UNUSUAL ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
- Disaster Watch page
BEE & Insect Die-offs
Mass BIRD Deaths
FISH Die-Offs/ Red Tides
"We patronize animals for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate
of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and
greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world
older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete,
gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained,
living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are
not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourslves in the net
of life, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."
- Henry Beston
7/07 -
GIANT BADGERS - The Iraqi port city of Basra, already prey to a nasty turf war between rival militia factions, has now been gripped by a scary rumour – giant badgers are stalking the streets by night, eating humans.
The animals were allegedly released into the area by British forces.
Local farmers have caught and killed several of the beasts, but this has done nothing to dispel the rumour.
Iraqi scientists have attempted to calm things down. However, the story has spread like wildfire in the streets of the city and the villages round about.
Others say the animals are not a new post-war arrival in the region.
“These animals appeared before the fall of the regime in 1986. They are known as Al-Ghirayri and locally as Al-Girta. Talk that this animal was brought by the British forces is incorrect and unscientific.”
Not everybody is convinced.
“I believe this animal appeared following a raid to the region by the British forces.” Locals are quick to blame the British troops for almost any calamity that befalls the area – including an apparent plague of vicious badgers with long claws and powerful jaws.
The animals are thought to be a kind of honey badger – melivora capensis – which can be fierce but are not usually dangerous to humans unless provoked.
“They are native to the region but rare in Iraq. They're nocturnal carnivores with a fearsome reputation, but they don't stalk humans and carry them back to their lair.”
Cell phone video of the badgers circulating in Basra shows a stocky skunk-like animal with long front claws. “It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey. It runs so quickly.”
The honey badger, or ratel, is known as a brave predator capable of killing a cobra. It weighs up to 14kg.
“I saw it three days ago at night attacking animals. It even ate a cow. It tore the cow up piece by piece. I tried to shoot it with my gun but it ran away into the orchards."
UTAH - BEARS - A bear dragged a sleeping child from a tent and mauled him to death. It's the FIRST FATAL ATTACK IN UTAH'S HISTORY. "When it is hot and dry like this, bears are short on food and they go looking for food. And sometimes they can create problems."
Initially there were fears the 11-year-old had been abducted by a human. His stepfather heard his screams but couldn't see the boy. It seems the bear clawed right through the multi-room tent and dragged the boy out in his sleeping bag. Sadly, his body was found two hours later about 300 yards away.
A hammerhead shark kept at a US zoo produced a pup without having had sex, scientists confirm.
Genetic tests by a team from Belfast, Nebraska and Florida prove conclusively the young animal possessed no paternal DNA.
The type of reproduction exhibited had been seen before in bony fish but never in cartilaginous fish such as sharks.
Parthenogenesis, as this type of reproduction is known, occurs when an egg cell is triggered to develop as an embryo without the addition of any genetic material from a male sperm cell.
In the wild, these animals have come under extreme pressure through overfishing and many species have experienced sharp declines.
If dwindling shark groups resort to parthenogenesis to reproduce because females have difficulty finding mates, this is likely to weaken populations still further, the researchers warn.
The reason is that asexual reproduction reduces genetic diversity and this makes it harder for organisms to adapt - to changed environmental conditions or the emergence of a new disease, for example.
The new pup was soon killed by a stingray before keepers could remove it from its tank.
The new tests on the dead pup's tissues now show the newborn's DNA only matched up with one of the females - and there was none of any male origin.
Although extremely rare in vertebrates, parthenogenesis (out of the Greek for "virgin birth") occurs in a number of lower animals. Insects such as bees and ants use it to produce their drones, for example.
5/7/07 - -
PIG DEATHS - CHINA - A mysterious epidemic is killing pigs in
southeastern China, but international and Hong Kong authorities say
that the Chinese government is providing little information about it,
or about the contaminated wheat gluten that has caused deaths and
illnesses in other animals.
Hong Kong television broadcasts and newspapers were full of lurid
accounts Monday of pigs staggering around with blood pouring from their
bodies in Gaoyao and neighboring Yunfu, both in Guangdong Province. The
newspaper said that as many as 80% of the pigs in the area had died,
that panicky farmers were selling ailing animals at deep discounts and
that pig carcasses were floating in a river. The reports in Hong Kong
said the disease began killing pigs after the Chinese New Year
celebrations in February, and is now spreading.
Because pigs can catch many of the same diseases as people, including
bird flu, two U.N. agencies maintain global networks to track and
investigate unexplained patterns of pig deaths. Medical experts said
that the extent of the bleeding from the pigs, including reports of
bloody skin lesions, did not sound like the usual symptoms of bird flu.
INDIA - ELEPHANTS - At least five elephants were killed by
lightning in a West Bengal wildlife reserve.
'We suspect that the elephants died of lightning when they came to
drink river water. There were no external injuries or evidence that the
elephants were poisoned or electrocuted by poachers."
'This seems to be a case of death from lightning, which is VERY RARE.
Perhaps it occurred because the elephants were in a river bed and there
were no trees around to protect them from lightning.'
Expressing serious concern over the elephant deaths, the West Bengal
Forest Minister said the forest department should probe the unnatural
deaths.
SPAIN - VULTURES - Huge flocks of starving vultures have started
attacking live animals in northern Spain, officials in the city of
Burgos say.
In one incident, about 100 vultures killed a cow and her newborn calf.
Ranchers have complained that vultures started attacking livestock
several months ago when a feeding station set up in the Ordunte
mountains was closed by the neighbouring province of Vizcaya.
Vultures prefer to feed on the carcasses of dead animals, but carrion
is scarce in modern Spain.
4/29/07 -
AUSTRALIA - Marine experts fear global warming is to blame for an
alarming change in fish behaviour.
They say higher than average water temperatures have altered fish
habits and delayed migration of some species.
They believe climate change and cyclone activity could be behind a late
run of fish, such as snapper and tailor.
Fishing enthusiasts had reported UNUSUALLY high water temperatures and
unseasonal fish behaviour. "We've had reports from people throughout
Queensland with winter fish experiencing a late run and others behaving
unusually."
Some species that preferred cooler water were yet to hit the Queensland
coast. Water temperatures were well above normal.
4/26/07 -
Robins in urban areas are singing at night because it is too noisy during the day, researchers suggest.
Scientists say there is a link between an area's daytime noise levels and the number of birds singing at night.
Until now, light pollution had been blamed because it was thought that street lights tricked the birds into thinking it was still daytime.
It was thought to prevent the birds from roosting, leading to them remaining active through the hours of darkness.
"Night-time light had a small effect, but very much smaller than the impact of noise levels."
This led the team to conclude that it was an active decision by the birds to sing at night rather than passively responding to light levels.
"The birds appear to be singing at night to avoid competition with high noise levels caused by our cities during the day. Noise levels were 10 times higher in places where birds were singing at night."
ARCTIC - Inuit elders in Nunavut's western Hudson Bay area say more polar bears need to be hunted, as their populations are rising — contrary to scientific data that suggests a decrease.
Elders and hunters from the territory's Kivalliq region say that they and others have noticed more encounters with polar bears in recent years. The government is concerned that polar bear population is declining, citing data from the Canadian Wildlife Service indicating the number has dropped below 1,000 bears, as their health and survival are being threatened by shrinking ice.
An Inuit elder from southern Nunavut says that the Inuit don't agree the bear population is decreasing, and they dosn't want to see anyone get killed because there are more bears than people may think.
Many elders gave examples of frightening encounters with the bears — encounters they say are happening more often.
4/20/07 -
The rodents on Gough Island off South Africa in the South Atlantic
have evolved to become predators, growing to three times their normal
size. Infra-red footage shows a "superbreed" of giant flesh-eating
house mice chewing into an albatross chick and may be a stark warning
of what awaits pest-infested Macquarie Island.
“The evidence that normal house mice on Gough Island have evolved to
become predators gives us very serious concern the same thing is
happening on Macquarie Island.”
More than 100,000 grazing rabbits and plagues of rats and mice are
threatening endangered species on Macquarie Island, 1500km southeast of
Tasmania.
Rabbits are devastating the island's indigenous fauna, causing
landslips to crash into penguin rookeries and destroying albatross
breeding sites. Exploding rat and mice numbers are also causing huge
concern.
4/18/07 -
AMPHIBIANS & REPTILES - A decline in the amount of leaves on the
ground could be behind the rapid demise of frog species, a study of a
rainforest in Costa Rica has suggested.
Until now, the prime suspect for the amphibians' population crash was a
deadly fungal infection.
Between 1970 and 2005, the number of amphibians declined by about 75%,
which supported the idea that frogs were being wiped out by the chytrid
fungus.
However, the data also showed a similar fall in the area's reptiles,
which were not susceptible to the fungus.
Over the same period, the data showed that there had been a 75%
reduction in the density of leaves falling to the ground from the
rainforest's canopy.
Leaf litter provides a vital habitat, offering food and shelter, for
the amphibians and lizards.
Shifts in the area's climate may have led to a decline in the habitat
needed to sustain the creatures.
"The increasingly warm and wet conditions of the past two decades could
negatively influence standing litter mass by affecting rates of
litterfall or litter decomposition."
4/10/07 -
JAPAN - FISH - Like the blooming of cherry trees, the arrival of
ikanago, or tiny sand eels, marks the start of spring in Japan.
But this year, fishermen are reporting ikanago catches as small as
one-tenth the volume of last year. What's more, the eels are larger
than usual, posing a challenge for chefs who've had to adapt their
menus to suit the bigger fish.
Fishermen in Mikawa Bay and Ise Bay in Aichi Prefecture are also
reporting poor ikanago catches, with volume down to about 40 percent of
a regular year. There are few managatsuo butterfish from seas close to
Japan and a marked decline in sardines this year.
The changes are just some of the irregularities being reported by
people in the seafood industry who say the unseasonably warm winter has
produced some decidedly queer fish.
In Osaka Bay, fishermen are catching oversized aji horse mackerel.
During ordinary years, baby mackerel migrate to the bay during the
spring and summer months then head off to outer waters during fall and
winter. Specialists say full-grown mackerel that have wintered in the
bay are very rare.
"Maybe the mackerel got the seasons mixed up due to the warm winter and
never left the bay."
Local amagarei flounder were a lot bigger than normal this winter, and
nori seaweed cultivated in local waters is thriving.
The water temperature in the bay was consistently high since
mid-January, with the temperature exceeding the average by over 3
degrees on some days. The water temperature in Tosa Bay during winter
has been on the rise for more than 20 years. This year, when the
temperature was measured in February, the surface water temperature was
18.9 degrees, the second-highest recorded since 1975. The normal
average is 17.0 degrees.
some fisheries are noticing a change in seasons, too.
Yellowtail that are caught in the Hokuriku area along the Sea of Japan
during the winter months of November through January have long been
considered a winter delicacy.
The kanburi haul was disappointing up to December, but soon after
January, the catch began to increase, and the season continued until
the end of February.
This year, fresh hatsu-gatsuo, the first bonito of the season, has
arrived late, and there are fewer fish than normal.
3/8/07 -
Chicken-eating cow -
When 48 chickens went missing in a month from a remote West Bengal
village, everyone blamed the neighborhood dogs.
But the owner eventually solved the puzzle when he caught his cow - a
sacred animal for the Hindu family - gobbling up several of them at
night.
"We were shocked to see our calf eating chickens alive.
Instead of the dogs, we watched in horror as the calf, whom we had
fondly named Lal, sneak to the coop and grab the little ones with the
precision of a jungle cat."
Local television pictures showed the cow grabbing and eating a chicken
in seconds and a vet confirmed the case.
"We think lack of vital minerals in the body is causing this behaviour.
We have taken a look and have asked doctors to look into the case
immediately. This strange behaviour is possible in some exceptional
cases."
A giant panda from China has given birth to twins at a zoo in
Japan, raising the number of artificially-bred pandas born this year to
a RECORD 30.
Births during the winter months are EXTREMELY RARE for pandas in
captive breeding programmes.
The giant panda is one of the world's rarest animals with an estimated
1,590 living in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan and the western
province of Shaanxi.
Another 180 animals have been bred in captivity.
-------------------------------------
2006 -
SPAIN - BEARS in Spain have stopped hibernating for the winter —
and the cause could be climate change.
Many of the 130 bears in Spain's northern mountains who usually sleep
through the cold season are still active because milder weather means
they have enough nuts and berries to survive. "It's an indication of
what's to come. Climate change is impacting on the natural world.
Hitherto the warming seemed to be happening fastest at the Poles — now
we're getting examples of it happening further south."
Animals that hibernate in winter are abandoning hibernation in yet
another signal that something momentous is happening to the rhythms of
the natural world.
Hibernation has evolved for the same reason most animal behaviour has
evolved - as a strategy to maximise survival.
Some creatures that need a lot of energy to get around have learned to
shut themselves down in winter, when the food to provide that energy is
simply not available, or too much energy would be expended in searching
for it.
European brown bears in northern Spain are abandoning a survival
strategy that has been successful for the unknown.
What if they give up hibernation because of rising winter temperatures,
but then when they are active in winter, are unable to find enough
food?
BRITAIN - It was not what farmers expect in the middle of December
– a newborn lamb.
They could hardly believe it when the first lamb of the season arrived
this week.
Usually the lambing season does not kick off until spring and the
owner, who owns a farm in Bunns Lane, near Hambledon, is convinced the
climate is responsible for playing havoc with her sheep's hormones.
'Last year we had one on New Year's Eve but WE'VE NEVER HAD ONE AS
EARLY AS THIS BEFORE. We've called her Tinsel...I think it's all to do
with the climate changing. So much happened that we noticed was
different last year. All the animals are confused.'
She said her geese and turkeys have started laying eggs – whereas
usually they start laying at Easter.
BRITAIN - RATS are on the increase as the West Midlands officially
marks 2006 as the mildest year on record.
Balmy conditions are encouraging vermin to breed. Reports of rats are
up at the region’s councils with the vermin getting bolder.
Fewer rats and mice are inside buildings because they were staying
outside in the warmer weather.
“Every day I see them. They are huge and they are getting more and
more bold.”
CALIFORNIA - Climate change has animals heading for the hills -
Many small California mammals have shifted ranges to higher elevations.
Since the early 1900s, many small mammals in California have shifted
their ranges dramatically, mostly to higher elevations.
The whooping crane migration of 2006 has been in a holding pattern
in Terrell County, Ga., for the past few days (12/14), pushing back the
arrival time in Central Florida to possibly early next week. Operation
Migrationleads the young birds from Wisconsin to the Chassahowitzka
National Wildlife Refuge. This will be the LONGEST TRIP AND THE LATEST
ARRIVAL by the rare birds. Operation Migration workers tried to find an
interim stopping site about 30 miles from Terrell County. The next
regular stop is 60 miles away, and the crew is worried about trying to
fly that far in the current weather pattern of warm, humid air and
winds.
12/13 -
MALAYSIA - Sea cucumber scare in Penang - Could a tsunami strike
them again? That was the deep fear that struck Penang residents when
they saw thousands of sea cucumbers on the beach two days ago.
The residents of Pantai Pasir Panjang remember how thousands of fish
washed ashore on the same beach several days before the December 26,
2004 tsunami catastrophe.
Most of the more than 50 deaths in Malaysia due to the tsunami were
reported at Pantai Pasir Panjang.
The RARE phenomenon took place this time on the 11th as the thumb-sized
creatures found their way onto the kilometre-long shore after midnight.
And residents are worried that it could signal an impending tsunami.
Last month, The Star reported something similar happening in Kuala
Terengganu when thousands of sea cucumbers, also known as gamat,
appeared on the Batu Buruk tourist beach. The deputy director of the
Oceanography Institute described the phenomenon as 'VERY ODD' and said
it could have been caused by strong sea undercurrents.
'This may be due to the imminent monsoon season, but I consider it a
strange occurrence as it HAS NEVER OCCURRED HERE BEFORE.'
AUSTRALIA - An apiarist (bee keeper) thinks the STRANGE behaviour
of his bees means heavy rain is on the way to break a drought in
central Australia.
The bees have put breeding on hold and have started storing food in
their hives in Alice Springs.
He says the bees are also using wax to seal their hives as they did in
1987-88 and 1999 when heavy, substantial rains swamped the Alice
Springs area.
NEW ZEALAND - Mystery bird deaths continue -
More dead birds are turning up in areas around Havelock North, while
the search for their mystery killer continues.
Most of the birds picked up since last week have been from Anderson
Park, but there have also been reported of dead birds in other areas,
including Te Mata Peak.
Mass bird deaths are not uncommon, but the Havelock North case is
UNUSUAL in the range of species dying. Sparrows, blackbirds, starlings
and a few magpies have all fallen victim to the mystery illness.
At least four cats and a dog have died after coming into contact with
carcasses of the birds.
ENGLAND - Ducklings paddling on the River Test are usually a sure
sign of spring.
But these tiny bundles of feathers, which were discovered in Overton,
have hatched just weeks before Christmas.
"We always look forward to seeing them every spring, but to see them
only six weeks before Christmas is ODD."
Although it is not common for ducks to breed in the autumn, if the
weather conditions are good, they may sometimes take the chance. "I am
not aware of many birds, still less ducks, breeding at this time of
year. But it has been relatively mild of late."
10/18 -
CANADA - Eastern Hudson Bay area - multiple observations of
unfamiliar animals like skunks and moose this past summer may be
another sign of rising temperatures along the 55th parallel – similar
to sightings of unfamiliar birds and insects further north.
