Animals

A pet monkey that escaped her owners at an Indiana campground this week got her leash caught in a tree and had to be rescued by firefighters, officials said.

The Orange County Rural District 1 Fire Department said crews responded to the Patoka Lake Campgrounds in French Lick shortly before midnight on Tuesday to help rescue the monkey, along with personnel from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

“Curious George decided to leave camp and go for a late night stroll,” the fire department wrote on Facebook alongside photos of the adventurous monkey. But unlike Curious George, the primate star of numerous beloved children’s books, this female monkey would be more aptly named Curious Georgina.

“During her adventure she managed to get her leash tangled in a branch approximately 30-35 feet up in a tree,” the fire department said.

Photos show the monkey perched on a high branch, which appears to have her black leash wrapped around it.

Thanks to “quick planning” from the first units to arrive at the scene, a rescue plan was established. Responders made just “a few strategic cuts” and safely lowered the monkey back down to the campsite.

Another photo shows the monkey reunited with her happy owner, perched on the woman’s shoulders and nuzzling her head.

—TMX contributed to this report

A man from Brisbane, Australia, posted a bizarre video online showing him in his underwear removing a snake that seemed to have taken a liking to his Dyson vacuum cleaner.

Knewz.com has learned that the snake – a python – had made its way indoors to most likely escape the cold weather in southeast Queensland.

From the context, it seems that the man, clad in maroon boxers, waited for his partner to start the camera before embarking on his solo snake removal adventure.

Once the woman gave the go-ahead, nervously saying, “I’m videoing, could you just… [apparently signaling the man to get on with it],” the man proceeded to the vacuum cleaner that had a snake coiled along its pipe.

Before throwing the unwelcome guest out, the man stopped and held the snake close to the camera (and his partner), admiring its beauty, to which the woman can be heard saying, “Okay, just take it.”

“Alright, just take it. It’s only a python,” the woman added before the man proceeded to take the snake as well as the vacuum cleaner outside. The video ends with the man trying to get the snake off the appliance.

The man posted the video on Reddit with the caption “My fat gut” on the r/brisbane subreddit and added in the comments of the post that the python was “making love to the dyson [vacuum cleaner].”

Needless to say, the online community found the footage extremely amusing.

One of the users commented, “This is the most Brisbane video I’ve ever seen,” while another wrote, “Did anyone else get a load of that guys enormous python?”

Another comment read, “I love how he’s like ‘check out how cool it is!’ and the wife is like ‘yeah yeah whatever just get it out of the house’. That would definitely be how it goes in my house too.”

One of the users referred to the woman’s “It’s only a python” comment and wrote, “It’s only a Dyson, I mean a python.”

Another user wrote “You did exceptionally well there, mate. There would have been multiple holes in the wall with me.”

One of the comments suggested that the snake was only trying to help with chores: “Why would you get rid of them? They were trying to do your vacuuming?”

Some of the comments on the post took an educational turn as one of them pointed out that the python only entered their bedroom looking “for a bit of warmth.”

One of the users wrote in the comments that they believed snakes hibernate during the winter, to which another user replied that snakes in Australia do not hibernate at all, leading to a rather lengthy educational comment thread where some pointed out that snakes undergo something called “brumation” as opposed to hibernation.

Brumation is a state of semi-dormancy that snakes go into during winters in Australia, as the island continent is not warm enough for reptiles to go into a seasonal “sleep.”

The snake seen in the video appears to be a carpet python, which, according to the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife (FNPW) is most commonly found in suburban backyards, especially in Queensland.

The FNPW also described this species as “shy and non-venomous,” although adding that “it’s best to keep your distance as their curved backward facing teeth do give a painful bite.”

“If a Carpet Python is in your roof, it’s looking for rodents to eat. If you can cope with the idea of a snake in the attic, it’s best to leave them to it. Chances are, once they have cleaned out your roof of rats or mice, they will move on.”

Rescuers on Monday announced an “extremely successful” resolution to what has been officially declared the largest mass dolphin stranding in U.S. history, with more than 100 dolphins surviving the ordeal that began last month on Cape Cod.

The nonprofit International Fund for Animal Welfare said a total of 146 dolphins were involved in the stranding that began on June 28 in Wellfleet, Mass., and 102 are believed to have survived. Of the 44 remaining dolphins, 37 died from natural causes and seven were euthanized.

“The stranding response was a tremendous effort for our staff, volunteers, and partners over several days,” IFAW said in a statement Monday. “With the approximately 70% survival rate, we consider this response extremely successful.”

