Animal World Tales

[CielOnTap]

Did you read about the car driver who discovered a reptile passenger in the car? No? Here is the story:

Couple drive 170km with cobra in car
Sapa Published:Mar 04, 2009

A Pretoria couple drove 170km from the Kruger National Park with a Mozambique spitting cobra in their car, the Beeld newspaper reports today.

According to the report, Gordon Parratt felt the 85cm-long snake wind itself around his leg on several occasions while he was driving.

"He felt something like an insect brush against his leg and foot and wiped it away.

"As he was doing so again, he looked down and saw a snake next to his left foot," the report said.
http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=951838

[yukon]

The couple made several stops to remove the snake but could not find it.

Are they nuts? Make several stops but dont get out of the car and wait for help. Are they nuts? You dont play hide and seek with a cobra. They play by their own rules.


Google description:

Mozambique Spitting Cobra (Naja mossambica) slate to olive grey, olive or tawny brown above, with some or all scales black-edging. Below, salmon pink to yellowish, with black bars across the neck and ventral’s speckled or edged with brown or black; young specimens sometimes have pink or yellow bars on the throat. This species is probably the most common cobra of the savanna regions. This cobra's diet mainly consists of amphibians, other snakes, birds, eggs, small mammals, and even insects occasionally. When confronted at close quarters this snake can rear up to as much as two-thirds of its length, spread its long narrow hood and will readily "spit" in defense, usually from a reared-up position. The spitting cobra does not often actually bite despite its aggressive behavior. The average length of adults is between 900mm - 1,050mm.The eggs average 10 to 22 in number, hatchlings measure 230-250mm

[CielOnTap]

Eagle survives crash through truck windshield in Nevada
1 hour, 59 minutes ago
By Scott Sonner, The Associated Press
RENO, Nev. - The eagle has landed - with a thud - after crashing through the windshield of a tractor-trailer on a Nevada highway.

State wildlife officials say the seven-kilogram golden eagle crashed into a Florida truck driver's big rig on Monday.

They say the eagle - which has a two-metre wing span - has a swollen head but otherwise appears unhurt. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090304/koddities/oddity_eagle_crash

[burnt fare]

Story about the eagle is confusing-crashed into and crashing through are both used in the story. Going by the end of the story, the eagle got into the cab somehow. Hard knock entry.

[southernfry]

Gator blamed for fire at abandoned school
Building's owner says animal knocked over portable heater

NEW CASTLE, Pa. - A 4-foot-long alligator is accused of starting a fire at an abandoned school in western Pennsylvania.

North Beaver Township officials say the owner of the former elementary school that burned near New Castle, about 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, was living with a menagerie of animals in the building. That included an alligator, about 70 rabbits and unspecified "aquatic animals."

The owner believes the alligator knocked over a portable heater onto some papers, starting the blaze Thursday afternoon, Fire Chief Paul Henry said.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29560529/


I cant believe he gets to keep the gator.

[CielOnTap]

OK-the school owner happens to own a menagerie of animals. Can you imagine how that address might be noted in the police records? "Owner, plus alligator and other animals reside in former school building. Always contact SPCA for backup on calls to this address."

[CielOnTap]

Kangaroo hops into bed with startled Aussie family Module body
Mon Mar 9, 2:48 AM
SYDNEY (AFP) - A startled Swiss immigrant and his family huddled under their blankets as a kangaroo bounced on top of them after bursting through a bedroom window, Australian media reported Monday.

"My initial thought when I was half awake was: it's a lunatic ninja coming through the window," Beat Ettlin told the national AAP news agency. "It seems about as likely as a kangaroo breaking in."

The close encounter with the hopping marsupial began when Ettlin and his family were awoken early Sunday morning by their pet dog barking in the garden.

The kangaroo then crashed through a three metre high (nine foot high) window into the master bedroom and onto the bed holding Ettlin, his partner Verity Beman and their nine-year-old daughter Beatrix. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090309/oddities/australia_switzerland_animal_kangaroo_offbeat

No room for a 'roo indoors. Hop out!

[CielOnTap]

Page last updated at 16:14 GMT, Monday, 9 March 2009
Zoo chimp 'planned' stone attacks

Chimpanzees have long been suspected of planning ahead
A male chimpanzee in a Swedish zoo planned hundreds of stone-throwing attacks on zoo visitors, according to researchers.

Keepers at Furuvik Zoo found that the chimp collected and stored stones that he would later use as missiles.

Further, the chimp learned to recognise how and when parts of his concrete enclosure could be pulled apart to fashion further projectiles.

The findings are reported in the journal Current Biology.

There has been scant evidence in previous research that animals can plan for future events.

Crucial to the current study is the fact that Santino, a chimpanzee at the zoo in the city north of Stockholm, collected the stones in a calm state, prior to the zoo opening in the morning. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7928996.stm

[burnt fare]

The chimp is bored seeing the same walls. The pavilion needs excitement and the only action is what the chimp plans on doing. Could also be a need for privacy from zoo visitors. Animal psychology at work.

[CielOnTap]

Woman finds hungry calico cat hiding in $27 couch
Fri Mar 13, 4:54 PM
By The Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. - The mysterious mewing in Vickie Mendenhall's home started about the same time she bought a used couch for $27.

After days of searching for the source of the noise, she found a very hungry calico cat living in her sofa.

Her boyfriend, Chris Lund, was watching TV on Tuesday night and felt something move inside the couch.

He pulled it away from the wall, lifted it up and there was the cat, which apparently had crawled through a small hole on the underside. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090313/koddities/oddity_couch_cat