Animals in The News

Germany's cross-eyed opossum to pick Oscar winners
BERLIN, Fri Feb 11, 10:19 AM

Heidi, Germany's beloved cross-eyed opossum, is taking a page from Paul the Octopus' playbook: the marsupial will attempt to pick this year's Oscar winners.

Leipzig Zoo Director Joerg Junghold told Germany's RTL television on Friday that Heidi will be appearing on the "Jimmy Kimmel Show" alongside the Oscars on Feb. 27.

He isn't revealing much about the show but says: "quite similar to Paul, it will be about tips." He says Heidi will be filmed in Germany over the next few days for the U.S. show.

Junghold says Heidi's appearance fee will be donated to an animal protection charity.

Paul correctly predicted the outcome of all seven German games at last year's World Cup plus the Spain-Netherlands final from an aquarium in Oberhausen. He died in October.

Rat delays Alaska Airlines flight out of Seattle
SEATTLE, Fri Feb 11, 08:27 PM

Alaska Airlines had to delay a flight about to leave Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when a rat was seen scurrying in the cabin.

The airline says the flight from Seattle to Denver had just pulled away from the gate Thursday morning when the little stowaway was spotted. The 737 jetliner returned to the terminal and passengers and crew boarded another plane about 90 minutes later.

Airline spokeswoman Bobbie Egan says the plane won't be returned to service until maintenance workers make sure the rat didn't damage equipment or chew any wires - and an exterminator certifies the plane is rodent-free.

Egan says workers also are trying to figure out how the rat got aboard. She says in cold weather, "sometimes rodents can seek shelter in strange places."

Maine biologists nab owl taking heads off chickens
BETHEL, Maine, Wed Feb 09, 08:42 AM

A Maine barred owl was caught inside a barn where it had been decapitating one chicken a day and flying off with the heads.

The Sun Journal newspaper reports that the owl killed five or six chickens. The owl was captured Sunday and has been taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center.

Wildlife biologist Judy Camuso says owls are having a tough time finding food this winter and the owl was trying to survive. She says it was near death.

Camuso says chickens are too big for owls to carry off and owls are notorious for eating heads. She says many animals that owls live on, such as squirrels and voles, live under the snow.

Taser fails to slow roaming Alaska moose
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Tue Feb 15, 06:01 PM

A Taser may not be enough to stop a moose.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game failed in their attempts to stun a cow moose to remove a rope around its neck that was used to rescue it from a river last month.

Biologists said the moose appeared to react only to the sound of the Taser going off, and it started running.

Biologists decided to leave the cow, which was accompanied by a calf. They said the rope is not hindering her ability to breathe, eat or walk - and may just fall off eventually.

Rescued cow, 'Molly B,' arrives at new Mont. home
STEVENSVILLE, Mont., Tue Feb 15, 12:52 PM


A cow that avoided slaughter five years ago by famously jumping a slaughterhouse gate and leading officials on a chase finally has a new home in Montana.

The cow is called the "Unsinkable Molly B" because her 2006 escape included a swim in the Missouri River. She was recently rescued from an overcrowded animal sanctuary and is now at the New Dawn Montana Farm Animal Sanctuary near Stevensville.

Sanctuary officials thought they had her several weeks ago, before learning a similarly marked bovine was actually a steer named "Big Mike."

The sanctuary's Sue Eakins tells the Ravalli Republic it was a relief to have Molly B delivered safely last week. She says she and her husband had been warned about Molly's demeanor, but Eakins says Molly is a "sweetie pie."

Big cleaning bill for missing snake on Mass. train
BOSTON, Wed Feb 23, 12:05 PM

A woman whose 3-foot-long snake slithered away from her in a Boston subway car and hid there for nearly a month has gotten a hefty cleaning bill.

Transit officials want Allston, Mass., resident Melissa Moorhouse to pay $650 to cover the costs of disinfecting and sanitizing the Red Line train to protect passengers from germs such as salmonella that may have been left by a boa constrictor named Penelope.

Moorhouse had traveled with the snake around her neck and lost it between stations Jan. 6. The snake was spotted on the train earlier this month by a commuter.

