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.

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.

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:.

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.

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.

A Chihuahua died Sunday afternoon in the jaws of two pit bulls after they entered its south Richmond home and approached its owner’s newborn child, police say.

“The pit bulls apparently entered the residence through an open front door and approached a 22-day-old infant, whom the mom had been feeding,” said Dan Barrett, deputy director of the Contra Costa Animal Services department. “The family has a Chihuahua that confronted them. Of course, they focused their attention on the small dog.”

The larger animals seized the Chihuahua in their jaws and carried it out of the house, on the 300 block of South 7th Street. Authorities later found it dead nearby.

Richmond police officers responding to several 911 calls about the attack beginning at 4:35 p.m., and tracked the pit bulls to a home on the 300 block of South 4th Street, Sgt. Bisa French said. No people were hurt.

The owner did not surrender the dogs for euthanization, meaning Animal Services will conduct an investigation and may hold a hearing in a future to decide what to do with them.

County ordinance allows owners of animals accused of violent behavior an administrative hearing before the agency imposes fines, monitoring requirement or euthanization.

The family of the Chihuahua could not be reached for comment.

via Chihuahua died defending newborn from pit bulls in Richmond – San Jose Mercury News.

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.

Smoke continues to flow from the home of 81-year-old Martha Smith after lightning struck it around 3:00 p.m. Monday afternoon setting it on fire.

“The house was burning and she was still inside. She didn’t know what to do,” said Chief Raymond Parke.

A nearby farm hand witnessed the lightning strike off Lost Fork Road and went to see if he could help.

“By the time he got over there, he went in the house and he couldn’t find her, so he came back around the house and then came back and she was standing by the back doors.”

Relatives say Smith was able to get out without injury. It took fire crews around an hour to put out the flames.

“The whole back side of the house was fully involved with fire and smoke,” said Chief Parke.

Family members say the 81-year-old lived here for around 25 years and they say she’s now staying with relatives.

As fire crews continue to put out hot spots, family members save what they can.

“The house is a total loss there are a few salvageable things in the house.”

Smith’s family says everything that can’t be salvaged can be replaced they are just happy the 81-year-old is safe.

This is the second fire set by lightning in Richmond in the past week.  A week ago today, a house on Highland Avenue was struck by lightning overnight. Firefighters had to cut holes in portions of the roof to put out the flame.

via Lightning Strikes Home, Elderly Woman Escapes Fire.

SNELVILLE, GA.– The Snelville, GA teen attacked by a shark on Jacksonville Beach is having a difficult recovery.

Monday she visited an Atlanta area doctor, after finding out Saturday her wound is infected. Foster had 29 stitches after the attack.

Foster was visiting her aunt’s house in Jacksonivlle Beach Thursday. She was boogie boarding with her boyfriend about 40 yards off our coast when a shark chomped down on her foot and leg.

Action News’ Kristen Cosby was the first reporter to interview Foster.

Monday, she shared her story on the CBS Early Show

“I could kind of feel all the teeth inside my skin,” said Foster. “Nothing short of freaking out. I was so scared.”

While Foster had swore off the ocean, her mom tells Action News she already has another beach trip planned in two weeks.

Doctors say it will be about six weeks before Foster is able to walk around again. Tuesday Foster is visiting a specialist to help heal her infection.

via Shark attack victim infected – Action News Jacksonville.

Food and garbage abandoned at a campsite in Mineral County likely attracted a black bear that bit a Washington man on the head early Monday, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Rob Holmes, of Ellensburg, Wash., required 21 stitches on his earlobe after the bear bit him through his tent around 4:30 a.m., as he and a friend slept up Little Joe Road just southwest of St. Regis.

Holmes’ injuries were not life-threatening, and he and his friend had left for home by Monday afternoon.

After the bear bit Holmes, the man screamed. He then grabbed a flashlight and tried to follow it before driving to a Missoula hospital.

“It reacted to people, which is good,” said Mack Long, FWP regional supervisor. “But the downside is that once it is habituated, it’s almost impossible to change.”

Holmes kept a clean camp, Long said, but other campers left behind food and other attractants at the U.S. Forest Service campground, which is “primitive” and not a sanctioned campground.

“He did everything right,” said Jeff Darrah, FWP warden captain in Missoula.

The FWP is currently attempting to track down the bear, which will be euthanized once it’s found. In the meantime, the camping area is closed until further notice.

FWP officials said the radius and patterns of the bite marks on Holmes and in his tent were identical to those found on cans of food and other items at the nearby abandoned campsite.

It is unknown how long that campsite had been abandoned, but the bear likely had visited the site for at least a couple of nights, said Long. It likely was a temporary campsite for transients, he said.

Long put all blame on the campers who abandoned their site and left food and other items behind. He said “attack” is not the correct word for the incident, which will unfortunately lead to a dead bear.

Long said he believes it is the only reported case of a human injury caused by a bear in western Montana this year.

The message is clear, he stressed: Don’t leave food and other attractants open at a campsite, and never leave food behind.

via Black bear bites through tent, into sleeping man’s ear near St. Regis.

NORMAL — Although lightning is commonly said to strike the highest object, that demonstrably was not the case Monday morning in Normal.

Lightning struck and ignited an underground gas supply line in the front lawn at 605 Maple Place, Normal, causing a flame to shoot out of the ground.

Resident Vivian Huff said she was awakened at about 7 a.m. by a lightning blast that lit up her bedroom. When she looked out her window, she saw a 5-foot high, 2-foot wide flame burning in the middle of her front yard.

Nicor Gas employees later arrived. They unearthed and closed the damaged supply line and allowed the remaining gas in it to be burned off.

via Lightning ruptures underground gas line in Normal.

A man hiking near Yellowstone National Park on Thursday was killed by a grizzly bear, the same animal that researchers had tranquilized, captured and released earlier in the day.

Erwin Frank Evert, 70, of Park Ridge, Ill., was reported missing by his wife, Yolanda, to a member of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, which had been conducting research in the Kitty Creek drainage, about seven miles east of Yellowstone.

The Everts own a cabin in the area, where Erwin, a botanist, often hiked to research the region’s plants and animals.

When her husband didn’t return from an afternoon hike, Yolanda went looking for him and met one of the bear researchers returning from the capture site. The study team member returned to the site, where Evert’s body was discovered.

According to the Park County, Wyo., sheriff’s office, which was called to the location, Evert was not armed or carrying bear spray.

Chris Servheen, grizzly bear coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the adult male grizzly was located Saturday morning by trackers following a signal from a radio collar that had been placed around the bear’s neck.

The animal was shot and killed from a helicopter, and died about 2 miles from where Evert’s body was found. A lab analysis confirmed that it was the same animal that mauled Evert.

Concern has been raised that area residents weren’t well informed of the possible risks, but according to the Billings Gazette, Evert was aware of the possible dangers. Family friend and professional colleague Chuck Neal said that he spoke with Evert before his death, having received a call from him last week about the signs posted in the area, and that his friend was “absolutely aware” of the risks of hiking in the area.

“We try to do everything we can to minimize the risks. But we can’t protect ourselves against people that ignore every warning we give, and we can’t protect people against themselves,” Servheen said. “The whole thing is regrettable; just one tragedy followed by another.”

The incident is the first fatal mauling by a grizzly in the area in 25 years, and the first such fatal attack to take place at a site where researchers had recently trapped and released a bear.

via Grizzly bear kills hiker near Yellowstone | Outposts | Los Angeles Times.

