Kamikaze Goose

January 2, 2018. Easton, Maryland.

Dead goose nails the hunter who shot it. A Divine Wind indeed.

Well played, goose.

Dead Elk Gores Hunter

September 11, 2003. Diamond Mountain, Utah.

Now that was a fiendishly tricky move on the elk's part.

Of course this will probably spark a craze of zombie elk books and TV shows now. Ugh.

One Million Cockroaches Escape Farm

August 2013. Dafeng, China.

Of course, given how the Chinese government locks down communications and underplays catastrophes, we're probably really looking at a billion or so roaches on the lam.

Rabid Cow Attacks Farmer

February 3, 2012. Maysville, Georgia.

Not as scary as a rabid buffalo, perhaps, but still sobering.

Rabid Skunks Invading Larimer County

August 1, 2012. Larimer County, Colorado.

23 rabid skunks and one rabid buffalo, and one rabid raccoon. I can honestly say that the thought of a rabid buffalo scares the shit out of me. I had no idea that was even possible.

Changing the subject, it's hard to read "bat rabies" correctly, and not see "rat babies". Got to be a tongue twister in there somehow. The rat babies gave the bat rabies, and the bat babies gave the rat rabies.

Otter Attacks Woman

July 16, 2012. Island Lake, Minnesota.

I can see how it would freak you out, but if you're claiming to be a true Ironwoman, you really shouldn't let a 20 pound mustelid kick your ass.

Bear vs Chihuahua

August 18, 2009. Frazier Park, California.

Another bear-chihuahua match. Apparently the bear managed to get the best of the contest.

I know people love their lap dogs, but to me the analogy is

bear : chihuahua = person : popcorn.

Candy Seeking Bear Invades Home

Aspen, Colorado. August 19, 2009

"It apparently went for the Hirsches' son's bag of candy and an unopened container of chocolate toffee."

Surprisingly, the bear was able to breach the home's defense of french doors and the dog, a small chihuahua-mix.

Tree Attacks Priuses

June 15, 2009. Boulder, Colorado

Falling tree hits not one but two Priuses driving down the road.

Man Uses Chainsaw On Cougar

July 17, 2009. Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming

Man, that is hard core.

'Hopper Plague, continued

Thinking more about the Utah grasshopper plague. This might be weird, but there's definitely a part of me that thinks it would be cool to drive on over to Utah and check it out. I mean, I know it would be gross, but I keep reading about grasshopper storms (On The Banks Of Plum Creek, or Out Of Africa, or really, any history of 19th century settlement in the prairie states). It would be kind of cool, if squishy, to see it first-hand.

Grasshoppers Plague Utah

June 29, 2009. Tooele, Utah

According to the article, the grasshopper density has reached as high as 2000 hoppers/ft^2. They say up to 250,000 acres have been hit. Can we do the math? ... Yes we can: 2000 hoppers/ft ^2 * 43560 ft^2/acre * 250000 acres equals HOLY SHIT THAT'S A LOT OF GRASSHOPPERS!!!!

Rabid Bat Haunts Library, Brushes Head

June 27, 2009. Longmont Colorado.

"The bat brushed against the head of a contract worker ..." Sure, give the contract workers the dangerous jobs.

Not clear what the bat was doing in the library. Research perhaps?

Pythons On The March

Florida, 2009

According to this article, there are 30,000 Burmese pythons (up to 200 pounds each, 30 feet long) living wild in Florida! Man oh man.

The article claims that "One million live Burmese pythons were legally imported into the U.S. between 2001 and 2006", which (if true) is just amazing.

Other highlights in the article: an awesome picture of a python throwing it down with a gator. The experts quoted think the animals are evenly matched -- surprising to me. And then a vague hope by a biologist that the parking lots of Wal-Mart will save us.

Gnat Attack

Cedar Rapids, Iowa. June 2, 2009

Buffalo gnats on the rise in Iowa.

Coyote Confronts Folks

Tuesday, June 16. Northfield, Minnesota.

Coyote shuts down a trail on the St. Olaf College campus.

The article helpfully points out that a coyote "resembles a small German shepherd", suggesting a solution: find a dog that resembles a large German shepherd (perhaps an actual German shepherd), which could kick the coyote's ass. But maybe that's just a little too obvious.

Bear "Sneaks In" Through Dog Door, Steals Dog Food

June 17, 2009. Granby, Colorado.

I'm probably naive, but I always thought the size of the pet door should match the size of the pet. Either they need a bigger dog or a smaller door.

"The Beavers Must Die"

Tierra del Fuego

Sadly, that article I linked to requires payment, but here is an older article.

Some 50 beavers were introduced to Tierra del Fuego back in the 40's to kindle a fur trade industry ... now there are over 100,000 of them. Cool, unless you're a tree.

Somehow, the situation just kills me. My understanding of history is that the beaver were pushed to extinction in all of North America by 1840 or so ... and that was done by a handful of musket-wielding mountain men. Heck, beavers were completely exterminated in England by the 13th century ... surely modern man can do better. We've got grenades, machine guns, unmanned aerial drones, torpedoes. Come on.

Komodo Dragon Attacks On The Rise

Komodo Island, Indonesia

"fear is swirling through the fishing villages ..."

"... a 46-year-old park ranger was doing paperwork when a dragon slithered up the stairs of his wooden hut."

British Invasion: Black Widows

October 14, 2008. Britain.

"Deadly black widow spiders could soon establish colonies in Britain due to warmer weather."