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority says some subway riders wrote in with health concerns.

Moorhouse says she'll pay more attention the next time she takes the snake out in public.



RIADAS RETORT: DID SHE REALLY THINK THAT THE SNAKE ENJOYED THE TRAIN RIDE? I HOPE THAT CLEANING BILL WAS HEFTY! WHAT A DUMMY!!!

Snapping Arizona dog takes over family's fridge

(03-02) 13:38 PST Yuma, Ariz. (AP) --

A runaway dog darted into an Arizona apartment and found a cool place to hide — the bottom of the refrigerator.

A Yuma Fire Department spokesman says the family told firefighters the pooch rushed into their home when they opened the front door and kept snapping at them.

When they went to the fridge to get some food to try to lure the dog outside, the animal jumped in the appliance and refused to come out.

Firefighters found the small black terrier-type dog crouched on the bottom shelf, snapping at anyone who approached. They used protective gear to pick up the pooch and put it in a carrier.

The dog had been reported missing by someone else at the apartment complex and was returned home safely.

Dog ate toes of diabetic Ore. owner as he slept
ROSEBURG, Ore., Fri Mar 04, 08:08 PM

A dog ate three of his owner's toes as the diabetic man slept, most likely out of instinct to help remove diseased flesh, animal experts say.

James Little, 61, called 911 on Tuesday to say his dog had eaten the body parts while he was sleeping. He told The Associated Press on Friday that he is "doing fine."

Little suffers from diabetes, of which one symptom is numbness in the hands or feet.

The dog, a Shiba Inu, was acting on its instinct to remove diseased flesh and does not appear to be dangerous, said Douglas County Animal Control Deputy Lee Bartholomew.

Dogs have been known to eat dead or diseased human flesh. A family's dog in Illinois ate the toes off a 10-year-old girl's left foot while she slept last December. She had a sore on her foot.

In August, a dog in Michigan bit off most of its owner's infected big toe after the man passed out from alcohol. The man had diabetes, and the animal was apparently attracted to a festering wound.

Little has given up ownership of his dog, putting it up for adoption pending an examination and a standard 10-day quarantine to determine it does not have rabies, Bartholomew said.

"We are going to find a new home for it," Bartholomew said.

The dog was taken to Roseburg's Saving Grace Pet Adoption Center, where executive director Wendy Kang said the animal is healthy but appears anxious.

Little was in fair condition at a hospital and expected to be released later Friday.

SD sheriff now oversees more bison than people
MCLAUGHLIN, S.D., Mon Mar 07, 08:06 AM

Sheriff Keith Gall is known as the "singing sheriff" for his a cappella performances at weddings and funerals. But thanks to a judge, the gun-toting tenor now spends more time with a grunting, testy audience of some 6,000 bison that outnumber people in his South Dakota county.

"I'm known as everything related to buffalo now," joked the 42-year-old Gall, who was elected sheriff two decades ago. "It's all part of the job, but this is a first."

His rural Corson County is home to most of a sprawling ranch owned by a Florida real estate tycoon whose herd was ordered into the sheriff's care after more than a dozen bison were found dead. Many more were malnourished and others were stuck by vehicles when they escaped in search of food.

Gall has worn several hats in his life - radio station disc jockey, band singer, wedding crooner - and he grew up on a cattle ranch, but he never expected law enforcement would put him back in a pair of manure-covered boots.

Yet now he spends up to 12 hours a day at the 35,000-acre ranch, often cruising desolate roads to check on bison roaming the windswept, snow-covered grasslands. The rolling terrain is interrupted only by a barbed wire fence, trails in the snow left by buffalo and hay-hauling tractors, and shin-high piles of evidence that the iconic Wild West animals - many of which were underweight and lethargic when Gall took over - are eating well.

"They're getting some bellies on them now," Gall said as he eyed several hundred of the herd from his patrol car on a recent morning. "The animals are looking better and are more active, moving around more than they were before."

The county has spent more than $50,000 providing feed and plowing roads at the ranch, which straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border.