The fox attack in England sensationalist reporting is getting to be a bit much. Other than the toddlers, these are very small encounters.

A toddler was recovering at home today after being attacked by fox at a playgroup in Brighton.

The three-year-old boy was either bitten or scratched on the arm as he played outside at a party at Dorothy Stringer pre-school playgroup in Brighton, East Sussex, on Saturday afternoon.

It is believed the child, who has not been named, stroked the tail of an animal that was sticking out from under a temporary building, when it turned on him. The playgroup was closed today. In a statement it said: “We can confirm that a child suffered injuries after being attacked by a fox at an event on our premises at the weekend.”

It said foxes had existed in the area for sometime, but the playgroup had not taken action because wildlife experts had advised that they were not a danger to people.

An RSPCA inspector who attended the scene was unable to find the animal.

Relatives took the boy to the Royal Sussex county hospital in Brighton where he was treated and released, according to Sussex police. He is now recovering at home, the playgroup said.

Its statement added: “We have been in touch with Defra [Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] and also with a local pest control company, which is due to visit this afternoon to give advice on the action we should take.”

An RSPCA spokeswoman said: “As far as we are aware it was a fox. People there told us they were aware of a fox who had made his den there and had been living there for a year or so.”

She added: “Attacks like this are extremely rare. Foxes will usually shy away from interaction with people. We offer our sincere condolences to the family concerned and we hope for a speedy recovery for the child.”

The spokeswoman explained that had a fox been found, it would not have been put down but taken away and re-released elsewhere. She had no information on the extent of the injuries.

A police spokeswoman said: “Police were called by South East Coast Ambulance Service at 12.30pm on Saturday 19 June after a report of a boy being bitten by a fox.”

She added: “The boy was taken to the Royal Sussex county hospital by family, where he was treated and released.”

A spokeswoman for South East Coast Ambulance Service said: “We were called to the scene but were then stood down. This would imply that the injuries were not that bad.”

Trevor Weeks, founder of the charity East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service, called for a proportionate response to the attack.

He said: “It has been known for years by the educational authorities that foxes live under makeshift buildings at schools, so it should come as no surprise there was a fox present.

“The fox did not attack the child – it was defending itself. There is a significant difference. Any wild animal is going to turn round and bite if you grab its tail.”

The incident comes a fortnight after nine-month-old twins Isabella and Lola Koupparis were attacked after a fox entered their upstairs bedroom in Hackney, east London.

It is thought to have got in through a door on the ground floor of the three-storey house, which was left open because of the hot weather, while the children’s parents watched Britain’s Got Talent on television.

Both girls have since been discharged from hospital. The twins’ four-year-old brother, Max, who was also sleeping upstairs, was not hurt in the attack.

via Toddler released from hospital after Brighton fox attack | World news | guardian.co.uk.

Thousands of scientists are protesting over a decision to prosecute italian seismologists for manslaughter – by failing to accurately predict the L'Aquila earthquake.

Six days before the magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit last April, there was a meeting of the Commissione Grandi Rischi – the Commission for High Risks – at which it was decided that there was not sufficient risk of a major quake to justify a serious alarm.

And because of this decision, two weeks ago the L’Aquila Prosecutor’s office decided to charge seven members of the Commission, other scientists and and civil protection officials with manslaughter through gross negligence.

Nearly four thousand scientists have now signed an open letter to Italian president Giorgio Napolitano protesting about the decision to prosecute.

“The allegations against the scientists are completely unfounded,” it reads. “Years of research worldwide have shown that there is currently no scientifically accepted method for short-term earthquake prediction that can reliably be used by Civil Protection authorities for rapid and effective emergency actions.”

Over 300 people were killed in the earthquake, and the case has been launched in response to claims that people would have fled the area if they'd been warned.

“Those involved were highly qualified individuals who should have provided the public with different answers,” L'Aquila's chief prosecutor, Alfredo Rossini, told La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. “People died and we could not just ignore this line of investigation.”

Richard C Aster, president of the Seismological Society of America, says the decision to prosecute shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what science can and cannot do.

“There is currently no scientifically validated method for short term earthquake prediction, much less one that could reliably be used by government authorities for rapid and effective warnings in Italy or elsewhere,” he says.

“Pursuing legal action against members of the seismological community after an earthquake is unprecedented and reflects a misunderstanding of the science of earthquakes.”

via Seismologists charged with manslaughter – Death by earthquake | TechEye.

Although a Trafford man was bit by a snake in Fayette County early Thursday morning, a local herpetologist said close encounters with reptiles are rare.

Chad Heasley, 39, was riding an all-terrain vehicle through the woods with friends when his vehicle got stuck in mud. State police said he went to get some rocks to help elevate his tires and a snake bit him. He was flown to Highlands Hospital and Health Center in Connellsville. A report on his condition was not immediately available.

Ken Stairs of Somerset, a field biologist, said trails go through scenic areas of high mountains where snakes live. Police had not confirmed what kind of snake bit Heasley, but there are copperheads and rattlesnakes in the woods near Connellsville, Stairs said.

“They are secretive and they like to go undetected and unmolested,” he said. “If you step on one or try to pick it up, you will get bit. The snake feels threatened.”

Snakes are often found around rocks or beside logs.

“Never be afraid to hike, but wear boots or sturdy shoes, not flip-flops,” he said. “Look carefully before sitting on the ground and don’t put your fingers on ledges without looking carefully. Step up on logs and look around the side before stepping over it. A snake may be lying on the ground near the log waiting for a chipmunk. Stay on the trail.”

It isn’t true that snakes travel in pairs. Adults that are hunting will be alone. Gestating females will be in groups — he once saw 46 together at a boulder. It isn’t true that snakes can strike a great distance. They can only strike about half of their body length or a little longer if they are on a rock. Their body length isn’t as long as people think, either.

“Snakes aren’t going to chase anybody,” he said. “They are looking for an escape route. Noise wakes them. If you hear a rattle, stop, look for the snake and sidestep around him.”

Ninety-five percent of snakes are nonpoisonous, Stairs said. Those bites are similar to scratches. Someone who is bitten by a poisonous snake can be treated in most hospitals and should be fine if he doesn’t have any underlying medical problems. It isn’t true that physicians need to know what type of snake bit you before starting treatment, he said. The medication is the same.

“Don’t take the snake to the hospital with you — it causes trauma in the ER,” Stairs said. “Thirty percent of bites are dry bites. Out in the southwest you may be further away from medical facilities and the snakes are bigger and have a higher toxicity. There a snake bite is more dangerous.”

Stairs was bitten by a snake once. He had wild-caught a western diamondback rattlesnake in Texas and brought it back with him. He was measuring the snake and it bit him on the thumb.

“It didn’t like being handled,” he said. “I spent seven days in the hospital.”

Venomous snake bites can cause tissue and nerve death. If you are bitten by a rattlesnake or copperhead snake, immobilize the limb at or above the heart if possible. If you are bit on the hand or arm, put your arm across your stomach and hold it there. If you have a cell phone with you, call 911.

“Remain calm — I know it’s hard, but keep your heart rate from going up,” Stairs said. “Get to the nearest medical facility as soon as you can, but don’t run. That raises the heart rate. If you are bit on the hand, remove any rings you’re wearing because your hand will swell. If you have a constricting band — not a tourniquet — put it above the bite. Don’t drink alcohol or take medications.”

The new antivenin serum is sheep blood based and has fewer side effects than the older one that was horse blood based.

