Humane Solutions to Urban Wildlife Conflicts...

Whether you've found a bird with a broken wing, an orphaned baby squirrel, or have a wild animal taking up residence in your attic, we can help. Click on the links below for help with your situation.

• Click here if you have found an orphaned animal. Here you will find information to help you determine whether or not the animal you have found is really an orphan, and a listing of wildlife rehabilitators in your area if the animal is indeed in need of assitance.

• Click here if you have found an injured animal. Here you will find information on how to contain an injured wild animal, if it is safe to do so, as well as a full listing of wildlife rehabilitors in your area.

• Click here if you are experiencing a problem with a wild animal at your home or on your property. You will find detailed information on how to permanently and humanely resolve common urban wildlfe conflicts.

Blue Jellyfish Invade Australia Beaches

It's summer down under, and at many Australian beaches the sands have turned as blue as the water.

Huge armadas of toxic bluebottle jellyfish are swamping Australia's east coast in record numbers, putting the sting on peak beach season.

More than 30,000 people were stung by the translucent blue jellies on this coast last year—more than twice the number of incidents in 2005—according to Australia's lifeguard group, Surf Life Saving (SLS).

And in a single weekend earlier this month, beachgoers reported more than 1,200 stings, several requiring hospitalization.

The recent influx is the result of a wind shift that has pushed flotillas of the invertebrates ashore, scientists say. But the overall trend suggests that the 6-inch-long (15-centimeter-long) jellyfish are growing in number due to warming ocean waters.

Massive Yellow Jacket Nest Forms on Couple's Property

Most of us have reached for the can of bug spray to put down wasps or bees around the house. But a Bulloch County couple has a bigger problem than that.

Rising up out of the water, it looks like another tree stump from a distance. But a closer look is enough to take your attention, and maybe your breath.

Hundreds of thousands of yellow jackets swarm in and around their nest on Shelley and Tony Roberts' pond. They can't believe it got so big so quick.

"I reckon it was a couple of months ago," said Shelley. "All it was was a little stump and we noticed what looked like mushrooms growing up."

It looks to be about six feet tall and three feet wide. No one's gotten close enough to measure.

Mystery as thousands of birds fall from sky

THOUSANDS of birds have fallen from the skies over Esperance (Australia)and no one knows why.
Is it an illness, toxins or a natural phenomenon? A string of autopsies in Perth have shed no light on the mystery.

All the residents of flood-devastated Esperance know is that their "dawn chorus" of singing birds is missing.

The main casualties are wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, new holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters, although some dead crows, hawks and pigeons have also been found.

Wildlife officers are baffled by the "catastrophic" event, which the Department of Environment and Conservation said began well before last week's freak storm.

On Monday, Esperance, 725km southeast of Perth, was declared a natural disaster zone.

District nature conservation co-ordinator Mike Fitzgerald said the first reports of birds dropping dead in people's yards came in three weeks ago. More than 500 deaths had since been notified. But the calls stopped suddenly last week, reportedly because no birds were left.

"It's very substantial. We estimate several thousand birds are dead, although we don't have a clear number because of the large areas of bushland," Mr Fitzgerald said.
(via)

Singing For Survival: Gibbons Scare Off Predators With 'Song'

It is well known that animals use song as a way of attracting mates, but researchers have found that gibbons have developed an unusual way of scaring off predators -- by singing to them.

The primatologists at the University of St Andrews discovered that wild gibbons in Thailand have developed a unique song as a natural defence to predators. Literally singing for survival, the gibbons appear to use the song not just to warn their own group members but those in neighbouring areas.

They said, "We are interested in gibbon songs because, apart from human speech, these vocalisations provide a remarkable case of acoustic sophistication and versatility in primate communication. Our study has demonstrated that gibbons not only use unique songs as a response to predators, but that fellow gibbons understand them."

How one leopard changed its spots ... and saved a baby baboon

She is the ultimate predator - a sleek and stealthy killer. Pouncing on her prey, she silences the baboon with one swipe of a vicious paw. Then, suddenly, something stirs in the dead animal's fur, and the law of the jungle is rewritten.
From the bedraggled pelt of her kill crawls a tiny infant - a one-day-old baboon. In that moment, this young leopard forgets she is a hunter, and nurtures the baby baboon as if it were her own cub.

