Bat attacks on humans increasing due to urbanisation and deforestation

'Diseases in bats have been around for a long time and historically have not been a problem. 

Now, there is cause for concern,' expert says

Michael East 

Bats have been attacking humans in increasing numbers because their natural habitats are being destroyed through deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, scientists have found.

In the last three months alone, vampire bats have bitten over 40 residents in the country’s north-eastern region, one of whom has died.

The wave of night-time attacks has caused blood-soaked beds and inflicted deep wounds on victims, many of whom are being treated for possible rabies exposure. 

 “Diseases in bats have been around for a long time and historically have not been a problem. Now, there is cause for concern as cities expand displacing bats creating increased contact with humans,” Dr Julian Drewe from the Royal Veterinary College told The Independent.

“In light of the Brazil attacks, the authorities are trying to control the bats, poisoning them and removing their roosting sites. However, this is likely to displace the bats to another area rather than solve the problem.”

He explained that the location of bites determined how fast rabies occured.

“If you are bitten on your toe, it takes a longer time for you to succumb to the disease than if you are bitten on the head," Dr Drewe said.

"This is because the virus has further to travel to reach the brain.”

Continued 

Crocodile attack database ‘will aid conservation efforts and save lives’

Australian-founded database CrocBITE, with records of 2,700 worldwide crocodile attacks, an attempt to understand ‘human-crocodile conflict’

Oliver Milman

Tuesday 25 November 2014 01.59 GMT

An Australian-founded database that lists worldwide crocodile attacks will be used to help conservation efforts for the species and save people’s lives after securing funding.

The database, called CrocBITE, was started in 2013 by Dr Adam Britton, a researcher at Charles Darwin University, and his student Brandon Sideleau.

CrocBITE has now received $30,000 in funding through an Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration award so that the database can be expanded with the help of Imperial College London.

Britton told Guardian Australia that when CrocBITE launched “on a shoestring budget” last year, it had 1,800 registered incidents logged, including fatal and non-fatal crocodile attacks. There are now around 2,700 crocodile attack records, taken from around the world.

“We realised there was no way to gather information on crocodile attacks in one place, even though these attacks are becoming more of a problem,” Britton said. “Human-crocodile conflict is a serious conservation problem and we need basic information on when and why people are being attacked.”

Continued ...

Crimewave cat Oscar given a feline 'Asbo' and therapy

A cat behind a crimewave that has terrorised the village where he lives for years has been slapped with the feline equivalent of an Asbo.

Now Oscar, who lives in Wingrave, Buckinghamshire, has been given a dose of herbal therapy and house arrest in a bid to mend his ways.

Owner Caroline Hughes plans to dose him up on flower essences to stay calm and keep him indoors.

His bad boy antics include being reported to police for fighting dogs and stealing neighbours’ food.

And Oscar – a five-year-old Turkish van cat – injured a man, Tom Ridgeway, so badly the 77-year-old was in hospital for a week.

Telecoms worker Ms Hughes is even considering moving home as her pet has such a fearsome reputation. He’s been dubbed the ‘Lion Cat of Wingrave’ in the Buckinghamshire village where they live.

Ms Hughes, 36, said: ‘I’ve never understood why he’s like he is. He’s friendly and adorable at home.’

Oscar's apparent cuteness was sufficient to earn him a starring role in an Ikea TV advert.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/917261-crimewave-cat-oscar-given-a-feline-asbo-and-therapy#ixzz2BjPhs76e

Sacrificial Eid Al Adha ram butts his owner to death

An Algerian man bought a big ram to sacrifice it on Eid Al Adha. Instead, the ram sacrificed the man when he butted him to death.

After performing the Eid dawn prayers in the northeastern port of Annaba, the man went back home, got a big knife and prepared the ram for slaughter.

“As he prepared it for sacrifice, the ram surprisingly butted the man, who fell on the ground and died minutes later,” the Algerian Khabar newspaper said.

http://www.emirates247.com/offbeat/crazy-world/sacrificial-eid-al-adha-ram-butts-his-owner-to-death-2012-10-30-1.480733

Pet piranha bites off toddler's fingertip

Chicago-area parents thought their pit bull was to blame when they heard their 18-month-old daughter crying and discovered one of her fingertips had been severed.

 Turns out, the culprit was a piranha the family kept in an aquarium.

Doctors determined the bite wasn't from a dog after the girl was rushed to a hospital by ambulance.

Cook County Sheriff's Department spokesman Frank Bilecki tells the Chicago Tribune (the girl's father cut open one of two piranhas and found the fingertip. He says doctors tried to reattach the fingertip, but he didn't know if they were successful.

He didn't immediately respond to messages left Saturday by The Associated Press, and a hospital spokesman couldn't provide the information.

Bilecki says the parents were distraught and aren't facing charges.

http://www.emirates247.com/offbeat/crazy-world/bizarre-world-s-first-childbirth-from-the-inside-2012-06-28-1.464911

Lawndale, Illinois Thunderbird Witness Comes Forward

I received the following email on Tuesday:

I saw the two thunderbirds in Springfield IL the day before Marlon Lowe was attacked, in Lawndale,Il. This is no joke! I told my father and family and they all laughed. But in the next day or two when it hit the local news they changed their tune!

