Sunday, January 04, 2015
Koala gulps water as kind man comes to its aid
Good Samaritan Colin Phil Cook found this heat-stricken koala on Friday in Adelaide Hills, south Australia, a region currently ravaged by drought and bushfires.
With the koala being in an obviously distressed state, he offered his water bottle and the koala drank eagerly and without hesitation. He hopes the koala survived and hasn't suffered kidney damage as a result of dehydration.
YouTube link.
With the koala being in an obviously distressed state, he offered his water bottle and the koala drank eagerly and without hesitation. He hopes the koala survived and hasn't suffered kidney damage as a result of dehydration.
YouTube link.
Snowmobilers dug moose out of avalanche after they spotted its snout sticking out of snow
A moose caught in an avalanche in Hatcher Pass in Alaska may have three passing snowmachiners to thank for making it into the new year.
The men dug the moose, a young cow, they think, out of the snow, apparently unharmed, after it was caught in an avalanche on Dec. 28. One of the men, Marty Mobley, 44, said the moose probably caused the slide that swallowed it and that without the group's help, it would not have survived.
"There was just enough of its snout sticking above the snow that it could breathe," Mobley said.
Mobley said he and friends Rob Uphus, 30, and Avery Vucinich, 27, all of them Valley residents, had gone snowmachining on the Willow side of Hatcher Pass, about 55 miles northeast of Anchorage, in an area known to locals as "God's Country." They rode carefully, he said, because of the constant fear of avalanches.
They saw a small bowl covered in moose tracks. Ski tracks were also easy to spot, something Mobley said he doesn't often see in the area. "We figured we scared the moose off and saw his tracks go up the side and over the crest," Mobley said. About an hour later, coming back through the same area, the trio saw an avalanche had come down in the bowl, obliterating both the moose and ski tracks. Mobley said the men were worried a skier got caught in the slide, so they took a closer look, nervous about the possibility of more avalanches. "We had about 2,500 feet of mountain above us still," Mobley said. "Half slid, half didn’t, so we didn’t want to screw around a bunch there." Mobley said as he got closer, he could see something brown and moving sticking above the hard-packed snow of the avalanche debris field.
"It looked like a guy's arm at first because we were expecting to see a skier," Mobley said. "But it was moaning and groaning and moving and we realised it was a moose, even though only his ears and some of its snout was sticking out of the snow." Mobley said the men grabbed their shovels and began to dig the moose out of the snow. Mobley said it didn’t move as they worked and even seemed to get calmer as they cleared snow away. Mobley said two men dug while the other served as an avalanche lookout. "It didn’t even fight us," Mobley said. "It was like, 'Help me. Help me.' It was totally docile and let us touch it. It just (lay) there," Mobley said. After about 10 minutes of digging, Mobley said, the men were able to free about three-quarters of the animal and weren't sure if it was injured. So one of the men gently poked the moose's backside with a shovel.
"It stood right up and towered over us, because we were in kind of a hole from the digging," Mobley said. "It looked like the abominable snowman because its fur was so packed with snow and it looked at us, shook the snow off it, and off it went." Mobley said the moose was "at full steam" when it ran down the mountain and appeared to be completely uninjured, something that surprised the men. "It slid at least 1,500 to 2,000 feet down the mountain when it got caught in the avalanche," Mobley said. Mobley said the trio look on their moose rescue as an act that they hope will be repaid by nature as they continue to ride their snowmachines in Alaska's often unpredictable backcountry. "I am an animal lover, and I couldn’t leave it there," Mobley said. "Besides, we deal with a lot of avalanches and a lot of snow. That kind of karma is something we don’t pass up."
There's a video interview with two of the moose rescuers here.
They saw a small bowl covered in moose tracks. Ski tracks were also easy to spot, something Mobley said he doesn't often see in the area. "We figured we scared the moose off and saw his tracks go up the side and over the crest," Mobley said. About an hour later, coming back through the same area, the trio saw an avalanche had come down in the bowl, obliterating both the moose and ski tracks. Mobley said the men were worried a skier got caught in the slide, so they took a closer look, nervous about the possibility of more avalanches. "We had about 2,500 feet of mountain above us still," Mobley said. "Half slid, half didn’t, so we didn’t want to screw around a bunch there." Mobley said as he got closer, he could see something brown and moving sticking above the hard-packed snow of the avalanche debris field.
