Family claims they found dead mouse in milk

By AP
Published Thursday, August 19, 2010

A Kentucky family has sued Wal-Mart, saying they found a dead mouse in a milk container the family had been drinking from for three days.

The Courier-Journal reported that Robert and Rosalind Grant and their 23-month-old granddaughter sought medical attention and treatment in May after finding the mouse.

The family filed suit in Jefferson Circuit Court on Monday.

Wal-Mart spokesman Phillip Keene said the retail giant takes quality and safety seriously and is looking into the complaint, along with the supplier, Ohio-based Superior Dairy Inc.

The Louisville paper reported that the child had blood in her stool from drinking the tainted milk.

The Grants claim they bought the milk May 1 at Sam's Club, which is owned by Wal-Mart, and the container had not been tampered with.

Attorney William Davis, who represents the family, described his clients as "completely shocked."

http://www.emirates247.com/offbeat/crazy-world/family-claims-they-found-dead-mouse-in-milk-2010-08-19-1.281032

Man possibly killed by pigeon poo

Ted Thornhill - 17th August, 2010

An inquest is looking at what part multiple pigeon droppings played in the demise of a man in Sydney who was crushed to death by a shop awning.

As deaths go, it would certainly rank as one of the more bizarre ones if the bird droppings were found to be culpable.

Craig Taylor was sheltering under said awning on December 7 2007 at Balgowlah, during a storm, when it collapsed.

It was known to contain a large quantity of pigeon droppings, from birds that had made the awning their home.

Some live birds and nests were even found in the wreckage.

The council is examining whether a combination of rain water and the droppings were too much for the awning’s stuts to take.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/838313-man-possibly-killed-by-pigeon-poo

Calif. woman says Chihuahua died saving her kids

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) -- A Northern California woman says her Chihuahua died protecting her children from two pit bulls that got into her apartment.

Mayda Estrella, of Richmond, says the family's Chihuahua, named Manchas, jumped in between the canine invaders and her 4-year-old son Sunday. A pit bull grabbed Manchas with its jaws and carried the Chihuahua away.

Contra Costa County animal services officials say the Chihuahua was killed, and the pit bulls are now in custody.

The pit bulls' owner says they had escaped their yard by chewing through a fence. Estrella says her front door was open when the dogs came in.

She says when she saw the dogs come in, she ran into a bedroom with her other child, a newborn baby.

County officials say the owner won't face criminal charges.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ODD_CHIHUAHUA_HERO

Abergele dead swan mystery baffles RSPCA

Jun 17 2010
by Ian Hughes,
North Wales Weekly News

THE death of three baby swans at Abergele’s Pentre Mawr Park remains a mystery following water quality tests.

Last month three cygnets were found dead by one of the park’s ponds. Parents Ben and Lucy were later found covered in oil and had to be removed to receive veterinary care.

“Some of the water was removed from the park for testing by environmental health,” said Judith Haw of the RSPCA.

“That came back clean so we don’t know what happened. We had the three cygnets looked over at Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in Nantwich but the vets there could not find any reason why the birds passed away.”

The baby birds were approximately two weeks old when they were found. They had no outward signs as to the reason for their deaths. The oil on the adult swans also remains a mystery.

Ms Haw added: “Again, the tests showed no presence of oil in the pond so the oil could have come from anywhere.

“Who knows where they fly off to, there’s no knowing if they are going to return with oil on them again.”

John Pring of Friends of Abergele Parklands noticed the swans in distress after the death of their young.

“They had started picking at their feathers and only eating small amounts of food. They looked very unkempt before they were taken away,” he said.

Mayor of Abergele Malcolm Medlicott added: “All the other ducks are okay in the park so we’re not sure why the swans had this problem.

“Some animals are just unfortunate and unable to produce healthy offspring.

“I just hope that when they return everything will be fine. It is nice to have swans in the park and I hope they’ll stay there.”