Several friends of mine and I went on a hike following Spring Creek from Washington Park due Southwest about as far as we could until we reached a muskrat dam. We decided to hike back from there. Along the way back, the big birds flew due north directly over our heads as we stumbled along the small trail alongside the creek! And when I say directly over our heads; that means ten feet in the air above us! I have never diclosed this story publicly, but I feel it should be known after seeing the countless shows on the T.V. and the ridicule endured by Marlon and his family.


Continued:  http://naturalplane.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/lawndale-illinois-thunderbird-witness.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+PhantomsAndMonstersAPersonalJourney+(Phantoms+and+Monsters)&utm_content=Yahoo!+Mail

Goblins attacks family, burn down homestead

Three huts and a house were flattened last Sunday, while people are occasionally being pelted with stones by unseen things, believed to be goblins at a Chisumbanje homestead in Chipinge South where mysterious occurrences are haunting the Sithole Family.

In this true to life tragedy whose scripts reads like a horror movie, the Sithole family had to make do with stones being thrown at them for the past two months, while soil is intermittently tossed into their pots by invisible assailants as they will be preparing food. However, things came to a boil early last week when three huts at the homestead as well as a house suddenly went up in smoke and the family now sleeps in the open, while the few belongings they managed to salvage from the raging fire are heaped outside. 

Whenever one young male member of the family, Taso Sithole (16) entered each of the huts and as soon as he came out, that hut would unexpectedly go up in smoke and this happened on all the four structures that were burnt at the homestead. To make matters worse, efforts to put out the fire were rendered futile as the well at the homestead mysteriously ran dry, only for the well to automatically fill up to the brim with water soon after the huts had been razed. 

A visibly traumatised Sarah Muyambo (52) said they were not aware of the hand behind the calamity. She, however, admitted that her 29-year-old son was once fingered by some traditional healers as having caused the misfortunes after he had allegedly laid his hands on some money making magical charms! 

"It was around 10am when the fire started. All along we were used to being occasionally pelted with stones, while soil would be hurled in our pots as we were cooking sadza. In fact, it has been long since we last prepared a decent meal simple because you would not want to spend a long time preparing a meal, lest soil would be thrown in whatever you will be cooking. My son, we do not even know why the Lord has allowed this to happen to us. So many things have been said by our neighbours and other passers-by, but no one knows the truth yet. As per our tradition, when such things happen, we consulted different traditional healers for possible solutions. On more than one occasion, we were told that my son - Enoth, is responsible. They said he laid his hands on some money-making magical charms and things are now backfiring. When he returned from Bindura we went to one traditional healer with him so that he could hear it from the horse's mouse, but he vehemently denied the allegations." 

She added that the family has been left without any option, but to come out in the open and let the world know that they were in serious trouble. She said different Christian groups visited her home and prayed, but nothing has improved yet. 

"We are now sleeping in the open. We have no choice. After all, we hardly enjoy peaceful nights because at times we are pelted with stones by some unseen assailants. Today, it happened about three times when all of a sudden we found ourselves scurrying for cover as we were being pelted with stones. Sometimes some big objects like pots mysteriously rise from the ground coming in your direction and you just need to be alert all the time," she said. 

In a separate interview, Enoch professed ignorance on the causes of the calamity that has befallen their family. The distraught Enock said he actually came back from Bindura to clear his name. 

"I was told while I was in Bindura that I was being fingered by some traditional healers as the person behind the mysterious happenings at our home. That is why I came back to clear my name. I know nothing about it. I have never consulted any traditional healers with the aim of acquiring riches. My hands are clean," he said. 

However, some neighbours confirmed that strange things were taking place at the Sithole homestead. Others went on to claim that snake-like creatures wearing sunglasses, a suit and a pair of shoes had been seen at the homestead.


http://www.zimdiaspora.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8512:goblins-attacks-family-burn-down-homestead&catid=38:travel-tips&Item

Father collapses in Toys R Us after UK’s most poisonous spider bites him ten times

A father out shopping for toys with his daughter has told how he was bitten ten times by the UK’s most dangerous spider.

Chris Galton, 31, collapsed after the false widow spider - closely related to the black widow - repeatedly bit into his back and neck at the Toys R Us store in Hampshire on Saturday afternoon.

The exotic creature is believed to have nestled in his hooded top after dropping from a bush near his home in Southampton.

It wasn’t until hours later when he was shopping in the toy store with his wife, Zoe, and his one-year-old daughter, Imogen, that the poison started to take effect.

Suddenly feeling unwell, Mr Galton collapsed to the floor.

He was rushed to hospital where doctors discovered the ten 50-pence-sized marks on his body.

The father-of-one was given painkillers and was released the same day.

Speaking about the horrifying ordeal, Mr Galton said: “The bite was like a really sharp pin-prick and very painful. The next thing I knew I was feeling hot, queasy and light-headed and collapsed.

“I had been stung earlier but assumed it was a bee and took some anti-histamine pills. I didn’t think any more of it until I was shopping for my daughter’s first birthday and felt more stings.”

A store worker said: "It was a very scary big spider. I’ve never see one like it before.”


The eight-legged attacker, which is closely-related to the black widow and originates from the Canary Islands, was eventually caught in the store and sent for formal identification.

Mr Galton added: “I’m just thankful it never jumped out and got on to my daughter.”


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/father-collapses-in-toys-r-us-after-uk%E2%80%99s-most-poisonous-spider-bites-him-ten-times-.html