris said.

The family, including sons Jackson, 8, and Parker, 9, of Marietta, Ga., were enjoying the final day of a week-long vacation when the incident occurred, she said. It was their first time vacationing on Fripp.

“We just loved it,” she said. “Earlier in the day, I had even posted pictures and a comment on my Facebook page that we were so happy with our experience. Later that day, I had to tell people about the shark.”

A RARE OCCURRENCE

Emergency room doctors told the family the shark was probably small, between four and five feet long, Heidi Morris said.

Mel Bell, director of the Office of Fisheries Management for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, agreed.

Ella’s wound looked like four smaller bites in a row, probably from a small shark. Typically, a swimmer would see the dorsal fin of a larger animal before it struck, Bell said.

“What you have with sharks is a test bite, to see what it is,” he said. “Then they usually take off, because you’re not a desired food item.”

DNR Sgt. Michael Paul Thomas said Tuesday there is no way to confirm whether the youngster’s wound was inflicted by a shark.

Because shark attacks are so rare, there is no protocol for reporting bites.

In South Carolina, the most recent shark attack that resulted in death was in 1883, Bell said.

“We’re still not sure what kind of shark it was,” he said.

In July 2006, an Ohio man said he was bitten by a shark at Hilton Head Island’s Singleton Beach. The wound required about a dozen stitches on his leg above his ankle. Authorities never confirmed the attack as the work of a shark, but the man said the teeth marks and puncture wounds were evidence enough for him.

In June of that year, a Missouri girl was bitten while playing in about two feet of water near the Breakers resort area of Coligny Beach.

Earlier in the month, a 14-year-old girl was bitten while swimming off Pawleys Island while a 21-year-old woman suffered a foot injury during a shark encounter off Kiawah Island.

Still, shark bites are relatively rare occurrences.

According to statistics compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, people are 30 times more likely to be struck by lightning.

Thomas said tracking the area shark population is not an exact science, but called the number robust.

“We always have a fairly large number of sharks in our waters,” Thomas said.

He attributed that to deep waters, healthy estuaries and plenty of fish to eat.

“Port Royal and St. Helena sounds are two deep areas for them to come into and spawn, and we have an abundance of fish,” Thomas said.

‘I’M NOT SCARED’

While the incident left her parents shaken, Ella was the picture of courage and composure.

Her mother was amazed at the child’s attitude in the emergency room.

“She was fine, acted like there was absolutely nothing wrong,” Heidi Morris said.

Since the encounter, the six-year-old has continued to be upbeat and chatty, her mother said.

“Yesterday (Monday) all day, she wore a shark T-shirt,” she said.

Her parents said they were happy there was no severe nerve or muscle damage. A doctor said Monday the youngster’s wound was healing well and she should be up and walking in a day or two, her mother said.

Minutes before the attack, Ella had been in the water alone, her mother said.

“We were lucky, because her dad came up and put his arms around her right before it happened,” she said. “I think she felt safe because her daddy was right there.”

“I’m not scared,” Ella told her mother after the attack.

She said something else, too.

“I’ll go back in the water.”

via Ga. girl ‘upbeat’ after being bitten by shark off Fripp Island | islandpacket.com.

Standing next to his young daughter in waist-deep water off Fripp Island on Friday afternoon, Craig Morris felt something softly nudge his leg.

Seconds later, something pulled 6-year-old Ella under the water.

That “something” was a shark, he said.

The 37-year-old father of three quickly pulled the child to the surface.

That’s when he saw the blood and the 9-inch gash on the little girl’s leg, said Heidi Morris, Craig’s wife and Ella’s mother.

“He threw the boogie board they had been using (away) and squeezed her leg together,” said Heidi Morris of the 1 p.m. incident near the Fripp Island Beach Club. “Then he carried her up the beach and booked it to the fire house. There was lots of blood. You could see her bone.”

A Beaufort County paramedic and Fripp Island Fire officers treated Ella until an ambulance arrived and took her to Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

It took 22 stitches to close the bite. Ella was released later that day, Heidi Morrris said.