As the swans are now back to full health and the park water is not polluted, the swans are able to be released back home. It was hoped the swans were to be returned last night (Wednesday).

Unforeseen circumstances had previously prevented the birds’ return on two occasions.

http://www.northwalesweeklynews.co.uk/conwy-county-news/local-conwy-news/2010/06/17/abergele-dead-swan-mystery-baffles-rspca-55243-26666166/

As Bats Begin Hibernation, Deaths Expected

The mysterious white-nose syndrome is expected to continue afflicting bats this winter.

By Jessica Marshall Fri Oct 30, 2009

It won't be long before millions of bats settle into caves and mines across the country to hibernate. But the sad truth is that many in the East will never see the warmth of spring.

More than a million bats have died so far from white-nose syndrome, a still-mysterious bat killer that has spread throughout the Northeast and into Virginia and West Virginia, since it was first detected in New York in 2006.

Experts will be waiting to see how far the syndrome advances this winter. They fear it may make it into Kentucky and Indiana, where most endangered Indiana bats live in fewer than 10 caves or mines.

Why should we care about the fuzzy little flyers? Somewhere between 20 and 25 percent of all mammalian species in the U.S. are bats, according to Hazel Barton of the University of Northern Kentucky in Highland Heights.

The average bat eats 600 insects a night. With more than a million bat deaths last winter, 693 tons more insects buzzed and fluttered around the white-nose syndrome's range this summer, including moths that act as crop pests and mosquitoes that can carry West Nile Virus.

"If we lose the bat population in North America," Barton said. "Everyone will notice."

The outbreak recently prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to award $800,000 in grants to explore the cause and control of the rampant disease. Exactly how the bats die is not yet certain, but it appears that a cold-and-damp-loving fungus infects the bats' noses and wings while they hibernate, dusting their muzzles and wings powdery white.

"The bats are almost at the ambient temperature of the cave. Their immune response is almost nonexistent," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Jeremy Coleman, who heads the agency's white-nose syndrome programs. "They're like sitting ducks."

Bats normally waken from hibernation anywhere from every week to every few weeks, depending on the species and conditions. They heat themselves back up to normal temperature, groom themselves, fly around and then settle back into hibernation.

Researchers do not know why the bats do this. They may need water, or to shed waste. One idea is that they fire up their immune systems during their arousal period to scan for threats.

Although these arousals only happen a few times during the winter, they take a lot of energy -- perhaps more than 80 percent of the bats' fat stores.

Infected bats have more frequent arousals -- as often as every few days. "We don't know why they are aroused more frequently -- if it's itching or agitation or if it is something they're detecting," Coleman said.

These extra arousals may cause the bats to exhaust their fat stores far too soon.

"Bats are leaving the sites in the middle of winter," Coleman said. "Are bats starving and going out looking for food? That's what most people are saying. There is some evidence that these bats aren't actually starving when they go out on the landscape. Maybe they are agitated and have recognized that there is a problem with the site. Maybe they're looking for somewhere else to go."

Other unknowns include when and how the disease spreads from cave to cave and bat to bat. It may be that the bats transfer it to new caves when they swarm together in fall. They may also transfer it during the summer, but the fungus is intolerant of warm temperatures, so that is less likely, Coleman said.

Some bats survive the infection, perhaps because they were infected late in winter and therefore had the reserves to make it to spring. But many of these die in spring from an inability to forage successfully for food because the fungus has damaged their wings.

The sweeping lethality of the disease over just four winters makes extinction a real risk.

To protect against this possibility, the National Zoo will establish a captive population of Virginian big-eared bats, an endangered subspecies of big-eared bat, as a security population.

Few places have kept insectivorous bats in captivity, so the work will be a challenge, said Nucharin Songsasen, who is heading the project at the Zoo's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia. "But if we don't do anything there is a chance that this species will go extinct within a couple of years," she added.