Authorities are billing its owner, Maurice Wilder - who has a history of legal and neighborly problems in both states - though no charges have been filed since a judge impounded the animals Feb. 1. Wilder didn't return several messages from The Associated Press. The AP wasn't permitted on his ranch.

"It's not the best of deals for our tax dollars," said Jerry Peterson, who owns the Prairie Dog Cafe in McLaughlin, a town where the bulk of the herd has migrated about 10 miles south of the North Dakota border.

Peterson said locals worry that property taxes could increase if the county is stuck paying for the bison's care. They're also tired of dealing with Wilder, who has owned the ranch for about 17 years. He has been investigated for animal abuse and neglect, and residents have complained about his bison running loose, trampling fences and feasting on neighbors' hay. Charges of animal neglect and livestock at large were dropped in North Dakota two years ago after Wilder's company paid eight nearby ranchers more than $60,000 for damage.

"This isn't new news here," Peterson said during a lull before the lunchtime crowd. "We don't need the bad publicity of a clown like that doing this."

South Dakota State Veterinarian Dustin Odekoven said the animals are "all getting adequate care at this time" and are being closely monitored. Wilder needs to adopt a new management plan that must be approved by a judge before the herd could be returned.

"There are some big problems, so it's going to take time," Odekoven said.

So it's unclear when Gall's oversight may end.

Snow and frigid weather, although attributed to a handful of the bison deaths, have kept down crime in the county, which is home to only 4,000 residents and located within the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Vehicle accidents also have slowed, so Gall's two deputies and lone dispatcher have been able to tend to the county's nine-bed jail and shoulder much of the office work.

"We're not going full force like we usually do this time of year," the sheriff said. "That really helps, because it would be more than an office my size could swallow."

Gall makes the 60-mile round-trip at least once a day to the ranch, which his wife jokes is his new office. His primary duty is ensuring that Wilder's five ranch hands are tending to the bison and that pasture roads are plowed for access. When loads of hay bales are moved in, which can take hours, Gall uses his squad car to block traffic on state highways and county roads. He walks the corrals to ensure hay is in feeders and water is available.

"I can't say I've worn out a dozen hayfork handles feeding the buffalo," Gall said. "I'm making sure things are getting done."

Which has been appreciated on the ranch's North Dakota side in Sioux County, where Sheriff Frank Landeis said about 300 bison were recently located and five were found dead. The sheriff, who has no staff, said at least two ranchers intend to file claims against Wilder for damage to hay supplies and fences after his bison were reported walking over fences and snow-covered ditches.

Landeis said he's relieved Gall is in charge.

"Better him than me? You got that right," Landeis said. "He's got his hands full and he already has enough on his plate. But if he needs help, I'll be there."

"I'm not trying to toot his horn," added Gall's wife, Heather, a volunteer ambulance worker and the county's treasurer, "but he probably is the best man for the job."

Woman goes to Va. court with tiny monkey in bra
AMHERST, Va., Fri Mar 11, 11:10 AM
A woman turned a few heads when she walked into a rural Virginia courthouse with a tiny monkey clad in a pink-and-white dress tucked in her bra.

The woman brought the palm-sized marmoset to Amherst County Courthouse on Thursday for a hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Officials apparently didn't notice the monkey until the woman went to an office to complete some paperwork.

In an interview with The News & Advance of Lynchburg, the woman says the marmoset is 7 weeks old and requires constant attention.

The woman tells the newspaper she bought the animal on an online auction site and had its clothes specially made in West Virginia.

Dolphin jumps onto deck of boat, injures woman
MARCO ISLAND, Fla., Mon Mar 14, 07:36 AM
A dolphin weighing between 600 and 700 pounds jumped onto the deck of a boat, injuring a woman in South Florida.

Isles of Capri Fire spokesman Keith Perry says a charter boat captain called 911 Sunday afternoon after the dolphin jumped on the boat and landed on one of his passengers.

The woman suffered a sprained ankle. Her name was not available.

Officials from the Isles of Capri Fire Department, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Collier County Sheriff's Office used an immobilizing board and a rope to push the dolphin back into the water.

