Friday - March 24, 2006

Beep-Beep

Bob Englehart—The Hartford Courant

Wily Coyote Caught in New York City After 2-Day Chase
_{March 22, 2006}

(NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC)

After leading dozens of police officers on a two-day chase through New York’s Central Park, the year-old coyote was captured yesterday. The first sightings of the animal—nicknamed Hal by park workers—came early Sunday, and the hunt began on Tuesday. News helicopters filmed police and park rangers in pursuit.

Before his capture, Hal proved a cunning escape artist, leaping over an 8-foot (2.4-meter) fence, ducking under a bridge, and even scrambling across a skating rink. Officials chased the coyote on foot and in a helicopter before finally slowing him down with a tranquilizer gun near the Belvedere Castle lookout, close to 79th Street and Central Park West. (See photos of Central Park landmarks.)

Piles of feathers left in his wake suggested the hungry critter had been dining on the park’s ducks and other birds. “He’s a very adventurous coyote to travel to midtown Manhattan,” New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe told reporters. The tawny-colored, 35-pound (16-kilogram) male will be taken to a wildlife center outside the city, officials said.

How Hal found his way into Central Park is not known. Park officials believe the adventurous critter may have slipped into Manhattan from suburban Westchester County to the north or perhaps crossed the Hudson River via a bridge from New Jersey.

“There are coyotes in more places than people know,” said Wendy Arjo, a wildlife biologist and coyote expert with the National Wildlife Research Center in Olympia, Washington. ”I guarantee that most people don’t know that coyotes are walking down the streets of Chicago, for example, until their dog or cat goes missing and they wonder what’s going on.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/24/2006 at 11:15 AM   
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   Friday - March 03, 2006

A Tangled Web They Weave

Obviously, there is nothing loonier than an animal-rights activist nowadays. This group has some serious issues. They make PETA look positively civilized. How can they be so vehemently protective of animals and not give a damn about human life at all? It amazes me the irony in these groups’ stand. Humans are animals too. Where are our rights? Who is going to protect us against these madmen? I got it! Let’s form a new group called ... uh ... Stop Cruelty Against Human Animals By Inhuman Animal Activists. SCAHABIAA. Cool! Let’s run with it ....

Jury Convicts Animal Welfare Activists
March 3, 2006, 3:21 AM EST

TRENTON, N.J. (AP)

Six animal-rights supporters face up to seven years in prison after being convicted of using a Web site to incite threats, harassment and vandalism against a company that tests drugs and household products on animals. A jury returned its verdict against Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty and six of its members on Thursday after three days of deliberations.

Federal Judge Anne E. Thompson ordered five of them held without bail until a sentencing hearing on June 7. The defendants, all in their late 20s or early 30s, face three to seven years in prison and fines up to $250,000. The government charged that SHAC waged a five-year campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences, posting on its Web site information about the lab’s employees and those who do business with Huntingdon. The information included their home phone numbers, addresses and where their children attended school.

Many of those people saw their homes vandalized, and they and their families received threatening e-mails, faxes and phone calls. SHAC, based in Philadelphia, maintained its actions were protected under the First Amendment. The defendants were not accused of directly making threats or carrying out vandalism. Instead, they were charged with animal enterprise terrorism, stalking and other offenses.

Mike Caulfield, Huntingdon’s general manager, said the verdict was “a victory for democracy, research and patients.” “The government and this jury have sent a strong message to those who would ignore the democratic process and resort to criminal activity to advance their political views,” Caulfield said in a statement. SHAC President Pamelyn Ferdin said the jury was fooled by the government’s case and the judge’s order to remove victims’ names and home addresses from its Web site reeked of fascism.

“This is a scary path for all Americans,” said Ferdin, a former child star who was the voice of Lucy in the “Peanuts” movies and played Felix Unger’s daughter Edna on TV’s “The Odd Couple.” “Here is a government, a feckless federal government, who spent millions of taxpayer dollars to wage an assault on all our constitutional rights,” she said.

Ferdin became leader of the group in 2004 after its former president, Kevin Kjonaas, and the others were indicted. She was not charged. Many of the targets of the harassment testified that they started looking over their shoulders when walking or driving, changed their phone numbers or even moved. Some kept their children from playing outdoors, and several bought guns.

Sally Dillenback broke into tears as she recounted an anonymous e-mail that threatened to cut open her son and fill him with poison “the way Huntingdon does with the animals.” Marian Harlos testified she got late-night calls in which someone asked: “Are you scared? Do you think the puppies should be scared?” She said masked protesters parked down the street from her house, videotaping her comings and goings. They barged into her office, screaming and tossing leaflets, and others ruined the rear door with glue and animal stickers, she said.