About five years ago, he asked the state Health Department how many people in Pennsylvania died of bites from indigenous snakes. There were no deaths for 10 years prior to that.

Stairs and three other men are catching large male rattlesnakes and copperheads on a mountain in Bedford County where wind turbines are to be placed. Two-inch-long transmitters will be implanted in the snakes to track them to dens. The dens will be mapped so the wind turbines don’t break up the dens. The snakes will be caught again in the spring to remove the implants.

Dave Fox, Somerset County 911 coordinator, said people who hike on the trails or through woods need to be aware of where they are. They’ve had problems before with people having a medical emergency on the trail and because they are calling on an older cell phone or the tree canopy was interfering with reception, the 911 center couldn’t pinpoint their location.

“We asked one person where he parked his car so we’d have a starting point, and he replied ‘In a lot with a sign with a big P on it,’” he said. “You need to be aware of which trail you are on and where you went in. Try to know what direction you walked and about how far you walked. If you have a GPS that can be used while walking and a cell phone, take them along. Some people leave the main trail and are on footpaths. That causes problems. Never go alone. It’s like hunting season: You’re safer if you go in numbers. If you do go alone, tell somebody where you are going. People should also wear proper clothing in case they are stranded outside at night. Carry matches to start a fire. Take any survival gear you have.”

via Man bitten by snake in Fayette County woods – Johnstown’s Community Newspaper.

In the aftermath of a bear attack in Far North Bicentennial Park, state wildlife biologists continued Wednesday urging city officials to close the Rover's Run trail to prevent more human-bear encounters.

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan said the city has no intention of doing that, arguing that people should use their own judgment rather than the city stepping in and declaring the trail off-limits.

“It really becomes a good common sense thing for the public to use their good common sense when an area has been identified … when there's potential danger there,” he said.

The city has closed Rover's Run the past two summers after two bear maulings in the summer of 2008 and continuing concerns over bear encounters there. Other government agencies that manage land in Alaska, including state and federal parks, regularly have closed trails or sections of parks because of bear danger.

Black bears and the occasional grizzly are seen from time to time on trails throughout Bicentennial Park, as well as other areas of the Hillside, but Rover's Run has been problematic the past three summers. Spawning salmon in the South Fork of Campbell Creek have long attracted bears, and the narrow, bumpy dirt trail, which winds alongside the creek, can make it easy for people to surprise the animals.

Rick Sinnott, the Anchorage area biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, thinks people should avoid Rover's Run, and said he's having trouble understanding the city's rationale for not posting signs making the trail off-limits.

“The city closes trails all the time,” he said.

Tuesday morning, a 45-year-old man riding his bike to work was attacked by a grizzly sow with a cub at the east end of the trail. The bicyclist suffered a torn ear and puncture wounds to his calf, but was able to ride to the Alaska Native Medical Center for treatment. Sinnott said the biker surprised the bear, and that Fish and Game has no plans to go after the animal because it wasn't acting aggressively.

Two people were mauled in separate incidents on Rover’s Run in the summer of 2008, including a 15-year-old mountain biker who was badly mauled by a grizzly near where this week’s attack occurred.

The 2008 attacks led the city to immediately close the trail. That decision carried over to last year when the trail was shut down again for the summer, Sinnott said.

This year, under Sullivan, who took office last summer, the city changed course. Sinnott said he was in talks with the city to again close Rovers’ Run starting June 10 but that didn’t happen.

Sullivan said in an interview Wednesday that he thinks a bright colored warning sign telling people of the recent encounter is adequate. He also says the city doesn’t have the ability to enforce a closure.

Sinnott said not closing the trail is confounding to him. “Ship Creek Trail is closed because of an erosion problem,” he said. Similarly, he said, a foot bridge across Campbell Creek near where this week’s attack occurred has had a sign saying it was closed until further notice, Sinnott said. It’s ironic, he said, that the city would close the bridge but now choose to leave Rover’s Run open.

“It seems like an ideological argument, ‘We’re not going to let the bears push us around,’ ” he said.

“Some people have the theory that if you cede territory to the bears, then the bears will get bolder, and they’ll take it over.

“There’s no reason to believe that,” he said. The bears are drawn to city streams because that’s where salmon are, he said. Putting people in their paths won’t necessarily make them go away, he said. Closing the trail won’t necessarily keep people off it, he noted. But it does send a strong message that there’s potential danger in the area, he said.

There is an idea to build a new trail 100 to 200 yards south of Rover’s Run so trail users can still cross the park and link up to its northwest corner, and Sinnott said he supports that.

A recent telephone survey conducted for Fish and Game found 63 percent of Anchorage residents say it is acceptable to have brown bears in Far North Bicentennial park. The survey found 89 percent said they support temporary closures of trails at times when the risk of encountering a brown bear in the area is high.

State and federal land managers in Alaska regularly close trails when there are potential dangers, spokespeople say.

Tom Harrison, superintendent of the Chugach State Park, said it’s a subjective call. “If we anticipate a high-risk situation we will probably err on the one side (of caution),” he said.

“However,” he said, “there are bears in the woods.”

This year, the park hasn’t closed any parts or trails because of bears, Harrison said. But last year, it closed an area of Bird Point because of reports of an aggressive bear. The Albert Loop near the Eagle River Nature Center has been permanently closed in the summer for years because of a history of maulings, he said.

Morgan Warthin, spokeswoman for the National Park Service in Alaska, said closing decisions are made by park superintendents. On Tuesday, a backcountry unit in Denali National Park was temporarily closed because a bear ripped a tent, she said.

Sullivan said city parks are not state or national parks.

“Do we want our urban parks to be brown bear sanctuaries or do we want them to be places where people can recreate? … I think (that) is what the purpose of these parks were when they were created, as well as the trails.”

Sullivan said the city needs to critically examine the state’s effort to reintroduce salmon into the city’s waterways. Those fish, he said, are bringing bears into the city.

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/06/16/1327231/bear-conflicts-create-dispute.html#ixzz0r5f9CBo9

via Bear encounters create dispute over trail status: Bears in Alaska | adn.com.

“At what point do you say, this is not good policy? This is a city first. It’s not a wildlife viewing area. It’s not a sanctuary. It is first and foremost an urban environment,” he said.

Clearly God has a sense of humor.

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.

The “King of Kings” statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said.

The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday.

The nickname is the same used for a famous mural of the resurrected Jesus that overlooks the Notre Dame football stadium.

Video courtesy of WLWT. For more visit WLWT.com

The fire spread from the statue to an adjacent amphitheater but was confined to the attic area, and no one was injured, police Chief Mark Neu said.

Estimated damage from the fire was set at $700,000 — $300,000 for the statue and $400,000 for the amphitheater, Fire Capt. Richard Mascarella said Tuesday.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol was at the scene Tuesday to prevent traffic jams and potential accidents from motorists stopping along the highway to take photographs.

The patrol began issuing citations about 4 p.m. Tuesday to motorists for stopping on the side of the highway, dispatcher Adam Brown said. The number of gawkers coupled with construction had slowed I-75 traffic in the area to a crawl, the state Highway Patrol said.

Some people were scooping up pieces of the statue's foam from the nearby pond to take home with them, said church co-pastor Darlene Bishop.

“This meant a lot to a lot of people,” she said.

Keith Lewis, of nearby Middletown, arrived at the church around 7 a.m. Tuesday to photograph the remains for his wife. Lewis said he had viewed the statue as both an oddity and an inspiration.

