With Hurricane Harvey barreling toward the coast of Texas, the state’s residents have no doubt been busy preparing for any havoc the storm may wreak, including extreme flooding. But beyond the potential damage those rising waters could do to homes and property there’s another eventuality Texans should be ready to handle: Displaced alligators. [More]
wildlife
Bear Who Ripped Bumper Off Doughnut Delivery Car Is All Of Us
By 5.25.17
If you’ve ever felt so hungry and angry at the same time — otherwise known as “hangry” — that you will do just about anything to get your hands on something to eat, perhaps you can commiserate with a bear in Colorado that ripped the bumper off a doughnut delivery vehicle in his desperate hunt for a treat. [More]
United Airlines Investigating After Giant Rabbit Dies During Flight
By 4.26.17
If you have a soft spot in your heart for animals, you might want to pass on this one: United Airlines is investigating the death of a giant rabbit that had been stowed in the cargo hold of a flight from London to Chicago. [More]
Bargain-Hunting Beavers: 17 Times Animals Went Shopping In Human Stores
By 12.1.16
Does it make you giggle to think about a beaver going Christmas shopping at a dollar store? If so, you’ll be even more tickled to know this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about an animal waltzing into a human business like it belonged there. Heck, this isn’t even the first time we’ve heard about a beaver doing that. [More]
TripAdvisor No Longer Selling Tickets To Hundreds Of Animal Attractions
By 10.12.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
While experiencing wildlife up close may be a huge draw for some travelers, one of the world’s largest travel websites won’t be selling tickets to hundreds of attractions where humans come into contact with wild animals: TripAdvisor, and its booking service Viator, says it’s done selling tickets to those kinds of experiences. [More]
NYC Giving 50K Oysters A New Home On Underwater Beds Made From Old Toilets
By 9.6.16
In an effort to improve the water quality in the New York City area and protect wetlands, 50,000 oysters are getting a new home in Jamaica Bay near the city: on porcelain beds made out of recycled toilets. [More]
Monkey Gets Loose In Walmart Parking Lot, Throws Down With Employee
By 8.16.16
What happens when a monkey gets loose in a Walmart parking lot and jumps a store employee? Someone catches the whole thing on video, that’s what happens, and the Internet goes crazy. [More]
Woman Killed After Trying To Save Daughter From Tiger Attack At Chinese Wildlife Park
By 7.27.16
While there are many opportunities for us humans to brush up against wildlife, there’s always the risk of getting too close to nature. A recent tragic incident at a drive-through wildlife park in China shows just how dangerous it can be to interact with wild animals, which are, well, still wild, even if we have up-close-and-personal access to them. [More]
Park Service: To Avoid Risk Of Animal Attack, Stop Trying To Get Up Close & Personal
By 6.1.16
It’s that time of year again: the weather is nice, and our nation’s parks are full of visitors who want to check out all that nature has to offer. But yet again the National Park Service finds itself forced to remind folks that if they don’t want to find themselves facing down, say, a charging bison, you shouldn’t try to get too close just for the sake of a souvenir photo. [More]
Beaver Wanders Into A Lowe’s Store, Finds Nothing Useful
By 5.18.15
If you find a trip to your local home-improvement superstore daunting and stressful, imagine being a young adult beaver preparing to build your first home. One of the rodents wandered into the chain’s location in Fairbanks, Alaska, and wandered the store’s aisles aimlessly. It was as likely to find twigs and mud as you are to agree on a paint shade for the master bedroom. [More]
TSA Busts Passenger Allegedly Trying To Fly With Bear Paws In His Luggage
By 3.23.15
We’ve heard many a tale of travelers accused of trying to move things they shouldn’t through the air in their luggage, attempts that are often thwarted by the Transportation Security Administration’s airport checkpoints. But while we’re used to hearing about concealed weapons or live wildlife, officials say one traveler allegedly upped the “what not to pack” ante by toting bear paws and other parts in his bags. [More]
“Stressed Out” Badger Prevents Staff And Guests From Entering, Leaving Luxury Hotel
By 3.6.15
Guests and staff at a luxury hotel in Stockholm found themselves at the whim of one erratic badger, whose aggressive stance kept anyone from either entering or leaving the place for some time this morning. Want to pick up your bags or go through those revolving doors? Nope. Much like his honey-loving cousin, hotel badger does not care what you want. [More]
DEA Agent Says Legalizing Medical Marijuana In Utah Will Lead To Stoned Rabbits
By 3.3.15
There are many arguments for and against using marijuana legally in this country, whether for medical use or for fun, but one drug enforcement official’s reason for his stance against legalizing it in Utah is surely one nobody’s about to forget: He says wild bunnies will get high off the stuff. [More]
Dumpster Diving Bear Cub Rescued After Getting Cookie Jar Stuck On Its Head
By 7.2.14
While the relationship between Mother Nature and the Human World might be getting a bit too cozy, turning wild animals into bargoers and birthday bashers, which while adorable, is not good for either party involved, it’s still pretty adorable to imagine a bear cub with a cookie jar stuck on its head getting a big rescue. [More]
Deer Wanders Into Frozen Yogurt Shop, Does $5,000 In Damage
By 11.26.13
Frozen yogurt is currently quite trendy, but we didn’t know that word had spread to wildlife. Yet a deer psuhed through the swinging door of a Peachwave shop in New Jersey last month and had an exciting romp, doing $5,000 in damage to the shop as it freaked out that its hooves couldn’t get any traction on the shiny floor. [More]
Restaurant Drives Away Dumpster-Diving Bear With Spike Strips
By 8.5.13
Vandals kept moving the dumpsters behind a Colorado Springs restaurant and rifling through the trash, so the owners set up surveillance cameras to catch the culprits. The vandals turned out to be a bear pushing the trash containers around and pawing through them. The restaurant decided to drive the bear away using boards spiked with nails. [More]
Government Wipes Out Geese Population In Brooklyn To Ensure Airplane Safety
By 7.13.10
In what has come to be known as “Sully’s Revenge” (by me, just now), wildlife biologists herded about 400 geese from Brooklyn’s ginormous Prospect Park into cages last week, then “took them to a nearby building where they were gassed with lethal doses of carbon dioxide.” [More]
BP Is Working Very Hard To Keep Reporters Away From Dead Marine Animals
By 6.3.10
According to a BP contractor who took a few reporters on a secret tour of the oil-soaked dead wildlife of the Gulf Coast, the company’s post-oil-spill logic makes perfect sense. Keep reporters and dignitaries far, far away from dead and dying animals, and if they wait long enough, the evidence (i.e. the animal corpses) will wash out to sea. [More]