"It looked like a guy's arm at first because we were expecting to see a skier," Mobley said. "But it was moaning and groaning and moving and we realised it was a moose, even though only his ears and some of its snout was sticking out of the snow." Mobley said the men grabbed their shovels and began to dig the moose out of the snow. Mobley said it didn’t move as they worked and even seemed to get calmer as they cleared snow away. Mobley said two men dug while the other served as an avalanche lookout. "It didn’t even fight us," Mobley said. "It was like, 'Help me. Help me.' It was totally docile and let us touch it. It just (lay) there," Mobley said. After about 10 minutes of digging, Mobley said, the men were able to free about three-quarters of the animal and weren't sure if it was injured. So one of the men gently poked the moose's backside with a shovel.
"It stood right up and towered over us, because we were in kind of a hole from the digging," Mobley said. "It looked like the abominable snowman because its fur was so packed with snow and it looked at us, shook the snow off it, and off it went." Mobley said the moose was "at full steam" when it ran down the mountain and appeared to be completely uninjured, something that surprised the men. "It slid at least 1,500 to 2,000 feet down the mountain when it got caught in the avalanche," Mobley said. Mobley said the trio look on their moose rescue as an act that they hope will be repaid by nature as they continue to ride their snowmachines in Alaska's often unpredictable backcountry. "I am an animal lover, and I couldn’t leave it there," Mobley said. "Besides, we deal with a lot of avalanches and a lot of snow. That kind of karma is something we don’t pass up."
There's a video interview with two of the moose rescuers here.
Suspicious man with flailing arms was just out for some exercise
Police officers responded to the parking lot at the Civic Center in Mayfield Village, Ohio, on Dec. 24.
This followed a report of an elderly man who seemed to be disoriented.
He was throwing his hands up and wandering back and forth
The offficers determined the man was just taking a walk and waving his arms for extra cardio.
This followed a report of an elderly man who seemed to be disoriented.
He was throwing his hands up and wandering back and forth
The offficers determined the man was just taking a walk and waving his arms for extra cardio.
Doctors found vial of urine hidden in rectum of patient
Doctors at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, investigating a patient’s mysterious abdominal complaints were stunned to discover a vial of urine hidden inside his rectum.
The man eventually admitted that he had put a friend’s “clean” urine inside his rear end to try to fool a drug test at his methadone clinic.
The idea was to keep the liquid at body temperature and avoid suspicions that the sample came from someone else.
Hin Hin Ko, the gastroenterologist called in by emergency doctors at St. Paul’s Hospital to extract the object said: “I think he had done it before – he’d just go and grab that bottle from his rectum and pretend it was his. And I’m not sure he’s the only one - there might be many other people doing the same thing.” The patient had showed up at the St. Paul’s emergency department saying he had had difficulty passing stools and abdominal discomfort for a week. He neglected to mention any possible causes of the symptoms. When an X-ray revealed a foreign object of some kind, Dr. Ko was called in to help.
Using an endoscope, the tiny camera and light-tube employed in colonoscopies, she found an object wrapped in a pink condom. Dr. Ko then inserted a “loop snare”, an instrument designed to cut off pre-cancerous polyps in the colon, to lasso the end of the tied-off condom and slide it out. When doctors discovered the eye-dropper filled with urine inside the condom, the patient finally revealed the whole story, she said. The case also shines a light on the culture around methadone, a substitute opioid drug used to treat addictions to heroin and, increasingly, prescription painkillers like oxycodone and hydromorphone.
Methadone users begin by visiting a drug store daily and drinking their dose in front of the pharmacist, but are typically allowed to take home several days of the medicine after they’ve shown some success. If one of the regular drug screens they undergo shows they are abusing a problem drug again, however, patients can lose the coveted carry-home privilege, said Mel Kahan, a University of Toronto addictions specialist. “Cheating is, I think, pretty common, although usually not to that crazy extreme,” he said. “They may be embarrassed, they may be ashamed, but most of all they don’t want to lose their [take home doses].” Patients will sometimes even pay other methadone patients for a sample of their urine, he said.
