Unusual behaviour in animals, and our pets

[Ca.]

Woman killed by grizzly bear near Yellowstone National Park | OutThere Colorado

A woman was found dead near Yellowstone National Park on Saturday morning following an apparent grizzly bear attack.

denvergazette.com

• Jul 24, 2023Updated 11 hrs ago

A woman was found dead near Yellowstone National Park on Saturday morning following an apparent grizzly bear attack.

According to officials from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP), a hiker discovered the victim's body on the Buttermilk Trail west of West Yellowstone at about 8 a.m.

"FWP wardens and bear specialists, along with staff from other agencies, found that the woman had wounds consistent with a bear attack. They also found tracks from an adult grizzly bear and at least one cub near the site. They did not see any bears or signs of a day bed or animal carcass during the investigation," officials said in a statement on Monday morning.

The investigation determined that the woman was alone during the encounter and did not have bear spray or a firearm at the time of the attack.

Crews are actively working to locate the bear due to the incident’s proximity to heavily trafficked areas, but have not yet found it. The statement did not mention whether or not the bear would be euthanized as a result of the attack.

"The disposition of the bear has not been determined. FWP has been attempting to capture the bear due to this incident's proximity to campgrounds, residences and high recreation traffic, the ultimate goal being public safety," a spokesperson for FWP.

An emergency closure has since been issued in the Buttermilk area for human safety.

"Montana is bear country. Grizzly bear populations continue to become denser and more widespread in Montana, increasing the likelihood that residents and recreationists will encounter them in more places each year," officials said.

FWP offers the following tips when visiting Yellowstone:

• Carry and know how to use bear spray
• Travel in groups whenever possible
• Watch for signs of bears such as bear scat, diggings, torn-up logs and turned over rocks, and partially consumed animal carcasses
• Make noise, especially near streams or in thick forest where hearing and visibility are limited
• Don't approach a bear

Condolences go out to those impacted by this death.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1683313823795630080

The Novato Police Department issued a warning Sunday about bears at Miwok Park on Novato Boulevard.

Police said the animals were described as two cubs with their mother. Officers found bear feces on the San Miguel Way side of the park’s playground.

The incident is latest in a spate of recent bear sightings in Marin. One occurred last month in Terra Linda, another happened in May in Larkspur, and another happened in 2021 in San Anselmo.

Bear encounters are still rare in the area, mostly because of unregulated killing of the Point Reyes population that rendered them extinct by 1901, according to the National Park Service.

 

[Iain]

Some very strange behaviour by a pod of pilot whales, prior to beaching themselves in Western Australia:

‘We have never seen this’: scientists baffled by behaviour of pilot whales before WA mass stranding

Environment minister says way pod crowded tightly together 150 metres offshore before becoming beached is ‘unique and pretty incredible’

www.theguardian.com

Officials are baffled by the remarkable behaviour of a large pod of pilot whales that grouped together in a heart shape before stranding themselves on a remote Western Australian beach.

Drone footage captured the moment the pod of almost 100 long-finned pilot whales moved tightly together before stranding themselves at Cheynes beach about 60km east of Albany on Tuesday evening.

By Wednesday morning, more than 50 whales lay dead on the shore, with volunteers, government workers and scientists fighting to save 46 more.

WA’s environment minister, Reece Whitby, said researchers from across Australia were baffled by the never-before-seen behaviour of the whales in the hours leading up to the stranding.

“Those images that we saw off the coast are unique,” Whitby said.

“It is pretty incredible from a scientific basis in terms of learning about strandings. Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions [staff], when they saw those images, contacted their colleagues around Australia; they were in touch with other jurisdictions that have mass strandings. The feedback we were getting was we have never seen this before.”

Macquarie University wildlife scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta said why whales stranded themselves remained a mystery.

“The fact they were in one area very huddled and doing really interesting behaviours and looking around at times suggests something else is going on that we just don’t know,” she said.

Analysing the footage, Pirotta said a whale may have been sick or the pod might have become disoriented, but it was unlikely they were trying to avoid predators.

 

[Ben]

Some very strange behaviour by a pod of pilot whales, prior to beaching themselves in Western Australia:

‘We have never seen this’: scientists baffled by behaviour of pilot whales before WA mass stranding

Environment minister says way pod crowded tightly together 150 metres offshore before becoming beached is ‘unique and pretty incredible’

www.theguardian.com

This is a picture from the article of the pilot whales gathering before they beached themselves.

 

[Natus Videre]

This is a picture from the article of the pilot whales gathering before they beached themselves.

Hmm...

(irjO) Lately, a lot of videos of different type of animals around the world walking in circles are appearing online. Why is that happening?
A: Same types of wave manipulation that is affecting humans. When such things happen, pay attention.