Cassie Browning, a church member from Dayton, said she was driving home when she saw smoke and noticed the statue was missing.

Travelers on I-75 often were startled to come upon the huge statue by the roadside, but many said America needs more symbols like it. So many people stopped at the church campus that church officials had to build a walkway to accommodate them.

Bishop said the statue will be rebuilt.

“It will be back, but this time we are going to try for something fireproof,” she said.

The 4,000-member, nondenominational church was founded by Bishop and her husband, former horse trader Lawrence Bishop.

Lawrence Bishop said in 2004 he was trying to help people, not impress them, with the statue. He said his wife proposed the Jesus figure as a beacon of hope and salvation.

via 6-story Jesus statue in Ohio struck by lightning – Yahoo! News.

VAIL — Justin Young was hoping he'd see a bear while working in the Vail Valley this summer, but he never wanted to see one as close as he did last Friday.

Young, 25, was working for his father's construction business at a home in the 1500 block of Spring Hill Lane in East Vail when he took a break and took a stroll behind the home around 9 a.m. The next thing he knew he was about 20 feet from a black bear that he said weighed about 400 pounds.

“I spooked him,” Young said. “He immediately charged at me.”

Young, who lives in Florida full-time, said he feels incredibly fortunate to have survived the encounter. The bear hit him on the side of his head and again on the left side of his body before Young fell down. The bear knocked him out, he said, and when he regained consciousness the bear was gone. He got up and ran back to the house and told his coworkers what happened.

Young doubts his coworkers would have believed him if it wasn't for the bear hair.

“They assumed I fell down the stairs and was full of it, until they saw I was covered in bear hair,” Young said.

He walked away with some cuts and bruises, and a nasty black eye, but that was it.

His parents, Chuck and Terry Young, of Eagle, saw pictures of their son's cuts and bruises from his cell phone camera that morning. Terry Young said she got a picture message that said her son had quite the story to tell her.

“Now he has a whole new respect for bears,” Terry Young said.

Justin Young said he's pretty sure he scared the bear because it was facing away from him as he approached it. The bear reacted and went on the defensive, he said.

“I'm very fortunate the bear was on the defensive and not the offensive,” Justin Young said.

After the bear hit him once near his left eye and temple, he put up his arm to protect himself. The bear got a pretty good scratch at his left arm, and that's when Justin Young thinks he was knocked out.

He said he thinks his lifeless body as he laid there unconscious was what saved him. If he continued to fight back and try to protect himself, he said the bear may have done even more damage.

“It's probably good he knocked me out,” Justin Young said. “I'm glad I wasn't conscious for it.”

Justin Young said he has a lot of bruises and scratches on his body, too, which makes him think the bear continued to smack him around a bit while he was unconscious. He said the Division of Wildlife officer who responded to the scene told him a bear that size could exert 1,000 pounds of force.

The Vail Police Department responded to the call along with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Justin Young said he refused an ambulance ride to the hospital because he felt fine and doesn't have health insurance.

“Now that it's done and over with, and I know that I'm not going to die from it, it's kind of a cool story,” Justin Young said.

Randy Hampton, spokesman for the Division of Wildlife, said the agency tracked the bear for more than 12 hours Friday and could see the bear a few times but couldn't catch him. They tracked him with hound dogs but lost the scent when the bear's trail led across asphalt, a surface much harder for dogs to smell.

“Any situation in Colorado where we deal with an aggressive animal injuring a person, the policy is typically that the animal is going to be put down,” Hampton said.

Hampton said that while it's not exactly common to hear of a bear attacking or charging at a person, it does happen several times a year in Colorado. There were three incidents last year in the Aspen-area alone where people were physically injured by bears, he said.

“That being said, it's more common to get attacked by your neighbor's dog than a bear,” Hampton said.

Hampton said he didn't have information on the size or sex of the bear that attacked Justin Young. He said 400 pounds sounds pretty large, though, for a black bear this time of year.

“What we find is that most often, because of their hair and how much hair they have it makes them appear much larger,” Hampton said. “Guessing the weight of a bear is extremely difficult.”

via Bear attacks man in East Vail | VailDaily.com.

A 14-year-old boy who was struck by lightning during Tuesday night’s thunderstorms remained hospitalized Wednesday.

Forsyth County Fire Capt. Jason Shivers said the incident occurred about 7:30 p.m. off Jot-Em-Down Road in north Forsyth.

The teenager, whose name has not been released, had just finished riding off-road motorcycles with two friends when the lightning struck the group, Shivers said.

He said all three were knocked to the ground by the strike, but only the 14-year-old remained down.

When the other two boys found that the teen was not breathing and had no pulse, Shivers said, they called for help and began CPR.

They were still trying to revive him a few minutes later when firefighters arrived and took over.

Emergency workers took the teen to Northside Hospital-Forsyth, from where he was later transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Shivers said.

Other than the lightning strike, Shivers said the county seemed to have escaped the worst of the storms.

Firefighters responded to a few other lighting strike calls Tuesday night, but there were no structure fires.

He said the department also assisted Alpharetta firefighters as they battled four blazes that happened about the same time.

via - Teen hospitalized after lightning strike.

A 4-year-old boy is in the hospital after being attacked by a pit bull at a relative's house this morning, San Bernardino police said.

The boy and his mother, residents of Taylor, Mich., were visiting family members in the 1500 block of West Windsor St, Lt. Jarrod Burguan wrote in a news release. The child was in the backyard when he picked up a toy and, without warning, the dog attacked, Burguan wrote.

The boy suffered severe bite injuries to his head, back, arms and hands. His mother, 35, and another resident, 72, also were bitten while separating the dog and child, police said. None of their names were released.

The dog is in custody of San Bernardino Animal Control, according to the release. No charges or arrests have been made.

via 4-year-old suffers severe bites in pit bull attack in San Bernardino – PE.com – Daily News Digest.

LAKELAND, Fla. – Tiger is taking it easy, spending the day in bed lying down. His owner Vivian Rovelo says this pit bull doesn't even have the energy to go outside.

“He didn't eat yesterday,” she said.

Vivian says normally the dog is very active.

“Yes. Running, playing, you can't imagine. He's a very excited dog.”

Tiger needs his rest a day after surviving an alligator attack at Lake Hunter just south of downtown Lakeland.

The dog was going for a walk around the lake, as he often does with Vivan's husband Oscar. With soaring temperatures, Tiger needed a water break.

“He was going to the lake, because it was hot. And the alligator attacked. The alligator wanted to take him,” said Rovelo.

Tiger fought back and got out of the alligator's grip. Then Vivian's husband pulled him to safety with the leash.

“He said, oh! Tiger, Tiger! And he pulled him out and the alligator was gone,” she said.

There are plenty battle scars, scrapes and scratches all over Tiger's body. But it appears he may have hurt the gator too. One of Tiger's teeth is cut in half.

And while there are alligator warning signs around the lake, Vivian says more are needed. “Let me tell you, you have to be careful in the lakes, everybody. Everybody walks over there, with dogs, with kids.”

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials do advise pets to swim, exercise, or drink near places alligators call home.

Vivan hopes Tiger is up and around and back to his old self soon. In the meantime, she's giving him love, and the run of a big comfy bed.

via Pit bull recovering from gator attack.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTVA-CBS 11 News)

The bear attack on Rover's Run is a reminder of what happens when people encounter bears. But is our city being proactive in protecting us from bears on the trails?