Skunks don’t like to be cold, although they can tolerate it. “We’ve
never seen these before.” Average temperatures in Kuujjuaraapik have
been rising and sizzling summer temperatures have become common.
A US man has been stabbed in the chest by a stingray which leapt on
board his boat in Florida.
He was critically ill in hospital after undergoing
surgery to remove the stingray's barb.
He was brought ashore by his granddaughter and her friend, who were
also on the boat, after the attack.
Last month, Australian TV naturalist Steve Irwin died when a stingray's
barb pierced his heart as he filmed at Queensland's Great Barrier Reef.
US officials say they are shocked at the attack.
"It was a freak accident. It's very odd that the thing jumped out of the water and stung him. We
still can't believe it."
Surgeons were able to remove some of the barb from his chest.
The stingray died on the boat after the attack, officials said.
Attacks on humans are extremely rare, scientists say.
AUSTRALIA - A cow has gone for a four-hour swim in the surf in a
bizarre bovine spectacle before drowning off Queensland's coast.
The two-year-old Brahman-cross escaped from a nearby paddock on Sunday
and travelled 2km to where it was spotted by beachgoers paddling 300m
out to sea.
The owner said when police phoned him to report his missing cow had
been sighted swimming in the ocean it was the strangest thing he had
ever heard. A crowd of more than 100 were drawn to the beach as word
spread about the body surfing cow, which swam for three hours, coming
to shore twice before returning to the waves.
The owner and a friend eventually took a tinnie out to try to rescue
the cow which was paddling in water around 7m deep but could not bring
her to land.
She eventually drowned from swallowing water.
A University of Queensland school of animal studies lecturer said it
was the first time in 20 years he had heard of such strange behaviour.
Cows are good swimmers and often wade out into dams.
But to swim in the ocean for that long was BIZARRE. "It is UNUSUAL,
I've never seen anything like that."
Weeks through 9/26 -
Climate change drives genetic changes - Global warming is driving worldwide genetic changes in a fly species.
These findings reinforce recent studies suggesting that climate change is rapidly leading to genetic impacts "in widespread
organisms." "What is most surprising is that small shifts in average temperature, about ½ degrees C, which seems trivial on a
temperature scale, are obviously not trivial to the flies. "They are immersed in this warmer environment, such that the
effect of climate warming is likely compounding over their life span." Researchers in the Netherlands show birds like the
Great Tit are changing, but perhaps not fast enough, "and large organisms might not keep up at all. The organisms most likely
to keep up aren't necessarily those we'd like to, like mosquitoes and pathogens."
UNITED KINGDOM - Extreme weather conditions are to blame for a catastrophic fall in the number of barn owls.
Climate change makes fish migrate - A warm-water Atlantic triple fin fish has, for the first time, been caught off the
coast of Britain, in another sign of species migrating north.
UNITED KINGDOM - Wild and exotic animals are becoming an increasingly common sight roaming free across the UK, a new
report says.
The Beastwatch UK survey recorded 5,931 apparent sightings of big cats, 332 of wild boars and 3,389 of sharks since 2000 -
with figures expected to rise.
The 10,000 sightings include a penguin, three pandas and 51 wallabies, while a chinchilla was found in a post box.
Climate change, zoo thefts and escaped animals are thought to have contributed to the rise.
In Kent and East Sussex, more than 100 wild boars were spotted, and in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire wallabies were
apparently spotted on 30 occasions.
Racoons seem to head for Leicestershire and Oban in Scotland is home to several monkeys.
However, it is not just the sightings that have been startling observers, but their behaviour too.
Last year, a deer was seen swimming a mile and a half across a busy shipping lane in Hampshire, apparently looking for a new
home.
And earlier this month, a family of squirrels cut the power in 10,380 homes in Exeter after shorting a power cable.
Warm weather has wildlife humming an exotic tune - Recent high temperatures have drawn a number of exotic moth species to the UK and butterfly experts predict further migration as part of a permanent trend brought on by global warming.
Some native wildlife species are suffering in the warmer climate, however. Arctic Char fish living in Lake Windermere, for example, struggled to cope when the water reached 24 degrees celsius in July, the hottest it has been for 70 years.
Nuisance seagulls could be shot - Hundreds of seagulls could be shot to stop them causing havoc in a seaside town.
"We have had two broods of seagulls this year due to the unseasonal weather patterns and the way that seagulls work is
that the fledgling will come back to nest where they were born."
British species migrate northward -
Scientists analysing 25 years of data find some 80% of animals have extended the northern edge of their ranges.
Northern scientists fear climate change is killing off sea birds.
INDIA -
This July, 400 Open-Bill Storks built nests, paired, mated. And in August because of shortage of rainfall, all nests were
abandoned.
This is no freak incident. With the weather increasingly playing spoilsport in many parts of the country, the flora and fauna
seem to be bearing the brunt.
Last year mango trees in Andhra Pradesh flowered three months early because of rising heat.
A few years ago, bees in the Himalayas were impacted by similar erratic flowering patterns, leading to a big drop in the
honey supply.
Locals have also reported a marked decline in the population of Swallows in Srinagar valley.
In fact, rising temperatures in Delhi have even resulted in the near disappearance of some species of birds. Certain frog
species are perhaps the most vulnerable to weather changes. With rainfall and temperature built into their lifecycle, erratic
rainfall disrupts their breeding pattern.
AUSTRALIA - Flying foxes vanish after cyclone.
Tens of thousands of spectacled flying foxes have gone missing in far north Queensland in the aftermath of Cyclone Larry,
baffling scientists.
AUSTRALIA - Animals continue to feel cyclone's impact -
Native and feral animals are showing up on farms looking for food more than five months after cyclone Larry crossed the north
Queensland coast.
CANADA - In Nova Scotia "it’s been a kind of strange summer to begin with. We’ve still got things that occur in the
spring that are still occurring [in September]. We’re still finding adult ticks being brought in right now. That’s REALLY
UNUSUAL."
A relatively mild spring has meant many animals were born early.
U.S. -
Rare ocean pattern leaves fish and birds hungry -
The ocean has been acting strangely lately.
For the past two summers, fish and birds on the California coast have waited eagerly for a seasonal upwelling of
nutrient-rich waters from the deep, but the upwelling and its attendant feast came so late it might as well not have come at
all. Scientists are puzzled by the deaths of the auklet birds and other UNUSUAL PATTERNS in the ocean ecosystem. Along the
Central Coast, waters have been much warmer than usual, and even fish market workers have noticed the change.
"We interpreted last year as a blip, but when you see it two years in a row, you have to wonder if it's a trend."
Scientists have long known that El Niño conditions suppress upwelling and make it difficult for birds and fish to find food
along the coast. What puzzles them is that they're seeing the same conditions without an El Niño.
They're calling this new pattern El Coyote — the trickster — because it's impossible to predict.
Nature blooms early due to climate change - A U.S. scientist says global warming is affecting the growing season for some
crops in the northeastern United States.
Such northeastern U.S. plants and crops as lilacs, apples and grapes are blooming several days earlier than they did during
the 1960s. He also says mating-call dates of frogs have advanced 13 days during the past century. Global warming can present
heat-stress problems for cows and will likely slow dairy production, potentially causing the cost of milk to increase
-----------------------
Weeks through 8/23 -
INSECTS -
UNITED KINGDOM - Environmental health inspectors were at a loss today to explain why
residents of a Wiltshire valley are being overrun by FLIES.
The plague of common and house flies in the Collingbourne valley has been intolerable since
the end of July, locals say.
The winged pests are swarming kitchens, bathrooms and living areas at houses in Collingbourne
Ducis, Collingbourne Kingston, East Grafton and Burbage.
Muck spreading on nearby fields has been put forward as a possible cause but experts say
there is no proof to back up this theory.
The area has suffered similar problems in the past, coinciding with particularly hot summers
such as in 2003 and 2001. This summer, however, is said to be the WORST IN RECENT MEMORY.
"It's horrific. You cannot comprehend it unless you live here."
ENGLAND - Rare insect discovered on farm - Soaring temperatures are thought to be
responsible for the discovery of a very rare insect at an Essex farm.
The Antlion has been found and the hotter summers mean it could become a more frequent
visitor.
The Antlion, a brown 30mm winged insect usually found in the south of the United States, was
first confirmed as a resident breeding species in Britain as recently as 1996 and has so far
only appeared a few times on the Suffolk coast at Minsmere.
The species is relatively rare in the UK because the Antlion has very precise habitat
requirements, needing undisturbed sandy and dry soil.
But the continual increase in weather temperature brought on by climate change has meant that
the Antlion can find suitable homes in the increasingly warmer south east of England.
SCOTLAND - Climate change brings butterflies -
Two new species of butterfly are attracted to Scotland as the country
becomes warmer, an expert says.
MINNESOTA - New insects invading forests - The drier than usual weather this spring
brought a different insect mix into the forests.
“Usually we end up with a cool wet spring and we end up with a different insect mix. This
year with the drier weather we have a whole lot of different insects and different problems.
SEA CREATURES -
Red Devil" squid, jellyfish point to ocean upsets - American "Red Devil" squid found off
Alaska and jellyfish plaguing the Mediterranean may point to vast disruptions in the seas
linked to global warming, pollution or over-fishing, experts say.
Fish such as salmon and mackerel have also been spotted in the Arctic, far north of their
normal ranges, in a possible vanguard of wrenching billion-dollar shifts in world fish stocks
this century caused by warming oceans. As species shift, tropical regions, or almost enclosed
seas such as the Mediterranean where fish cannot swim far if the water gets uncomfortably
warm, may be among the most vulnerable. "It seems pretty clear that (the salmon in the
Arctic) has to be climate change. The conditions there have never been suitable for these
animals before."
UNITED KINGDOM - A RARE humpback whale has been spotted in the Firth of Forth in the
latest of a series of sightings which have attracted extra visitors to the coast.
The sighting of the whale - said by wildlife experts to be more unusual "than seeing a lion
walk down Princes Street" - was the third of a rare species of whale in the estuary in a
month. The sighting of the humpback follows that of a fin whale, the world's second largest
creature, near North Berwick last month. That was followed by reports of an unidentified
large whale off the coast at Dunbar last week. The summer's warm weather is said to be
attracting creatures such as sand eels to the Firth of Forth and whales are following to
feed. Wildlife experts said spotting a humpback whale in the Forth was EXTREMELY UNUSUAL.
Only one other sighting has been reported in recent years.
LAND ANIMALS -
WASHINGTON - KILLER RACOONS - A fierce group of raccoons in a west end neighborhood has
killed 10 cats, attacked a small dog and bitten at least one pet owner who had to get rabies
shots. "We used to love the raccoons. They'd have their babies this time of year, and they
were so cute. Even though we lived in the city, it was neat to have wildlife around, but this
year, things changed. They went nuts."
In one case five raccoons tried to carry off a small dog, which managed to survive. Some
residents also have managed to get to their cats in time to save them.
The attacks, all within a three-block area near the Garfield Nature Trail, are HIGHLY
UNUSUAL.
MISSOURI - Armadillos are appearing farther north than usual. Their migration rate –
about 10 times the expected territory expansion rate for a mammal – continues to puzzle
scientists and just about anyone who lives in armadillo alley.
CALIFORNIA - RARE rattlesnake sighting in Marin.
Hot weather and an abundance of food has put snakes on the prowl in Marin, including a
venomous rattlesnake found in a neighborhood in Forest Knolls. "I have never seen a
rattlesnake in a neighborhood on the valley floor. I also saw a garter snake in my back yard,
which I had not seen before. There seems to be more activity."
BIRDS -
NORTH DAKOTA - Dry weather brings unusual birds to valley.
MASSACHUSETTS - zealous birdwatchers from all around the East Coast
descended on Milford in response to a "rare bird alert" for a glimpse and a photo of the tiny
Red-necked stint.
"This is only the third time we've ever seen one of these birds here." The Red-necked stint
was laying over in Milford because of stormy weather and to eat seafood and insects during
its long journey home from China or Siberia to Australia. Other rare birds were sighted.
ENGLAND -
The grouse shooting season in Lancashire is in chaos after this year's FREAK weather
devastated numbers of the birds. Huge moorland fires and water shortages caused by the
heatwave followed torrential downpours in May which washed eggs and chicks from the nests.
Those that did survive were hit, first by water shortages as parent birds tried desperately
to raise their broods, and then by devastating moorland and grass fires, sparked by weeks of
record heat. Some stretches of moor will be barren for up to 15 years.
-----------------------
Weeks through 8/9 -
OREGON - DOGS - Clark County dispatchers report at least 200 phone calls to 911 in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake last week.
If people are looking for early earthquake warnings, they might want to go to the dogs.
It turns out that a dozen dogs were anxious and frantically barking most of Wednesday
afternoon at the Oregon Humane Society shelter, “giving off a different vibe” than usual.
Hours later, a 3.8 magnitude earthquake occurred near Battle Ground, Washington. No damage
or injuries were reported.
“It was one of those days where everyone was wanting to bark. They were barking
their heads off. This was far more anxious barking. I don’t know if they knew what was
happening. It was UNUSUAL for them.”
We don’t know if the dogs sensed the shift in the earth’s core, but dogs can sense all kinds of things, including when someone is going to have an
epileptic seizure and the ability to smell cancer in a patient's breath.
The National Geographic magazine reported in 2003 the belief that dogs can sense earthquakes
has been around for centuries.
One theory is that wild and domestic creatures feel the Earth vibrate before humans, the
magazine said. Others suggest they detect electrical changes in the air or gas released from
the Earth.
In September 2003 a medical doctor in Japan made headlines with a study that indicated
erratic behavior in dogs, such as excessive barking or biting, could be used to forecast
quakes.
“I’m so glad it was an earthquake because it explained yesterday,” and the dogs' erratic barking.
AUSTRALIA - EELS - THE Environment Protection Authority doesn't know
what caused thousands of eel deaths in western Victoria despite
investigations, meetings and community input.
About 5000 dead eels washed up on the lake's shore in March, and closer
checks revealed live fish taken from the lake were blind, covered in white
blotches and bleeding from the face and gills.
EPA investigations identified several potential causes, including water
temperature and salinity levels, and will now focus on the history of fish
deaths in Western District lakes and how lakes previously coped with dry
conditions.
"It's most likely the lakes are very low and haven't had a good flush out for
10 years. Unfortunately, we actually think unless we get flooding rains in the next
couple of months, we'll probably have more eel deaths in some lakes."'
The investigation into the unexplained deaths was hampered by a
lack of understanding of eels and their life cycles.
Lake Modewarre, Lake Bolac and Lake Colac have all experienced significant
eel kills in recent years.
The phenomenon has also been recorded at lakes and rivers in Anglesea,
Melbourne and Gippsland. "It's strongly related to hot weather and lower lake levels."
JELLYFISH - Thousands of holidaymakers in the Mediterranean have been stung by jellyfish as huge swarms
of the creatures invade coastal waters.
Some Spanish beaches have been closed, but Sicily and North Africa are also reported to be
badly affected.
Researchers say at least 30,000 people have been stung since summer began.
Marine biologists blame hot dry weather for bringing jellyfish closer to the shore, and say
overfishing may be increasing jellyfish numbers.
Coastal waters were warmer than usual, because of the hot
weather, and saltier than usual because of low river flows.
This meant the offshore waters which jellyfish usually inhabit were being washed
closer to the coast.
Populations of jellyfish predators such as tuna and turtles are also diminishing.
------------------------
Week through 7/19 -
SCOTLAND - a rare FIN WHALE which seems to have lost its way has been
spotted off the coast of North Berwick. It normally lives in the deep waters
of the Atlantic Ocean.
It is thought that the warm weather currently being experienced across
Scotland may have attracted the whale to the Firth of Forth.
It is believed to be the first time a fin whale has been seen off Scotland's
east coast - although smaller minke whales are more common during the summer
months.
"I was surprised that it had come to such shallow waters. I've never seen a
whale like that before."
The fin whale is most commonly found in the south Atlantic or off Canada's
east coast, although it is occasionally seen off the south coast of Ireland.
"I have lived in North Berwick for 16 years and I have never heard of it
before. It is very exciting. You very rarely get one whale on its own, so it
is possible that there may be more of them in the area."
They were stumped by the reason the whale had been spotted so close to the
coast, where the water is only around 15 metres deep.
"The distribution patterns of whales and dolphins change with water
temperature, but we can't make a direct correlation between the warm weather
and the direction they move in. I just don't know why it would have been
here. In the summer, whales are looking for food, so maybe it has found
something to eat here."
BRITAIN - Outdoor lovers have been warned of a sharp rise in
hospitalisations and deaths from WASP, BEE and HORNET stings.
843 people were admitted for medical care for stings in 2004/5 compared to
369 in the previous year.
Experts say the sudden increase could be due to a new invasive species of
aggressive wasp from the Continent.
---------------------
Week through 7/5 -
CALIFORNIA - Dead, sickly birds wash up on Calif. beach.
Bird rescuers believe dozens of dead and sickly baby terns washed up
suddenly on beaches here after something scared them out of their nests on
an abandoned barge and into the water, where they couldn't swim.
Rescuers collected the bodies of about 200 Caspian and elegant tern chicks
after getting calls from lifeguards earlier in the day on June 28th.
The birds were all about a month old and many hadn't even grown feathers
yet. The die-off comes just days after an unusual number of starving and
weak baby pelicans showed up on area beaches in northern California.
