Monday, June 15, 2015
Hundreds of grass-munching goats released to reduce fire risk
A huge herd of goats were released by the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills on Friday in order to reduce fire hazards.
The Berkeley Lab goats were herded to the tree-laden hill just below Blackberry Gate. The mass of goats were dispatched to reduce the risk of fire near the lab.
The goats eat the grass surrounding the lab, cutting it down short and reducing a potential fire hazard.
YouTube link.
Motorists were treated to an impressive show as the hundreds of goats raced on their way.
The Berkeley Lab goats were herded to the tree-laden hill just below Blackberry Gate. The mass of goats were dispatched to reduce the risk of fire near the lab.
The goats eat the grass surrounding the lab, cutting it down short and reducing a potential fire hazard.
YouTube link.
Motorists were treated to an impressive show as the hundreds of goats raced on their way.
Beaches invaded by giant purple sea slugs
Giant purple blobs are invading beaches and waterways in East Bay, California. They are not a danger to the people, but the slugs' big size is unusual.
They are called sea hares and they can reach up to 15 pounds and almost three-feet in length.
So far they've turned up at Lake Merritt in Oakland, Crab Cove in Alameda and Miller Knox Regional Park in Richmond. Authorities have received a number of calls about the slugs. One person even called 911 because they were concerned that they had found a little purple heart on the beach. Instead, it was just this little harmless sea creature.
Alameda resident Rachyl Benitez said she didn't know what to make of the purple blobs when she saw them. She said, "They were scattered all over the beach over there. Some were alive, some were dead, some were in the seaweed. They were kind of cool looking. But then it was kind of weird because I'm like, what's going on with our water?"
They usually wash ashore in summer, so staff members at the East Bay Regional Park District say it's unusual to see these slugs show up now in the spring and over what they say is an extended period of time. "We've been seeing them wash up since September, going all through the winter and now even more in the spring. So perhaps it is because of the warmer water," East Bay Regional Park District naturalist Morgan Dill said. Dill says the sea slugs are purple because they're full of ink and they're not harmful to people.
With news video.
So far they've turned up at Lake Merritt in Oakland, Crab Cove in Alameda and Miller Knox Regional Park in Richmond. Authorities have received a number of calls about the slugs. One person even called 911 because they were concerned that they had found a little purple heart on the beach. Instead, it was just this little harmless sea creature.
Alameda resident Rachyl Benitez said she didn't know what to make of the purple blobs when she saw them. She said, "They were scattered all over the beach over there. Some were alive, some were dead, some were in the seaweed. They were kind of cool looking. But then it was kind of weird because I'm like, what's going on with our water?"
They usually wash ashore in summer, so staff members at the East Bay Regional Park District say it's unusual to see these slugs show up now in the spring and over what they say is an extended period of time. "We've been seeing them wash up since September, going all through the winter and now even more in the spring. So perhaps it is because of the warmer water," East Bay Regional Park District naturalist Morgan Dill said. Dill says the sea slugs are purple because they're full of ink and they're not harmful to people.
With news video.
Suspected animal abuser in New York park was just man roasting guinea pig at barbecue area
A man roasting a guinea pig in Prospect Park, New York, on Saturday morning was grilled by police after a 911 caller assumed he was an animal abuser.
Officers responded to an emergency call about someone mistreating a squirrel in the park, police said.
But the suspected abuse turned out to be lunch in the making. The man, who said he was from Ecuador, was roasting the squirrel-sized animal on a 4-foot wooden skewer over a barbecue grill at about 9:30am. The man said the animal was a guinea pig.
It's legal to grill meat as long as it's in one of the park's designated barbecue areas, which was the case in this instance, an NYPD spokesman said. Police did not take any action against the man.
It's illegal to hunt or trap, and presumably eat, park animals such as squirrels, and squirrels can't be kept as pets in New York City, city law says. Though popular as pets in the United States, guinea pigs are a common entrée called cuy in South America.
But the suspected abuse turned out to be lunch in the making. The man, who said he was from Ecuador, was roasting the squirrel-sized animal on a 4-foot wooden skewer over a barbecue grill at about 9:30am. The man said the animal was a guinea pig.
It's legal to grill meat as long as it's in one of the park's designated barbecue areas, which was the case in this instance, an NYPD spokesman said. Police did not take any action against the man.
It's illegal to hunt or trap, and presumably eat, park animals such as squirrels, and squirrels can't be kept as pets in New York City, city law says. Though popular as pets in the United States, guinea pigs are a common entrée called cuy in South America.