On the Net:

SHAC: http://www.shac.net

Huntingdon Life Sciences: http://www.huntingdon.com

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/03/2006 at 09:23 AM   
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   Saturday - January 28, 2006

Saturday Silliness

  

_{- The story behind this silliness is here}...

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/28/2006 at 04:46 AM   
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   Saturday - January 21, 2006

Obituary

Lost Whale Dies After Rescue Bid
LONDON (BBC)

A whale that became stranded in the River Thames has died after a massive rescue attempt to save its life. The 18ft (5m) northern bottle-nosed whale was first spotted in the river on Friday and rescuers began an attempt to save it on Saturday morning. But the whale died at about 1900 GMT on Saturday as rescuers transported it on a barge towards deeper water in the Thames Estuary.

It was moved after being placed in a special pontoon near Battersea Bridge. Alan Knight, from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), which is led the rescue operation said the animal died after it began to convulse while it was still on the barge. “It has been a helter skelter ride all the way through. It is a sad end to a very long day. “Basically this is probably the right thing to happen in the end.

“If it had continued in this way we certainly wouldn’t have released it. Perhaps this has saved that very difficult decision.” Earlier, close to Battersea Bridge, thousands of onlookers applauded as rescuers placed the whale on to a pontoon to move it from shallow water. It was winched on to the Port of London Authority barge where it was laid on an inflatable raft functioning as a “makeshift whale mattress”.

As the whale was carried upstream towards the estuary a vet administered antibiotics. Earlier, naturalist and television presenter, Terry Nutkins, said the rescue operation was the wrong thing to do and that the animal needed space. However, he concluded he had “no doubts” the rescue operation had been the best way to try to save the whale.

“We had to do it,” he told BBC News. “You can’t leave a whale stranded in the Thames and we did the best we could.” The whale, which could weigh about four tonnes, was first spotted at on Friday morning by a man on a train and has since attracted massive public and media attention. There were reports of a pod of whales in the Thames estuary earlier in the week, and it was possible that the whale had become separated from this group. It was the first sighting of the endangered species in the Thames since records began nearly a century ago. There was also an unconfirmed sighting of a whale in Southend in Essex on Friday.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/21/2006 at 03:34 PM   
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   Friday - January 13, 2006

Deer Wars

The animals are fighting back. They are invading everywhere. Citizens take arms. We must defend ourselves, in spite of what the PETA-morons say.

First, they invaded a video rental store in Evansville, Indiana. I suspect they were there to protest against “The Deer Hunter”.

Then they broke into an elementary school in Arkansas City, Kansas. Possibly a plot to improve their education to better fight us.

Literally scores of them are invading the suburbs in Wisconsin. Which gives new meaning to “white flight” ... as in whitetail.

TO ARMS, AMERICANS! We must fight to the death to defend our home and hearth against these illegal aliens! I hereby declare today National “Frag Bambi” Day. So what are you waiting for? Venison is on the hoof and coming to get you ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/13/2006 at 06:56 AM   
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   Sunday - January 08, 2006

West Side Story

Whenever I see the words “gang of sharks” my mind instantly pictures the Jets vs. the Sharks in West Side Story. Then when I realize they’re not talking about dancing, singing street gangs (?) but instead are talking about real, live shark critters ganging up on swimmers and chomping them to pieces ... well, my inner philosopher thinks living in St. Louis is a great idea since it is roughly a thousand miles from any ocean. A further odd twist to this story is that it happened at Amity Beach ... in Australia. I wonder if Chief Brodey is available for a little fishing expedition down under ... ?

Gang of Sharks Kills Australian
BRISBANE (BBC)

An Australian woman from Brisbane has been killed in a shark attack at a popular beach near the city. Ambulance workers said the 21-year-old suffered extensive injuries, losing both arms below the elbow and sustaining deep wounds to her leg. Police suspect that several sharks carried out the attack, which happened on North Stradbroke Island.

The victim was thought to have been swimming in shallow water with a local church group when she was attacked. Friends carried Sarah Kate Whiley from the water and she was quickly flown to hospital by helicopter. However, she had lost large amounts of blood and had gone into shock. She died later in hospital.

The attack happened at Amity Point, which shares a name with the fictional setting for the film Jaws. Police believe three bull sharks could have attacked the young woman, and have launched a large-scale hunt in local waters. Bull sharks are notorious for being aggressive during mating season.

“If we found them I suppose we would try to retrieve them and see if they have any body parts,” said Queensland police inspector Ray Harding. “Realistically it’s virtually impossible [but] the idea is to retrieve what we can.”