 

[Dylou]

Unexplained jostling between orcas and sailing boats in the Strait of Gibraltar
Author(s)
France-Soir
Published July 28, 2023 - 12:55 pm
Image
Orca
Pixabay
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BREAKING NEWS - For the past three years, orca "attacks" have been multiplying off the Strait of Gibraltar, threatening sailboats venturing out to sea. While some see this as "revenge" on the part of the Gladis family, other scientists believe that they are merely "playing". The phenomenon remains unexplained.

In 2020, a female killer whale called White Gladis was reportedly struck by a ship, or entangled in a fishing net, while pregnant. Since then, over 500 "interactions" between killer whales and sailing vessels have been recorded by the Atlantic Killer Whale Working Group. In 50% of cases, the vessels suffer damage (usually to the helm), and the sailors are sometimes forced to return to land to pay for costly repairs.

It was the 2020 incident that made the matriarch aggressive towards sailboats, and this behavior gradually spread to other orcas. In any case, this is the hypothesis most often put forward by the media.

But it's not the only possibility being investigated. "For an orca measuring eight metres and five tonnes, playing with a boat is like playing with a cat for us. For humans, it seems like aggression, but for orcas, it's a simple game," explains oceanographer François Sarano. Biologist Alfredo López stresses that such incidents remain "rare and strange". So we shouldn't jump to conclusions.

Some media outlets have been criticized by associations for their cavalier handling of information. Yesterday, Sea Shepherd France challenged BFM TV on Twitter: "You have a responsibility in the terms used." It explained: "The revenge theory has never been scientifically validated, and the far more plausible hypothesis is that they find the rudder of the boats a playful attraction. It doesn't sell as well as a Jaws remake, that's for sure, and yet it's far more realistic." The association also points out that "the orca population in the Strait of Gibraltar is critically endangered and numbers only around sixty individuals."

 

[Lukasz]

Are birds smarter than humans?

Crows and magpies nests in the Netherlands and Belgium have been found to consist almost entirely of strips of long metal spikes designed to deter birds from nesting.

“I really thought I’d seen it all,” said Kees Moeliker, the director of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam, who studied the crow’s nest found during tree maintenance near the city’s main railway station. “I didn’t expect this. These anti-bird spikes are meant to deter birds, they are supposed to scare them off, but on the contrary, the birds just utilise them.”

While the Rotterdam nest was made by crows, the other three were built by magpies, which construct large dome-like nests. The crows used the anti-bird spikes as a sturdy construction material, but the magpies may have appreciated their intended use: they placed most of the spikes on the nest’s roof where they could deter predators, including other birds and weasels.

Auke-Florian Hiemstra, a biologist at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, said: “Even for me as a nest researcher, these are the craziest bird nests I’ve ever seen.”

Dr Jim Reynolds, an ornithologist at the University of Birmingham, who took part in that work said he was “amazed” at the anti-bird spike nests, but added that if any group of birds was going to do it, it would be the corvids, who are known for their cognitive skills.

“I was really struck by the irony, to take anti-bird devices and use them to their own ends,” Reynolds said. “They are even more amazing than I think they are.” As well as helping to protect the nests, the spikes may also serve as a display to impress potential mates, he said.

Crows and magpies using anti-bird spikes to build nests, researchers find

Dutch study identifies several examples of corvids’ ‘amazing’ ability to adapt to the urban environment

www.theguardian.com

 

[Juba]

CBS made interesting article with video that shows hundreds of yellow-headed blackbirds swarmed over Chihuahua, Mexico, last week when something sent them crashing to the ground, leaving dozens of the birds dead along the street.

I wonder if this is due to an explosion in the atmosphere caused by a meteor or some other similar phenomenon.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1692174158644539398

 

[treesparrow]

CBS made interesting article with video that shows hundreds of yellow-headed blackbirds swarmed over Chihuahua, Mexico, last week when something sent them crashing to the ground, leaving dozens of the birds dead along the street.

I wonder if this is due to an explosion in the atmosphere caused by a meteor or some other similar phenomenon.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1692174158644539398

This happened in 2022 on February 7 according the text and video in the link provided.

 

[Juba]

This happened in 2022 on February 7 according the text and video in the link provided.

Thank you treesparow for the date correction, but would like to know what caused this kind of behavior.

 

[Iain]

A new study has found that Great White Sharks, among other predators, are regularly spending time at much greater depths than thought.

Great white sharks are hanging out in the twilight zone and scientists don't know why

Researchers recorded the movements of ocean predators and found many diving to depths of over 3,200 feet for reasons that are currently unclear.

www.livescience.com

Large marine predators including great white sharks regularly spend time in the ocean's twilight and midnight zones, far beneath the depths at which they feed, in a discovery that has mystified scientists.