In Vermont, researchers are reintroducing bats into caves whose bat populations were wiped out by the syndrome to see how long the fungus persists and whether caves can be successfully re-colonized.

Meanwhile, Barton, of the University of Northern Kentucky, is testing a plant-based antifungal compound to see if it can be used to kill the white-nose fungus in caves and on bats without wiping out the critical fungal communities that form the foundation of cave ecosystems.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/bats-white-nose-syndrome.html

Unlucky buck: Deer loses head-butt with lawn ornament

By BOB LAMB blamb@lacrossetribune.com Posted: Tuesday, November 10, 2009

A love-struck buck ran out of luck a week ago. The seven-point buck was killed when it rammed a 640-pound concrete statue of an elk in the backyard of Mark and Carol Brye's home in rural Viroqua.

Bucks often fight during the breeding season, commonly called the rut. Dominant bucks defend breeding territories and female deer by sparring with subordinate bucks. Antler battles sometimes result in the death of one or both deer, but usually end with the biggest buck winning and the smaller buck high-tailing it out to another area.

Mark Brye, who owns Brye Plumbing in Viroqua, was still laughing about the suicidal buck he found near his elk statue last week.

Brye said his morning ritual is to rise early and look out at the life-like statue about 40 yards from his home.

"Our son and daughter gave it to us for Christmas four years ago because we like to hunt elk," Brye said. "The elk is a nice thing to see every morning. It looks pretty cool, especially on a foggy morning."

Brye said he knew exactly what happened when he saw the statue tipped over. Although they were about the same height, the statue weighed at least three times more than the 180-pound deer.

He didn't realize the buck lay dead a short distance away.

"I could tell the buck poked the statue a couple of times by the chipped paint on it," Brye said, adding that the buck eventually rammed it like a mountain goat.

The buck apparently staggered about 20 feet and fell.

Brye claimed the buck with a tag from the Vernon County conservation warden. He laughed at the warden's tag note: "lawn ornament fight - lost."

Brye said the deer shattered its skull. The antlers were still on its head but were dangling.

"The statue is OK, but the antlers broke off when it tipped over," Brye said. "One side of the antlers is in one piece, but the other side is in five pieces."

Brye, 58, is considering removing the antlers from the unlucky buck and gluing them on the elk statue as a remembrance of the strange but true story.

The deer is butchered and in Brye's freezer. The elk remains on its side.

"I can't tip it back up until I get a whole bunch of guys to help me," he said.

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/local/article_9ee5d1bc-cdbc-11de-a418-001cc4c002e0.html

(Submitted by M. Aruguete)

Tweet Little Mystery - 38 Budgies Drop Dead

Monday November 16, 2009
Lulu Sinclair, Sky News Online

Animal experts are baffled as to why 38 budgies suddenly dropped dead at a show on the weekend.

Hundreds of birds were being prepared to line up in front of judges at a show in North Wales - until one collapsed.

Within seconds the budgie death toll was rising rapidly.

Owners and organisers scrambled to get their prized pets out of Gwynedd village hall fearing a gas leak.

However a thorough investigation into the incident came up with no explanation.

Retired pet shop owner Dave Cottrell, 55, lost 10 birds at the show.

"I was preparing the certificates as the birds were being put in order when a steward came over and said he had a dead one.

"Then another steward came over said he had two or three dead. Within seconds a third steward said he had more dead."

Robert Hughes, who organised the annual Gwynedd Budgerigar Society Open Show, said: "Five minutes after the first one died 11 more had gone, one was mine.

"Nobody in the community has seen nor heard anything like this before.

"It's bizarre. It has been really difficult to get over it.

Checks on two casualties later revealed they had died from congestion and haemorrhaging of the lungs.

Small birds are especially vulnerable because of their tiny, sensitive respiratory systems.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Budgerigars-Mystery-Continues-As-Budgies-Fall-Off-Their-Perch-At-Welsh-Show/Article/200911315454728?f=rss