Aviation Minister says that Air India is not expected to serve lizards to its passengers
After reports surfaced about a passenger on an international flight of Air India being served a lizard in his meal, India's Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Saturday said Air India is not expected to serve lizards, nor are the cooks expected to cook lizards.
"This is a serious issue. Air India is not expected to serve lizards, nor are the cooks expected to cook lizards," Gajapathi Raju said.
According to reports, a lizard was found in the lunch tray of a passenger onboard the Delhi-London Air India flight on Thursday.
The concerned passenger has filed a complaint with the airline. However, Air India has insisted that there is "absolutely no truth" in the report. The state-owned airline has dismissed the report as a "false and baseless hoax" launched to tarnish its image.
You can watch Ashok Gajapathi Raju's short interview here.
"This is a serious issue. Air India is not expected to serve lizards, nor are the cooks expected to cook lizards," Gajapathi Raju said.
According to reports, a lizard was found in the lunch tray of a passenger onboard the Delhi-London Air India flight on Thursday.
The concerned passenger has filed a complaint with the airline. However, Air India has insisted that there is "absolutely no truth" in the report. The state-owned airline has dismissed the report as a "false and baseless hoax" launched to tarnish its image.
You can watch Ashok Gajapathi Raju's short interview here.
Chicken owner surprised by oddly-shaped egg
Carol Chaplin wondered exactly what she had come across when she found an oddly-shaped egg laid by her hen this week.
The nameless hen, one of four former battery hens Chaplin owns, was already known to her for its strange antics.
She said that in hot weather, if her goat, Robert "had a pee", the hen would stand underneath him to cool off. Ironically the urine was generally warmer than the outside weather. Chaplin, who lives at the Milford Huts, near Temuka in New Zealand, said that while the odd chicken had some strange habits, this was the first time she had ever laid such an strange-looking egg.
"I'd love to have seen her face when she tried to do it," Chaplin said. Chaplin said the chicken had always exhibited psychological issues. "She's different, she's got head problems." But the hen still earns her keep, being the only one of the quartet still laying. The other three used to lay, but have stopped in the year since Chaplin has had them.
Chaplin keeps the chickens as pets, and said she planned on getting a couple more. As to the future of the strange egg, that is uncertain. Chaplin does not know what to do with it. She said it was "no good putting it in a glass case", as it would probably dehydrate in the end. She had seen "nothing like it before," and will see "nothing like it ever again, hopefully".
With short video.
She said that in hot weather, if her goat, Robert "had a pee", the hen would stand underneath him to cool off. Ironically the urine was generally warmer than the outside weather. Chaplin, who lives at the Milford Huts, near Temuka in New Zealand, said that while the odd chicken had some strange habits, this was the first time she had ever laid such an strange-looking egg.
"I'd love to have seen her face when she tried to do it," Chaplin said. Chaplin said the chicken had always exhibited psychological issues. "She's different, she's got head problems." But the hen still earns her keep, being the only one of the quartet still laying. The other three used to lay, but have stopped in the year since Chaplin has had them.
Chaplin keeps the chickens as pets, and said she planned on getting a couple more. As to the future of the strange egg, that is uncertain. Chaplin does not know what to do with it. She said it was "no good putting it in a glass case", as it would probably dehydrate in the end. She had seen "nothing like it before," and will see "nothing like it ever again, hopefully".
With short video.
Warning over feeding potentially lethal carrots to horses
Bosses at Hopefield Animal Sanctuary in Brentwood, Essex, have issued a stark warning to visitors, after an elderly pony nearly choked to death on a huge piece of carrot.
Thumper, who is one of the animal sanctuary's oldest residents, was spotted in distress one evening last month.
"Just before we were due to go home, one of the guys noticed Thumper was retching and there was mucus coming out of his nose and mouth," manager Lianne Angliss said.
"I knew he was choking and horses can get it from eating anything, a bit like we do if it goes down the wrong hole. We phoned the vet and then he started colicking and that can be life-threatening." Colic is abdominal pain, according to animal hospital experts, and there are 70 different types, which range from mild to the most severe. Lianne continued: "When it starts to happen, horses start to roll because they feel uncomfortable and then their stomach starts to bloat and they can twist their intestines.
They then have to undergo full surgery or we have to put them to sleep, depending on how bad it is. "The pony was panicking because of stress. The guys were trying to calm him down. The vet came down and they checked and he noticed he had a carrot lodged in his throat. He had to be sedated for them to dislodge the carrot and it left him disorientated and his throat was quite sore. Their throats are not meant to swallow that size food." She added: "Thumper is fine now, he has gone back to normal, he is still looking for food."