Smelling blood, a pack of hyenas gather to finish off the kill. Legadema, as she has been named by the camera crew who took these moving shots, carefully carries the baby baboon high up into a tree for protection. There, she cuddles the newborn to her for warmth through the long, African night.
(via)

The superlions marooned on an island

Marooned on an island, this group of lions should have died out. Instead, in an evolutionary twist, they've learned to swim and become strong enough to tackle their only prey... giant buffalo

Fearless, ferocious and mightier than the world has ever seen, this is the new breed of super-lion.

Only one species of prey holds its attention: the buffalo — and in order to bring its powerful foe to the ground, it will take to deep water, use sophisticated hunting techniques and then silence the gigantic beast with a single swipe of a savage paw.

A Tale of Two Cockies

A Story of Love, Compassion, Friendship & Loyalty
About eight years ago a wild Australian Sulphur Crested Cockatoo flew into a car and broke it's wing. The motorist took it to the Vet in Nerang, Queensland, who had to amputate the wing. We adoped her - for which we needed a National Parks and Wildlife permit - and kept her in a cage outside where she was often visited by wild Cockatoos.
(via)

Backyard Bobcat Album

A pair of bobcats has taken up residence in Paul Muhlrad's parents' backyard in suburban Tucson. They seem to be getting ready to start a family.
(via)

In Kansas, a Line Is Drawn Around a Prairie Dog Town

The Logan County commissioners want the prairie dogs dead. But two ranchers, Larry Haverfield and Gordon Barnhardt, and their allies in two environmental groups want the 5,500-acre colony on their property to flourish, for the good of the land and for the eventual delectation of black-footed ferrets. The ferrets, an endangered mammal, thrive on a diet of prairie dogs.

The ranchers’ defense of prairie dogs prompted bewilderment then anger in this county of about 3,100 people. Here in this red corner of a red state, where the sanctity of property rights is seldom questioned and the sanity of the government is questioned all the time, the prairie dog debate has turned everything upside down.

Some people are demanding enforcement of a century-old state law allowing the county to send exterminators onto the Haverfield and Barnhardt ranches — against the owners’ wishes but at their expense — to protect local property values.

Monk parakeets spread in Chicago area

Once, Chicago's monk parakeets had just one tree in Hyde Park.

Today, they have spread. And spread. There are monk parakeet colonies in nearly 20 suburbs, according to Christopher Appelt, an assistant professor of biology at St. Xavier University who studies the birds. "They have pushed their way into the surrounding suburbs," said Appelt.

The following photo was taken in Alsip, Illinois, on December 6, 2006.
It was 8:30 am, temperature was 36 degrees. There were about a dozen of these gorgeous, vivid green birds at 116th and Springfield.

ABOUT THE MONK PARAKEET

Monk parakeets are 12-inch-long birds that are lime green in color. Here are some other facts:

• Home sweet home: The parakeets are the only parrots in the world who build complex nest structures from sticks and other materials and live in them all year.

• It's all relative: They are also the sole occupants of the genus Myiopsitta, so they have no close relatives — at least from the scientific point of view. That may change some day as scientists develop a better understanding of parrot genetics.

• Homeland: These small birds are native to South America where they can be found in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.

• Moving around: In recent decades, they've been introduced through the pet trade to the United States and Europe.

Source: monkparakeet.com

Batty Discovery: The Longest Tongue

One nectar bat can launch its tongue three and a half times its body length, longer than any other mammal and second only to chameleons among vertebrates, scientists recently discovered.

The tube-lipped nectar bat (Anoura fistulata) was discovered in the cloud forests of the Andes of Ecuador, and first described last year.

But it wasn’t until recently that scientists realized the tongue of this bat extends twice as far as its family members. They suggest this long licker evolved to feed on a flower where the nectar is hidden at the end of equally long funnels. That gives the nectar bat sole pollinating rights to the flower.

Moose Expansion Expected in Adirondacks

Like wolves and cougars, moose were hunted out of New York more than a century ago. But the big herbivores are back, having wandered into New York's northern forests from Canada and New England over the past 30 years.