NEW ENGLAND - After a season of dismal weather, the past week's
persistent winds and storms apparently delivered yet another unwelcome
effect to New England coastlines: PORTUGUESE MEN-OF-WAR on several
southern beaches.
Officials in Westport and in Little Compton, R.I., have posted warning signs in
recent days that the tropical jellyfish with a burning sting are making
repeated and untimely appearances. About 15 Portuguese men-of-war have
floated up onto Little Compton beaches over the past two days. "In the last
10 years, we've maybe seen a half-dozen."
Portuguese men-of-war traditionally live in tropical and subtropical waters
but drift to the north Atlantic on the Gulf Stream.
The recent, unstable weather patterns could explain their early, more
frequent arrival on New England shores. Warmer air has been moving up
from the South for nearly a week. Unable to swim on their own, Portuguese
men-of-war drift with the winds and the ocean currents, using an unusual
gas sac that floats above the water and acts like a sail. Their tentacles
dangle below the water surface, and are sometimes as long as 20 to 30 feet.
SOUTH DAKOTA - parts of South Dakota remain gripped by drought, and
even drier times could loom - due to global warming.
Already, South Dakota is seeing reduced flows into the Missouri River,
changes in Canada goose migration patterns and less duck production.
State Game, Fish and Parks Department Secretary said ''I'm scared to death
on some of these climate change issues.'' Duck production could drop 50
percent the next 50 years as more wetlands are dried by continued warming.
MIDWESTERN U.S. - Climate change making ominous mark on Midwest -
Wildlife and plants native to the South, such as the armadillo and the
southern magnolia, now are thriving here.
Flowers bloom two weeks earlier than usual and bird migration timetables
are out of whack. Scientists are studying the swarms of tree-killing pests
that are invading forests in the eastern half of the nation.
“The bugs are on the move.” "When you start to see the sheer number of
these things happening all at once, then you realize this isn’t something that
is specific to a place — this is something that is happening on a global basis. "
GREECE - Cramped housing conditions and air pollution in Athens have
given rise to a "super breed" of mosquito that is larger, faster and more
adept at locating human prey. Athens-based mosquitoes can detect humans
at a distance of 25-30 metres (yards) and also distinguish colours, unlike
their colour-blind counterparts elsewhere in the country that only smell
blood at 15-20 metres. The mosquitoes of Athens have adapted to deal with
air pollution and insect repellents.
UNITED KINGDOM - The hotter weather in Oxfordshire may be providing
the ideal breeding conditions for a very rare giant beetle, a wildlife expert
said.
The Capricorn beetle, which can grow up to 6cm long, is cropping up with
increasing frequency since it was seen on these shores last year for the first
time in centuries.
The beetles, which have large, powerful jaws capable of biting through wood,
are normally found in Eastern Europe. (article is at the bottom at this link)
UNITED KINGDOM - Three species of birds NEVER BEFORE SEEN in the
Channel Islands were spotted in the space of four days.
‘It’s normal to add one or two new species to the Guernsey or Channel
Islands list in a year. Some years, nothing new is recorded. But an
exceptional sequence like this is unlikely ever to be repeated. ' A VERY RARE
short-toed eagle must have got caught up in the hot weather and travelled
too far on its spring migration. ‘The weekend was just absolutely
remarkable. June isn’t even a recognised migration time.'
Birds that migrate long distances have adapted to the world's changing
climate in unexpected ways, a study shows.
As the planet warms, and spring arrives earlier in Europe, birds are being
forced to change their migration patterns.
It had been thought that birds travelling long distances from Africa to Europe
would be unable to adapt.
Scientists had assumed that birds travelling short distances would be better
able to adapt. The study revealed that long-distance fliers have adjusted
their migration habits to arrive earlier in northern Europe in time for the start
of spring.
This suggests a more permanent change in migratory behaviour due to
climate change than previously thought.
The need for migratory birds to coincide their arrival at breeding grounds
with plentiful food supplies is a known evolutionary pressure.
--------
Week through 6/21 -
Wildlife experts swear by traditional methods of
predicting weather according to animal behaviour even in this scientific
age. Small things like ants scurrying about with their eggs, birds having a
dust bath and spiders making webs in the shade, all signify the onset of
rains. Similarly, birds flying low, signal the coming of a storm.
According to a noted wildlife photographer,"I have observed marked changes
in the behaviour of the animals if they sense something unnatural. In the
Sunderbans, just before a high tide, one can find all the animals, especially
tigers climbing on to higher ground or even trees.
This gave us a warning that the tide was about to set in. Just before a storm,
the vultures and eagles circle down to a lower height. Even during a solar
eclipse, the birds remain in their nests." "The birds start nesting just before
the monsoons and same is the case with the crocodiles." Even in captivity,
the animals do not lose their inherent instincts. If there's going to be a harsh
winter then the bear will make his bed deeper into his cage.
,"Dogs have a very sharp extra sensory perception. In Uttarkashi, where we
live, there are quite a few earthquakes, and our three dogs will force us to
get out of the house if they feel one's coming."
TEXAS - INSECTS - Recent weather-driven events across the region
have resulted in a significant increase of specific insect problems to plants.
This year's UNUSUAL WEATHER and the resulting health problems plants face
TRULY ARE EXCEPTIONAL, so different from any from the recent past.
Trees are suffering from the hot, dry conditions prevalent during the past
three months. As a result, pine bark beetles are taking their toll on thousands
of pine trees in the area. And spider mites, which also find the hot and dry
conditions favorable, are attacking ornamentals and vegetables in
UNPRECEDENTED numbers.
Yet the greatest threat to gardeners of vegetables and ornamentals this late
spring is the notorious stinkbug. They thrive in hot, dry conditions on the
weather-stressed plants.
Many vegetable and ornamental growers, mostly home gardeners, are facing
an ALL-TIME CHALLENGE. Even the East Texas commercial vegetable
growers are throwing their hands up and wondering what to do.
-------------------
Week through 6/14 -
CANADA - POLAR BEARS - bears in the southern Beaufort Sea may be eating
each other for a lack of their usual diet of seals, say researchers studying
the animal. A four-year survey of the Beaufort population of bears, which
extends off the coast of Alaska and Yukon, left researchers shocked and
concerned to find evidence of cannibalism among the bears.
While cannibalism has been seen among black bears and grizzlies, "NOTHING LIKE
THIS HAS EVER BEEN SEEN [in polar bears] BEFORE, despite quite intensive
research." Climate change, which has reduced the extent and annual duration of
the Beaufort's sea ice, is likely behind the behaviour change. The scientists
also found the bears thinner, and in poorer condition generally, than is
normal.
Similar pressures and problems are being experienced by a wide range of
animals because of climate change.
Evidence is piling up that climate change has led to genetic modifications
in a diverse range of animals including birds, squirrels and mosquitoes,
scientists said on Thursday.
These genetic changes are a result of altered seasonal events, not from the
expected direct effects of increasing temperatures. Global warming is
proceeding fastest at the most northern latitudes, resulting in longer growing
seasons while simultaneously alleviating winter cold stress without imposing
summer heat stress.
In short, northern climates are becoming more like those in the south. Because
of this, animal species are extending their range toward the poles and
populations have been migrating, developing or reproducing earlier.
These expansions and changes have often been attributed to the ability of
individuals to modify their behavior, morphology or physiology in response to
altered environmental conditions.
However, that is not the whole story. Over the past several decades, rapid
climate change has led to heritable, genetic changes in animal populations. No
studies have found genetic changes in animal populations due to the generally
expected direct effects of increasing temperature, but over evolutionary time
such changes should appear, following the genetic shifts in the timing of
seasonal events. Small animals with short life cycles and large population
sizes will probably adapt to longer growing seasons and be able to persist,
but many large animals with longer life cycles and smaller population sizes
will decline in population or be replaced by more southern species.
Extreme climates, like the Colorado Rockies, are more susceptible to
climate change, because dates like the first frost or the beginning of spring,
which greatly effect a species’ population, are changing. Likewise, because of
their rapid life cycle, insects – especially pests – are adapting to climate
change more quickly than other species.
MOSQUITOES, BLACKFLIES ON ATTACK IN CENTRAL CANADA, MARITIMES -
Quebecers are under attack from more mosquitoes that are acting
aggressively under ideal breeding conditions, an expert says.
A mild winter and wet spring in Quebec have led to about triple the usual
number of mosquitoes in the province. "There's a lot more mosquitoes, more
blackflies. But to me, what's important is they are more aggressive towards
people." Mosquitoes spread West Nile virus, but the infective species doesn't
tend to emerge until early July in the province, when dead birds start to
appear.
-------------------------
WEEK through 6/1 -
ENGLAND - the number of CRABS caught this season has plunged to what could
be an all-time low.
It is the third successive poor season. “It's desperate. It's very, very poor
at the moment. I've been fishing all my life, and IT'S TOTALLY OUT OF SYNCH.
The weather and the climate may have a fair bit to do with it. We are catching
some crabs with eggs on, which is wrong at this time of year...We are told our
crabs move north to spawn, then the eggs come down by the current to north
Norfolk, where they hatch. Has the breeding circle been broken?"
“It's a little bit early to indicate anything more than a trend because a lot
of other fisheries are also slow because of the cold winter.
We are monitoring it to see if it continues. If it does, it would be
worrying.”
UNITED KINGDOM - The harsh winter has forced starving tawny OWLS to change
their diet.
The threatened birds of prey - whose number has dropped by up to 80 per cent
in some areas - have been forced to feed their young with other birds, frogs
and even goldfish instead of mice and voles.
The bad winter has caused a steep drop in the populations of small mammals
which has meant many owls have not even attempted to breed this year, and
those that have are struggling to get enough food for their chicks. Where the
owls are breeding, volunteers have found high numbers of unusual prey stored
in the nest's "larder", ready to be fed to the chicks. These have included
small birds and frogs, and at one site a goldfish. "This is the first time
I've heard of a fish, though. I can't imagine how it caught it. Maybe it was a
freak catch from a shallow pond."
If predictions of climate change are correct the UK would see much wetter
winters and springs in the future, making it even harder for the owls to hunt.
AUSTRALIA - the luckless residents of Innisfail have borne Cyclone Larry
and weeks of torrential rain, but now face a new dilemma - a posse of hungry
marauding CASSOWARIES.
The critically endangered and famously testy flightless bird, known for its
ability to disembowel humans with its razor-sharp claws, is running amok
through the backyards and suburban streets of north Queensland in search of
food.
The birds are vital to the survival of the World Heritage-listed wet tropics
rainforest because they are the only animals capable of distributing the seeds
of more than 70 species of trees whose fruit is too large for any other
forest-dwelling animal to eat and thus relocate.
There are less than 1200 cassowaries left in Australia. During the evening,
hundreds of flying foxes can also be seen hovering over Gordonvale, south of
Cairns. The loss of their regular food sources has led them to raid backyard
trees in search of fruit.
GERMANY - RARE BEAR APPEARANCE - authorities have ordered the killing or
capture of the first
wild bear to appear in their country since 1835 after it went on a
rampage and killed seven sheep and some chickens. Nobody is quite sure how the
wild bear got to Germany, but biologists suspect it crossed the Alps from
northeastern Italy.
OHIO - In April SPCA officers were being swamped with calls about sick
RACCOONS. Authorities say the raccoons may have distemper, which can be fatal
in raccoons, dogs, even cats. Officials have seen an unusual spike in the
number of people calling about what appear to be sick raccoons.
"There were five times as many in January, five times as many in February, but
ten times as many in March. It went from fourteen in March in 2005, to a
hundred and forty for March of 2006." "They're going to exhibit symptoms of
wandering back and forth, wandering in circles, they'll salivate a great deal,
they'll have runny eyes and they won't be acting normal as raccoons would."
FLORIDA - Marine scientists say cataracts first noticed in REDFISH at the
state fish hatchery on Tampa Bay have been discovered in wild fish.
Recent samplings at several locations have yielded fish with cataracts - a
clouding of the eye`s lens that causes loss of vision. The scientists are not
sure how widespread the problem might be since screening for cataracts is not
a part of normal fish-health examinations in hatchery-raised or wild fish. The
researchers also say they don`t know how long the vision problems have
existed, what is causing the cataracts, and how a loss of vision might affect
a fish`s ability to catch food or evade predators.
CALIFORNIA - in Monmouth County this year's gypsy moth infestation is the
WORST IN MANY YEARS. Tent caterpillars and inch worms have also been found in
large numbers. The high number of all three insects is attributed to the
UNUSUAL weather in the Monmouth County area of the past few months, which has
allowed gypsy moths to hatch two weeks ahead of schedule. Leaves were being
eaten by the moths before the leaves had a chance to mature, leaving the trees
bare. (article is at the bottom of linked page)
----------
WEEK through 5/17 -
FLORIDA - In Fort Lauderdale an alligator mauled a woman on dry land in a
quick, violent and EXTREMELY UNUSUAL attack, devastating her family and
sending trackers scrambling to find and kill the animal. The victim may have
been resting under or beside a small bridge. Most alligator attacks happen in
water and said it is extremely rare for a victim to be killed on land.
There have been only 16 fatal alligator attacks statewide since 1973, and
experts said they can't remember any others in Broward County.
The combination of dry weather and spring mating season always makes
alligators more active.
FLORIDA - The bodies of two more women have been found in Florida having
suffered apparent attacks by alligators.
The finds follow the fatal attack last week, only the 18th confirmed alligator
killing in Florida since 1948.
In the latest cases, a 23-year-old woman was pronounced dead after being
pulled from the jaws of an alligator in the Lake George area. She had been
attacked while snorkelling.
The body of another woman who had apparently suffered alligator bites was
found in a canal near St Petersburg.
Residents have been warned not to swim in vegetated areas or walk pets near
water, particularly at night.
---------------
WEEK through 5/10 -
Tests have confirmed a bear killed by an American hunter in Canada's far
north was the first GRIZZLY-POLAR BEAR cross ever discovered in the wild.
"It actually is a hybrid." Odd couples have produced mixed offspring in
captivity.
But this is the first discovery of this mixed breed in the wild, officials
said.
The two species mate at different times of the year and inhabit vastly
different regions - one lives on Arctic ice floes, the other in forests.
But hunters have reported seeing Grizzlies further north in recent years as
the Arctic warms.
CALIFORNIA - The number of BUTTERFLIES migrating through the state has
fallen to a nearly 40-YEAR LOW as populations already hurt by habitat loss and
climate change encountered an UNUSUAL cold, wet spring. About half of the
usual species haven't shown up, while others - such as the drab-colored sooty
wing or the iridescent eastern tailed-blue - are fluttering in at one-fourth
or less of their usual numbers. The change was particularly dramatic for the
red and black painted ladies, which last year enjoyed a possibly
record-breaking migration after feeding on the vegetation nurtured by abundant
rain in Southern California's deserts.
Part of the problem was that the erratic weather - a mild winter, warm
February and wet March - upset the usual cues that tell butterflies when to
emerge from dormancy.
DOLPHINS communicate like humans by calling each other by name, scientists
have found.
The mammals are able to recognise themselves and other members of the same
species as individuals with separate identities.
Researchers studying in Florida discovered wild bottlenose dolphins used names
rather than sound to identify each other.
CHINA - Shenzhen Wildlife Park has recently joined efforts with the
municipal seismic bureau to establish five seismological observation stations
in the park.
Every day the park's staff and animal keepers observe and record unusual
actions of animals and report to the seismic bureau for analysis.
Meanwhile, the seismic bureau occasionally sends experts to the park to train
and teach the animal keepers how to observe and record the behaviour of
tigers, lions, wolves, snakes, crocodiles, swans, cranes, turkeys, fishes and
zebras in the park.
Animals are said to behave irregularly before seismic activities take place,
and some believe observing the creatures can help predict earthquakes.
-------------
WEEK through 5/3 -
More species sliding towards extinction - The polar bear and hippopotamus
are for the first time listed as species threatened with extinction by the
world's biodiversity agency. Many sharks, and freshwater fish in Europe and
Africa, are newly included. Sharks and rays are disappearing at an
UNPRECEDENTED RATE ACROSS THE GLOBE. "The desperate situation of many sharks
and rays is just the tip of the iceberg." Fifty-six percent of the 252 species
endemic to the Mediterranean are threatened with extinction, while in East
Africa, a quarter of freshwater fish are at risk. It is not all doom and
gloom.
The overall number of species in this Red List is not significantly higher
than in the last edition published in November 2004, which numbered 15,589
species on the brink.
Climate change may harm populations of migrating birds by advancing the
date when their food supply peaks.
Dutch biologists found a large drop in populations of the migratory pied
flycatcher.
The small bird winters in West Africa and returns to northern Europe in the
spring to breed.
As spring arrived sooner, caterpillars – a staple of the birds' diet – also
emerge earlier.
But the birds arrive too late to feed on the insects, and they don't seem to
pack on enough calories to nourish their nestlings. Pied flycatcher
populations declined by about 90 per cent in areas with the earliest food
peaks, compared to 10 per cent in areas with the latest caterpillar emergence.
---------------
WEEK through 4/26 -
CANADA - A hunter has shot a GROLAR BEAR – or was it a PIZZLY?
The animal might be a cross between a polar bear and a grizzly. The hide isn't
bright white like a polar bear, or brown like a grizzly's. It's more a dirty
blonde. The odd-looking bear was shot north of Sachs Harbour in the Northwest
Territories. Although grizzly bears have been known to travel to the Arctic
islands, they generally stay on the mainland.