The family, including sons Jackson, 8, and Parker, 9, of Marietta, Ga., were enjoying the final day of a week-long vacation when the incident occurred, she said. It was their first time vacationing on Fripp.

“We just loved it,” she said. “Earlier in the day, I had even posted pictures and a comment on my Facebook page that we were so happy with our experience. Later that day, I had to tell people about the shark.”

A RARE OCCURRENCE

Emergency room doctors told the family the shark was probably small, between four and five feet long, Heidi Morris said.

Mel Bell, director of the Office of Fisheries Management for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, agreed.

Ella’s wound looked like four smaller bites in a row, probably from a small shark. Typically, a swimmer would see the dorsal fin of a larger animal before it struck, Bell said.

“What you have with sharks is a test bite, to see what it is,” he said. “Then they usually take off, because you’re not a desired food item.”

DNR Sgt. Michael Paul Thomas said Tuesday there is no way to confirm whether the youngster’s wound was inflicted by a shark.

Because shark attacks are so rare, there is no protocol for reporting bites.

In South Carolina, the most recent shark attack that resulted in death was in 1883, Bell said.

“We’re still not sure what kind of shark it was,” he said.

In July 2006, an Ohio man said he was bitten by a shark at Hilton Head Island’s Singleton Beach. The wound required about a dozen stitches on his leg above his ankle. Authorities never confirmed the attack as the work of a shark, but the man said the teeth marks and puncture wounds were evidence enough for him.

In June of that year, a Missouri girl was bitten while playing in about two feet of water near the Breakers resort area of Coligny Beach.

Earlier in the month, a 14-year-old girl was bitten while swimming off Pawleys Island while a 21-year-old woman suffered a foot injury during a shark encounter off Kiawah Island.

Still, shark bites are relatively rare occurrences.

According to statistics compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, people are 30 times more likely to be struck by lightning.

Thomas said tracking the area shark population is not an exact science, but called the number robust.

“We always have a fairly large number of sharks in our waters,” Thomas said.

He attributed that to deep waters, healthy estuaries and plenty of fish to eat.

“Port Royal and St. Helena sounds are two deep areas for them to come into and spawn, and we have an abundance of fish,” Thomas said.

‘I’M NOT SCARED’

While the incident left her parents shaken, Ella was the picture of courage and composure.

Her mother was amazed at the child’s attitude in the emergency room.

“She was fine, acted like there was absolutely nothing wrong,” Heidi Morris said.

Since the encounter, the six-year-old has continued to be upbeat and chatty, her mother said.

“Yesterday (Monday) all day, she wore a shark T-shirt,” she said.

Her parents said they were happy there was no severe nerve or muscle damage. A doctor said Monday the youngster’s wound was healing well and she should be up and walking in a day or two, her mother said.

Minutes before the attack, Ella had been in the water alone, her mother said.

“We were lucky, because her dad came up and put his arms around her right before it happened,” she said. “I think she felt safe because her daddy was right there.”

“I’m not scared,” Ella told her mother after the attack.

She said something else, too.

“I’ll go back in the water.”

via Ga. girl ‘upbeat’ after being bitten by shark off Fripp Island | islandpacket.com.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) ― The daughter of a hiker killed by a grizzly bear shortly after the animal awoke from tranquilizers says researchers may have taken down signs warning passers-by of their work near Yellowstone National Park.

A 430-pound grizzly bear killed Erwin Frank Evert, 70, of Park Ridge, Ill., on June 17. Earlier that day, two members of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, which studies the animals in Yellowstone, had examined the bear after it was caught in a baited snare.

Mara Domingue, of Ventress, La., said her father had seen a sign days before the attack warning people about the research. But the Park County sheriff’s deputy who recovered Evert’s body reported seeing no signs in the area, Sheriff Scott Steward said.

Domingue said she believes researchers removed the signs as they left, leading her father to believe there was no longer any danger. Except for an area a couple hundred yards off the trail, no other places were marked with warning signs and the trail remained open, she said.

Evert was attacked by the bear not long after it woke from tranquilizers. He was neither armed nor carrying bear spray, the sheriff’s office said.

