Category: Nature and Green Living

Avalanche Kills 3 Sweeping Them 500ft Down Mountain

Three climbers have been killed in an avalanche after the lead climber accidentally triggered it while attempting to reach the peak of an 8,705 foot mountain over the weekend.

The incident occurred on Sunday when a group of six climbers — all from the East Coast — were attempting to climb Colchuck Peak which sits at the south end of Colchuck Lake, approximately 8 miles south of Leavenworth, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest.

“The lead climber triggered an avalanche while attempting to climb the Northeast Couloir of Colchuck Peak,” officials from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office in a statement following the tragedy.

Four of the climbers were swept approximately 500 feet down the mountain during the avalanche that ended up killing three of them. The fourth climber, a 56-year-old man from New York, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was able to hike back to base camp with the two remaining survivors, a 50-year-old man from New York and a 36-year-old man from New Jersey.

When they finally arrived at camp, they sent a seventh member who did not venture out climbing for the day — a 53-year-old Maryland man — to go get help.

The three climbers that died as a result of trauma sustained in the fall were a 60-year-old female from New York, a 66-year-old male from New Jersey and a 53-year-old male from Connecticut, authorities confirmed. None of the identities of those involved in the incident have been released.

PHOTO: An image of a climber nearing the top of Colchuck Glacier taken on March 22, 2020, near Leavenworth, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest.
An image of a climber nearing the top of Colchuck Glacier taken on March 22, 2020, near Leavenworth, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest.Nick Magill

“Sheriff Mike Morrison reports on February 20th, 2023, deputies were contacted at the CCSO Leavenworth substation about an avalanche that occurred near Colchuck Lake the previous day,” read the statement from Chelan County Sheriff’s Office in the aftermath of the avalanche. “A total of 22 rescuers responded to the trailhead to assist with this effort. They were from Chelan County Mounty Rescue, Chelan County Volunteer Search and Rescue and ORV unit, Seattle Mountain Rescue, Tacoma Mountain Rescue, and Yakima Mountain Rescue.”

Once officials reached the base camp at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Monday, they determined that, due to the avalanche conditions, it was too dangerous to continue their recovery mission of the three deceased climbers and made the decision to return with the surviving climbers back to the trailhead, authorities said.

As of Wednesday, rescuers have still not been able to return to the scene due to the continuing hazardous conditions and officials from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office say they are continuing to work with the Northwest Avalanche Center to assist in a recover plan for the bodies of the three climbers.

In total, nine people have died this winter in avalanches across the United States, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center — four in Colorado in three separate instances, one in Montana, one in Nevada and now three in Washington following this event.

Last winter, 17 deaths from avalanches were reported in the United States with no single incident killing more than two people making this the largest avalanche death toll since an avalanche at Wilson Glade in Mill Creek Canyon, Utah, killed four people on Feb. 6, 2021, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

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Dad Drives 2,860 Miles Without Noticing Deadly Snake Inches from Steering Wheel

A dad drove the breadth of Australia without spotting a python inches away from the steering wheel.

Andrew Hill took six-year-old Ivy along for the ride when he drove a work vehicle 4,600km (2,860 miles) from Perth, Western Australia, to Brisbane, Queensland.

After passing through four states, Andrew drove the Toyota Hilux solo hundreds of miles more to a mine in Bowen Basin, central Queensland.

It was only then that one of his employees discovered the “hungry” desert python was lurking in the vent the entire time.

Andrew 39, said: “My employee, Peter Gillespie, was finishing work for the day at a mine site and was driving down the access road on his way back to camp.

“He looked towards the vent and saw this snake head coming out of the vent.

“He immediately hit the hand brake and jumped out, quite shocked at what he was looking at.

“He was shaken; he went white apparently.”

In a bid to identify the reptile, Andrew’s brother, Stuart, consulted a specialist snake page on Facebook.

They narrowed it down to a python in the Antaresia genus – and it wasn’t a local.

Andrew said: “They believe it would have come from the Western Australia desert in the Pilbara, because it’s a Western Australia desert snake.”