A research scientist who has been studying polar bears in the Beaufort Sea
region for more than 30 years, says if the reports are true, the bear is
unlike anything he's ever seen.
He said it's hard to say if the animal is the product of cross-species mating.
"The probability of a grizzly and a polar bear actually mating is actually
pretty low. Partly because polar bears mate on the sea ice and grizzly bears
mate on the land."
CALIFORNIA - BATS - Emaciated and seemingly exhausted, bats are landing in
yards around Northern California, possibly starving as a consequence of the
cold, wet spring. The inclement weather has suppressed populations of flying
insects that bats rely upon for food. The usual springtime proliferation of
insects is delayed this season.
Although no one has scientific data showing that insect numbers are low enough
to cause a bat famine, the bats look like starving animals. Bats showing up
debilitated include hoary bats, which spend winters as far away as Patagonia
in South America, and migrate as far north as Canada; Mexican free-tailed
bats, which spend winters in Mexico and summers here; and California and
little brown bats, which spend winters at the coast and return to the Valley
with spring. "Everything is screwed up. For BUTTERFLIES it is the WORST SPRING
IN THE 35 YEARS I've been here, hands down. That's in terms of number of
species flying, the numbers of individuals flying and when they're coming
out." "I suspect there's been a lot of disease. When the ground is really wet
and it's overcast and cool, that's an ideal climate for fungal and bacterial
disease to take a big toll."
ISRAEL - BIRD sightings - With the weather going crazy and unseasonable
rainfall in the desert, spring 2006 continues to provide surprises and several
strange patterns of migration. After a lull in passerine migration and with
the cold fronts grounding most soaring birds, it was just a matter of time
before a new wave of birds arrived. The recent rainfall has filled the air
with flying ants and dragonflies.
SIERRA LEONE - A group of CHIMPANZEES seriously injured a Canadian and
two Americans at a wildlife sanctuary in Sierra Leone on Sunday, while a local
driver was killed. A large group of chimpanzees suddenly turned on the
visitors to the sanctuary, biting and tearing at their clothes. Police did not
know what precipitated the attack.
Arctic researchers who discovered a surprising number of abandoned baby
WALRUSES say melting sea ice may be the culprit.
During an icebreaker cruise in the Canada Basin two years ago, researchers
measured a UNUSUALLY warm mass of water – as high as seven degrees Centigrade
moving into the area from the Bering Sea to the south. This warm water may
have rapidly melted seasonal sea ice over the shallow continental shelf north
of Alaska, the study said.
They also found nine lone and possibly abandoned walrus calves in the area, an
"UNPRECEDENTED number" for walruses since mothers tend to stay with their
calves for two years. Sea ice offers foraging walruses a place to rest.
Mothers leave their calves on the ice while they dive to feed on animals on
the sea floor such as crabs and clams.
But rising ocean temperatures may be forcing the walrus mothers to abandon
their young as they follow the rapidly retreating ice edge north to colder
waters. Without their mothers, the calves likely drown or starve.
Sightings of solo walrus calves far from shore have not been reported before.
"If walruses and other ice-associated marine mammals cannot adapt to caring
for their young in shallow waters without sea ice available as a resting
platform between dives to the sea floor, a significant population decline of
this species could occur."
FLORIDA - A Florida woman was seriously hurt when she was hit in the face
by a fish.
They were cruising down the Suwannee River near Bell, in Gilchrist County,
when she was knocked off her feet, apparently after a 3-foot-long Gulf
sturgeon jumped into the boat, hitting her in the face.
The impact of the bony plates of the fish caused her to suffer several facial
injuries and fractures requiring plastic surgery.
In addition to her facial injuries, she suffered a spinal fracture, had
numerous stitches to her lips and right wrist and had abrasions on her
shoulders.
The fish caused $1,000 in damage to the rear seat and motor cowling of the
boat.
The fate of the sturgeon was unknown.
Gulf sturgeons, coveted for their caviar, can jump as high as 8 feet in the
air. They can be as long as 8 feet, and can weigh up to 200 pounds.
----------------------
WEEK through 4/12 -
CANADA - Coast guard and environment officials are investigating one of
the worst "mystery spills" of oil they've encountered, in the waters off
Newfoundland's southern tip.
No slick has been detected floating on the water.
However, oil-soaked sea birds are washing ashore in several communities along
the southern Avalon Peninsula.
"It's probably in the top 10 of the worst [incidences in terms of] visible
damage being done, with the number of birds – both alive and dead – starting
to come up, plus the amount of oil debris we're collecting." "More than
likely, this particular oil was dumped in fairly close proximity to the
coast." The number of dead birds is likely to shoot up in the days ahead, as
affected birds weaken and become exposed to the elements. The spring lobster,
crab and herring seasons are about to begin in the area where the dead birds
have been found.
NORTH CAROLINA - UNUSUAL MULTI-SPECIES MASS STRANDING - On January 14,
2005, 33 pilot whales stranded near Oregon Inlet, N.C., and one minke whale
stranded in Corolla, N.C. On January 15, 2005, two dwarf sperm whales stranded
north of Cape Hatteras, N.C. Immediately following the stranding, NOAA
Fisheries Service coordinated a response team. The National Park Service, U.S.
Coast Guard and others raced to the scene and attempted to help, but none of
the stranded animals survived. Despite extensive testing over the last year,
no single cause of the stranding and death of the marine mammals has been
identified.
Antarctic seabirds may be breeding later in response to climate change,
according to a scientific study.
Bird species are arriving at their colonies an average of nine days later and
laying eggs on average two days later than they did in the 1950s. This is the
opposite pattern to that seen in the Northern Hemisphere. Spring events such
as the arrival of migrant birds and the blossoming of trees, have been
occurring progressively earlier in the Northern Hemisphere during the 20th
Century. It is likely that progressively warmer Northern Hemisphere spring
temperatures since the mid-20th Century have increased the availability of
food supplies.
In eastern and continental Antarctica, no warming or cooling has been observed
since the early 1950s. A 12-20% reduction in the extent of sea ice over the
last 50 years has been linked to a decline in numbers of the krill and other
marine organisms that are the major food source for seabirds.
In addition, the sea ice season has been getting longer since the 1970s. The
late break-up of sea ice is known to delay access to seabird colonies and food
resources at sea. The changes in sea ice explain only 24% of the variation in
arrival and egg-laying, so other factors must be at work.
But if seabirds continue to arrive and breed later and later, it looks likely
that juveniles will fledge - gain the ability to fly - just before winter.
"They would face very harsh conditions just after fledging. They would have
less time to learn how to find resources on their own."
---------------------------
WEEK through 3/29 -
WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA - Once again, things are starting to look
weird along the West Coast.
A rash of BIRD DEATHS has scientists wondering if they're seeing a repeat of
last year, when they were alarmed by throngs of dead birds washing up on
beaches, underfed whales and the failure of Washington's largest
seabird-nesting colony, among other developments.
Like last year, scientists say, this year's bird deaths appear related to
changes in the marine food web that they still don't understand but that look
as if they are related to unusual weather. Many are so scrawny that
researchers say it's virtually a foregone conclusion that they starved to
death. Dead birds have been turning up along the Pacific coast from the
Columbia River south to about Newport, Ore., and in British Columbia.
"There's something happening. ... We've got signals that there's something
amiss."
Researchers are convinced that much of what they saw in 2005 was related to an
interruption of the normal spring weather patterns, with overly warm,
nutrition-poor ocean water hanging around when cold, food-filled ocean water
normally moves in. They say it's easy to see why that happened: Wind that
usually kicks up this time of year failed to do so.
But they don't know why the wind didn't blow. There are some reasons to think
that this year will be better. For instance, in the Farallon Islands off San
Francisco, where birds showed up late to breed in 2005 and later abandoned
their nests, they seem to be back to their normal pattern.
BRITAIN - The drought in south-east England is disastrous for the region's
WADING BIRDS.
Rare wetland birds such as lapwing, redshank and snipe are facing their worst
ever breeding season.
The drought, after 18 months of below average rainfall in the region, has left
the birds' few remaining breeding grounds parched and they are struggling to
find suitable pools and marshes where they can nest and raise chicks. Unless
there was heavy rain in the next few weeks there could be almost no fledglings
hatched this year, and any that were hatched could starve.
--------------------------
WEEK through 3/22 -
OREGON - hundreds of seabirds have been washing up dead among the plastic
bottles, styrofoam, wood and other junk in the driftline on South Coast
beaches this month.
Hundreds of carcasses of rhinoceros auklets, possibly as many as 20 or 30 per
mile, have been reported since Sunday, the 12th. Some are just a jumble of
bones or scrap of skin with a beak or legs attached. Those are the hard ones
for people to identify. Drizzle, gusty winds and ultimately pounding storms
have smashed into Oregon off and on for almost three months. “The questions in
my mind are: Is this something that's widespread in Oregon? Is it a freak
event like a storm or something that's going to last longer?” asked a seabird
researcher. There were no reports of an increase of dead auklets washing up on
Washington's shores, nor in California. Populations at seabird colonies off
San Francisco look normal at the start of breeding season. Rhinoceros auklets
live most of their lives at sea. They are scrappy, constant flyers. They are
deep divers. Their health can give clues about the health of the ocean's food
chain.
Countless thousands likely winter in the waters off Oregon, though no one
knows for sure how many because few folks venture tens and hundreds of miles
onto the stormy Pacific for winter research.
And as to whether the die-off will be harmful, no one knows. One man has
checked the same stretch of beach every day for almost thirty years. He found
45 rhino auks in the first 13 days of the month. It blew apart his record over
the past 28 years that was for 13 dead ones for the entire month of March.
“This isn't a storm kind of incident. The birds we checked are very thin. At
the time they first showed, there was no storm.”
NEW YORK - This winter seems to be one of contrast and strange happenings.
Sub-zero weather hit soon after the autumn leaves fell, 70 degree days were
seen in January and February and pre-spring thunderstorms.
This abnormal weather has messed up the normal routines of nature’s wild
critters. People have had to stop their car for a fairly large bear crossing
the highway.
What self-respecting bruin would leave his den at the end of February? Spring
isn’t here yet. Certainly, there must have been a bit of confusion on the
bear’s part. I realize weathermen don’t have the foggiest idea what is
happening from day to day, but I usually give wild animals a little more
credit. Another strange happening in nature is the antlers that many are
seeing on bucks in March. Normally, deer begin losing their antlers about the
end of deer season or the first part of December. Breeding season is over, so
there is no need for the beautiful head gear to remain. Still, several large
bucks are still sporting their horns throughout the area.
I have been told deer in captivity hold their antlers longer because of the
nutrition they get from the feeding program at the farms. If this is true, the
mild winter and abundance of food in the wild is the key. Last fall, there
were a multitude of apples, the oaks bore bushels of acorns and even the
remaining beech trees had fruit. With no snow to hinder the deer movement,
they have wintered the best in many a year. The deer I see daily are fat and
in great condition. Imagine, bears out in winter and deer with spring antlers.
Strange, isn’t it?"
BRITAIN - With frosty winds blowing in from Siberia, temperatures
yesterday dropped 10 degrees lower than this time last year - and it's so cold
even the birds need help.
The cold weather has left daffodils closed and trees bare as much of Britain
seems locked in the grip of an unending winter.
We are halfway through what many think of as the first month of spring, but
yesterday's temperature sat at a chilly 4C (39F) - two degrees lower than it
was in mid-January and a whole 10 degrees colder than March 2005.
Earlier this month the Met Office station in Thetford Forest recorded a
five-year RECORD OVERNIGHT LOW of minus 13.5C (7.5F).
And the cold is taking its toll on the region's gardens - despite FREAK
reports of daffodils opening in North Norfolk two months ago, most have yet to
glimpse their first golden bell. Daffodils, together with primulas, primroses
and other blooming bulbs, had been set back two to three weeks by spring's
late arrival.
“The cold is being caused by easterly winds blowing in across the Continent
from Siberia. As well as being cold, the wind is very dry which makes it feel
even chillier than it is.” The cold snap also threatens to put a damper on
garden birds' normal breeding activity at this time of year.
"If the cold continues, birds may think twice about breeding.”
BRITAIN - Birds which migrate long distances have suffered a population
fall, the most extensive poll for 20 years has found.
It shows a 70 per cent decline in birds such as the tree pipit and spotted
flycatcher in some areas. "The declines in those summer visitors that spend
the winter in Africa were more serious than we were expecting." There were
unexpected increases in some resident bird species and mid-distance migrants.
More common birds such as coal, blue and great tits increased in number.
Virtually all indicators of the likely future for the diversity of life on
Earth are heading in the wrong direction, a major new report says. Only one of
the 15 indicators - the area of the world's surface officially protected for
wildlife - is moving in the right direction for biodiversity. The biosphere
now takes one year and nearly three months to renew what humanity exploits in
one year. The rates of species extinctions have surged to their highest levels
since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
Despite the gloomy trends, the target set by the Convention - involving a
stabilisation, not a reversal of these losses - is still within reach.
UNUSUAL PLANT BEHAVIOR -
NEW ZEALAND - An UNUSUALLY PROLONGED and prolific flowering period of
cabbage trees has been linked to global climate change.
Though some cabbage trees had flowered profusely during their normal flowering
time in November, others had flowered in late summer, which had never been
seen before.
"Normally cabbage trees flower at the beginning of summer, and the density of
the flowering is regarded by some as an indication as to how dry the summer
will be. This year, as well as some flowering profusely in November, others
flowered in late January-early February."
"Kahikatea also experienced a flush season, producing a huge amount of fruit."
The weather had been unusually dry and sunny on the Kapiti Coast in January –
it was the DRIEST JANUARY ON RECORD.
This month was also proving to be unusually dry and sunny, though temperatures
had been a lot cooler than normal. A biologist who had studied cabbage trees
for about 20 years, had never heard of them flowering in late summer. Some
pohutukawa trees north of Waikanae had flowered in late summer as well, which
he regarded as QUITE ODD. Some cabbage trees in Otaki had not stopped flowering all summer, which was HIGHLY UNUSUAL.
The very dry and cool weather on the coast had prompted early autumn leaf
coloring. "Extremely dry weather can cause trees to produce huge amounts of flowers and seeds to ensure the species will continue.
This season the abundance of fruit has been spectacular – extremely high yields compared with last season when there was virtually no fruit at all."
---------------------------
WEEK through 3/15 -
TEXAS - Wildfires burning livestock where they stand - At least one
firefighter reports seeing horses and cattle simply go up in flames without
trying to flee immense wildfires in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains.
RAT-SQUIRREL - LAOS - It has the face of a rat and the tail of a skinny
squirrel and scientists say this creature discovered living in central Laos is
a species believed to have been extinct for 11 million years. The little guy is
a rare kind of survivor: a member of a family until now known only from
fossils. Such reappearances are SO RARE paleontologists dub them "the Lazarus
effect." [Back-from-the-dead]
ARIZONA - KILLER BEES - Killer bees are swarming early and often around
Tucson this year because of the drought.
Africanized bees have been forming new colonies around the city since February
or even earlier this year, when that usually starts in mid- to late March,
experts say.
There's not enough food for the bees in existing urban colonies or in the
desert where many of the bees normally live. "The bees are kind of confused.
Normally, in January and early March, there will be lots of flowers from early
rains in the desert — mesquite, mustard and mistletoe — that provide good food
for them. This year we haven't had any of that. You walk around in the desert
and there are no flowers. The bees are kind of starving." Officials have
actually seen colonies full of dead bees out in the desert this winter, because
their honey stores have diminished to the point where they are dying from
starvation. The drought has increased the bees' aggressiveness and toughness
and made them harder to kill when they come into the city.
TEXAS - Northeast Texas farms may have little to go on when planning their
pesticide regimen this year. Unpredictable weather has left many without any
idea of what may, and may not, be a problem.
From crops to diseases to pests, the future is unclear. It’s hard to make
predictions for spring based on unpredictable weather.
CATS - The mild winter has led to an earlier than usual mating season for
cats. "They have enjoyed the unseasonably warmer temperatures, and it has
thrown them into an early heat cycle, and they are already breeding and having
litters."
ALABAMA - FISHING - Live shrimp is available right now, but it's a fairly
UNUSUAL PATTERN.
"White shrimp is what's being caught. They usually start playing out and then
the brown shrimp show up. But we've had a mild winter, so things may be
different this spring."
ENGLAND - The Arctic cold gripping Wales has delayed spring and could have
a devastating impact on the nation's wildlife, experts have warned.
For the past five years spring has been arriving earlier than usual because of
what is widely accepted as the effect of global warming and climate change. But
2006's freezing temperatures have led to a seasonal delay that is already
confusing Wales' rich variety of flora and fauna.
Migratory birds have usually arrived from the Sahara by now. So far they have
failed to show up.
Insects are yet to hatch, and the spring flowers they depend on, including
daffodils, primroses and pussy willow, are late to flower.
Now conservationists are worried about a lack of food for the nation's wildlife
during the breeding season. Weather forecasters' warnings of more snow to come
have heightened these concerns. Wales was currently around 4C colder than
average temperatures.
3/2 -
Simultaneous changes in sea ice, glaciers, droughts, floods, ecosystems,
ocean acidification and wildlife migration are taking place.
"The measurements from the natural world on all parts of the globe have been
anomalous over the past decade. If a few were out of kilter we wouldn't be too
worried, because the Earth changes naturally. But the fact that they are
virtually all out of kilter makes us very concerned."