Hin Hin Ko, the gastroenterologist called in by emergency doctors at St. Paul’s Hospital to extract the object said: “I think he had done it before – he’d just go and grab that bottle from his rectum and pretend it was his. And I’m not sure he’s the only one - there might be many other people doing the same thing.” The patient had showed up at the St. Paul’s emergency department saying he had had difficulty passing stools and abdominal discomfort for a week. He neglected to mention any possible causes of the symptoms. When an X-ray revealed a foreign object of some kind, Dr. Ko was called in to help.
Using an endoscope, the tiny camera and light-tube employed in colonoscopies, she found an object wrapped in a pink condom. Dr. Ko then inserted a “loop snare”, an instrument designed to cut off pre-cancerous polyps in the colon, to lasso the end of the tied-off condom and slide it out. When doctors discovered the eye-dropper filled with urine inside the condom, the patient finally revealed the whole story, she said. The case also shines a light on the culture around methadone, a substitute opioid drug used to treat addictions to heroin and, increasingly, prescription painkillers like oxycodone and hydromorphone.
Methadone users begin by visiting a drug store daily and drinking their dose in front of the pharmacist, but are typically allowed to take home several days of the medicine after they’ve shown some success. If one of the regular drug screens they undergo shows they are abusing a problem drug again, however, patients can lose the coveted carry-home privilege, said Mel Kahan, a University of Toronto addictions specialist. “Cheating is, I think, pretty common, although usually not to that crazy extreme,” he said. “They may be embarrassed, they may be ashamed, but most of all they don’t want to lose their [take home doses].” Patients will sometimes even pay other methadone patients for a sample of their urine, he said.
Amorous wild elephant broke into zoo to mate with captive female
A male wild tusker is apparently besotted with Heera, a female elephant at the Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
On Tuesday night, the male wild tusker from the adjoining Chandka sanctuary, wanting to meet Heera, broke the boundary wall.
The wild male tusker then attacked two other female elephants, who were trying to protect Heera. Worried staff at the zoo tried their best to shoo off the tusker. The male elephant went back to the deep forest of Chandka, but the staff noticed that it was still watching Heera ensconced inside. This is the first time an elephant from the wild has entered the zoo in order to mate with a she-elephant.
There are three female elephants, Prema, Basanti and Heera, at the zoo. Zoo staff said that a herd of elephants had come close to the boundary wall, leaving later, but a male elephant stayed on, eager to mate with Heera. At night, it broke the boundary wall and attacked the two other female elephants, Prema and Basanti, who were trying to protect Heera. Both Basanti and Prema were injured.
The male tusker then mated with Heera. On Wednesday morning, animal keeper Shyam Singh and forest guard Susanta Behera, noticed the male tusker and immediately informed senior officials, who came with mahouts. The male tusker at first refused to leave. The zoo officials then burst crackers to shoo off the tusker. Finally, it left in the evening, after watching Heera for a long time.
The wild male tusker then attacked two other female elephants, who were trying to protect Heera. Worried staff at the zoo tried their best to shoo off the tusker. The male elephant went back to the deep forest of Chandka, but the staff noticed that it was still watching Heera ensconced inside. This is the first time an elephant from the wild has entered the zoo in order to mate with a she-elephant.
There are three female elephants, Prema, Basanti and Heera, at the zoo. Zoo staff said that a herd of elephants had come close to the boundary wall, leaving later, but a male elephant stayed on, eager to mate with Heera. At night, it broke the boundary wall and attacked the two other female elephants, Prema and Basanti, who were trying to protect Heera. Both Basanti and Prema were injured.
The male tusker then mated with Heera. On Wednesday morning, animal keeper Shyam Singh and forest guard Susanta Behera, noticed the male tusker and immediately informed senior officials, who came with mahouts. The male tusker at first refused to leave. The zoo officials then burst crackers to shoo off the tusker. Finally, it left in the evening, after watching Heera for a long time.
Man wearing Roman soldier costume arrested after allegedly breaking into home
A man from Perth, Australia, has been arrested after he allegedly broke into a house and changed into a fancy dress costume he found while rummaging through the owner's belongings.
Police said the 32-year-old man entered the house East Perth through an unsecured garage door just before 7:00pm on Friday. The man allegedly stole several items and found a fancy dress costume of a Roman soldier, which he put on.
He ran from the property after being disturbed by the home owner and was caught a short time later by members of the public.
The man has been charged with several offences including aggravated burglary, stealing and possession of tools to break into a house. He is due to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court.