In total, Mr Hill estimates he drove a stonking 5,800km (3,600m) – roughly the distance from London to Istanbul and back again – with the python just inches from the wheel.

He said: “We feel better now, but to think we drove so far with it inside that vent is hard to believe.

“Even my wife drove that vehicle, so you can imagine how she felt when she found out.

“The chances of this ever happening again is almost impossible.”

That the snake remained hidden for so long is all the more remarkable, given that the car was being tinkered with between the two legs of the trip.

Andrew said: “The vehicle would have been at home for a week to get work done to it, I even pulled the dash out not knowing that snake would have been in there.”

After discovering the serpent, Mr Gillespie called for help and was able to get the snake taken away by a professional snake catcher.

As for how it ended up in the car in the first place, Andrew has some idea.

He said: “It would have been extremely hot and the window would have been left down.

“The snake would have crawled into the vent looking for somewhere cool and went into hibernation.

“They reckon it was time for it to wake up and it would have been hungry.”

Of the four species in the Antaresia genus, three are native to the north and/or west of Australia.

But there is one species that inhabits the north and east of the country, the Antaresia maculosa or spotted python.

Three of the species – childreni, perthensis and maculosa – can cause death from constriction, albeit rarely, according to their profiles on the International Society on Toxinology website.

But all four are non-venomous, and their bite – though potentially painful – is not deadly.

One of the species, the Antaresia childreni or children’s python, is often kept as a pet by reptile enthusiasts.

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Wild Footage Captures Mom Saving Son From a Massive Snake (VIDEO)

An eagle-eyed mom has saved her son from a potential snake attack after she spotted it slithering towards her young child. 

The footage, posted to TikTok by Christopher Crisp, from Cloncurry, Queensland showed their son Lucas playing with the family dog on the front lawn of their Outback home on September 21.

Lucas, unknowingly meters away from the snake, ran around with the family’s German Shepherd before his mom Raquel walked out with a baby in her arms. 

The footage showed Raquel stopping just short of their front gate after spotting the massive brown snake before she stepped in between the reptile and her son.

Raquel ushered Lucas inside with her free hand, clutching the baby with the other, while the snake slithered in the opposite direction.

Crisp took to TikTok to explain how close his son Lucas was to harm. ‘The snake sat there for over a minute watching the dog and Lucas play in front of the yard,’ he captioned the video.

‘Lucky mom saw it.

WATCH SHOCKING VIDEO BELOW:

Orignal Article

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Discovery’s Shark Week Needs Diversity, Study Says

Lisa Whitenack loved sharks as a kid. She spent rainy days leafing through a guide to sharks in Reader’s Digest. Every summer, she would watch “Shark Week,” Discovery’s annual TV event that spotlights the ocean predator with seven days of dedicated programming.

But when the scientists appeared on her TV screen, she rarely saw any women she could look up to.

“Why would I know I could do that?” Whitenack said. “I don’t come from a family of scientists. I didn’t see very many people that looked like me on television.”

Whitenack, now a biology professor at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., found her way into shark research anyway. When the pandemic lockdowns came in 2020, she saw an opportunity to study the source of her old misconceptions. Was “Shark Week” feeding audiences the wrong messages about sharks — and who studies them?

Whitenack led a team of researchers to examine hundreds of “Shark Week” episodes that aired between 1988 and 2020. In a study published last month by the Public Library of Science, their research claims that Discovery’s programming emphasized negative messages about sharks, lacked useful messaging about shark conservation and overwhelmingly featured White men as experts — including several with the same name.

The programming featured more White experts and commentators named “Mike” than women, said David Shiffman, a conservationist at Arizona State University who was a co-author of the study.

“When there are hundreds of people of color interested who work in this field, [and] when my field is more than half women, maybe it’s not an accident anymore that they’re only featuring White men,” Shiffman said.

Discovery did not respond to a request for comment on the study’s findings. The company told NBC Boston that it wouldn’t comment on a study “that has yet to pass any scientific approvals” after a preliminary version was presented 2021. It has since undergone a scientific review, Whitenack said.

“Shark Week,” a 34-year tradition and consistent ratings draw for Discovery, has faced criticism in the past. Scientists and TV critics blasted the event in 2020 for announcing a roster of TV specials that featured six White men out of eight named experts.