The organization said satellite tags show some surviving dolphins “swimming safely offshore,” while whale watch vessels have reported seeing some of the dolphins, which were identified with temporary markings, swimming among “hundreds of other dolphins that were not involved in the stranding.”

During their response to the stranding, IFAW said their mobile rescue clinic was damaged and will need repairs, and their supplies were exhausted. Nine of the dolphins were extracted and transported in the mobile rescue clinic to their release sites.

Cape Cod is a global stranding hotspot, with its unusual fishhook shape proving treacherous for marine mammals.

During the response to the stranding, on Tuesday, July 2, IFAW said 11 dolphins remaining in Wellfleet Harbor began swimming up Duck Creek, “a historic mass stranding location and a difficult spot to extract dolphins from.” IFAW teams “herded” the dolphins to strand instead on a more accessible shore.

“By forcing them to strand in a controlled way, the team was able to extract them and transport them via our mobile dolphin rescue clinic,” the organization said. Of the 11, only 9 were healthy enough to be released, and two were euthanized.

“Stranding, herding, and being caught in recurring tidal shifts is incredibly stressful for the dolphins,” Katie Moore said in a statement. “The prognosis for each animal declines as time passes if they continue to re-strand. The animals are likely showing signs of the cumulative stresses and trauma associated with repeat strandings and effects of tidal fluctuations, even if they have not re-stranded.”

—TMX contributed to this report.

A group of beachgoers in California endured a moment of fright when they encountered what they thought was an unusually large shark.

Knewz.com has learned that the incident involved what has been dubbed the “ocean’s strangest fish” with its abnormally large fin which wandered close to a Santa Cruz shore.

Images of the encounter depict the large dorsal fin protruding from the water—which at a glance could and supposedly was mistaken for that of a shark.

“Partially submerged with just its dorsal fin protruding from the water, it could easily be mistaken for a shark as you saw from one of my photos.”

The image shows a surfer on his board at arm’s length of the creature watching it attentively. 

Eric Mendelson who snapped the photos weighed in on the “partially submerged [fish] with just its dorsal fin protruding from the water,” and confirmed its likeness to one of the oceans’ deadliest predators noting that it could easily be mistaken for a shark.” 

He explained how he came to see what was later determined to be a “large ocean sunfish”.

“I walked to a bluff overlooking the water; there was a group of perhaps 10 people looking out into the bay.”

“There were two surfers in the ocean watching something quite large swimming near them.”

“Another surfer who’d got out of the water told me he came ashore because he’d seen what he thought was a large shark and pointed out the creature everyone was looking at.”

One witness, Eric, set the record straight and was quoted saying: 

“In fact, the animal was not a shark or a whale, it was a large ocean sunfish basking in the shallow water.”

The creature in question is said to be capable of growing to formidable sizes and weights (5,000 lbs) even heavier than that of the shark (4,410 lbs).

“They are rare to see as close to shore as this one was, although they are not terribly uncommon out in the open ocean,” Mendelssohn was quoted saying.

“I have lived near the beach in Santa Cruz for over forty years and this was the first time I’ve ever seen one in the wild.”

Mendelssohn explained that he knew what he was looking at as he had seen the creature before.

“I saw one in the Monterey Bay Aquarium several years ago, but it had to be released because it outgrew its tank.”

“Despite their enormity, they are docile animals, harmless to humans. Unlike sunfish,” the retiree warned,  “sharks are common in the Monterey Bay and great white sharks are often spotted here.”

The elusive sunfish, however, may dwindle off into extinction.

“Human garbage, such as floating plastic bags, pose a risk to them as they mistake the plastics for jellyfish,” noted Mendelsohn (via PEN NEWS).

“Once ingested the bags can clog up the digestive tracts of the sunfish causing them to starve to death.”

A protester disrupted the Los Angeles premiere of “Twisters” Thursday night to denounce the depiction of “animal abuse” in a rodeo scene in the film, which resulted in the woman being escorted out by security.

Videos shared on social media show the film’s stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell being introduced in front of the audience at the Westwood Regency Village Theatre Thursday, July 11, when a woman rushes the stage repeating the phrases, “There no excuse for animal abuse,” and “Universal, we urge you,” referring to the studio behind the movie.

After the protester was removed from the theater, Powell finished introducing the film and passed the microphone to costar Anthony Ramos, who laughed and said, “That was a wild intro.”

The protester was part of a protest held by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and more members were protesting outside the venue.

“We demand a disclaimer,” PETA wrote on X, formerly Twitter, alongside photos from the protest. “@universalpics, it’s time for a reality check. @Twisters’ rodeo date scene glorifies torment, violence, and death of animals.”