-----------
WEEK through 3/8-
Divers have discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific which
resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky, blonde fur. It's
also blind. The animal was discovered in waters 2300 metres deep at a site 1500
kilometres south of Easter Island last year. (photo)
UNITED KINGDOM - Is spring getting earlier every year, perhaps as a result
of climate change and global warming?
It would seem so, judging by the early blooming of flowers and nesting of
birds. In Cheshire, a nest of blackbirds fledged young on February 2 — the eggs
must have been laid at the end of December! — while robins and house sparrows
have now appeared with fledged young already. Some species are now breeding up
to two weeks’ earlier than they did 35 years ago: of 65 species monitored over
this period, 20 were laying eggs significantly earlier, while the average was
nine days.
Mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus in the U.S. changed from feeding on
birds to humans in the fall, resulting in more human cases, researchers say.
Since West Nile virus was first detected in North America in 1999, it has
become a major mosquito-borne disease on the continent. In Europe and Africa,
human outbreaks have been more sporadic than in the U.S. The mosquito "shifted
its feeding preferences from birds to humans by seven-fold during late summer
and early fall, coinciding with the dispersal of its preferred host (American
robins, Turdus migratorius)."
-----------------------------
WEEK through 2/22 -
AUSTRALIA - Scientists say the TOAD species Bufo marinus is developing a
leggier, faster-moving form that is now hopping out rapidly across the
continent.
The toads were introduced 70 years ago to control pests, but have since wrought
havoc on indigenous animals.
They kill snakes, lizards, water birds - even crocodiles and dingos.
When harassed they secrete poison carried in two sacs behind the head which is
lethal to a potential predator within minutes of being ingested. The toads are
moving incredibly quickly, covering distances about five times faster than when
they arrived 70 years ago.
"They are moving around 55km a year on average, which is a long way to hop if
you are a toad."
The toxic cane toad in Australia is evolving into an "eco-nightmare" capable of
covering huge distances.
UNITED KINGDOM - MOTHS - The British moth population is in rapid decline,
according to the most comprehensive study of its kind.
The number of common moths has fallen by a third since 1968.
This has serious implications for animals such as birds and bats which feed on
moths. "If we are finding these declines amongst such a major group as the
moths, then it is a very, very clear signal that British biodiversity as a
whole is suffering similar rates of decline." Scientists have yet to pinpoint
why moth numbers are falling so rapidly. But they say habitat destruction,
pesticides, pollution and climate change are the main suspects.
"Whatever is causing the declines must be something that is affecting the whole
of our country. They are not subtle things that are affecting a few rare
species, these are big scale changes and they are obviously going to need big
scale changes to reverse them."
--------------------------------
WEEK of 2/15 -
SCOTLAND - A RARE tropical bird has been spotted in one of the most remote islands
in Scotland. The great white egret, with a wing span of more than five feet, was seen
twice on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. The bird is a rare visitor to Scotland at any
time of the year, but its appearance during the winter is exceptional. It probably lost
its way while migrating north out of Africa and the relatively warm spring may have been
partly to blame. "There have been two or three birds on the south coast of England this
winter but no suggestion of any within hundreds of miles of South Uist until this week
so it's a most interesting development. Perhaps its a reflection of milder weather."
Shelducks, black-headed gulls, and meadow pipits have all returned a month sooner than
normal.
CANADA - GEESE -
An unusually mild winter in Prince Edward Island has meant thousands of
Canada geese haven't bothered to migrate south for warmer weather. "I've never seen this
number of birds around," said a provincial wildlife biologist. "But I can't recall a
winter like this either."
Thousands of birds have been seen flocking together in P.E.I.'s sheltered bays, long
after they normally would have flown south. "It's a very unusual year. It's unusually
warm, very little snow cover. Our bays and rivers and estuaries are virtually free of
ice. As a consequence, we have over-wintering geese."
The birds aren't likely to migrate now, even if the weather gets colder.
ILLINOIS - SNOW GEESE - dead snow geese found southeast of Springfield spread across
4 miles in early January probably died after severe wather caused the birds to crash
into the ground.
The storm that killed the birds was probably the same one that created a "microburst" of
straight-line winds that toppled utility poles and damaged mobile homes on January 2.
The birds were not poisoned, as many people first suspected. "The medical examiner's
report said that the lesions observed in the snow geese were consistent with the birds
falling from the sky, rupturing internal organs and bleeding internally. "
Finding the dead birds spread across a large area was strange, because birds that have
been poisoned often are found clustered together. The examiner said this is the first
time in 14 years he has heard of a case of bird deaths that turned out to be
weather-related.
“This flock was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
While severe weather may have been the cause this time, people who discover large
numbers of dead birds should not dismiss the event as normal.
MEXICO - GREY WHALES - The number of grey whales making a yearly migration from the
icy North Pacific to breed in Mexico's warm lagoons has dropped this year,possibly
because of changing weather patterns. Food shortages in the whales' feeding grounds near
Canada and Alaska mean that some of the thousands who make the annual 5,000-mile
(8,000-km) journey have departed late or even stayed behind this year.
Other researchers said that varying sea temperatures in the Bering Sea could be
contributing to changes in migration patterns.
Those that made the trip may be undernourished and many could die from lack of energy on
their return trip north later in the year. "We saw in British Colombia this year there
was nothing to eat until well into September." Between 1999 and 2000, hundreds of grey
whales washed up along the West coast of the United States and Canada, after they
apparently suffered food shortages as a result of climatic changes related to the El
Nino phenomenon.
Recent changes in weather patterns in the North Atlantic are harder to explain, say
researchers at the U.S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, since El Nino
had little effect in 2005.
MINNESOTA - MOOSE - Scientists have known for a very long time that moose are quite
sensitive to temperature. The animal will actually pant when the temperature gets above
67 degrees Fahrenheit.
Minnesota has two herds: the northeast and the northwest. The northwest herd is in
serious trouble. "It used to be probably the largest, most productive herd in the
state." But the population just "crashed."
There were four-thousand moose here in the late eighties. Today there are 250. The rate
of pregnancy here is low - half of what's normal. And moose are dying here - faster -
than normal. Increased temperatures cause a lot of extra stress on the animal.
Specifically, these moose are dying from parasites: brain worms and liver flukes. It
appears the parasites "caused those individual moose to starve to death."
That's "really contrary to what parasites are supposed to do." Parasites are not
supposed to kill the animal. The moose are dying in greatest numbers within a year of a
very hot summer.
In Northwest Minnesota, where the moose are dying, the growing season has increased 39
days in the last 41 years. Record dew-points make it feel even hotter. "In the summer of
2005 we had dew points in the 80's. This is like Bombay, India. It's not like
Minneapolis/St Paul!" Precipitation is up here 20 percent in the last century.
Even Minnesota's great pine forest is at risk because of the kinds of trees scientists
see coming up underneath it. They are the type of trees usually found growing much
farther south. The mating season of the grouse is now earlier, and the range of wild
turkeys, raccoons, opossums and skunks is expanding. They are animals that could not
survive so far north before. Warmer water is causing larger walleye to grow more slowly.
It is also believed to be impacting reproduction. Major scientific organizations around
the world believe the planet will warm another 4-10 degrees by the end of the century.
NORTH AMERICA - POLAR BEARS -
Climate change is forcing the U.S. to consider protecting the polar
bear under its endangered species act. climate change is reducing ice floes in the
Arctic, disrupting the bear's feeding grounds and migration patterns.
Biologists estimate there about 22,000 to 25,000 polar bears in the world, with 60 per
cent of that number in Canada.
Some scientists have speculated the bears could be extinct in about 100 years if climate
change continues at its present pace.
------------------
WEEK through 2/8 -
RUSSIA - POLAR BEARS - Russians have had to shoot three unusually aggressive polar
bears so far this year, in what environmental group WWF said was a sign the bears’
feeding patterns were being disrupted by global warming.
The group said that bears used to come ashore in winter along the sea ice to forage for
food, but that the ice had retreated unusually far from the coast leaving predators with
a long swim. The retreating sea ice has also hit the walrus population.
MISSISSIPPI - BIRDS are no longer appearing at many bird feeders in the Southeast
the way that they used to. For some time now no birds show up to eat. There is no
definitive answer yet on the reason for low feeder activity. The hurricane may have had
something to do with it. Explanations range from a record crop of natural foods to the
year's unusual weather.
OHIO - BIRDS - Every once in awhile, a migrating bird returning from the tropics
overshot its home range and ended up too far north. His progeny - if he found a mate - rarely survived.
Birding records in northwest Ohio show that the the summer tanager has stumbled that far a few times. "Those were really rare birds."
But now they're commonly seen in the sandy areas of the Oak Opening. Summer tanagers
nest there all the time now.
It's a similar story for the blue grosbeak. A native of an even more southerly region,
the startlingly blue bird shows up more often in the Oak Openings.
Other species all over the world demonstrate that animals and plants are expanding their
ranges in an apparent response to increasing global temperature. "Wherever I go, Europe,
the U.S., four or five people come up and say, 'I've never saw this 30 years ago, and
I've been birding my whole life.'" Tree swallows, a species found in northwest Ohio, are
laying eggs throughout their range nine days earlier than they did in 1959. Cardinals in
one Wisconsin study area sing 22 days earlier than they did in the 1930s and 40s;
butterfly weed blooms 18 days earlier there, and forest phlox blooms 15 days earlier. On
average, spring events occur 7.3 days earlier. Frogs today begin courtship calling 10 to
13 days earlier than they did in the 1900s. The red fox has moved north and, in some
places, now competes with the arctic fox.
ISRAEL - at the Jerusalem BIRD Observatory December is not the best month of the
year for bird-watching but the strange weather they're having this year is changing that
a bit. The heat wave they experienced made the almonds blossom much too early, to the
delight of the Great Tits and the Sunbirds which have already started to announce their
territories. The Graceful Prinias and the Long-eared Owls are already nesting. Blackcaps
in higher numbers than usual are wintering at the JBO this year.
December was also a great surprises month. Israel's unique location at the junction of
three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, makes it a site for an extraordinary
phenomena: some 500 million migrating birds cross its skies twice a year.
-----------------------
WEEK through 2/1/06 -
CANADA - BIRTHING SEALS - Several islands off Nova Scotia are being inundated by
thousands of pregnant seals forced to give birth on shore by unusually mild weather that
has prevented the Gulf of St. Lawrence from freezing. The warm weather has persisted
across the Maritimes for months, reflecting a trend that has left a string of broken
weather records across the country.
"From time to time we see seals coming onshore to give birth, but the ice conditions in
the Gulf of St. Lawrence are EXTREMELY UNUSUAL this year. There's been no cold weather
and no ice formed in the gulf." Officials say they haven't seen so many seals onshore
since the early 1980s, when mild weather also hindered the formation of the floes.
CANADA - Rare video footage shows a giant octopus attacking a small submarine off
the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Salmon researchers working on the Brooks Peninsula were shocked last November when an
octopus attacked their expensive and sensitive equipment.
The giant Pacific octopus weighs about 45 kilograms, powerful enough to damage Mike
Wood's remote-controlled submarine. The rare footage, which has just been released, is
believed to be the first documented attack of an octopus on a sub.
No one knows what caused the attack.
WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA - Scientists fear UNUSUAL WEATHER behind massive seabird die-off.
Last year's freak weather, together with changes in ocean current behavior, may have
been an advance signal of climate change with decidedly unpretty results for coastal
ecosystems, particularly for birds.
By summer of 2005, food was so scare that murres starved to death by the thousands on
the Olympic Coast, while Washington's colonies of glaucous-winged gulls produced less
than 1 percent of their annual chick numbers. Up and down the West Coast, from Vancouver
Island to central California, researchers reported bizarre ocean conditions, bird
die-offs (WITH NO COMPARABLE EVENT IN HISTORICAL RECORDS), and extremely low stocks of
some key fish.
It's possible that last summer's ecological catastrophe was just a freak alignment of
several weather factors, but there's increasing evidence that it bears the fingerprints
of climate change.
TEXAS - A DAY OF STRANGE FISHING - With gusty winds, it figured there was simply
no way that fish could’ve possibly been caught.
Well, not only did anglers find a way, on four different occasions they did it, and each in a
most bizarre manner.
Bizarre One: in Galveston they have seen some most irregular goings on, "and to be quite
honest about it, I’m not sure that the word UNUSUAL is emphatic enough."
“We’ve been catching hardheads (catfish) out here, and not just a few. There have been a
lot, and I always thought that January was way too early for hardhead catfish.”
Since we really haven’t had a winter, maybe the fish are confused as to when they are
supposed to be here.
In Bizarre Two, a good number of blue crabs were caught Thursday, and while the figures
didn’t constitute a “run” of any kind, it was still PECULIAR to see crabs decked in
January.
Bizarre Three: “We had some kind of crab caught that had 10 legs that each were 2-feet long.
I have no idea what it was.”
Bizarre Four: at the Texas City Dike on Thursday what they saw was every bit as UNUSUAL.
Five people caught hefty black drum fish.
“It sure does look like the drum run is early this year”...not just early, Very early!
-----------------------------
WEEK through 1/18/06 -
EL SALVADOR - More than 100 RARE SEA TURTLES of three different species have washed up dead on Pacific beaches in El
Salvador this month, and scientists said they were struggling for an explanation.
A total of 119 dead turtles have been found at different points along El Salvador's coast since the start of the year. Every
year, millions of turtles swim to Pacific beaches in Latin America, where they lay their eggs.
NEW ZEALAND - LEATHERBACK TURTLE - a rare and critically endangered leatherback turtle washed up in Golden Bay last week.
It is UNUSUAL to find leatherback turtles in Golden Bay. "Leatherbacks are typically found in warmer temperatures than those
in Golden Bay; however fishers have recently been observing more warm water species in the area. It is possible this turtle
came south due to the warm weather and water temperatures we have been experiencing lately." The entire world population of
the leatherback is estimated to be only between 30,000 and 40,000.
Migrating whales, the backbone of Alaska's Inupiat culture, now arrive up to 45 days early, completely altering seasonal
rhythms for Inupiat who harpoon them. Winter ice roads are collapsing months sooner than they did 35 years ago. Minute
changes to plants and animals are unraveling intricate biological webs. Birds are disappearing.
And no one really knows how much stranger it's going to get. Average annual temperatures in the Arctic have risen as much as
7 degrees Fahrenheit in 50 years - even more in Alaska. The amount of ice covering the ocean in late summer has shrunk 15 to
20 percent in three decades, and 2005 was the worst year ever. Melting ice and warming in the Arctic contributed to a rise of
about 8 inches in sea level, helping erode the shorelines of coastal towns. These changes, scientists agree,
can't simply be explained by weather fluctuations. In fact, ice melt is now coming faster than computer models projected. And
a thawing Arctic can actually speed up warming across the globe.
Already, ice-dependent animals, such as ivory gulls that fish through cracks in the ice, are struggling to find shelter and
food. Walruses that haul out to rest on the floes sometimes find themselves too far from shore to feed on clams.
The ice now is increasingly unpredictable, "freezing up later, melting earlier, and generally confusing us." As warming
produces more sunlight, other species - from salmon to warm-weather birds - are invading the Arctic. As frozen rivers break
up sooner, they are interfering with some wildlife migrations. Birds common to California or Connecticut now skitter near the
shores of the Beaufort Sea. Ring-neck ducks, rarely seen in the Arctic before the mid-1980s, now number in the thousands in
just one area of north Alaska. The change is so basic some Natives are convinced they can taste it in the meat of caribous
and other animals that graze on tundra plants.
"It's like if you've been eating at McDonald's for 20 years, and then suddenly you go to Burger King. It tastes different,
but you can't say how."
Plants growing in rainforests and other biological hot spots may face a greater risk of extinction because of a decline
in birds, bees and other pollinators, according to a new study. Ecosystems with more species, such as the jungles of South
America and Southeast Asia, had more pollen problems compared to less diverse habitats on northern continents.
Scientists usually think of diversity as helping to stabilize ecosystems, but that protective effect doesn't appear to be
happening when it comes to pollination.
If plants can't survive, neither can animals.
-------------------------
WEEK through 12/29 -
CALIFORNIA - Rare birds mystify scientists. Pacific storms have blown thousands of rare sea birds into the Bay Area, many of them weak, emaciated and seeking refuge in rain puddles of suburban yards and parking lots.
The small birds, called red phalaropes, ordinarily live many miles off the Pacific coast and are rarely seen on land. Normally they are wary of humans. And they only come on land in the Arctic, where they briefly breed and raise their young. Since the afternoon of Christmas Day, they've been sighted.
"This is REALLY UNUSUAL. There are more here than anybody can remember, and we don't know why.''
Weather may be to blame. The birds float and eat by skimming sea life from the surface of the water. Smaller than a robin, they are easily tossed and turned by turbulent ocean waves and can't eat under those conditions.
"There are storms across the entire Pacific, from China to the west coast of California. It's a steady stream of storms, with no break in between them." Off the coast, waves are 15 to 25 feet high, with winds racing from 30 to 50 mph. Rain is heavy. It is also possible that the ocean has been less productive this year, so food has been scarce.
SCOTLAND - Nuthatch invasion due to climate change.
The nuthatch, one of Britain's smallest birds, has begun breeding in Scotland for the first time. Scotland experts believe that milder weather patterns, due to climate change, have encouraged the nuthatch to make its home in parts of southern Scotland. And populations are now steadily making their way north towards the Central Belt.