Whitenack’s study found that the trend persisted throughout almost all of the television event’s history. Over 90 percent of the 229 experts featured in 201 “Shark Week” episodes were White, the study found, and about 78 percent were men.

Carlee Bohannon, a marine biologist and co-founder of Minorities in Shark Sciences, praised the study for putting numbers to her and her colleagues’ long-standing concerns about diversity in both the media and shark science. When Bohannon founded her organization with three other Black scientists in 2020, it was the first time any of them had met other Black women in their field.

“We all grew up seeing one type of person on TV,” Bohannon said. “‘Shark Week’ was really the biggest thing, and it was always filled with White men.”

According to a separate diversity study co-written by Shiffman, more than half of the members of the American Elasmobranch Society, an academic group supporting the study of sharks and other fish, are women, but over 70 percent of the group’s leadership positions have been held by men. Women in marine sciences can also face a misogynistic culture, marine biologist Catherine Macdonald wrote in Scientific American in 2020.

“‘Shark Week’ further concentrates power (in the form of publicity and media attention) in the hands of white male ‘featured scientists,’ exacerbating academic power imbalances,” Macdonald wrote.

In the latest study, Whitenack and the other researchers also found that more “Shark Week” episodes included stories of attacks and other fearmongering messaging than positive language describing sharks as “awe-inspiring” or ecologically important, which the study called a missed opportunity.

“Shark Week” also lacked effective messaging about conservation issues, researchers said. Though Discovery has used the show to promote legislation protecting sharks, “Shark Week” rarely gave viewers actionable information about conservation issues, such as avoiding seafoods caught in ways that also trap and harm sharks, the study claims.

But Whitenack and Bohannon agreed that the biggest concern was with the program’s lack of diversity and how that might shape young scientists’ perceptions of marine biology and whether they could enter the field.

“Diversity in people brings diversity in thought, which ultimately brings innovation,” Bohannon said. “Being able to see someone who looks like you in this field really has an impact.”

Whitenack said Discoveryhasn’t contacted the research group.

In 2020, National Geographic developed a partnership with Minorities in Shark Sciences that allowed members of the organization to participate in the network’s competing TV program, “SharkFest,” Bohannon said. Seven scientists of color from the group appeared in this year’s programming.

Bohannon appeared on “SharkFest” twice to talk about nurse sharks in the Bahamas and how they have adapted to swim in shallow water. It felt like a milestone — one she wishes more of her peers get to experience.

“Just seeing myself on TV,” Bohannon said, “it was very surreal.”

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Russell Crowe Nearly Bitten by Venomous Snake on His Driveway

Russell Crowe was almost bitten by a venomous snake over the weekend, December 4. Admitting he’d broken one of his own rules by leaving the house without any shoes on, the 58-year-old “Gladiator” star stumbled across the creature while walking barefoot outside his home in Australia.

“On the driveway. Me and my buddy Bandy Bandy. Thankfully, his markings broadcast his presence. Broke one of my own rules, walking outside, at night, without shoes. A little reminder of the folly of that choice,” Crowe wrote as he took a picture of the venomous black and white striped Bandy-bandy snake and posted it on Twitter.

Russell Crowe has a close encounter with a snake

He also took a video of the creature slithering across the tarmac outside his home in Nana Glen, New South Wales and added, “Who’s my buddy now?”

The snakes are endemic to Australia and there are five known species of Bandy-bandy. The snake encounter comes shortly after Crowe opened up about his personal life and dismissed rumors he’d wed his girlfriend, Britney Theriot.

The actor – who was married to actress Danielle Spencer, 57, from 2003 until 2018 and has sons Charles, 18, and Tennyson, 16, with her – has been dating Britney, 39, since 2020 and they were recently hit with rumors they’d made their relationship official.

However, the actor is said to have dismissed the gossip in a text message to radio host Erin Molan. Speaking on the 2Day FM breakfast show “Hughesy, Ed Erin” last month, Erin said, “[He texted me] Yeah, good guess. We are not married.’ Yeah, they are not married … “

The rumors spread back in October, when “Broken City” actress Britney was said to have been spotted leaving a hotel in Italy wearing a ring on her wedding finger.