Although officials are saying Tuesday's mauling at Far North Bicentennial Park was minor, they do admit that it could have ended a lot worse.

They say it's time to explore what other options are out there to keep residents safe from bear attacks.

“I had to use bear spray to get my way out of a sow with some cubs and called 911,” said Rep. Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage, who had a dangerous encounter with bears before. 911 dispatchers told her they don't respond to bear attacks. “They said if the bears are threatening you and you are in dire straights we'll respond. I said with all due respect, at that point I am not going to be able to call you,” she said.

Millett says that flaw in the system is one of many in a city where so many people use trails that bring them face to face with bears that flock towards the salmon streams.

“We stock the streams and we get upset when bears come to feed,” said Millett. “We are creating our problems by stocking the streams. There is a whole group of people who love to fish and there is a whole bunch of people who love to view wildlife and there is a whole lot of people in Anchorage who like to use the trails.”

“Most of those encounter areas are places where people live or play everyday but there are also

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bears there,” said Rick Sinnott, a wildlife biologist, for the state Fish and Game.

In light of Tuesday's mauling, Fish and Game biologists strongly recommended closing down Rover's Run until they figured out the series of events that led to the attack.

“That's what we are hoping to avoid–situations where you've got a trail where we've had encounters before,” said Sinnott. “People have been mauled before. It seems like those situations for a few months in the summer time with all the other hundreds of miles of trails in town that those few miles of trails could be closed.”

But with the trails under the city's control, state officials say the municipality needs to work with them to come up with other options.

“Let's do a good job of marking our trails, and then when you go use the trails, file a trail plan,” said Millett.

“Relocate the real trail, the real Rover's Run, a little bit further away from the creek, so people have a safer place to exercise, run and stuff.”

A plan that could work two-fold for everyone's safety, to keep bears away from the trails while also keeping people away from the bears.

“Right now the bears are using it, they are fishing for salmon there, if you put a new trail in there you are kind of asking for these kind of maulings,” said Sinnott.

Sinnott says another idea is to make Rover's Run an winter-use only trail, when the bears are hibernating. Officials say this tactic has proved successful with the Albert's Loop Trail in Eagle River.

City officials say they're going to put up multiple signs around Rover's Run and encourage folks to check out their bear aware site.

via Protection Against Bear Attacks – KTVA.

HOHENWALD, Tenn. — He's a baseball umpire who was doing what he loved, but a few weeks ago, a sudden storm and a lightning strike nearly took his life.

Related: Watch This Story

Tuesday night, Patrick Baxter was back at the ball field where it all happened. As the clouds hovered over Memorial Park in Hohenwald, it took Baxter back to May 28.

“It was cloudy like it is today, then lightning hit, and I called the game up here, and then I went down yonder and got the girls off that field down yonder,” he said. “When I was going into the concession stand door, the lightning hit the door and jolted me pretty good. They said I had blue flames coming out of my arms and my fingertips.”

The Little League umpire was left motionless and in shock.

“I thought my heart was fixing to explode because my heart was racing. It just felt like stuff was frying inside of me. I was jolted by, I mean, a lot of electricity,” Baxter said.

He was rushed to Maury Regional Medical Center, where he was told that a man from Columbia died that same night from being struck by lightning.

Baxter’s injuries were minimal.

“I had a very major headache, couldn't get rid of it. It lasted for about two weeks,” he said.

On Tuesday night, even with storms looming, Baxter was back at work not on the field but keeping score inside the safety of the press box.

Even as Mother Nature got the best of another game, the man who's been helping call the shots on the fields for 22 years said he's thankful he'll be around for many more.

“It was just an accident, freak of nature. A good thing come out of it. I just thank God for that, that it wasn't my time,” Baxter said.

He still hasn't regained full strength in his left arm, but he said he's doing great overall. He'll continue with physical therapy and could be back on the field in a few weeks.

He said he fears being hit by lightning again but that he loves the game and the kids too much to give up his job.

It's rare to be hit by lighting, according to the National Lightning Safety Institute, which said 80 percent of lightning strike victims do survive.

via Umpire Recovers After Lightning Strike – Nashville News Story – WSMV Nashville.

The now-world-famous Guatemala City sinkhole, which opened following a recent tropical storm, is estimated to be 66 feet wide, 100 feet deep, and perfectly cylindrical in shape. It must be seen to be believed. Here are five amazing facts about the sinkhole and, as a bonus at the bottom, three not-so-amazing “facts.”

Might Still Get Bigger Politics Daily's Carl Franzen warns the sinkhole may be “increasing in size and appetite.” He writes, “The phenomenon of rapidly growing sinkholes is well documented, but the Guatemala case stands out precisely because the sinkhole is so enormous and in such an inconvenient location, at a major intersection. The sinkhole's potential growth is also problematic for repair efforts, as no work can be begun safely until the sinkhole has reached an equilibrium and stops…well, sinking, which could take up to several more days.”

Could Be Caused by Sped-Up Geological Erosion Geologists David Bercovici and Mark Brandon tell Vanity Fair, “Sinkholes often appear in areas where the rock below the ground is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can be naturally dissolved by circulating ground water. As the sediment dissolves, caves and air pockets develop underneath the land surface. If there is not enough support for the land above the spaces, then the ground collapses and results in a sinkhole. Natural depressions that collect water and man-made structures such as houses and streets with poor drainage are especially vulnerable to sinkholes. Heavy rainfall, like that from Tropical Storm Agatha, only accelerates the process.”

Sewer System May Be to Blame The Christian Science Monitor's Sara Miller Llana reports, “The mayor Guatemala City, Álvaro Arzú, said there may be a relationship between the sinkhole and the city's 36-year old drainage system that runs 50-60 meters below the surface. He said, according to 21st Century, a Guatemala daily newspaper, that the country's disaster response agency, CONRED, is using an X-ray like machine to study the earth in the area of the sinkhole.” Other reports cite “sewer or municipal water lines [that] might have eroded the ground and led to the collapse.”

This Has Happened Before The Christian Science Monitor's Ezra Fieser recounts, “In 2007, three people were killed when a 100-foot deep sinkhole opened in another Guatemala City neighborhood. More than 1,000 people were evacuated from the area.” Carl Franzen adds, “Just last month, a sinkhole opened in Quebec swallowing an entire house and killing the family inside. In the U.S., they are most common in the southern states, particularly Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida, where hundreds of smaller sinkholes have already been reported this year alone.”

How We Can Fix It Politics Daily's Carl Franzen explains three options. (1) Excavate and Filter; (2) Remediate and Cap Grout; (3) Underpin. That last one comes from “Sinkhole attorneys Marshall Thomas Burnett, a firm specializing in filing claims for those whose properties are affected by the appearance of sinkholes.” Click through for descriptions of each process.

3 Not-So-Amazing Sinkhole 'Facts'

You Can Throw Stuff in It Death and Taxes blogger Matt Kiebus helpfully contributes “fun stuff to toss in” the sinkhole. His 12-item list includes such throwables as Miller Lite bottles and BP CEO Tony Hayward.

Sinkhole Has Biblical Precedent BeliefNet's Mark Herringshaw quotes Psalm 46:2: “Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” To be fair, Herringshaw also urges prayer for the victims of the sinkhole as well as the tropical storm that caused it.