Police said the 32-year-old man entered the house East Perth through an unsecured garage door just before 7:00pm on Friday. The man allegedly stole several items and found a fancy dress costume of a Roman soldier, which he put on.
He ran from the property after being disturbed by the home owner and was caught a short time later by members of the public.
The man has been charged with several offences including aggravated burglary, stealing and possession of tools to break into a house. He is due to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court.
Man digging dog toilet in back garden found Jesus
A man digging a toilet area for his dog in his back garden had a holy surprise when he unearthed a large rock resembling Jesus.
Phil Coby found the Christ-like stone two-and-a-half feet caked in mud underground by his home in West Kilbride, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
Photo from SWNS.
When he gave it a good wash he realised the boulder had a similar shape to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. "It's been in the earth for God knows how long. It was covered in muck but straight away I knew it was unusual,” the 54-year-old said. "I just pulled it out of the ground. I was digging a hole for a dog loo in the garden and found the rock in between two tree stumps.
"It was buried next to the roots of the trees. It must have been found for a reason. Other people might have thrown it away but I gave it a good rub. I showed it to my son and asked 'who is that?' He said 'Jesus'." So impressed with his Jesus-shaped rock, Coby has given it pride of place under a lamp in his lounge for his friends to admire.
Photo from SWNS.
"It's totally natural and glistens under the light. You can recognise Jesus through the long hair and shape of his robes. It's the weirdest thing ever. His robes continue round the back hanging down his back and his hair is long onto his shoulders. It's definitely not man-made."
Photo from SWNS.
When he gave it a good wash he realised the boulder had a similar shape to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. "It's been in the earth for God knows how long. It was covered in muck but straight away I knew it was unusual,” the 54-year-old said. "I just pulled it out of the ground. I was digging a hole for a dog loo in the garden and found the rock in between two tree stumps.
"It was buried next to the roots of the trees. It must have been found for a reason. Other people might have thrown it away but I gave it a good rub. I showed it to my son and asked 'who is that?' He said 'Jesus'." So impressed with his Jesus-shaped rock, Coby has given it pride of place under a lamp in his lounge for his friends to admire.
Photo from SWNS.
"It's totally natural and glistens under the light. You can recognise Jesus through the long hair and shape of his robes. It's the weirdest thing ever. His robes continue round the back hanging down his back and his hair is long onto his shoulders. It's definitely not man-made."
Suspected drink driver arrested after crashing into police station
A suspected drunken driver made the job of catching him an easy one by crashing his car into a police station.
Cheshire Police said the car "rolled" off a neighbouring car park and into Frodsham police station shortly after midnight on Friday.
The force tweeted: "Man arrested for drink-drive after losing control on a car park and crashing into Frodsham police station. #epicfail."
A 49-year-old man is currently in police custody, said a spokeswoman.
Cheshire Police said the car "rolled" off a neighbouring car park and into Frodsham police station shortly after midnight on Friday.
The force tweeted: "Man arrested for drink-drive after losing control on a car park and crashing into Frodsham police station. #epicfail."
A 49-year-old man is currently in police custody, said a spokeswoman.
Mother locked in cupboard by toddler rescued by firefighters after postman heard cries for help
A mother had to be rescued by fire crews after her one-year-old toddler locked her in a cupboard.
The woman's cries for help were heard by a postman, who called the emergency services.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it used a ladder to get into the property in Radford Park Drive, Plymstock, Devon. The woman was then released from the understairs cupboard and reunited with her child after the 15-minute ordeal on Friday.
A fire spokesman said: "A fire appliance was mobilised from Plymstock fire station and, on arrival, confirmed there was an adult locked in the understairs cupboard as well as a one-year-old child locked in the property.
"Crews used small tools and a triple extension ladder to gain access and release the adult from the cupboard as well as reunite the one-year-old with its mother."
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it used a ladder to get into the property in Radford Park Drive, Plymstock, Devon. The woman was then released from the understairs cupboard and reunited with her child after the 15-minute ordeal on Friday.
A fire spokesman said: "A fire appliance was mobilised from Plymstock fire station and, on arrival, confirmed there was an adult locked in the understairs cupboard as well as a one-year-old child locked in the property.
"Crews used small tools and a triple extension ladder to gain access and release the adult from the cupboard as well as reunite the one-year-old with its mother."
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