The victim was swimming with friends and her dog about 15m (49ft) offshore when she was attacked in water which had become murky and muddy after a storm on Friday night. Locals near the site of the attack, on Amity Beach, said they often saw sharks in the water, and had been concerned about a possible attack.

“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said fisherman Miles Scott. “We’ve always thought someone was going to be taken here.” There have been 10 fatal shark attacks in Australian waters in the past five years.

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/08/2006 at 10:57 AM   
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   Saturday - November 05, 2005

Saturday Photo Fun

Kedar, a baby African elephant born Oct. 18, makes a face as he struggles to regain his footing, keep close to his mother Kubwa, a 29-year-old African elephant at the Indianapolis Zoo, Friday, Nov. 4, 2005. Kedar will be on exhibit, weather permitting, from 1-2 pm through Nov. 6. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Posted by The Skipper     on 11/05/2005 at 06:10 PM   
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   Tuesday - August 16, 2005

No Natural Enemies?

We love “our” hummingbirds.  We have a group of about 5 that frequent our little feeder and love to watch them compete for position.  Normally, if one shows up, another will follow shortly and knock him off or chase him away.  Great fun to watch them spar.

I have heard (somewhere in my past) that hummingbirds have no natural enemies, but this post kinda disproves that theory. (pictures in the extended section)

Entire article posted because their server has been up and down all morning

The other day while I was working in the yard my son urgently called to me. “Dad, a praying mantis caught a hummingbird!”

Not sure what to expect, but knowing my son is not one to tell an untruth, I came running to see for myself.  By the time I arrived it was too late for the poor hummer and my scientifically minded son had already begun taking pictures and studying the scene.

As you can see from the photographs this hungry mantis captured and killed a hummingbird not much smaller than itself.  The hummer measured 2 inches and the mantis was about the same!  The mantis used its spiny left foreleg to impale the hummingbird through the chest while leaving his right leg free.

We surmised that the mantis ran the hummer through and dangled its full weight on its foreleg while he consumed the flesh of the hummingbird from the abdomen.  After he had his fill, the mantis gave his foreleg several swift jerks and freed his leg.

This was an unfortunate experience for the hummer, but we are amazed to realize how fast, precise, and powerful the mantis must be to accomplish such a feat! I have read that hummingbirds had no natural enemies–so much for that theory!

Posted by Drew458     on 08/16/2005 at 09:42 AM   
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   Sunday - July 24, 2005

Feeding Time

Baby Seal Snack

Posted by The Skipper     on 07/24/2005 at 11:09 AM   
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   Wednesday - June 29, 2005

Gratuitous PETA Nekkidness

PETA strips .. Bulls snort .. We report .. You decide ....

MADRID (AFP) - A Spanish court in the northern region of Navarra authorised a nude demonstration next month by animal rights campaigners determined to use bare-faced cheek to protest at the traditional San Fermin or “running of the bulls” festival in Pamplona.

The court said the protesters could go ahead as long as they did so in a way which “does not affect good civic customs.”

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) group, which has protested against the event in the past, says it wants to highlight its opposition by organising a rival run by naked humans protesting cruelty to the bulls.

The nine-day San Fermin festival, due to start on July 6, traditionally involves hundreds of runners, including many tourists, trying to outrace a herd of bulls, who chase them throughout the town’s narrow streets in a tradition that goes back centuries.

Amid further concern about last year’s outbreak of blue tongue disease, a virus which forced restrictions on livestock movements in southern Spain, PETA asked Pamplona’s mayor to make the planned Running of the Nudes the official event this year, campaign coordinator Yvonne Taylor recently explained.

The event has resulted in the deaths of 14 spectators, and of an unknown number of bulls, since records began in 1911.

Posted by The Skipper     on 06/29/2005 at 12:22 PM   
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   Saturday - June 18, 2005

Bambo: First Blood

The deer in Southern Illinois are mad as hell and they’re not going to take it any more ....

Seven people have been threatened or attacked by deer on Southern Illinois University’s main campus over the past two weeks, prompting the school to post warnings about the animal aggressiveness they blame on fawning season and construction.

“This is something that is uncommon for us to deal with,” Todd Sigler, the university’s public safety chief, told reporters Wednesday, a day after one person was threatened and two others were sent to a hospital after a doe charged them.

A deer also attacked a person Monday, and two of three people injured by a doe June 7 required hospital care, Sigler said.

All the encounters, which happened near Thompson Woods, could be tied to a female deer’s natural protectiveness during fawning season, which typically peaks in June. Clayton Nielsen, a scientist with the campus’ Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, said the area deer population likely is rising and that construction and development perhaps have pushed the animals into campus.

Posted by The Skipper     on 06/18/2005 at 09:38 AM   
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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