The Best Car to Jump a Sinkhole Car blog Jalopnik's Matt Hardigree asks, “Assuming you were airlifted in to the country with a vehicle of your choice — what would you take and what would your strategy be for avoiding death?” His answer: “Personally, I'd pick a Caterham R500 to traverse the dangerous streets of Guatemala City. The insane 2.0-liter Ford-powered roadster has classic Caterham agility to avoid sinkholes, 520 hp-per-ton power to speed away from an earth opening beneath your feet, a low 1,115-lb weight to help leap over any obstacles, and an open roof in case you can't do any of those things and need to bail in a hurry.”

via 5 Amazing Facts About the Guatemala City Sinkhole | The Atlantic Wire.

Fatal shark attacks are rare anywhere in the world, with an average of about five recorded each year globally, but in New England, it's virtually unheard of.

Sightings near local beaches, however, have become an annual occurrence.

A sighting Saturday, which was captured by a Coast Guard camera off York Beach, Maine, appears to be a pair of juvenile basking sharks about 12 feet long, said Dr. John Mandelman, a research biologist at the New England Aquarium.

Though basking sharks are considered harmless to humans, with no positive species identification to work with over the weekend, lifeguards at Hampton Beach patrolled the waters for anything unusual.

“Any large animal, depending on what constitutes a threat, is potentially hazardous in their natural environment due to their sheer size,” Mandelman said. “But a basking shark would never attack a human. They are called basking sharks because the theory is they bask in the sun. They are passive filter feeders.”

Basking sharks are 5 to 7 feet long when born and, in rare instances, grow to as big as 40 feet. While it's early for a sighting so far north, young basking sharks are known to wander close to shore, Mandelman said.

Another sighting a mile off Cape Neddick in southern Maine on Thursday is said to have been a 10-foot porbeagle shark.

Though the sharks are likely chasing a meal and pose little to no threat to humans, these latest shark sightings serve as a reminder that many sharks do swim in local ocean waters.

“There are 15 species of sharks that exist in New England waters that wouldn't be unusual to see in a given instance,” Mandelman said. “There are tons of sharks in New England waters that get close to shore across a myriad of species, especially in the summer months.”

In 2005, ABC news correspondent Jay Schadler, who has his art studio in Amesbury, was swimming off Plum Island when he reported seeing a shark. It, too, turned out to be a basking shark.

There are other species lurking in the deep off New England, however, including makos, tiger sharks and even great whites.

Last year, scientists were shocked by the sighting of several great white sharks off Monomoy Island near Chatham over Labor Day weekend, five of which were tagged for future study. The sharks passed within 75 yards of Hollywood Beach, prompting officials to close the beach to swimmers.

A group of fishermen looking for tuna off Dartmouth last August hooked a 624-pound mako.

And while local shark attacks aren't common, they are not unprecedented.

Joseph Troy, 16, of Dorchester, was swimming with a friend of his uncle in about 10 feet of water, an estimated 150 yards off Mattapoisett in Buzzards Bay in July 1936, when a white shark grabbed his leg and pulled him down. He was rescued and brought to shore but died in surgery.

His was the last fatal shark attack recorded in New England.

Most documented shark attacks in the U.S. take place in Hawaii or Florida, where a 38-year-old kite surfer lost his life in a shark attack in February.

Local dorsal fin sightings are much more likely to be the aforementioned basking sharks or ocean sunfish, another surface sunbather with a large fin that can be mistaken as a shark.

For swimmers, however, common sense still prevails, Mandelman said.

“Swim in pairs, don't swim at dawn or dusk, and don't swim where marine mammals are present,” he said, noting seals can sometimes attract the wrong kind of attention. “The marine mammals tend to be pretty hazardous themselves.”

via Sharks spotted off New England shores » Local News » NewburyportNews.com, Newburyport, MA.

CHAFFEE COUNTY – Cindy Peratt heard the thunder and saw some flashes of lightning on Saturday afternoon, but she wasn't prepared for what that lightning would cause.

“There was this sudden blue light,” Peratt said, “and then I heard the loudest sound I've every heard in my life.”

When she looked outside the window of her store, The Roc Doc on Highway 285 near mile marker 138, she saw a motorcycle skidding. The driver of that motorcycle had been struck by lightning.

Peratt's husband Dirk ran to the man, who was described as being in a “fetal position,” while she called 9-1-1.

Chaffee County Sheriff Tim Walker confirmed to 9NEWS that 53-year-old William John Carr of Pompano Beach, Florida was struck while traveling with a group of fellow motorcyclists at 4:13 p.m. on Saturday. He was taken to Heart of the Rockies Hospital and then flown to St. Anthony's Central where, according to a spokesperson, he remained in critical condition as of Monday afternoon.

Cindy Peratt said Carr received a significant head injury.

“There was a hole in the top of his head,” she said, adding that the hair on his head and on one side of his body had also been singed.

She thinks that force of the strike was strong enough to destroy any protection that Carr may have had.

“We were wondering 'Why didn't he have a helmet,'” she said. “But then we looked in the road and saw his helmet shattered.”

Sheriff Walker confirms that the lightning did strike at the top of Carr's helmet.

Carr is a firefighter, according to his traveling companions who are also firefighters.

Witnesses like Dirk Peratt  are amazed that Carr survived the strike.

“Wow. That's wonderful but hard to believe,” he said. “I pray he makes it with no major brain issues.”

via 9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado’s Online News Leader | Motorcyclist struck by lightning, in critical condition.

Two people and three dogs were rescued by firefighters after hundreds of bees started stinging them at an eastside Las Vegas neighborhood late Saturday morning.  None of the injuries appeared to be serious.  It took firefighters approximately two hours to bring the situation under control.

The first call was received by fire dispatchers at 10:36 a.m. Saturday that a person had been stung several times by bees at 1500 Pacific Street (Oakey/Eastern).  When fire paramedics arrived on scene a few minutes later, they observed a large tree in front of a 1-story wood frame house had fallen against the house and broke in three places at the trunk.  Inside the trunk of the tree, which was hollow, firefighters could see the tree was full of a large bee hive with several hundred bees flying around.  The people who called for assistance were told to stay inside the house and firefighters would bring them out.  Other fire units were dispatched to the scene to assist.  Within a few minutes the people told firefighters that bees had entered the home and was stinging them and the dogs inside.  As they retreated to rooms inside the house, firefighters decided to rescue the people using blankets to cover them and take them to a waiting ambulance down the street.  They were able to successfully get them to the ambulance.  The two people were taken to Sunrise hospital.  The three dogs remained in the house.

Firefighters then attacked the hive using foam from a fire engine on scene.  Other firefighters went back into the house with a shop type vacuum cleaner that was brought to the scene from a near-by fire station to trap the bees that were inside the home with the dogs.  Once those bees were brought under control, the three dogs were brought out by firefighters and an animal control officer in protective clothing provided by the fire department to an animal control vehicle and taken from the scene.  Only one of the dogs appeared to have been stung several times, a closer examination by a veterinarian will be needed.

The street was closed to traffic for approximately 90 minutes by Metro Police officers and firefighters went door to door and advised people to shelter in place during the incident.

Firefighters continued to spray foam on the tree and remove hive from the interior of the tree until a majority of the bees were exterminated and the scene was brought under control.  A private exterminator will be needed to remove the dead tree from the private property.  None of the firefighters were injured during the incident.

via Firefighters Rescue Two People & Three Dogs From Bee Attack.

(CBS)  Hannah Foster was enjoying a day of boogie-boarding about 30-40 yards off Florida's Jacksonville Beach last week when she suddenly had a terrifying encounter with a shark.

It bit down on her lower left leg, and foot.