The photos showed protesters wearing cow masks and holding signs that read “Calves’ Necks Are Twisted at Rodeos” and “Lasso Tornadoes, Not Animals.”

“We stirred up at a storm at the #TwistersMovie premiere tonight with a clear message against its rodeo scene,” PETA wrote alongside a video clip of the protester inside. “Shame on Universal Pictures for glamorizing violence towards animals!”

—TMX contributed to this report.

A 125-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton, noted to be one of the most complete assemblages of bones discovered in the last century, was excavated from an island off the southern coast of England.

Knewz.com has learned that the creature it belonged to, Comptonatus chasei, lived in a period when ocean levels were higher and continents were divided by small seas.

Said Comptonatus chasei – named after a relic hunter Nick Chase who discovered the 149-bone skeleton – is believed to be a herbivorous dinosaur—the remains of which were first found in 2013.

Despite it being excavated (on the Isle of Wight) more than a decade ago, it was only identified recently.

Jeremy Lockwood, a retired GP and associate scientist at the United Kingdom’s Museum of Natural History, helped with the excavation.

He weighed in on the find saying:

“It (the discovery) helps us understand more about the different types of dinosaurs that lived in England in the early Cretaceous.”

“This adds to recent research that shows that Wessex was one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems.”

Lockwood confirmed the weight of the prehistoric animal saying:

“This animal would have been around a tonne, about the size of a large male American bison.” 

“Evidence from fossil footprints found nearby shows it was likely to be a herding animal, so possibly large herds of these heavy dinosaurs may have been thundering around if spooked by predators on the floodplains over 120m years ago.”

A paper published in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology indicated that the creature’s pubic hip bone was around the size of a dinner plate.

Not quite clear on why the structural component was so large, Lockwood speculated, saying:

“It [the bone] was probably for muscle attachments, which might mean its mode of locomotion was a bit different, or it could have been to support the stomach contents more effectively, or even have been involved in how the animal breathed, but all of these theories are somewhat speculative.”

When the skeleton was first found, the dinosaur was thought to be the three-toed herbivorous Mantellisaurus, but certain characteristics corrected this way of thinking.

Lockwood noted that the Comptonatus chasei had “unique features in its skull, teeth, and other parts of its body.”

He also observed that “its lower jaw has a straight bottom edge, whereas most iguanodontians [large plant-eating dinosaurs from the same period believed to have walked on all four legs] have a jaw that curves downwards.”

Lockwood praised Chase for the find saying: “Nick had a phenomenal nose for finding dinosaur bones. He collected fossils daily in all weathers and donated them to museums,” per The Guardian.

The discovery comes a year after the largest known carnivorous dinosaur skeleton was found on the same island.

“The size of the specimen is impressive. It is one of the biggest, and possibly the biggest, known land predator ever to stalk Europe,” said PhD paleontology student at the University of Southampton, Chris Barker, via the Natural History Museum.

National Park Service officials in North Dakota are working to find a new home for a “feral” horse that keeps finding his way to a campground and harassing campers and their horses.

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park said a feral male horse began entering the Roundup Horse Camp earlier this spring. The horse approached campers and their horses, followed riders down the trail, and “interfered with the feeding and care” of campers’ horses.

“This animal’s aggressive behavior ultimately led to a rider being bucked from their mount,” park officials said. Another group of campers corralled the horse because they felt it posed a risk, and notified park staff.

Once notified, park staff moved the horse to the opposite side of the park, but he found his way back to the campground the next day.

“Given the animal’s lack of fear of humans, his affinity for the campground, and his demonstrated negative behaviors, this animal will not be released back into the park,” officials said.

The National Park Service has established procedures for dealing with “animals that pose a danger to visitors, cause resource damage, or become a nuisance,” including removal. The park said staff are working with the General Services Administration to “ensure the best possible outcome for this animal through adoption or sale.”

The horse currently remains corralled in the park, and rangers say the horse is checked daily and provided food, water and shelter.

—TMX contributed to this report.

Officers discovered four hamsters in an Ohio man’s pants when he was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of breaking into multiple locations, including a pet store.

The Columbus Division of Police said officers responded to a report of a break-in at the restaurant Roosters at 5225 Nike Station Way near Hilliard shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday. They found video that showed a man wearing leopard-print pajamas inside the restaurant.

Investigators learned a nearby Petland pet store was also broken into after discovering animals roaming free in the parking lot. Officers recovered multiple dogs, birds and rabbits at the scene. Officers also discovered a nearby Famous Footwear store had been broken into.