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Mystery of Twenty-Foot Crocodile Who Has Eaten More Than 300 People

Mystery surrounds a giant man-eating crocodile which is said to have claimed 300 victims and has evaded capture for years – despite hunters’ best efforts to stop him killing again. 

The 20-foot Nile crocodile, known as Gustave, has terrorised locals in settlements near Lake Tanganyika, Burundi, East Africa, for years and become part of local folklore.

It is unknown whether the beast, thought to weigh-in at a tonne, still lurks in the murky waters – although no evidence of it being dead has surfaced. 

Many have attempted to capture or kill Gustave, but all attempts to do so have ended in failure. 

Experts have said Gustave could be as old as 100, although others dispute that it’s more likely to be around 60 due to his dental arch being intact.

Records of his attacks on people living on the northeastern shores of Lake Tanganyika date back to 1987, according to National Geographic.

Mass deaths over the years have been attributed to tribal warfare or a serial murderer, but many suspect the monster crocodile. 

While it is doubtful that one crocodile could be responsible for all the hundreds of deaths he is blamed for, eyewitness reports describing him have details in common.

Eyewitnesses almost invariably recall an abnormally large croc with the same scar on the top of its head, thought to be a bullet wound.

It is said that the beast has at least three bullet wounds from where hunters have tried to kill him, all of them unsuccessfully.

Among them was a group of scientists who feature in a 2004 documentary, Capturing the Killer Croc.

It follows what it describes as a ‘rescue mission’ which ‘aims to catch this giant predator and relocate him to safe waters-before he kills again.’ 

But the team’s final attempt to capture Gustave with a sophisticated trap and live bait, ends in failure.

The documentary shows them hope to lure him using a live chicken, which is dangled above the water inside a massive cage.

They monitored the trap with an infrared camera and after having no luck for several nights ‘reluctantly’ decide to replace the chicken with a live goat.

But when they return the next day, the devastated team sees that all of their efforts have amounted to nothing.

The trap lies wrecked in high waters following a storm with the goat nowhere to be seen.

They had no way of knowing what happened to the trap and goat, as the infrared camera was also destroyed.

The mysterious croc may even have made off with the bait and been strong enough to destroy the trap. 

As their last-ditch attempt to secure the beast fails, the disappointed scientists are forced to give up on their mission and fly home.

Smaller traps were set before their final attempt, but all failed, with only smaller crocs snared. 

After cleverly evading capture for years, it is unknown whether the terrifying croc is still on the loose.

There was a claim he was killed in 2019 but no evidence has since emerged, leaving people to fear the mysterious creature still lurks in the river

Original Article

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Group of Dolphins Found Accompanying Body of Drowned Teen

The body of a 15-year-old girl who drowned after she was swept off the rocks on a South African beach was recently found floating in the water with a pod of dolphins nearby.

The girl fell into the ocean at Llandudno beach in Cape Town, South Africa, on October 28, and was swept away by rip currents, according to the National Sea Rescue Institute. Her body was found on October 29 around 0.6 miles offshore, alongside a group of dolphins.

“An NSRI rescue craft patrolling deep sea about a kilometer offshore reported … that the body of the teenager was located floating on the water surface accompanied by a pod of dolphins near to the rescue craft,” NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon told local news outlet The South African.

Dolphins are highly intelligent creatures, with sophisticated communication and social skills in their communities. Anecdotal cases of dolphins saving humans have been reported several times, including one case in 2004 where a pod of dolphins seemingly rushed to the aid of a group of swimmers in New Zealand, circling the group until a nearby ten-foot great white shark left them alone.

“I am certain they would recognize a dead human body in the water,” Olaf Meynecke, a whale and dolphin researcher at Australia’s Griffith University, told Newsweek.

“However, the stories we sometimes hear about dolphins actively trying to save people need to be taken with caution. It is not unheard of that some whales and dolphins have shown altruistic behavior towards other species. Even defending them against predators, so it is not impossible, but in many cases, a close encounter with people is often curiosity, not an intention to save them.”