It was not until later one of the staff mentioned they had seen someone with a bag of carrots at the sanctuary and Lianne added it is clear that food should not be given to the ponies. "Because they are older horses, they have not got teeth and their normal diet is sloppy food," she explained. "We have got signs up. It's more the fact we have signs up and people ignore them. It cost us £300 in vet fees, not to mention the stress." Now though, the staff hope to have struck a happy medium and say to people as they go through the entrance 'please remember you cannot feed the animals'.
"I knew he was choking and horses can get it from eating anything, a bit like we do if it goes down the wrong hole. We phoned the vet and then he started colicking and that can be life-threatening." Colic is abdominal pain, according to animal hospital experts, and there are 70 different types, which range from mild to the most severe. Lianne continued: "When it starts to happen, horses start to roll because they feel uncomfortable and then their stomach starts to bloat and they can twist their intestines.
They then have to undergo full surgery or we have to put them to sleep, depending on how bad it is. "The pony was panicking because of stress. The guys were trying to calm him down. The vet came down and they checked and he noticed he had a carrot lodged in his throat. He had to be sedated for them to dislodge the carrot and it left him disorientated and his throat was quite sore. Their throats are not meant to swallow that size food." She added: "Thumper is fine now, he has gone back to normal, he is still looking for food."
It was not until later one of the staff mentioned they had seen someone with a bag of carrots at the sanctuary and Lianne added it is clear that food should not be given to the ponies. "Because they are older horses, they have not got teeth and their normal diet is sloppy food," she explained. "We have got signs up. It's more the fact we have signs up and people ignore them. It cost us £300 in vet fees, not to mention the stress." Now though, the staff hope to have struck a happy medium and say to people as they go through the entrance 'please remember you cannot feed the animals'.
Neighbours warned of sausage stealing seagull
A concerned grandmother has spoken of the danger of cooking in gardens after a seagull with "no fear" stole a sausage from her barbecue.
Fiona Manterfield, from Exeter, Devon, was enjoying a day in the garden with her family recently when a seagull swopped and grabbed the last sausage. The bird flew up on to the roof with the whole sausage in its beak.
Fiona said: "This bird showed no fear as it kept flying around, ready to swoop again if it spotted anything tasty. Our three-year-old grandson was sitting outside with us.
"I can't imagine how frightened he would have been if the seagull had fancied some of his lunch too. Perhaps we should make our neighbours aware of the impending danger of cooking and eating in the garden with their young families."
Fiona Manterfield, from Exeter, Devon, was enjoying a day in the garden with her family recently when a seagull swopped and grabbed the last sausage. The bird flew up on to the roof with the whole sausage in its beak.
Fiona said: "This bird showed no fear as it kept flying around, ready to swoop again if it spotted anything tasty. Our three-year-old grandson was sitting outside with us.
"I can't imagine how frightened he would have been if the seagull had fancied some of his lunch too. Perhaps we should make our neighbours aware of the impending danger of cooking and eating in the garden with their young families."
20-ton tractor stopped in its tracks by baby owl
A stubborn tawny owlet decided to sit in the middle of a single-track road in the hamlet of Dalqueich in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and refused to move for anyone.
At one point the bird, which appeared healthy and to have fledged, seemed to fall asleep as traffic began to build up along the road. The driver of the 20-ton tractor tried to shoo the bird away, but it only shuffled its feathers and settled down once again.
It took 20 minutes and several calls to the SSPCA to seek guidance before the farmer managed to move the bird to safety and carry on his journey. Colin Boag, from Perth, caught the action on his pocket camera, and described the scene as “cuteness overload”. He said: “He was sitting in the middle of a single track road at Dalqueich, and quite determined he was not for budging.
“We tried to shoo it to the side of the road but a wee stretch was as good as it got. After he was placed at the bottom of the tree he fell asleep again. It was completely unfazed by any humans. It was wonderful to see at such close range.” Tawny owls, known for their stubborn reputation, are the most common woodland owl in Britain.
At one point the bird, which appeared healthy and to have fledged, seemed to fall asleep as traffic began to build up along the road. The driver of the 20-ton tractor tried to shoo the bird away, but it only shuffled its feathers and settled down once again.
It took 20 minutes and several calls to the SSPCA to seek guidance before the farmer managed to move the bird to safety and carry on his journey. Colin Boag, from Perth, caught the action on his pocket camera, and described the scene as “cuteness overload”. He said: “He was sitting in the middle of a single track road at Dalqueich, and quite determined he was not for budging.
“We tried to shoo it to the side of the road but a wee stretch was as good as it got. After he was placed at the bottom of the tree he fell asleep again. It was completely unfazed by any humans. It was wonderful to see at such close range.” Tawny owls, known for their stubborn reputation, are the most common woodland owl in Britain.
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