Arrow finally removed from goose impaled in Colo.
DENVER, Thu Mar 17, 09:59 PM
A Canada goose is recovering after wandering around Denver for more than a month with an arrow lodged in its chest.

The arrow was removed and the goose was given antibiotics after volunteers with the Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center finally caught the bird Thursday.

The veterinarian treating the goose says it is doing well since the surgery. The Denver Post reports the goose will be released back into the wild once it heals.

The goose was first spotted in Denver's Washington Park on Feb. 12. It was captured at Garland Park after managing to avoid several attempts by Colorado Division of Wildlife officers to catch it.

17 puppies born by Cesarean section in Poland
WARSAW, Poland, Thu Mar 17, 02:59 PM

Seventeen whimpering Great Dane puppies born by Cesarean section are keeping their mother, another dog and their breeder constantly busy trying to feed the unusually large litter.

The eight male and nine female pedigree puppies were born Monday at a veterinary clinic near Warsaw, after their breeder Gabriela Kubalska decided to spare the mother, 4-year-old Hania, a long labor.

They are Hania's very first litter, Kubalska said Thursday.

Hania, looking tired, her puppies and another female Great Dane helping to nurse the litter, occupy most of the ground floor at Kubalska's house in a Warsaw suburb. The tiny pups nursed and slept by their mother on Thursday.

A Rhodesian Ridgeback in Germany made headlines in September when she gave birth to 17 puppies.

Police: Dog defecating in yard leads to shooting
JACKSON, Miss., Fri Mar 25, 09:40 PM
An argument between two armed neighbors over a dog and its feces escalated to a shootout in rural Mississippi, sending one neighbor to the hospital with injuries from shotgun pellets and the other neighbor to jail.

Terry Tenhet, 52, told The Associated Press he was struck Wednesday in both hands, the shoulder, chest and side by the spray of pellets from shotgun blasts fired by his neighbor, Jerry Blasingame, 60. The wounds are not life-threatening.

Washington County Sheriff's Assistant Chief Deputy Billy Barber said Tenhet was angry at Blasingame because he thought Blasingame's mixed-breed dog had defecated in his lawn.

Each man described his side of the argument and shootout to The Associated Press.

Tenhet says he was friends with Blasingame and only went over to his house to complain in general about the dog feces in his lawn - not to accuse him - and encountered a drunk and irate neighbor.

Blasingame told the AP that they argued because Tenhet shot his dog last week and threatened to kill him and his dog "over poop."

Tenhet denies shooting the dog: "I said 'Jerry, your dog ain't even dead. He said 'Just meet me at the levee and I'll shoot you down.'"

Blasingame said he got a gun and left the house in his truck, hoping Tenhet would follow so there would be no confrontation in front of bystanders.


Tenhet did not follow and said Blasingame returned to the neighborhood from a different direction in an apparent attempt to ambush him.

The men dispute what happened next.

Blasingame says Tenhet was armed when he returned to the neighborhood: "(Tenhet) said, 'Point that gun at me.' I said, 'No, point that gun at me.' He shot twice. I returned fire."

Tenhet says he was unarmed when Blasingame returned and told Tenhet he was going to shoot him: "I said, man, do what you gotta do" before Blasingame opened fire.

Tenhet said he grabbed his pistol from his nearby car and returned fire. Tenhet says he dropped his weapon after being struck in both thumbs by shotgun pellets.

Blasingame was charged with aggravated assault. Tenhet could also face charges.

Barber, the chief deputy, said the shooting was senseless.

"Homeowners and property owners need to respect each other's property. Don't let your dogs do that on other people's yards," he said. "Then, at the same time, if a dog did do that in your yard, call the law. Don't take make matters into your own hands."

riada wrote: Dolphin jumps onto deck of boat, injures woman
MARCO ISLAND, Fla., Mon Mar 14, 07:36 AM
A dolphin weighing between 600 and 700 pounds jumped onto the deck of a boat, injuring a woman in South Florida.