Officers found the man in leopard-print pajamas sleeping on a bench near a Big Lots store on Roberts Road at around 4:45 a.m.

Body-worn camera video of the arrest shows officers waking the suspect, identified as 31-year-old Matthew Pancake, and ordering him to get on the ground.

As officers handcuff and pat down Pancake, an officer discovers a small animal inside his pajama pants.

“Oh, God, there is a gerbil,” an officer can be heard saying.

“There’s multiple gerbils in his pants,” an officer says, though the animals were later identified as hamsters. “Do you have any more gerbils on you?”

The four hamsters found in Pancake’s pants were ultimately returned to the pet store.

Pancake was arrested and charged with breaking and entering and vandalism.

—TMX contributed to this report.

New research suggests that a certain species of butterfly in South America originated in Europe and flew nearly 3,000 miles from West Africa across the Atlantic Ocean.

Knewz.com has learned that to complete the trip, these carder butterflies (Vanessa cardui) are believed to have relied on a so-called Saharan air layer, known to carry large quantities of dust from the world’s largest hot desert in Africa.

The study, documented through the Spanish National Council Research (CSIC), further noted that such a journey would take five to eight days and the success thereof was heavily dependent on an air layer also referred to as trade winds.

The academic realm was first tipped off to the phenomenon when a researcher, Gerard 

Talavera from the Barcelona Botanical Institute in Spain, traveled to French Guiana in October 2013.

Talavera was taken aback when he identified several of these carder butterflies on the territory’s (east-facing) beaches.

This, for the researcher, was anomalous as these insects were not known to exist in South America.

According to the ensuing academic paper, the discovery then led to two hypotheses; the first being that the newly discovered population was born in continental North America, and the second that they were born in Europe or Africa.

Researchers favored a theory that these butterflies crossed the Atlantic. To support the latter, the paper noted: 

“By analyzing wind trajectories, the researchers observed a sustained pattern of directionality from western Africa, which opened up the possibility that they had crossed the Atlantic.”

“By studying the butterflies’ genetic diversity, which required collecting samples from populations on every continent, the researchers determined that the individuals observed in South America were related to populations in Europe and Africa.” 

These findings ruled out the possibility that the winged insects originated in North America.

To better ascertain this idea, the researchers examined the pollen and the DNA from the butterflies’ bodies.  

The analysis surrendered traces of plants exclusive to tropical Africa indicating that the butterflies had at some point been in the region.

In a bid to solidify their beliefs, scientists analyzed the insects’ wings as they generally retain traces of their surroundings from their larval stages.

The ensuing evidence pointed to European countries like France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Portugal.

“The carder butterflies arrived in South America from West Africa, flying at least 4,200 km over the Atlantic,” noted Professor Clément Bataille at Canada’s University of Ottawa who co-authored the article.

“But their journey could have been even longer, starting in Europe and passing through three continents, which means a migration of 7,000 km or more. This is an extraordinary feat for such a small insect.”

Roger Vila, a researcher at the CSIC’s Institute of Biology summed it up by saying: 

“We tend to see butterflies as a symbol of the fragility of beauty, but science shows us that they can perform incredible feats. There is still much to discover about their capabilities.”

A Florida teenager was bitten by a shark during his first day at lifeguard training camp on Monday, officials said.

Dempsey Manhart, 14, was participating in a lifeguard training drill near the lifeguard tower in Ponce Inlet shortly before noon on Monday when he dove into the water and landed on a shark.

“I dove onto it, and I hit the shark,” Manhart told Fox 35 News. “I hit it with my hands, and then I stood up, and it spun around and was like underneath my legs. And I think it bit me then when it was wrapped around my feet.”

The teen told the outlet that at first he thought he hit a person.

“When it came under my feet, I was like hitting it, and then it swam away. Then that’s when I saw the shark,” Manhart told the outlet.

The shark bit the boy’s calf, and he was taken by his parents to get 17 stitches. He still hopes to be back out on the beach Tuesday, even if he can’t enter the water yet.

“Because I think that it’s something really rare that can happen. And if it’s happened once, I doubt it’s going to happen again. So I don’t think there’s really anything to be scared of,” said Manhart, whose father is a Volusia County deputy, lifeguard and EMT.

Monday’s shark encounter comes less than a week after two separate shark bites in nearby New Smyrna Beach. A 21-year-old man was bitten Thursday, and a 26-year-old man was bitten Friday.

—TMX contributed to this report.