With the help of her boyfriend, Rick Hughes, also 18, Foster made it to shore.

It was the first shark attack in the area in 20 years.

Foster needed 29 stitches but told “Early Show” co-anchor Erica Hill she's “doing fine,” and that doctors say she didn't sustain any permanent damage.

Foster says she knew right away what was going on. “I didn't even consider anything else could have hurt that bad.” Foster told Hill. “I could kind of feel all the teeth inside my skin, so I knew.”

And, she was “nothing short of freaking out. I was so scared. I thought it was gonna smell the blood from where it had already bit me and come back. So, I'm just seaming at my boyfriend, yelling, 'It's coming back, it's coming back. I've been bit.' He didn't even know it was a shark. I couldn't even get that out.”

Hughes says he “just heard her screaming and it just scared me to death. But I turned around and just grabbed her as fast as I could and tried to just get her to shore.”

Was he concerned about another attack?

“I had no idea that it was a shark until we got closer to shore,” Hughes responded, “but I didn't really think about it. I just wanted to get her out. … It was just crazy. I don't even know how else to explain it.”

Foster says the water was so murky, “You could barely see at all. I could see the shape of (the shark) but I couldn't tell what kind of shark or anything.”

Once on shore, Foster says, “It was about 30 minutes before I got to the E-R and got any medicine in me. They spent time just bandaging it and making sure that I didn't hit an artery or anything. So, I spent a lot of time on the beach and in the ambulance.”

This wasn't Fosters first run of bad aquatic luck. When she was 9, she was bitten by a Portuguese man-of-war, which left scars on one of her arms for three years.

So now, says Foster, “I don't want to get back in at all. I know the odds, you know, are in my favor that I probably won't get bit again, but I obviously have pretty bad luck, so I'm sticking to pools.”

via Teen Survives Grisly Shark Attack Off Florida – The Early Show – CBS News.

“Hey Dad, I’m riding a turtle.”

My 13-year-old daughter, Abby, was helping clear some of the weeds from our pond and was calling out to me while standing neck deep in weedy water.

I glanced over at her smiling face from where I was lifting out clumps of weeds. The claim didn’t make much sense to me and I figured this was going to be some kind of joke: “Nah, you’re not riding a turtle.”

“Well I’m standing on its back and it’s moving.”

“It’s probably a rock.”

“How much will you give me if it’s a turtle?” she persisted.

“I’ll give you five bucks.” I was starting to think maybe she was really riding a turtle.

“If you’re really on a snapping turtle you’d probably better just swim away, those things have a bite.”

“I really want to catch him. Bring over a bucket so I can throw him in it when I get him.”

I waded over with a medium-sized bucket.

“That’s not big enough.”

I waded back with five gallon bucket. Abby paused. “What are you doing, Abby?”

“Praying.”

The next moment Abby went down under water while I stood with the bucket at the ready.

She came up with a huge snapping monster which she quickly pitched into the bucket.

We took this beast onto shore and surveyed him as he easily snapped off finger-thick sticks with lightning strikes from his powerful jaws.

I was picturing my daughter’s fingers.

“Abby, next time you’re riding a turtle just swim away. But, I have to say, I believe that’s a $10 turtle.”

Snapping turtles are just one of the dangerous creatures folks encounter in east Tennessee. However snappers almost never bother you unless you’re actively bothering them.

Let’s take a brief look at the other potentially dangerous creatures you might encounter around the woods, streams, ponds and backyards of our area.

Let’s start with snakes. There are four kinds of venomous snakes in Tennessee: northern and southern copperhead, timber rattlesnake, western cottonmouth and the western pigmy rattlesnake.

The copperhead is a relatively shy snake, but they account for the most reported bites each year in Tennessee.

Roughly 50 percent of their bites are dry bites; meaning that when they bite, no venom is injected.

Fatal bites are exceedingly rare in Tennessee. Although there are 50,000 deaths worldwide from venomous snakebites reported each year, only 12-15 are in the United States.

Within Tennessee, only four deaths from venomous snakebites have been reported since 1960.

If bitten, the best approach is to try to remain calm and get to a local emergency room. Remove all jewelry around or above the bite area, since there will probably be swelling. But do not apply a tourniquet, nor make cuts around the bite, nor try to suck out the venom. These are outdated approaches that can cause delay, tissue damage, and infection. Don’t try to capture the snake since anti venom is the same for all Tennessee snakes and trying to capture the snake only increases the chances of a second snakebite victim. On average, bites from copperheads result in a week of pain, eleven days of extremity swelling, and two weeks of missed work.

Moving to the smaller culprits, there are two spiders of concern: the black widow and the brown recluse. The black widow is black with a telltale yellow or red hourglass marking on its underside. They are often found in basements, woodpiles and rock walls. Symptoms of a bite may include profuse sweating, nausea, vomiting, headache, and muscle spasms.

The brown recluse hides out in unused shoes, attics, closets and boxes. Its venom destroys tissue. Pain may occur at the bite site six to eight hours afterwards. At 48 hours, there may be itching, redness, blisters, and then a dark crust may form at the bite site followed by sloughing off of some tissue. A visit to the doctor would be wise after a bite from either of these two venomous spiders.

Tennessee is also home to two species of scorpion, the southern unstriped scorpion and the introduced striped Scorpion. Rocky hillsides, rock or brick walls, crawl spaces, and log piles are favorite scorpion habitats. The sting of these scorpions is considered mild. The sensation is a sharp pain that usually lasts for 15 to 20 minutes.

What about fish? The dorsal and pectoral fins of many species of catfish, particularly the small mad toms, have venomous spines that can inflict painful wounds, though generally not life threatening.

Then, of course, there are the red and the black fire ants, bees, wasps, and hornets.

If you should get bitten or stung by any of these creatures, be sure to get immediate medical attention if any of the following occur: Difficulty breathing, swelling of the lips or throat, slurred speech, chest pain, faintness, rapid heart rate, nausea, cramping, vomiting, or a known venomous snakebite.

In spite of all these worrisome critters, the outdoors is still hard to beat here in east Tennessee. So enjoy it! But keep your eyes open.

via Dangerous creatures could ruin a summer.

A house in the 900 block of Northwestern Avenue in West Lafayette was struck by lightning Saturday evening, causing flames and smoke to erupt in the basement.

The lightning hit the gutter and downspout on the outside of the house at 908 Northwestern Ave., causing a short in the electrical panel in the basement of the house, which ignited the fire, said Lt. Don Callahan with the West Lafayette Fire Department.

Homeowners Brenda and Wayne Chesterman were at home when the lightning struck amid a storm that caused wind damage elsewhere in the county and reports of funnel clouds.

“When it hit, I was sitting in the front room,” Brenda said. “I did see sparks falling from the electrical wire and I thought it had hit the roof.”

Wayne Chesterman said he called 911 at 6:48 p.m., a few minutes after the lightning struck.

Callahan said the fire was contained to the basement. No one was injured, and there was limited smoke and fire damage inside the home. However, firefighters had to remove a portion of exterior siding to get to the fire's source.

via Basement catches fire after house struck by lightning | jconline.com | Journal and Courier.

A house in the 900 block of Northwestern Avenue in West Lafayette was struck by lightning Saturday evening, causing flames and smoke to erupt in the basement.

The lightning hit the gutter and downspout on the outside of the house at 908 Northwestern Ave., causing a short in the electrical panel in the basement of the house, which ignited the fire, said Lt. Don Callahan with the West Lafayette Fire Department.