Isles of Capri Fire spokesman Keith Perry says a charter boat captain called 911 Sunday afternoon after the dolphin jumped on the boat and landed on one of his passengers.

The woman suffered a sprained ankle. Her name was not available.

Officials from the Isles of Capri Fire Department, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Collier County Sheriff's Office used an immobilizing board and a rope to push the dolphin back into the water.

Dolphin rape!

NY zoo closes reptile house after cobra disappears
NEW YORK, Sun Mar 27, 12:47 AM
Officials have closed the Reptile House at New York's Bronx Zoo after a poisonous Egyptian cobra disappeared from an enclosure that's separate from the animal exhibits.

Zoo officials say the building was immediately closed and secured after staff learned that the adolescent snake was missing Friday afternoon.

The zoo released a statement Saturday saying it's confident the 20-inch-long snake is in an area of the building that's not accessible to the public. Snakes usually seek closed-in spaces and aren't comfortable in open areas.

Officials say they are informing the public out of an "abundance of caution and will continue to take whatever steps necessary to ensure public safety."

Drive-thru duck: Fowl nesting at Chick-fil-A in NJ
AUDUBON, N.J., Thu Apr 07, 05:49 PM
A duck has chosen an odd place to lay her eggs: a fast-food drive-thru in New Jersey.

The duck is nesting in landscaping near a drive-thru menu at a Chick-fil-A in Audubon.

Restaurant employee Karen Montone said Thursday that she noticed the duck a couple of days ago. Gardeners had recently replanted the area bordering the store in a suburban strip mall.

Montone thinks the duck had been hidden beneath old plants but is now exposed by the new landscaping. She's worried the fowl is too far afoul of its natural environment and has placed water and food nearby.

It's not clear how many eggs the duck has or when they might hatch.

Thailand seizes 1,800 monitor lizards from trucks
BANGKOK, Fri Apr 08, 10:41 AM
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A Thai customs official displays one of 1,800 seized Bengal monitor lizards smuggled on pickup trucks to the capital from...More
Authorities in Thailand have seized 1,800 monitor lizards being smuggled on pickup trucks to the capital.

Customs officials say the Bengal monitor lizards were hidden in mesh bags and stashed in open containers behind boxes of fruit in three pickup trucks. They were seized Thursday at a checkpoint in southern Thailand.

Customs Department chief Prasong Poontaneat said Friday he suspects the lizards were destined to be eaten. He said their meat sells for $7.50-$15 per pound ($16-$33 per kilogram) in China, making them worth more than $60,000.

International trade in the reptiles is banned. In Thailand, illegal sale of wildlife carries a penalty of up to four years in prison and a fine of $1,300.

NH cops seek woman accused of lifting 14 lobsters
ROCHESTER, N.H., Tue Apr 12, 05:09 AM
Police in Rochester, N.H., would like to get their claws on a woman accused of shoplifting 14 live lobsters.

Authorities released a surveillance photo Monday that shows the woman pushing a shopping cart near the front of the Milton Road Market Basket grocery store.

Police tell the Foster's Daily Democrat that the woman entered the store Friday afternoon and asked for a selection of lobster from the clerk in the seafood department.

Store employees say the woman received the lobsters and then left the store without paying. She left in a blue van with a partial license plate "222."

Police Capt. Paul Callaghan says the 14 lifted lobsters amounted to about 16 pounds of seafood.

Stuck Bear Rescued From NJ Turnpike Tree

Rescuers high-fived it after getting a big black bear out of a tree along the New Jersey Turnpike on Friday. It was quite a commotion for drivers and the crowd that gathered on the ground.

The bear climbed a tree near Exit 8 in East Windsor.

State Police and the Fish and Wildlife Commission decided to tranquilize the beast.

It was something to watch. Two guys -- "bear biologists" -- went up in a fire truck bucket and got close enough so that one of the men could use a sedative and a tranquilizer.

They waited for the bear to get groggy and then with the help of two more men, they grabbed the lugged the bear out of the tree, into the bucket and high-fived it.

"It was about the best way things could go," said Larry Hajna, spokesman for the state police.