Evert, a botanist, often went hiking in the forest south of the cabin, typically following a trail a mile or two up Kitty Creek before bushwhacking to a ridgetop overlooking the cabin he owned with his wife, Domingue said.

“I’ve been on every single mountain in that whole drainage with my father. We’ve encountered bears many, many, many, many, many times,” she said. “We’ve never had any incidents with bears, because none of the bears have been harassed, or baited or snared.”

Grizzly team leader Chuck Schwartz, with the U.S. Geological Survey in Bozeman, Mont., declined to comment on the mauling circumstances, saying they will be investigated. Federal wildlife authorities outside the team will conduct the investigation, he said.

Team policy requires grizzly researchers to tape warning signs to trees, Schwartz said.

“We have a printed sign that essentially warns people that there is grizzly bear trapping in the area. That sign basically says the area behind the sign is closed,” he said Tuesday.

The signs are marked with the dates during which the area remains closed, he said.

Domingue said signs should have been posted at the trailhead and cabin owners in the area notified.

“Nobody was informed what the heck was going on up there,” she said.

The nearby Crossed Sabres Guest Ranch was aware of the work, said Linda McCoy, manager of the dude ranch across U.S. 14-16-20 from the Evert cabin.

“We were notified that they were snaring bears in two areas that they used. They asked us to quit using one of the trails for two weeks, which we did,” she said.

The ranch has since resumed pack trips up the trail.

Two days after the attack, trackers following a signal from a radio collar on the grizzly shot the bear from a helicopter. DNA tests confirmed the bear killed was the grizzly that attacked Evert.

McCoy said she has had to field question from people who’ve booked visits to the dude ranch and heard about the attack.

“It was an accident, and we don’t anticipate future problems,” she said.

via Family Of Man Killed By Bear Says Warnings Removed – cbs4denver.com.

WEST ASHLEY, SC (WCSC) — What started out as an early morning dog walk turned in to a battle of life or death for William Belch of West Ashley.

Belch said he was walking his grandchildren’s German Sheppard, Dutchess, near a community pond in the Hamilton Grove subdivision around 7 a.m. Sunday.  Suddenly, according to Belch, a sharp movement in the water caught the attention of Dutchess who broke free from his grasp and headed directly toward the water.

“It was so quick!” recalled Belch.  “Like a snake striking out!”

Within seconds, what Belch described as an eight foot alligator had Dutchess in its jaws, dragging the 80-pound dog into the water.

“I knew it was my grandchildren’s dog and that I would have no way of explaining to them that [the dog] had been killed by a gator, so I just reacted on instinct.”

Which meant Belch was going to get in the water. He spent the next 30 seconds in a three-way tug of war; one hand pulling Dutchess, the other thrashing the alligator on the nose.

After a trip to a local veterinarian Dutchess will make a full recovery. The dog has some scarring on her legs and skull.  While animal safety is a top concern, admits Belch, it’s not his only worry.

“The neighborhood is lined with houses, all filled with small children,” Belch said.  “Something is going to happen. Something tragic. I just know it.”

Belch’s daughter, Joanna Robbs, said she has called her homeowners association as well as the Department of Natural Resources about alligator problems in the past.

“Usually they tell us [the alligators] are more afraid of humans and pets than anything else,” Robbs said. “Clearly, this isn’t the case.”

Robbs and Belch both say that, in their observation, the alligators that do inhabit the pond make their way from a heavily wooded swamp area that surrounds much of Hamilton Grove.  Robbs also said that the Department of Natural Resources has told her that due to the close proximity of the alligators natural habitat to the neighborhood, it is hard to do anything drastic about the situation.

“They expect us to live side by side, but that just isn’t safe,” Robbs said.  “An alligator can grab an 80-pound dog, it can grab a 50-pound child.”

Both Belch and Robbs agree killing the alligators is not the best method of control, however.

“Fences, barricades, something,” Belch said. “Something has to be done before it is too late.”

Follow up calls to the Department of Natural Resources and the local homeowners association will be made when offices resume business on Monday Robbs said.

via West Ashley alligator attack spikes safety concerns – CHARLESTON, SC NEWS – LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, Sports.