Homeowners Brenda and Wayne Chesterman were at home when the lightning struck amid a storm that caused wind damage elsewhere in the county and reports of funnel clouds.

“When it hit, I was sitting in the front room,” Brenda said. “I did see sparks falling from the electrical wire and I thought it had hit the roof.”

Wayne Chesterman said he called 911 at 6:48 p.m., a few minutes after the lightning struck.

Callahan said the fire was contained to the basement. No one was injured, and there was limited smoke and fire damage inside the home. However, firefighters had to remove a portion of exterior siding to get to the fire's source.

via Basement catches fire after house struck by lightning | jconline.com | Journal and Courier.

This is an old story, but an interesting one.

MIAMI — Florida had seen just 17 confirmed fatal alligator attacks in the previous 58 years. In less a week, there appears to have been three.

The bodies of two women were found Sunday some 130 miles apart.

Annemarie Campbell, 23, of Paris, Tenn., was attacked while snorkeling in a secluded recreation area near Lake George, said state wildlife spokeswoman Kat Kelley. The lake is about 50 miles southeast of Gainesville.

“The people she was staying with came around and found her inside the gator's mouth,” said Marion County Fire-Rescue Capt. Joe Amigliore.

By poking the alligator's eyes and trying to open its jaws, the men were able to free Campbell's body, but she was dead when they found her, the Ocala Star-Banner reported.

Her stepfather, who had tried to help her, was treated on the scene for a hand injury.

“You just don't think of your daughter dying from an alligator,” Campbell's mother, Dawn Marie Yankeelov, told the newspaper.

Authorities estimate the animal was 7 to 9 feet long.

In Pinellas County, the body of another woman apparently killed by an alligator was found in a canal 20 miles north of St. Petersburg, authorities said.

Judy W. Cooper's body had been in the water for about three days, authorities said.

The 43-year-old Dunedin woman suffered animal bites that were consistent with an alligator, which “did play some part in the victim's death,” according to a preliminary autopsy. The cause of death was pending and the medical examiner's final report will not be released for at least four weeks, the sheriff's office said.

“We don't know the condition she was in when this happened,” state wildlife spokesman Gary Morse said.

It was not immediately known why Cooper was in the area where wildlife officials said alligators are frequently spotted.

Cooper's family had not heard from her for about three months and she had a history of drug abuse, her sister, Dannette Goodrich, told The Orlando Sentinel.

Gary Goodrich, Cooper's brother-in-law, told the newspaper that officials said her purse was found near the water and drugs may have played a factor.

Authorities were baiting traps in their searches for both gators Sunday.

On Wednesday, construction workers found the dismembered body of a Florida Atlantic University student in a canal near Fort Lauderdale. A medical examiner concluded that the 28-year-old woman was attacked near the canal bank and dragged into the water.

On Saturday, wildlife officers captured an 9-foot, 6-inch alligator in Sunrise that they believe fatally attacked Yovy Suarez Jimenez while she was out jogging.

Suarez's death was the 18th confirmed fatal alligator attack in Florida since 1948. Nine other previous deaths are unconfirmed, mainly because it was not clear whether the person was already dead when the alligator attacked.

What provoked the attacks in three separate Florida counties was unknown, but state wildlife officials said alligators are generally on the move looking for mates and food this time of year.

“As the weather heats up, the alligators' metabolism increases and they have to eat more,” Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Willie Puz said Sunday. “They might be moving more, but that just shouldn't mean increased alligator attacks.”

Florida residents are warned not to swim in heavily vegetated areas, feed wildlife or walk pets near the water, especially between dusk and dawn when gators are more active, Morse said.

via Florida Marks Third Deadly Alligator Attack 5/15/06 | abc7.com.

NELSON – A recent bear attack on a four-year-old girl and her grandmother in their yard has prompted a call for diligence.

Conservation officer Len Butler killed the mature male black bear after it clawed Nine Mile resident Jane Tillotson and visiting granddaughter Megan Chapple.

The young girl required six to eight stitches on her leg following the Aug. 24 attack.

“I was babysitting my granddaughters, who are four and six, and we went out to work in my vegetable garden,” Tillotson said.

“We'd been there for maybe 15 or 20 minutes making lots of noise. My littlest granddaughter just yelled for me and I turned and looked at her and a big bear was right behind her.

“The bear swiped at her and cut the back of her calf so she fell. It looked like that bear was going to bite her.”

Tillotson said she scooped up Megan and slowly backed away from the bear with her other granddaughter right behind her.

The bear swiped at the child again, scratching Megan's belly and — though she didn't feel it at the time — Tillotson's thigh.

“I was just shrieking hysterically at the top of my lungs,” said Tillotson. “It was probably no more than a few seconds but it seemed like forever to me [before] it stopped and ambled out of the garden.”

Butler said he doesn't think the attack was predatory in nature.

“Basically the bear was there to get something to eat and these people were in the way,” he said. ” If the bear wanted to kill the little girl, [it] could have.”

When he arrived at the home, Butler said he found a “fairly large” black bear in the neighbour's compost. He had his dog chase the bear into a tree where it was shot.

Garth Mowat, the B.C. Environment Ministry's senior wildlife biologist for the Kootenay region, said it's rare for a black bear to attack and knew of only one other human-related attack by a bear in the past 18 months. “I've not heard of black bears attacking people over food very often,” he said. “There might have been something else going on.”

Mowat suggested the bear may have been afraid or it took the child for a dog that was bothering it.

A few days after the attack, Nelson police shot a black bear hunkered down in a residential area along a road frequented by school children.

Part of the problem, say wildlife experts, is people leaving garbage and compost accessible to bears.

Butler said conservation officers will be issuing more wildlife protection orders to clear garbage, compost and fallen fruit. People who don't comply could be fined $345.

via Public warned after bear attacks girl, woman.

Eighteen-year old Hannah Mayo was on her boogie board just off the coast of a Jacksonville beach when a shark floated up beside her and chomped down on both her leg and foot, reported the Gwinett Daily Post.

Her boyfriend, Rick Hughes, immediately ran to her aid and pulled her to shore, calling for lifeguards. The bite measured 12 inches in radius and required 29 stitches in all.

According to the news source, Mayo's mother, Kitty Mayo-Foster, said that hospital staff told her that Mayo was lucky to not have lost her foot, because of the way it was positioned on the boogie board.

Only several hours later, Mayo was already laughing about surviving the shark attack and telling people that she was “done with the ocean,” due to this encounter and another unpleasant experience with a Portuguese man-of-war when she was nine.

University of Florida findings claim that 100 people have been subject to a shark attack in the U.S from 1916 to 2008, with 12 of the attacks resulting in death. Experts from the university advise swimmers to avoid night swimming, swimming away from the shore, or swimming alone to reduce the risk of an attack.

Someone who is bleeding shouldn't swim in shark-populated areas at all and the university researchers say that jewelry or too much splashing can also attract predators.

via Hannah Mayo survives shark attack while boogie-boarding | News and Articles | TheSurvivorsClub.org.

TAMPA — A 7-foot alligator was caught in the parking lot of a Gulf coast middle school.

Authorities say the alligator turned up in front of Stewart Middle School's cafeteria early Monday.

Hillsborough County school district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said the alligator was found before students arrived and they were kept away. No one was hurt.

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer caught the alligator in a back parking lot. It has been turned over to trapper to be euthanized.

via 7-foot gator caught outside Florida middle school.