SOUTH AFRICA - Mother's record-breaking flight to feed chick.
A Christmas Island frigatebird named Lydia completed a 26-day journey - across Indonesian volcanoes and busy Asian shipping lanes - over 4 000km in search of food for her baby chick.
The trip, tracked with a global positioning device, is by far the longest known non-stop journey by this critically endangered sea bird. The trip for Lydia started on October 18 from Christmas Island, located in the Indian Ocean 500km south of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
Lydia headed south into open waters to scavenge for fish stolen from other seabirds.
She circled back on October 26 and headed between Indonesia's main island of Java and Sumatra.
From there, she flew across Kalimantan island, before flying back over Java and returning to her nesting site on November 18 where she regurgitated a meal for her chick.
Climate change can hit turtles - All-female turtle populations could be among the devastating effects of climate change on migratory wildlife, a "sobering" report has warned.
A fossil record of the Tiger Salamander shows population-wide changes in body size and morphology in response to climate change over the last 3,000 years. The observed changes offer predictions about the response of the species to future climate change, and the impact on the ecosystem.
The fossil record of the Tiger Salamander reflects known climatic conditions during the MWP, a time period characterised by a warm and dry climate that occurred approximately 1150 to 650 years ago.
Based on these findings, the authors speculate that the future warmer and drier climate predicted for the Yellowstone region is likely to create less permanent aquatic environments and select against aquatic paedomorphic individuals. This scenario would decrease the vertebrate biomass and alter the food web structure in the aquatic system.
ALABAMA -
Compared to the last several years, deer rutting activity is much heavier right now.
"It's way early. I think it's because of the cold weather. It's unusual for us to have a normal winter, we haven't had one in so long. I think the peak of the rut is going to be the middle of January this year instead of the first week of February."
It's been kind of dry and we don't have acorns. This year is different. They've had to scrounge around to find something to eat and we're seeing more deer. "
"Inshore and beach fishing is on fire right now. The beach fishing is as good as I've seen it in 10 years, and I've been living here for 15 years."
INDIA - Fishermen wonder about new phenomenon following tsunami: Decline in fish catch, appearance of the deadly 'puffers' and a weak 'chakara' phenomenon are developments in the aftermath of the tsunami that have left the fishermen in the coastal areas here puzzled and looking for answers. The fishermen wonder aloud if the tsunami has overturned the internal structure of the ocean. Among the most noticeable phenomenon in the months following the tsunami was the decline in the availability of fish, especially the much sought after varieties like prawns and pomfrets. Another disquieting development has been the sudden appearance of the puffer fish, which destroy fishnet and eat small fish. Fishermen say puffer fish are usually seen in the Indian Ocean and wonder if these have been evacuated to the Arabian Sea coast due to the tsunami.
------------------------------------
WEEK through 12/7 -
RUSSIA - SQUIRRELS have bitten to death a stray dog which was barking at them in a Russian park. A
pinecone shortage may have led the squirrels to seek other food sources, although scientists are
sceptical. A "big" stray dog was nosing about the trees and barking at squirrels hiding in branches
overhead when a number of them suddenly descended and attacked, reports say.
"They literally gutted the dog."
In a previous incident this autumn chipmunks terrorised cats in a part of the territory.
MINNESOTA - HERONS - Beginning in 2000, herons began to abandon their colony in Minnesota at the
midst of nesting season, producing no surviving young.
For years, the cause of the herons' disappearance remained a mystery. As the colony's population shrunk
to 200 nests, biologists and local residents scrambled to figure out how to save the birds. A videocam
captured a surprising predator - raccoons. Raccoons are major predators of small birds, but the scientists
were shocked to see them (literally) tackle such large prey. The older chicks appeared to be nearly the
size of the raccoons themselves. "I was most surprised at the intensity of their predation and their
mobility in the trees." Ground surveys indicated that the raccoons might be methodically working their
way inward from the outer edges of the colony, easily navigating the spindly branches of the canopy to
wipe out all the chicks in one nest over several days. "It may also be that this type of predation is more
common than we know, but just hasn't been recorded. There are many accounts of heron colonies just
disappearing, but no one knows why." "The herons are hit from all sides. Thunderstorms, owls, crows,
gulls, and starvation can kill them, too. In general, they can survive despite these threats. But if one of
them gains a bit of an edge, the whole thing implodes. The raccoons may be a kind of tipping point - the
straw that broke the camel's back."
BORNEO - A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN CAT-LIKE ANIMAL that appears to be a new species of carnivore
has been photographed in Borneo.
UNITED KINGDOM - LAMB BIRTH - In Halifax, a champion breeder was shocked to find a newborn
black lamb in her field as the winter weather arrived.
The proud mum is a 13-year-old Ryeland ewe who hasn't given birth in seven years."It is REALLY
UNUSUAL at this time of year. I show sheep and I always try to get early lambs in January or February but
I haven't been able to get any until March. And now this little one comes along."
NORTHERN CANADA - "UNUSUAL ANIMALS are appearing where I hunt [including lynx and a new
variety of seal pups]. I'd rather not have these species in my hunting grounds. They are not good for the
health of the existing animals, and disrupt the balance of nature."
Extreme weather shifts in the Arctic are also bringing swarms of insects in their wake.
FLORIDA - HOSTILE WASPS - Hurricane Wilma brought swarms of unwanted guests to town.
They're called paper wasps, and their stings are making their presence felt.
"There's been a lot since the hurricane, probably 20 or 30. Usually you see one a month."
The increase in the pests is, indeed, ABNORMAL, and probably because of the weather.
In fact, the recent STRANGE WEATHER PATTERNS, especially the busy hurricane seasons, have caused
problems in nature, from flowers blooming at odd times or not blooming at all, to increased insects.
"They're all over the place. Everything is out of whack. I feel like they've been shocked by the weather."
AUSTRALIA - LOCUST SWARMS are predicted to move into densely populated areas of Victoria next
week as the state faces its WORST PLAGUE OF INSECTS IN 30 YEARS. It was "probable" some swarms
would get as far south as Melbourne over the summer.
AUSTRALIA - JELLYFISH - Experts are predicting a particularly dangerous jellyfish season after a rash of earlier
than expected irukandji stings in Australia's northern waters. It was a worrying trend because the stings
were occurring much earlier than expected.
"We've seen a dozen and a half irukandji syndrome cases so far this season and normally the season
doesn't really ramp up until about the third or fourth week of December." There was no scientific evidence
to back theories that hotter weather was causing an influx of irukandji jellyfish.
But the jellyfish are uncommon.
GIANT JELLYFISH called Echizen kurage have invaded territorial waters off Japan, China and South
Korea, prompting a top-level summit to deal with the menace.
Nearly 2m wide and weighing 200kg, with countless poisonous tentacles, they have drifted across the
void to terrorise the people of Japan. Nomura's jellyfish, as it is known in English, is the biggest creature
of its kind off Japan and, for reasons that remain mysterious, its numbers have surged in the past few
months. The problem first became obvious in the late northern summer. Previously found mainly in the
Yellow Sea, the Echizen's sting can be fatal, causing a build-up of fluid in the lungs. Victims take up to a
day to die. There have been eight reported deaths from an Echizen sting.
In some places, jellyfish density is reported to be a hundred times higher than normal and no one yet
understands why.
One theory is that global warming is heating up the seawater and encouraging jellyfish breeding.
Some observers blame heavy rains in China over the summer, which flowed out from China's rivers and
propelled abnormal numbers of Echizen kurage towards Japan.
Others have suggested overfishing has allowed the growth of the populations of plankton on which the
jellyfish feed.
[SITE NOTE - On December 10, 1999 thousands of jellyfish were accidentally sucked into the water intakes
of major power plants north of Manila in the Philippines. They caused hours of power outages.Crews filled
at least 50 dump trucks with jellyfish pulled from the seawater cooling pumps. Authorities were unsure of
what might have caused the masses of jellyfish to swarm near the cooling plants. Rumors abounded that
the migration of the jellyfish into the intake facilites was an omen of an impending deadly earthquake. But
officials discounted those speculations saying that the gathering of jellyfish was probably just a natural
phenomenon. Two days later, on December 12, at 2:03am, a powerful 6.8 quake struck the Philippine
island of Luzon. The shaking lasted a full 30 seconds. The quake was centered off the coast of Pangasinan
Province, about 112 miles north of Manila. Numerous buildings in Manila suffered cracks and shattered
glass. At least 15 aftershocks were recorded that day, with the strongest measuring a magnitude 5.5.
(These news articles were published on Discovery Channel Online on December 13 & 14, 1999.)]
RHODE ISLAND - FISH - Saltwater anglers had been disappointed by the small numbers of stripers,
blues and hickory shad seen the last several weeks. Summer and early fall had UNUSUAL WEATHER. The
species of fish that migrate south for the winter just did not provide the exciting fall fisheries.
But on November 25th hundreds of gannets were diving into the water and gulls swooping down and
picking up baitfish.
It's UNUSUAL, because scenes like that traditionally occur in late October along the Rhode Island and
Connecticut coastlines, not in late November.
CANADA - TUNICATE -
A slew of goopy and gross sea creatures is making its way into or near Canadian waters, leaving a slimy
trail that is menacing mussels and threatening rich fishing grounds.
Known as the tunicate, the unappealing sea life has slithered into waters around several provinces,
including Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and British Columbia, fouling mussel farms and raising
anxiety over future invasions.
One in particular — didemnum — is alarming marine biologists, who fear the species could get into
Canadian waters and smother lucrative scallop beds under a pancake-like batter that chokes off life.
--------------------------------
WEEK of 11/18 -
WEST VIRGINIA - Weather forecasters don't know what to expect this winter. According to folklore, there are dozens of ways to tell whether winter will be warm or cold, but so far this year, the results are inconclusive.
The woolly worms say the season should be harsh, but the yellow jackets made plans for a mild winter. The cows may have offered a clue this week while they basked in the sun, exhibiting signs of a difficult winter season ahead.
“They've been out there, just laying around, baking up the sun these last few days. That usually means it's going to be bad weather.” But the hornets couldn't make up their minds, building nests both high and low. The National Weather Service was no more definitive - forecasted weather patterns over the next 90 days gave the region a "50-50 chance” of being either warmer and dryer than normal, or colder and wetter than usual. The 2006 Farmers' Almanac warns residents to be prepared for almost anything.
SALMON - An estimated 100,000 farmed salmon in New Brunswick, Canada have been freed from their cages in the latest act of vandalism that one scientist is calling a "nightmare scenario."
The released farmed salmon are a danger to the diminishing stocks of wild salmon. Farmed salmon have smaller brains, are helpless against predators and PROGRAMMED TO SWIM IN CIRCLES.
There are fears the farmed salmon will interbreed with their wild counterparts.
"My ultimate nightmare release period is large fish near to or actually mature getting out very close to the spawning season ... and that's exactly what this last vandalism event has done." Salmon populations on the west and east coasts of North America are declining. The wild Atlantic population has not rebounded and remains at about 3.5 million worldwide, with some scientists fearing the wild species could become extinct.
----------------
WEEK OF 11/11 -
JAPAN - Huge Echizen jellyfish, which can weigh up to 200 kilograms and have an umbrella measuring two meters across, have been causing serious damage to the fishing industry off Japan's east coast.
Their population has skyrocketed recently in the East China Sea. Also known as Nomura's jellyfish, they have poisonous tentacles.
Thousands of the jellyfish have damaged fixed fishing nets while also degrading the freshness of fish by flicking them with their tentacles.The jellyfish have been growing faster than normal due to ample supplies of plankton, a main component of their diet, and warmer water temperatures.
SOUTH AFRICA -
The early South Easter wind, together with the STRANGE occasional heavy north westerly winds we have experienced recently, has brought in warm water along our coastline resulting in masses of jellyfish and bluebottles being deposited on the beaches. Long time residents said this was the first time they had seen so many bluebottles washed out onto their beaches. "Old salts believe that the bluebottles are a sign of a forthcoming Geelbek "dik" wave, which so often happens in Betty's Bay at the beginning of December and in February. I often wonder that with the strange weather we have been experiencing of late, if we, who live in the Strand, are not in for an exceptional high tide. I'm talking about the kind of high tide that will wash over our beach walls, road and pavement and into nearby houses." Betty's Bay has a number of hot spots worth visiting this time of year, but due to the bluebottles and strange weather, very few fish were caught during the weekend.
SIERRA LEONE - The people of Sengbeh Chiefdom in the Koinadugu district past week breathed a sigh of relief following the killing of a certain mysterious animal that had for the past three months terrorized and killed people across the chiefdom. The animal is very close in semblance to a leopard and the carcass is presently on display.
When this mystery animal was first reported, there was no actual description for it, suffice it only that it ate the entrails of its victims and that it was very strong and fast. It was reported that the animal appears on its victim with such swiftness that it was impossible to escape from it.
This is the second animal to terrorize residents in that part of the country. The first was a lion.
CANADA - Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Saskatchewan are reporting the first human death attributed to wolves in North America in more than a century. An autopsy indicated a 22 year-old was likely killed by animals. The autopsy hasn't confirmed what animals attacked the man, but wolves have been sighted in the area. Tracks believed to be those of wolves were seen around the body. In recent years, they've seen an increase in wolf numbers and a decrease in the wildlife they prey on.
A change in the diet of seabirds may be making them less intelligent and lowering their chances of survival and breeding, a new study shows.
Scientists used lab experiments to mimic changes observed in the diets of kittiwakes in the Bering Sea - changes probably caused by a warming ocean.
"Ecosystems started to change; one of the most pronounced changes was that high-lipid fish such as capelin declined, and were replaced in the kittiwake diet by species such as juvenile pollock which are poor in lipids." Chicks given a diet low in lipid-rich fish were less able to find food. Around the coast of the UK, some sea bird populations are in catastrophic decline, also due largely to the removal of high-lipid prey such as sand eels. This appears also to be linked with climate change.
If anything, they are worse off than the Pribilof kittiwakes, as it appears that the disappearing sand eels are not being replaced by any other species.
-----------------
WEEK of NOVEMBER 10 -
AUSTRALIA - Behaviour of native flora and fauna is being catalogued for an ecological database that
meteorologists hope will give an insight into climate change and its effect on nature.
The database was established after meteorologists noticed "astounding" behavioural changes in the
Sleepy Lizard, a species of blue-tongued lizard commonly found in New South Wales, that has begun to
mate earlier in a direct indication that Australia's climate is changing. The Sleepy Lizard is now mating
weeks earlier due to the warmer and drier winters.
"And the Purple-crowned Lorikeet is one of more than 20 bird species whose migration patterns have
changed. Along the coastline of Western Australia, the lorikeets are now arriving more than a month
earlier than they did in the 1980s. The fact that so many different species are exhibiting changes is quite
astounding."
NEW ZEALAND -
Most New Zealanders laugh at claims that Canadian moose have somehow survived in the south island
wilderness since the 1910 introduction of 10 antlered immigrants from Saskatchewan. Purported sightings
of the moose are widely viewed as hoaxes. But a tuft of hair discovered by a biologist has tested positive
for moose genes at a Canadian DNA lab. The last confirmed sighting - and shooting - of a New Zealand
moose took place in 1952.
CANADA - A biologist in Saskatchewan says there's evidence snow geese and Canada geese are
interbreeding to produce a hybrid species.
Recently two American hunters shot a pair of birds that looked like a mixture of snow geese and Canada
geese. The birds were shot in the Quill Lakes area, about 160 kilometres east of Saskatoon.
The birds had bills that looked like snow geese, but were bigger and had dark heads like Canadian geese.
"It's not common, that's for sure."
For years, people in the area have spoken of the fabled Quill Lakes goose. Now it appears there was
something to the legend. The Quill Lakes goose may very well be the hybrid the American hunters found.
As for how the hybrids came to be, one theory is that snow geese eggs are somehow ending up in Canada
geese nests. In a real-life echo of the Ugly Duckling story, Canada geese mothers might be raising the
snow geese goslings as their own. After that, the adult snow geese are mating with Canada geese.
MARYLAND - There's the report of an unusual fish, of unusual size, and in an unusual place - a state
record for the bay - a fish of 9 pounds. Tautog are not a usual fish of the Chesapeake in Maryland waters,
and they're much smaller.
VERMONT - Birdwatchers traveled from miles around last week to see an Asian black-tailed gull — a
species native to Siberia and Japan — that mysteriously found its way to Lake Champlain.
Such gulls have been sighted in the United States only a few dozen times, mostly in Alaska, so
ornithologists puzzled over how the creature got here, speculating that the season’s vigorous storm
patterns might have carried the male bird on a marathon global commute via the North Pole.
But at a time when public health officials worldwide are bracing for the next flu pandemic, the surprise
visitor also raised more anxious questions about Vermont’s potential vulnerability to bird flu.
CALIFORNIA - Deer Attacks Puzzle Wildlife Officials - A rash of attacks by male deer has prompted
California wildlife officials to warn people to try and keep their distance from the wild animals.
The attacks, two against people and three against neighborhood pets, are most likely fluke incidents,
officials say. However, the gorings could also be a sign that as residential areas expand, wild deer are
becoming more accustomed to people and less fearful of them. "We've never had any problems with our
many local deer before. This seems to be an odd year around here." Wildlife biologists say all of the
attacks are unusual
"I've never heard of a deer seeking out and attacking dogs. Most deer are deathly afraid of dogs and
they're afraid of people."