The bear, a male that weighs about 300 pounds, was first spotted around 8 a.m. in the Exit 8 area and people called police.

"This is the time of year that they come out of hibernation and they come out to start feeding," said Hajna, who thinks the bear probably got startled and climbed the tree.

The bear was taken out to the nearest wildlife management area, Assunpink, and released Friday afternoon.

Pa. police send pet pig to farm, man wants it back
FOLSOM, Pa., Thu Apr 14, 02:18 PM
A potbellied pet has been put out to pasture, much to the chagrin of its suburban Philadelphia owner.

Brian Maguire tells the Philadelphia Daily News he wants police to return the Vietnamese micro potbellied pig they captured when the animal escaped from his suburban yard. But police in Ridley Township say they've sent his 10-week-old pet, Steve, to a farm because township residents can't keep farm animals.

Maguire, a 24-year-old truck mechanic, says his domesticated pet can't forage for food.

He and his girlfriend challenge the police reading of the township pet rule. The law bans "farm animals other than customary pets." Maguire bought the pig for $424 at a local pet shop.

Township Commissioner Michael McCrea says he's not commenting on the case.




Pet pig returned to Pa. couple by town officials
FOLSOM, Pa., Mon Apr 18, 09:56 AM
A wayward pet pig whose residency was challenged by Pennsylvania township officials has been returned to his owners.

A Vietnamese micro-potbellied pig named Steve was reunited with Brian Maguire and Bernadette Broadhurst on Friday. Broadhurst says a Ridley Township commissioner personally delivered the animal, days after he'd been taken to a farm by police.

Maguire says Steve had apparently escaped from his yard and disappeared. When he checked with police to see if the animal had been spotted, Maguire says he was told it was found but sent to a farm because of a township ban on keeping farm animals.

Maguire said feared for the 6-pound, 10-week-old pig's safety in a farm setting.

10-foot gator chomps on Fla. deputy's cruiser
GAINESVILLE, Fla., Tue May 03, 04:32 PM
A 10-foot-long alligator has taken a bite out of a Florida deputy sheriff's cruiser.

Authorities say Alachua County Deputy Victor Borrero spotted the gator Saturday evening near the Gainesville Golf and Country Club. It attacked the patrol car while the deputy was waiting for an alligator trapper to show up.

Sheriff's spokesman Todd Kelly says the car's front bumper was heavily damaged.

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman said the alligator was put down under the state's nuisance gator policy. Under that policy, the trapper is allowed to keep meat and hide from the gator.

Police: Md. men pilfer antlers from Pa. NRA event
PITTSBURGH, Tue May 03, 08:11 AM
Police are pointing at two exhibition workers in the theft of two massive sets of elk antlers following the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Pittsburgh.

Investigators say 46-year-old Gary Felts and 44-year-old Stephen Lee abducted the antlers Sunday night while a vendor at the convention center waited to load a truck.

Police say the vendor reported the theft and the men were detained on a sidewalk outside with the antlers, valued at more than $500,000.

Felts, of Joppa, Md.; and Lee, of Cumberland, Md.; were charged with theft and conspiracy and released on $5,000 bail. Phone listings for both men are disconnected. Police say they work for a Maryland-based expo company.

The antlers were returned to the Rexburg, Idaho-based exhibitor.

Ill. man who kept alligator to woo women charged
FORD HEIGHTS, Ill., Fri May 06, 06:20 PM
A suburban Chicago man thought he had the perfect chick magnet in his pet alligator. Authorities only saw a dangerous animal.

A charge of possession of a dangerous animal has been filed against 43-year-old Dewayne Yarbrough of Ford Heights, who claims he kept the four-foot alligator to impress women.

Yarbrough told Cook County sheriff's investigators he kept the alligator in a small tank and fed it only 10 live mice a month to keep it from growing too large. He said he bought the gator five years ago in Indiana for $200.

Animal control investigators did not say how they learned of the alligator, which they found in Yarbrough's kitchen.

The alligator was taken Thursday to the Animal Welfare League and will be given to the Chicago Herpetological Society.