Chicago: another mass animal death

Along the Chicago lakefront, gizzard shad - a type of herring — are dying off in large numbers. Thousands, maybe more, are dead and frozen or floating in Lake Michigan. Geese and ducks are feeding on the dead and dying fish.

 

Gizzard shad, members of the herring family, are more sensitive to drops in oxygen levels than most fish. And thick ice came early to Chicago harbors in December.

PHOTO: Dale Bowman~For the Sun-Times

Foxy!

A wounded fox shot its would be killer in Belarus by pulling the trigger on the hunter's gun as the pair scuffled after the man tried to finish the animal off with the butt of the rifle.



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Yeah, I tried to get out of jury duty, too

Boston resident Sal Esposito recently got called in for jury duty. He might have some problems performing this required task, though, as Sal is a cat.

The problem arose after owners Anna and Guy Esposito listed him on the last U.S. Census under "pet."

Anna filed for his disqualification of service. He was not "too old," "ill," or a "convicted felon," so she filed that he "cannot speak English."

The jury commissioner denied this request.

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Note: cat in photo is NOT Sal Esposito.

Hold that tiger!

German police have told an employee of a Russian circus group that he can take his tigers for walks as long as the authorities are notified in advance.

The 30-year-old man caused a stir in the northern German village of Ratzeburg on Sunday when a woman called police to report a man walking a tiger cub outside of town.

The man, who is from a nearby village, works for a Russian circus group that is now on a break in the Netherlands and was charged with looking after three grown tigers and a cub.

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Pet Ferret Bites Off 7 Fingers Of Infant

GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. -- A 4-month-old boy had seven of his fingers gnawed off by a pet ferret in Grain Valley.

Police and firefighters responded to a home in the 200 block of Young Street Monday morning after an animal bite call. Grain Valley police Chief Aaron Ambrose said it was much worse.

Video: Ferret Bites Off Fingers Of Infant

"Upon further investigating, they learned that the infant's fingers had been taken off by the family's pet ferret," Ambrose said.

The police report said the boy was in a rocker when his parents fell asleep, one parent in the bedroom, the other in the same room the bites occurred. The ferret bit off all but the boy's two thumbs and one pinky, the report said.

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Prairie dogs on the lam from Ohio zoo

POWELL, Ohio -- An Ohio zoo is trying to round up runaway prairie dogs and is asking its neighbors for help.

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said Friday 11 of the critters wriggled their way out of temporary quarters and so far only four have been recovered.

Assistant Curator Jeremy Carpenter says in a statement there's no reason to believe the animals have left zoo property. But he says nearby residents are being asked to watch for prairie dogs, just in case.

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Into the Lion's Den

At a zoo in western Germany, a baby African Penguin decided to go on a little stroll through a lion's den. As reported by Der Spiegel, the tiny bird escaped its habitat and started waddling through the lion enclosure. Fortunately, the lions were asleep. Zookeepers guided the penguin to safety using a trail of herrings. The zoo doesn't usually name its penguins, but apparently bonded with this one, since they started calling it Leona.

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Photo: Allwetterzoo Münster

Escaped Reindeer Found Hiding Under Elf House

LAKELAND, Fla. -- A reindeer escaped from a nativity scene in Lakeland, but was later caught hiding under an elf house, police said Tuesday.

While the story sounds like a Christmas tale, police say it's true. A caller to police early Tuesday morning said the reindeer had escaped from the nativity scene at Highland Park Church of the Nazarene on Lake Highlands Road.

Church personnel responded to the area where the reindeer, appropriately named Rudy (short for Rudolph, of course), was seen running loose. They chased the deer around the property before finding Rudy hiding under the "elf house," police said.

Rudy, who was unharmed, is now in the care of his owner and being kept at his house to prevent another escape from his enclosure on the church property. Police said Rudy is small in stature and, while he looks like a baby deer, he is actually 3 years old.

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Huge Boa Constrictor Found In Car Engine

A California couple returning from a trip to the grocery store Thursday found a 9-foot boa constrictor under the hood of their car.

Animal control workers used a little cooking oil to loosen the red tail boa's grip on the car engine.

It's not clear where the snake came from. But animal control workers said they suspect it broke free from its owner's care.

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Sick perverts

Muskogee County, OK, prosecutors on Tuesday charged a man and woman with fatally shooting and skinning a 7-week-old puppy they intended to make into a belt.

A judge ordered mental competency testing for Austin Michael Mullins, 26, and Krystal Lynn Lewis, 23.

Muskogee County sheriff’s Deputy George Roberson said Mullins shot the puppy 10 times with a .22-caliber pistol at a park near town, and Lewis then skinned the puppy at her apartment. The pair nailed the hide to a board displayed at the apartment and told investigators they planned to have it made into a belt.

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How long are this dog's legs?

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Weird news: Thousands Of Toads Invade CA Neighborhood

Tens of thousands of tiny toads have been hopping across streets, lawns and patios in a neighborhood of Marysville, Calif., this spring, and scientists say it's partly because of the California drought.

It started about three weeks ago in the neighborhood, which is in close proximity to a small drainage basin that collects rain runoff during the winter and spring. Neighbors told reporters with TV station KCRA that it's the first time they can remember the basin being bone dry.

Dale Whitmore, a California Department of Fish and Game biologist, said the drought killed all of the fish in the lake. Without any fish to eat the toads' eggs, the population exploded.

The western toads are now about the size of a quarter and range in color from gray to brown to green. By the end of the summer, they will be about the size of a human fist.

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Weird news: Missing cat strolls into police station

Rubiks the cat was missing for two weeks after running away from his home in the Wellington suburb of Mt Cook.

But yesterday the black cat simply walked into the Lower Hutt police station, bringing his escapade to an end.

Realising the cat was probably lost, police called the Wellington SPCA and the owners were traced through a microchip he was wearing.

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Weird news: Tourists find koala napping in bed

Three Australian women vacationing on an island off the coast of the mainland said they were shocked when a koala chose their hotel room bed for a nap.

The koala entered the home from the balcony and settled for a nap on a bed covered with a blue and pink floral duvet.

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Just trying to feed the bears

A polar bear attacked a woman at Berlin Zoo Friday afternoon after she climbed a fence and jumped into its habitat during feeding time.

The woman was severely injured and was being treated at a hospital. It's unclear why the woman entered the bear habitat, but police issued her a citation for trespassing.

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(via Blame it on the Voices)

Here's a fishy story

Employees of a Pennsylvania pet store expecting a shipment of tropical fish and salt water received a man's dead body instead.

Mark Arabia owns the Pets Plus store in northeast Philadelphia, where the mix-up was discovered Tuesday. He said he learned the body was that of a 65-year-old San Diego-area man who died of early onset Alzheimer's disease.

The deceased man's wife said she was shocked initially, but found the former mailman's posthumous postal mix-up funny.

The body was supposed to go to a research laboratory in Allentown, 70 miles away.

The fish were left at the airport and probably died.

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What's that in your pants?

An Australian traveller raised eyebrows and the suspicions of customs officers after he was found with two live pigeons and an aubergine down his pants. (NOTE to us non-Brits: an aubergine is an eggplant.)

Customs officials said the 23-year-old man was caught at Melbourne Airport following a trip to the Middle East.

Officials searched the man after they discovered two eggs hidden in a vitamin container in his luggage.

The pigeons were found wrapped in padded envelopes and held to each of the man's legs with a pair of tights.

Officials also seized seeds in his money belt and an undeclared aubergine, but are at a loss to explain why the goods were smuggled into the country.