State conservation officials say the Adirondacks are on the verge of a moose boom, just like New Hampshire and Vermont, evidenced in part by a recent spate of collisions with cars. That doesn't mean you can just tromp to a likely spot to see Bullwinkle yet, though you may find a calling card underfoot.

Wasps Squirt "Pepper Spray" From Heads in Fights, Study Says

When female bethylid wasps are losing a vicious fight, they squirt an insect version of pepper spray from their heads before beating a retreat, new research suggests.

The chemical release is undetectable to humans, but it could represent a crucial behavior that may help biologists use the parasitic wasps as natural pest controls.

Teeny Frog Saved From Extinction In Zoos

The Denver Zoo is part of an effort to save a disappearing frog species that has become Panama's national symbol of nature.

Scientists fear that sometime next year, the last wild Panamanian golden frogs will die. The species is being destroyed by a fungus that is also wiping out other amphibian species. But about two dozen zoos including the Denver Zoo have several hundred of the frogs in captivity.

The fungus was only the final blow for a species whose numbers have long been dwindling because of deforestation, overcollection and water pollution.

Feds Collect Giant Rats in Florida

As the rising sun danced across Florida's coastal waters, government workers in shorts and T-shirts knelt in a grassy island field and plucked wriggling rats from traps laid the night before. These weren't just any rats. They were 3-pound, 35-inch-long African behemoths. They squirmed as the workers, wearing protective gloves, removed green radio collars that had been tracking the rodents' movements.

All 18 of the animals were carted away for research.

Giant Carnivorous Centipedes

The world has many moist, warm, and dark cavities where phobia-inspiring organisms quietly lurk. The tropical climate of South America's Amazon jungle has an unnaturally large number of such pockets, and consequently that region is home to unnaturally large specimens.

One such example is the Scolopendra gigantea, a venomous, red-maroon centipede with forty-six yellow-tinted legs. These centipedes are the largest in the world, and they are more commonly known as Amazonian giant centipedes due to their massive size. Adults commonly reach lengths of over thirty-five centimeters– the length of a man's forearm. Not only are these creatures very swift runners, but they are also highly adept climbers, a skill which allows them to scale walls to enjoy some surprisingly ambitious prey.

Horniman Museum looking for Great White Bear

The Horniman Museum is currently appealing to anyone who can help locate the Horniman polar bear (pictured). The polar bear was part of the original 1901 display (aquired at the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition in South Kensington).

Recently uncovered documents confirmed the polar bear was sold in 1948 to a Mr T Allen, a dealer in New Cross. Museum staff are keen to hear from descendants or friends who may know of the fate or current whereabouts of the polar bear.

If you have any information, please contact 020 8699 1872.

Conservation Group Seeks Protection From Effects of Global Warming

The Center for Biological Diversity, (Center), a non profit conservation organization, filed a formal petition today requesting that 12 species of penguins worldwide, including the well known Emperor Penguin, be added to the list of threatened and endangered species under the United States Endangered Species Act. Reasons cited are a number of threats including global warming.

Abnormally warm ocean temperatures along with diminished sea ice have wrecked havoc on penguin food availability in recent decades. Less food has led to population declines in penguin species ranging from the Southern Rockhopper and Humboldt penguins of the islands off South America, and the African Penguin in southern Africa, to the Emperor Penguin in Antarctica. The ocean conditions causing these declines have been linked by scientists to global warming and are projected to intensify in the coming decades.
(via)

Wild Pigs in U.S. Spreading Disease, Ruining Property, Experts Say

Wild pigs currently roam 39 states in the U.S., growing upward of 500 pounds (227 kilograms) as they eat just about anything they can find, from farmers' crops to endangered turtles' eggs.

he porkers damage property, threaten domestic pig farms, and may be creating human health risks, critics say.

‘World Cup 2010’ development threatens Barn Swallows

A proposed airport development in South Africa is threatening the winter roosting sites of three million Barn Swallows that journey there after spending breeding months in countries across Europe and other parts of the world.

The development is being proposed by the South African government, apparently to meet the demands of hosting World Cup 2010.

Video: Adelie Penguins' "Rocky" Parenting

They don't make an arduous 50-mile (80-kilometer) march like their "movie star" neighbors. But that doesn't mean Adélie penguins have it easy when to comes to breeding.