FLORIDA - It wasn't the kind of record-breaking year sea turtle observers were hoping for across
Southwest Florida.
"It was our lowest nesting season we have ever seen."
A barrage of hurricanes that struck or just missed the region drove the number of loggerhead nests on
Collier and south Lee beaches to historic lows, environmental officials said.
Other theories abound. Some think sea turtles' productivity rises and falls naturally. Others believe red
tide is playing a role. And others speculate the influx of condominiums, homes and other buildings along
the coast has forced turtles to hunt for more secluded egg-laying grounds.
Whatever the cause, the threatened species' numbers continue to fall at an alarming rate.
PHILIPPINES - A small foreign wasp has been blamed for killing trees lining roads of the Philippine
capital, prompting traffic warnings on Wednesday about falling branches.
Manila motorists were warned of the danger of falling branches from trees lining six major avenues. The
exact origin of the Erythrina Gall Wasps and how they entered the Philippines is unknown. But the insects
reportedly infected trees in Taiwan, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, China and Hawaii earlier this year.
CLIMATE CAN SPEED UP THE COURSE OF EVOLUTION - A colony of penguins that has bred at the
same site in Antarctica for thousands of years has provided scientists with a rare insight into how a
change in the climate can speed up the course of evolution.
Researchers analysed ancient fragments of DNA from the remains of penguins that have been buried at
the site for up to 6,000 years and compared them to the DNA of living members of the same colony.
The comparison has offered a snapshot of small-scale evolutionary changes to the genetic sequence of
the penguins’ DNA that have occurred without any obvious changes to the appearance or behaviour of the
birds. Scientists found that there had been significant changes to the DNA of the penguin colony that have
probably arisen when huge icebergs break off from the Antarctic ice shelf.
Some animals are responding to climate change in ways which could threaten their survival, a new
study finds.
Scientists showed that migration and breeding of the great tit, puffin, red admiral and other creatures are
moving out of step with food supplies.
The rapid pace of climate change, together with pressures on habitat, make it difficult for species to
adapt.
Birds are migrating at different times, flowers and larvae are emerging earlier, and fish and insects are
moving into new ranges.
The key question is how much this matters - whether these changes impair the prospects for these
species, or whether they are appropriate adaptations which will ensure survival.
Caterpillars are the staple food for infant great tits; and as the emergence of caterpillars in the European
Spring is getting earlier, so, logically, should the time at which great tits lay their eggs.
In fact one population that has been extensively studied has brought its egg laying forward, but by too
much. By contrast, another population in the Netherlands, is laying at the same time as in previous years.
Neither of these responses appears to be the best available for the bird.
In North America, the wood warbler has not adapted its migration pattern to the earlier emergence of
caterpillars in its breeding ground; and in the Netherlands, the honey buzzard is also failing to exploit the
earlier appearance of wasps which it eats.
The red admiral butterfly, however, is arriving on the UK's shores earlier from its winter grounds in north
Africa; but the staple food of its larvae, the common nettle, continues to flower at the same time each
year.
The reasons why these species do not appear to be adapting optimally are unclear.
They may be unable to, they may not be subject to a pressure large enough to induce change, or each
may be subject to several pressures pushing them in contradictory directions. "The point has often been
made that temperatures have increased before in the Earth's past; but the rate now is 100 times greater.
And whereas in those times there were large areas of natural habitat, now it's much more difficult for
animals to change or migrate; plus there's loss of genetic diversity, habitat fragmentation - it's just much
more difficult for species than 1,000 years ago."
------------------------------
WEEK OF 10/27 -
SCOTLAND - Last week's record-breaking heatwave fooled numerous species into believing winter had already passed.
Bizarre and wildly fluctuating weather patterns have confused - and could yet kill - plants and animals across United Kingdom.
Scientists now fear animals and plants will perish in their tens of thousands if, as predicted by some experts, the UK suffers its coldest winter for years with temperatures as low as minus 27°C.
Wildlife experts fear hibernating animals may be caught out by the dramatic change in the weather after halting their preparations for the winter because of the late warm spell.
Plants are already showing signs of bursting into bloom too early at a time when there are no insects around to pollinate their flowers. At the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, some trees have already started flowering as much as four months early. "For some of the plants spring has come in autumn, it seems." "We have a hazel bush here that normally flowers in February but is already starting to produce flowers in October...
The previously mild winters in the past few years has meant the plant has been flowering progressively earlier, but this time it has advanced 32 days on the last year. It is possible weather has reset the plant's internal rhythms."
A number of other species have also shown unusual activity this year. Wych hazel bushes, which normally flower in early winter, are already bursting with catkins several weeks early.
Rhododendron bushes are also still blooming in the unseasonably warm autumn, nearly two months after they should have lost their flowers at the end of summer. Some plants will be hit hard in the coming winter freeze.
Other species have been displaying baffling behaviour that even scientists are struggling to understand.
Bird-watchers have spotted strange behaviour in migrating geese arriving in Scotland after flying south from Iceland for the winter.
The pink-footed geese have been leaving their roosts beside estuaries in south-east Scotland much later in the day than usual, even going out to search for food at night.
"This is the first season we have had reports of the pink-footed geese moving in such a strange way. They are leaving their roosts in the evening and going inland, which is completely the opposite to what they usually do as they return to their roosts in the evening. They normally only do this when there is a full moon but there hasn't been one, so it is difficult to understand what is causing this."
BERMUDA - Hurricane Wilma has given Bermuda bird watchers a treat after dozens of rare feathered visitors appeared on the island as the powerful storm passed well to the west of the island earlier in the week. Wilma brought unprecedented numbers of seabirds.
The extraordinary influx from the south has included frigate birds, sandwich terns, royal terns, great blue herons and yellow-billed cuckoos.
Migratory birds were caught in the storm, which ravaged the Yucatan Peninsula, passed over Florida and then moved north between the US east coast and Bermuda. Many were blown hundreds of miles off course and they ended up here.
MYSTERIOUS HORSE DEATHS IN COLORADO -
El Paso County authorities, puzzling over another herd of dead horses near where other horses were found dead two weeks ago, have been told that lightning is the likely culprit.
16 horses were discovered dead in a pasture. The horses appeared to have died suddenly, possibly from a lightning strike.
The animals were found about a mile where investigators found six horses and a mule dead from mysterious circumstances earlier in the month. The precise cause of death for those animals has not yet been determined, although they were first reported to have been shot to death. "(They were) not a case of lightning." Autopsies on the first group of horses found round puncture wounds in their hides or skulls. The wounds, however, were no more than three-quarters of an inch deep and no bullet fragments or slugs were found.
The incident sparked various rumours amongst the local community with regards to the cause of death.
One resident was convinced the horses had been poisoned because one of the horses died resting on its knees, which was "evidence the horse was sick from poison and had just dropped to its knees and died".
From poisoning to ice bullets, the number of theories flying around was endless.
AUSTRALIA - A lightning strike killed 68 dairy cows waiting to be milked on an Australian farm.
The cows were standing together in a paddock on 10/31 when an electrical storm hit near Dorrigo on Australia's mid-east coast.
Sixty-eight cows were killed by the lightning, but another 69 survived.
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WEEK of 10/21 -
ENGLAND - Animals and plants are doing unusual things -
Arctic-nesting barnacle geese - the first few hundred can be expected in their winter territory by the end of the third week of September. Over the next few weeks the number of birds should have risen to more than 15,000. This autumn, only 6,000 have been counted. One explanation is that Norway's weather is becoming milder so the geese are under no pressure to move. Another is that the break-up of the pack ice means polar bears are turning to land prey like the geese rather than eating seals.
Snowdrops (flowers) - "I've never seen them come out so early." It could be that they have been physiologically tricked by a sudden dip in the temperature after an extended period of warm weather. "Some plants occasionally get confused and they will start flowering assuming they have gone through the winter." Strawberries are producing record-breaking yields due to unseasonably warm weather. An unconfirmed report made to claims a hawthorn in Cornwall is in full blossom. In a normal year, the blossom has disappeared by June and the bush is bursting with ripe fruit and preparing to drop its leaves.
A tiny bird that has changed its normal pattern significantly this autumn is the yellow-browed warbler. Red Admiral butterflies have been in particular abundance this autumn despite being usually found around Southern Europe and North Africa at this time of year. Rare moths more likely to be spotted in the warmer climes of Europe than a chilly British October have been seen in record numbers this autumn.
PILOT WHALES - TASMANIA - Up to 70 pilot whales (dolphins) are dead after a mass stranding in southern Tasmania. Strandings are a reasonably normal phenomenon around Marion Bay.
In October 1998, about 57 whales died in the area after becoming stranded.
Pilot whales are one of the most commonly stranded species in Tasmanian waters.
According to the Department of Primary Industries Water and Environment, 68 strandings involving 2768 pilot whales were recorded up to October 2003.
ALASKA simmered through one of its warmest summers ever in 2005, it also saw forest fires, seabird
die-offs and strange monstrous fish. A 300-pound ocean sunfish was caught off Kodiak in July, maybe
1,000 miles north of its regular range. Warmer sea water and a lack of food may even be driving birds to
abandon nests in the Pribilof Islands. "Cliff ledges covered with beautiful eggs, but essentially no adults
present at all." Red-legged kittiwakes began to fail in June, followed by black-legged kittiwakes in July.
The adults laid eggs, but abandoned them. Adult murres then left "en masse." Red-faced cormorants
produced lots of eggs and hatched healthy chicks.
"But even they finally hit the wall in late July. Nests full of big dead chicks."
KEY WEST, FLORIDA - Chickens were scarce Thursday as Hurricane Wilma was approaching this city known for its wild fowl.
Apparently, chickens and birds in general are very sensitive and in tune with nature.
"They are very sensitive to air pressure changes, in part because of their hollow bones. But they are also
hardwired for survival. " Most often animals start behaving differently about 24 hours prior to a storm or
other natural disaster.
Domestic animals seem to be less responsive, but the changes in behavior are there.
"Cats will hide out and dogs tend to get nervous, clingy or aggressive."
Wild animals will "head out of Dodge."
The study of pre-disaster animal behavior is gaining worldwide attention. "Animals predicting disasters
has been pooh-poohed for years, but there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that animals act in unusual ways
prior to disasters." A book is coming out in December and PBS in November is running a special program
about animals predicting disasters.
The chickens will be in low-lying bushes. The fowl have an amazing ability to shield themselves when they
don't want to be seen.
"The few that I've found when I've been out in a hurricane were in low areas, under underhangs, in the
bushes against a wall. But pigeons - when they disappear, I take that to be a real bad sign."
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WEEK of 10/13 -
A group of starving polar bears is terrorising local reindeer hunters and herders in a remote area of eastern Siberia.
"Twenty-six bears left their ice field last week and are roaming about, apparently looking for food, in remote areas of the Nizhnekolymsky region.
"They often walk around yurts (tents) and houses belonging to reindeer hunters and farmers."
Experts say this kind of group displacement from an ice field is extremely unusual. Specialists will try to find out why the bears have left the ice field and decide whether an evacuation of the local population is necessary.
The swimming ability of a rat which crossed open sea to find new territory has impressed New Zealand scientists.
The rodent had been radio tagged and its movements tracked by researchers to learn more about pest species and how they invade small islands.
The rat was released on the uninhabited island of Motuhoropapa but refused to be captured at the project's end.
The animal finally turned up on the nearby Otata Island - a mighty swim of 400m. This MAY BE THE LONGEST DISTANCE RECORDED FOR A RAT SWIMMING ACROSS OPEN SEA. This particular rat evaded a diverse arsenal of traps, baits and even sniffer dogs. In total, the rat was free for 18 weeks.
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WEEK of 10/6 -
An outbreak of illness among cruise ship passengers in Alaska in 2004 led to the detection of disease-causing oysters
about 620 miles farther north than they had ever been found before, possibly as a result of warming ocean waters.
The abnormal attitude of animals just before the devastating earthquake in
Pakistan has once again established an old theory that animals can
sense natural calamities well before they happen.
Animals and birds behaved strangely Saturday morning just before the first
tremor jolted the region.
Dogs were barking and roaming in the street with great unease. Cats also
acted restless and pet cats refused to eat or even drink milk the evening
before. The birds in the sky abruptly increased greatly in the morning. The
most interesting phenomenon was seen when boars disappeared a night
earlier from Islamabad when they normally flock the city in the month of
October at night.
In Washington, D.C., Sunday, October 9th was, in the Potomac River's
increasingly bizarre snakehead history, a landmark day. The water was
alive. Snakeheads, hundreds of them, were slithering among the minnows,
rising up through the concrete blocks that dam Dogue Creek like salmon
leaping for freedom.
"They're in there by the thousands. You could see them literally coming up
along the banks." The cause isn't yet clear.
Nothing was normal about Dogue Creek on Sunday afternoon. The weekend
rains had swollen this section, a couple of miles from the Potomac just off
Route 1, far beyond its usual thin trickle. The sandy creek bed swarmed with
small minnows and bluegills inching upstream toward a marshy pond. Last
year snakeheads were found in the Potomac, worrying scientists that the
breeding population could throw the ecosystem out of balance.
"They're a top-line predator, so they're going to be competing for the same
food and space as bass, and we'll just have to see what shakes out. " There
is a strong indication that the fish are migrating, because they're moving
upstream. "It's incredible." On the ground, the snakehead stays upright,
unlike other fish, and wiggles very slowly across the ground.
On the east coast of the U.S., what might prove the scariest aspect of an alien sea squirt invasion is that we may be
dealing with a newly evolved species, feeding off the surplus of nutrients man produces and capable of out-competing anything
that exists.
Their strategy: reproduce faster than other species, blanketing large areas with a thick mat of rubbery looking goop that
suffocates everything beneath it. Their defense: an exterior coated with an acidic chemical that is anti-bacterial,
anticellular, antifungal, and tastes bad.
Known predators or enemies: none, including Man.
Sea squirts, also known as Didemnum sp., got a lot of press two years ago when they were discovered on Georges Bank, one of
the world's most productive fishing grounds. The fear was that these colonial animals, barely a 16th of an inch long, would
smother the sea life on the ocean floor, killing vegetation used as food and shelter by many valuable commercial fish
species, and blanket the pebbly bottom preferred by fish for egg-laying with a deadly acidic mat.
In just a year, the known territory covered by these animals on Georges Bank expanded from 6 to at least 40 square miles, but
there could be much more, since that was all the territory scientists could cover in the brief time they were out on Georges.
The threat to the near shore waters may be even greater as the animals thrive on algae, which often bloom in greater numbers
when exposed to nutrients put into the water, such as nitrogen from septic systems, lawn fertilizers and road runoff.
John Downer made a film about the strange power of animals and the film won him worldwide awards some 15 years ago
Knowledge has moved on in leaps and bounds since he made the film showing that some animals possess telepathy, hypnosis,
amazing powers of prediction, and walking on water ability. Australian desert frogs are no strangers to extreme conditions. They can bury themselves alive for several years during the long Australian droughts using their bladders as water stores. Aborigines dig them up for a drink in an emergency. Dragonflies, tortoises and sloths see in slow motion. “The faster your metabolism, the quicker your body wears out. Lions know this, which is why they lay around between occasional bursts of energy hunting their prey. But humans haven’t figured that out yet. We could all learn from the fable of the tortoise and the hare that activities like jogging wear out one’s body.” Animals and plants can forecast weather changes long before scientists can. Animals can even predict earthquakes. In Chicago, 15 years ago, about one million people were saved through observing some strange animal behaviour. Rats were seen leaving buildings, birds went into a frenzy and horses stamped. Animals in the Tokyo zoo are regularly monitored for clues to impending quakes.
Ants are the most incredible manipulators of hidden forces.
“The South American fire ants most surprising quirk is that it can survive in a microwave oven. It is so small and agile it can dodge microwaves."
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WEEK of 9/30 -
Not only rare, but never before seen in Iowa, green violet-eared hummingbirds, known scientifically
as Colibri thalassinus, have been appearing. The species is common in Mexico, Costa Rico and Central
America. And it has been recorded as far north as Canada.
"But never in this state." Similar occurrences have happened in surrounding states, like Wisconsin.
Iowans are enjoying a particularly prolific bird year. With the green violet-ear, spotters so far in 2005
have identified 14 new species in Iowa. Though not new to the state, two magnificent frigatebirds
recorded near Cedar Rapids were likely blown in by Hurricane Katrina. Other rarely seen species, like a
vermilion flycatcher spotted in May and a brown pelican noticed in mid-July, have been around too long to
blame on Gulf Coast winds.
In the Arctic, thinning ice and longer summers are destroying the polar bears' habitat, and as the ice
floes shrink, the desperate animals are driven by starvation into human settlements - to be shot.
Stranded polar bears are drowning in large numbers as they try to swim hundreds of miles to find
increasingly scarce ice floes. Local hunters find their corpses floating on seas once coated in a thick skin
of ice. It is a phenomenon that frightens the native people that live around the Arctic. Many fear their
children will never know the polar bear. "The ice is moving further and further north. In the Bering Sea the
ice leaves earlier and earlier. On the north slope, the ice is retreating as far as 300 or 400 miles offshore."
"There is an earlier break-up of ice, a later freeze-up. Now it's more rapid. Something is happening."
Whales, salmon, cod, penguins and kittiwakes are
affected by shifts in distribution and abundance of
krill and plankton, which has "declined in places
to a hundredth or thousandth of former numbers
because of warmer sea-surface temperatures." Fewer chiffchaffs, blackbirds, robins
and song thrushes are migrating from the UK due to
warmer winters. Egg-laying is also getting two to
three weeks earlier than 30 years ago, showing a
change in the birds' biological clocks.