In a new study, data from 12 species of large predatory fish, including sharks, billfish and tunas showed they regularly spent time in the mesopelagic zone — also known as the twilight zone —. which stretches between the depths of 656 and 3,280 feet (200 to 1,000 meters). They were also seen in the midnight zone, 3,280 to 9,800 feet (1,000 to 3,000 m) beneath the ocean surface.

Their findings showed a correlation between dives and the location of the deep scattering layer (DSL). This ocean layer is so densely packed with small fish and other marine organisms it is sometimes mistaken for the seafloor. Creatures of the DSL rise up to the surface at night to feed, then sink back down to the twilight zone in the day.

This suggests marine predators feed on animals in the DSL. However, the team also discovered many dive far deeper than the DSL extends, for reasons unknown. Great white sharks dive as deep as 3,700 feet (1,128 m), whale sharks to 6,300 feet (1,912 m) and swordfish as far as 6,500 feet (2,000 m).

This could be a new or strange behaviour in these predators, or just something that has been overlooked until now.

The evidence also suggests the twilight zone has been overlooked as a critical habitat for large predator species, the researchers said. Many of the species inhabiting the twilight zone are fished commercially, and steps need to be taken to understand and protect this potentially critical ecosystem.

 

[Ca.]

She / He must be late to the Den.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1734290620766920719

Though Lake Tahoe tempts are fluctuating as all global patterns continue to be affected by El Niño

Black Bear Hibernation

Animals and Plants of the Finger Lakes Black Bear Hibernation: Bearing the Cold of Winter All through spring and summer, black bears (Ursus americanus) have […]

www.gofingerlakes.org

Most bears, including the males, hibernate during the winter. This is from October or November until April or when the snow starts melting. Not all species of bears have the same hibernation practices, and their deep sleeping time varies depending on their habitat and location.4

 

[Ca.]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1735104560086348102

 

[Skyfarmr]

What is causing the bizarre behavior in fish throughout the Florida Keys?​

What is causing the bizarre behavior in fish throughout the Florida Keys"
Sawfish and dozens of other species exhibiting strange behavior, noted at Big Pine Key, FL

Local 10 News:

Kind of crazy the way some of the smaller species are just "spinning."
They seemed to have ruled out the usual suspects, but never mentioned the weakening magnetic field or the magnetic pole migration.

 

[jess]

Rare bird, native to Maine and Canada, ends up on Florida beach

PONCE INLET, Fla. - A group of beachgoers discovered an Atlantic Puffin bird on the shore of Ponce Inlet, marking the first discovery of its kind in Volusia County.

Ponce Inlet resident Alicia De Barreno said she was biking on the beach when she noticed a bird struggling in the water. "It wasn't, wasn't doing what it should have been doing." De Barreno said. "I didn’t think it was okay." De Barreno called her friend Karin Henigan and her husband Larry over to take a look.
They noticed it trying to walk back into the water, but it was unable to. "Once we realized what he was… [we realized he's not supposed to be here.]

"[We] just couldn’t leave ‘em there. My heart couldn’t leave ‘em there," Karin said. The group named the animal "Paulie." After calling experts, they decided to take it to get medical attention.

Larry wrapped the bird in a towel and placed it in a box before taking it to the nearby Marine Science Center’s bird hospital.

There, they tended to the bird, attempting to nurse it back to health. The manager of the center, Chad Macfie said the bird came in severely underweight and tired. Despite those efforts, the Puffin did not survive.

"We were kind of excited about going up to Maine to release the puffin, but unfortunately, it didn't make it," he said. He added that the bird had been donated to the University of Florida for research purposes.

"It was heartbreaking," Karin said.

The birds are native to Northern places with cold water such as Maine. Macfie said strong winds and the pursuit of food likely lead the bird thousands of miles from where it belongs. He said Puffins live most of their lives at sea, and therefore are not well-suited to survive on land.

"They're not as adapted to living in terrestrial environments like other birds are," Macfie said.

 

[mabar]

Not so different from human behavior. That's how some politicians look.
On the other hand, is good it wasn't lions or the like.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1773439289768186106

NEW: Rival monkey gangs are taking over a Thai tourist town, forcing police officers to arm themselves with sling-shots and tranquilizer guns.

The monkeys have taken over Lopburi which is about 90 miles from Bangkok.

One team successfully captured monkey gang leader Ai Krao who is well known for its aggressive behavior. The monkey was hauled off in a cage after being shot by the police with a sedative dart.

The monkeys are adapting and recognizing when officers have a tranquilizer gun.

"We had to hide our faces and conceal the tranquilizer guns so the monkeys wouldn't see them." said Conservation Bureau Officer Nathi Krutthaka.