Warming has already changed the migration routes of some birds and other animals.
Scientists have already observed a wide range of changes in the migration patterns of birds, fish and turtles, apparently in response to warming which has already taken place.
Some species normally associated with more southerly countries, such as the little egret, the loggerhead turtle, and the red mullet, are increasingly seen in and around the UK.
Wading birds such as the ringed plover are now spending the winter in the east of Britain rather than on the west coast, and chiff-chaffs are remaining in the UK throughout the year rather than migrating south. The fear is that the changes currently under way are simply too rapid for species to evolve new strategies for survival. The whole approach to conservation may have to be radically changed - the most perfectly-protected nature reserve could end up being of little use if the animals breeding there face starvation because they have nowhere to migrate.
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WEEK of 9/23 -
A reindeer injured an elderly couple in the wilds of Finnish Lapland, in a rare attack that caused injuries needing
hospital treatment.
A male reindeer suddenly appeared from a forest and attacked a man who was hiking Sunday with his partner near Kittila, about
620 miles north of Helsinki.
The buck butted the man to the ground and kicked him before turning on the woman who was talking to her son on a mobile
phone. "Every year in the rutting season, buck reindeer are very possessive about their harems." In Finland there are no wild
reindeer. They are domesticated, but are allowed to roam the wilds of Lapland where herders seasonally track them down for
branding and slaughter.
A sailor cruising off the Pembrokeshire coast had an unusual encounter with the world's biggest sea turtle.
He filmed the leatherback as he sailed back to Wales from Ireland. "It let us come right up next to it. We were literally
within two yards of it." It had been an exciting year for marine life in Wales.
"We've had a pretty interesting summer: large numbers of dolphin spotted, a sun fish coming up from the tropics, other species of turtle, even a humped back whale turned up."
An investigation is underway after more than two dozen birds were found dead on a Toronto, Canada golf course.
Police are warning of the possible danger to animals in the area because it is unknown what caused the birds' deaths.
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Week of 9/17 -
A strange malady still seems to be killing deer in parts of Kent County, Michigan, but the state Department of Natural
Resources doesn't know what it is. A veterinarian has ruled out chronic wasting disease, but "there's something out there,
and I can't put an 'itis' on it. It has us concerned. If it was only one or two deer, you'd shrug it off. But we've had a
total of seven that we investigated." The sick deer displayed symptoms that don't correspond with anything in his experience.
About three weeks ago, several residents began seeing deer that were staggering around near their homes near Grand Rapids.
The animals were drooling and thin, and some had lost hair. They also appeared to be addled, walking into trees and fences
and ignoring people who walked up to them."The hot, dry weather we've had is known to be responsible for an increase in the
mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus, but that has never been known to affect a cluster of animals like this."
A man said a fox was walking around in circles on his lawn, falling over and then picking itself up until it finally died.
A 60-year-old man was gored to death by a deer in the Correze region of central France.,
The retiree was returning with a friend from an afternoon's hunting in the forest of Saint-Etienne-aux-Clos, near Ussel, when
the deer burst through trees and charged the men.
Severely wounded in the chest by the long horns of the deer, the hunter died a short time after emergency services arrived.
The animal quickly disappeared after the attack.
Police are investigating the incident to try to understand what triggered the deer's attack.
Climate change and warmer coastal waters are thought to have caused a massive increase in the number of basking sharks
feeding in Scottish waters.
The latest survey results show that out of 180 sharks spotted over a ten-week period around the UK coast, 172 were seen in
Scottish waters. It is thought that the slight increase in sea temperatures has caused a related surge in the plankton
content of the water.
An unseasonably early start to spring has sprung all sorts of surprises on New Zealand's livestock, other creatures and
crops.
Farmers are reporting lambing records, saddlebacks are in abundance at a bird sanctuary, while on the West Coast there are
bountiful runs of whitebait with the rites of spring arriving for many a lot sooner than expected.
The unusually settled weather, has been very dry and has, in places, has turned the seasonal cycle on its head. "Last year
was so bad and this year's been so good."
Farmers, benefiting from benign weather that had boosted survival rates, were rearing lambs and cattle that were hitting
target weights earlier than usual, while many crops were up to a month ahead.
"There are a lot of funny things happening that are getting out of season."
Asparagus, usually harvested with Christmas in mind, was already being picked in parts of Manawatu.
"It's just so early but the soil temperatures have just shot up."
Some did sound a note of caution about how the rural sector had appeared to have "flipped seasons".
"We'll be comforted when we've had a good wet spell, we'll be quietly relieved."
The warm winter had even seen unusual breeding trends emerge at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. What the weather has done is "fast
forward" the season.
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Week of 9/15 -
An unusual butterfly which disappeared from the Lothians in Scotland 150 years ago after a series of cold summers in the 1860's has been attracted back by warmer weather.
The wall butterfly, which is occasionally found south of the Border, but has not been seen in Scotland since the 1860s, was spotted by a wildlife enthusiast on Traprain Law in East Lothian. "It is incredibly exciting that we now have an established colony here.
I have been waiting 15 years to see one after there were reported sightings in the Borders and its wonderful that they are now moving further north."
A sudden blast of wind is the suspected cause of the death of dozens,
perhaps hundreds, of migrating songbirds found floating in Lake Superior.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources staff collected about 50 of
the birds after receiving a report from anglers about hundreds of them east
of Grand Marais.
The tiny birds were found in debris lines, sometimes called bug slicks, where
flotsam gathers on the lake's surface.
But there were other reports, as far away as Tofte, so there were probably a
lot more. We'll never really know how many." The cause is suspected to be an unusual blast of strong wind that may
have overwhelmed the small birds, who were flying during one of the peak
migration periods.
"The two ideas that hold the most weight are either that they got blown out
over the lake and didn't have the energy to get back to shore against the
wind, or that some sort of unusually strong wind actually pushed them down
into the water."
The National Weather Service reported offshore winds on the North Shore at
nearly 40 mph early that morning.
"That would be enough to do it. Sometimes they just can't make it."
The wild parrot population has exploded in Britain. The parakeets, which originated in northern India, have thrived in the recent string of warm summers and short, mild winters.
According to the latest scientific survey, the British parakeet population is increasing by 30 per cent a year, and is likely to reach 100,000 by the end of the decade. They are yet further, disquieting proof of shifts in the natural world: ornithologists fear that the parakeets — robust, adaptable and aggressive — will impinge on the habitats of indigenous species such as starlings, kestrels and little owls. The potential damage to crops can be seen in the upper branches of the poplars, which have been stripped bare by the voracious birds.
About a third of frog, toad and salamander species are facing extinction; threats include fungal disease, pollution and habitat loss.
The biggest single reason behind this decline appears to be a fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis; first identified just six years ago, it is firmly established in parts of the Americas, Australia and Europe.
The disease which it causes, chytridiomycosis, appears to kill amphibians by damaging their sensitive skins, blocking the passage of air and moisture. It is believed that environmental stresses, including drought and pollution, may make the animals more vulnerable to the chytrid fungus, perhaps by weakening their immune system or reducing their birth weight. "We have some idea what it's doing, but we don't know where it's coming from and how it's being moved around, and there is no way of controlling it in the wild. That leaves us with few options but to go and rescue some populations at risk from disease, and then re-introduce them in the wild when we've cleaned up or found ways of allowing them to live in the wild with the fungus." [Sort of a Noah's Ark.]
In New Zealand, long-time Bay of Plenty residents have noticed strange and interesting changes in the natural environment over the past few decades. There's been an influx of eastern rosellas, a bird that wasn't around here before. They might have noticed a weed flourishing where it once struggled to establish. Maybe they’re puzzled because a favourite native plant seems to have faded from the landscape.” Woolly nightshade, for example, is sensitive to frost so is often restricted to coastal areas. “Because of that, it’s not such a problem in Rotorua – but that may change as the weather warms up.” The subtropical grasses, paspalum and kikuyu, thrive so well in Northland that farmers no longer try and control them.
“It’s not all doom and gloom. It’s just a challenge for us to work out how to positively and proactively address this new future.”
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AUGUST 2005 -
8/31 -
Scientists are examining a mystery breed of moth converging on South
Australia in huge numbers.
The moths have been reported in large numbers in different areas of the
state, including metropolitan Adelaide.
Entomologists say the moths have distinctive marks distinguishing them
from known pest species. "It is a rare event to see such large numbers."
Entomologists were reviewing literature to support their suspicion that the
moths were lesser budworms, which breed on desert daisies after inland
rains.
8/30 -
Researchers surveying migrating humpback whales have found a number of
different species of the great mammals usually rarely seen in Australia's east
coast waters.
The survey, which had so far tracked the northern humpback migration, had
found more sightings of other whales not normally sighted off the east coast.
"There's been quite a lot of different species seen in the last 10 to 12 weeks.
All of the species seen have been seen in this area before but [previously]
they have been pretty few and far between and certainly not every year."
As well as humpbacks, researchers have also observed a pod of 60 to 70
false killer whales, along with dwarf minke whales, Bryde's whales and an
unconfirmed sighting of a southern right whale.
Researchers could not confirm whether the diversity of whales was a
continuing trend "but we seem to be getting a lot for some reason".
General trends had shown that humpback numbers were generally increasing
with an estimation of 6500 migrating up and down the east coast.
The survey also found the timing of the northern migration was later than
what was considered normal for eastern Australia.
This also was consistent with reports from New Zealand, Western Australian
and South Africa.
The most likely reason for the delay were the conditions in the Antarctic.
"It could be the movement of prey."
8/26 -
Dove season opens in most of Texas a week from today, and hunters
have their fingers crossed that unusual August weather has not triggered an early dove
migration. That's what happened last year, creating a slower-than-normal opener for many
dove hunters.
"I'm a little concerned that we may have an early migration. We are seeing unusually early
movements of teal ducks and even monarch butterflies. Our area got as much as 20 inches of
rain last week, and there's water everywhere." Dove season in the North and Central Zones
traditionally begins on Sept. 1.
8/24 -
Armadillos have begun moving north into the Kansas area in recent years, and one wildlife expert said the area along the Kansas River is ideal for the shelled mammals.
In the past 10 years, the animals have become more common in southern Kansas. Their migration north could be due to milder winters. "I think the mild winters we've had have something to do with it. But I think some of them are getting a little tougher."
The animals have moved even farther north into the Missouri River Valley - although sightings of live armadillos are rare there.
A survey of Cobscook Bay, Maine has uncovered the unusual presence of sea squirts, an invasive species that scientists fear could overwhelm valuable shellfish beds and alter the marine ecosystem.
8/20 -
Climate change is affecting both numbers of birds in the UK and where they
live according to a new report.
There is a rapid decline in numbers of farm birds, like the corn bunting,
whereas a
number of "generalist" species, such as the wood pigeon, are increasing.
The population of wintering ducks, geese, swans and wading birds has
dropped to its
lowest level for 10 years, while the distribution of seven of the nine common
species of
wading birds has shifted from the warm west of Britain to the colder east
since the
mid-1980s. There is also a general trend for birds to nest earlier and for
migrating
species to arrive earlier.
2004 was the worst seabird breeding season on record.
8/19 -
Copperhead snakes are gathering early in Arkansas. Every year large numbers of copperheads gather and move in unison to dens for hibernation. But it happens in October, not July or August as it is occurring now. Now the common event has become an UNCOMMON AND INEXPLICABLE one. Nearly 100 of the snakes are using a cedar tree as a sort of meeting place, and scientists who have traveled to the rural north central Arkansas site to study the phenomenon, don't know why. "With this hot weather we didn't anticipate such a grand movement of so many snakes. In the fall they aggregate in fairly large numbers, so it's quite an unusual event." A gathering of copperheads like the one in this yard has not been documented before. All the snakes that have been gathering at the base of the tree are adult males. "I know for a fact that all these snakes didn't just wake up one day and do this. Something's making them do it. They know something we don't know. There's got to be something more to this."
The hot, dry summer has drawn an unusual number of rattlesnakes out of their mountain lairs and into the valleys in Pennsylvania.
Rattlesnake sightings seem to be higher than normal this year. The combination of heat and little rainfall is probably the cause.
"If people are seeing snakes and other reptiles that (lack of water) is very likely the reason."
A group of up to 2,000 common dolphins has been spotted off the coast of west Wales.
Marine experts said it was "MASSIVELY UNUSUAL" to see so many off the Pembrokeshire coast, and the reason remained a mystery. "It's fairly normal to see a hundred or so, but not thousands." The sight of the dolphins approaching "was like a volcanic eruption. There were dolphins of all ages - adults and mothers with their babies - and they were leaping out of the water."
Just days after the sighting of around 2,000 dolphins off the west Wales coast, a school of giant fin whales has been spotted fishing in the Irish sea.
The sighting by an Oxford University team was described as "UNIQUE" as they are normally on their own or in pairs. The sea "teeming with food" has put west Wales on the whale watching map. It is large schools of mackerel and herring which are attracting the unusual numbers of larger visitors.
"Everywhere you look there are fish." "The increased wildlife may be because of changes in the currents off our coast - the reverse is taking place in Scotland where spawning grounds for sand eels and sprats are failing."
The fin whales have been the third unusual marine sighting reported in West Wales in two weeks. Last week two humpback whales were seen, 100 metres off the beach at Llangranog.
"We have seen unusual numbers of minke whale too."
8/17 -
Scientists have noted warming at higher latitudes that already appears to be causing
some flowers to bloom earlier than usual and seems to be altering some wildlife migration
and hibernation patterns.
The impact of global warming has become obvious in high latitude regions, including Alaska,
Siberia and the Arctic, where melting ice and softening tundra are causing profound changes.
But, contrary to popular belief, the most serious impact in the next century likely will be
in the tropics. That is because organisms in the tropics normally do not experience much
temperature variation because there is very little seasonality, so even small temperature
shifts can have a much larger impact than similar shifts in regions with more seasonal
climates.
8/13 -
The number of spiders in Oregon has at least doubled this summer.
"It's so bad sometimes that you'll walk down through the back of the yard, and you are down there only 20 to 30 minutes, and by the time you walk back up, they've already got another web built." The numbers this summer are staggering because of the weather.
"The colder the winters we have, the more it's going to kill off. We've had some pretty mild weather over the last four to five years." Most are harmless garden spiders, but there are some dangerous ones.
Animals are behaving strangely - is climate change the culprit?
In the United States, some warblers are flying north to Canada. In Costa Rica, toucans are moving higher
up into the mountains, apparently because of rising temperatures.
In July, a Norwegian man fishing in a fjord had a shock when he landed a John Dory, a fish more usually
found in temperate waters off southern Europe or Africa. "There's a long list of migratory species ending
up further north. It's certainly a sign of warmer temperatures." Salmon have been swimming through the
Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia into the Chukchi Sea, apparently because the frigid water had
warmed up. Inuit peoples have noted southerly species of wildlife reaching the Arctic in summertime in
recent years, including robins, hornets and barn owls.
Rising temperatures may drive thousands of species to extinction and cause more storms, floods and
deserts while raising sea levels, perhaps by 3 feet by 2100.
More unusual fish have been seen in the Santa Monica Bay, California this week. Black jellyfish,
which are rarely seen north of Baja California, began to appear on South Bay beaches. Now, more and
more squid are flushing into the bay.
"It's a bit unusual to see this much squid in the bay during this time of the year." Sea arrow squid normally
prefer cooler water, and while it is not out of the question to have them around, the squid seem to have a
bigger summertime presence than usual. "There is no question that if this squid hangs around, we should
see some (white) sea bass and yellowtail soon."
A bizarre freeway of fish swimming by the thousands along the shore of
Englewood Beach in Florida Thursday morning left crowds of
beach-goers agog and marine biologists bewildered.
Beach-goers reported that a wide variety of sea creatures came swimming
south in a narrow band close to the beach in about 18 inches of water at
mid-morning.
Included in the swarm were clouds of shrimp, crab, grouper, snapper, red fish
and flounder. They were joined by more usual species, including sea robins,
needlefish and eels. They were headed south, and the moving mass of sea
life stretched a good mile long. All the species "were swimming amongst
each other. They weren't attacking each other." "I have never seen anything
like that in my life. " The event lasted until late morning, although the parade
had thinned out by 11 a.m.
A few scientists contacted were surprised to hear of the unusual fish
behavior. It was not typical schooling, they said, because many varied
species were involved. They agreed was A HIGHLY UNUSUAL EVENT, ONE
THEY HAD NEVER ENCOUNTERED BEFORE.
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JULY 2005 -
week of July 29 -
Over the next two decades, the Earth will see an acceleration of ecosystem changes
already under way. Such alterations will include different migration and breeding
seasons for some animals and new flowering seasons for plants.
"We're also seeing changes in species distribution. Things like trees can't react too
quickly" to climate change.
"But mobile organisms, like birds, can simply move. We're already seeing major range
extensions of species. If the birds move north, forests may be more susceptible to insect
attacks, which means more dead wood, which means more fire. The whole nature of the
forest can change fairly quickly."
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In 1969 a 6.3 quake struck South Africa. Only a few minutes before the earth started shaking, hundreds of rats suddenly
began running through the streets, as if they sensed something unusual was about to happen. One observer said, "Frankly, I
was more terrified by the rats than by the tremors."
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Previous articles from late 1999 and 2000.