Other experts agree that it is possible that the dolphins may have been attempting to help, but that it is just as likely that they were merely investigating an unusual scene, or even playing with the body.

“There are plenty of anecdotes about dolphins rescuing drowning swimmers. Some could be true, many others are likely exaggerations. What you won’t always hear about are the times when animals drag swimmers out to sea because the victim isn’t alive to tell the story. It is impossible to know what the dolphins were thinking or doing here, however, I think it is just as likely they were trying to help as they were just playing with the body,” Jason N. Bruck, a biology professor at Stephen F. Austin State University, told Newsweek.

Regardless of if the dolphins were attempting to come to the girl’s aid in this case, they have been noted to appear to recognize death as a concept and grieve losses in their social groups.

“When dolphin calves are born their mothers will help steer them to their first breath. Calves that are stillborn or die soon after birth may set the mother into a behavior pattern where they are constantly trying to steer the lifeless body to the surface,” Bruck said.

Meynecke agreed, saying: “Dolphins certainly do feel strong emotional pain in association with the death of close individuals (peers, relatives and friends). They have been [seen] carrying their dead young for days. This is true for many dolphin species from orcas to pilot whales to bottlenose dolphins.”

This behavior may not be what we as humans recognize as mourning, though.

“In this case, she may not be able to understand her calf is dead, or this drive may be overwhelming that recognition. What is normally an adaptive behavior towards a healthy calf quickly turns into something maladaptive in this case. It is this behavior that is often interpreted by some as whale grief. In truth, it is impossible to know exactly what they are thinking as their minds are separated from ours by 95 million years of evolution, but the urge to anthropomorphize in humans is strong,” Bruck said.

Original Article

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Giraffe Kills Toddler at Luxury Game Park in South Africa

A toddler is dead and her mother is in critical condition after being crushed by a giraffe in South Africa.

Officials said the 16-month-old girl and her mom were at the Kuleni Game Park in the KwaZulu-Natal province on Wednesday when the deadly encounter took place, according to BBC News and News24.

Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala, of the South African Police Service, said the two “were trampled” by the animal, according to News24’s report.

Shawn Herbst, of Netcare 911, said the child “was rushed through to a local doctors office,” where she was pronounced dead, according to IOL News.

The mother was found in critical condition and flown via Air Ambulance “to a specialist facility” for treatment, Herbst added, per the report.

As of Thursday morning, Herbst said, the woman is in the intensive care unit with multiple “traumatic” injuries.

It is unclear what sparked the rare attack by the giraffe. Gwala said the incident is under investigation, according to News24.

The daughter is believed to have lived with her mother at Kuleni Game Park, according to BBC News, while IOL News reports that the mother may be a tour guide at the lodge.

According to its website, Kuleni Game Park “hosts individually styled, eco-sensitive, timber structured lodges that offer absolute luxury in the bush.”

The site also promotes “close encounters with animals while walking or cycling the numerous trails.”

Visitors are free “to walk through the parks and walking trails,” barring any locations with a “NO ENTRY” sign, according to the park rules listed online.

The rules also warn that wildlife at the park is “unpredictable.” Visitors are encouraged to “keep a fair walking distance from them at all times.”

Read the original article on People

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Bear Brutally Mauls Two College Wrestlers

“I could hear when his teeth would hit my skull,” said one of the survivors.

Two Wyoming college wrestlers have been seriously injured when they were ambushed in a gruesome attack by a grizzly bear while hunting over the weekend.

The incident occurred on Saturday in Cody, Wyoming, when the two men encountered the bear at close range while they were in heavy cover while as they were antler hunting west of the Bobcat Houlihan trailhead on the Shoshone National Forest, the Wyoming Game & Fish Department said in a press release detailing the incident.

One of the men said he jumped on the grizzly to try and get him off his friend, Brady Lowry. “I grabbed and yanked him hard by the ear,” Kendall Cummings told Cowboy State Daily in a harrowing account of the gory attack.

“I could hear when his teeth would hit my skull, I could feel when he’d bite down on my bones and they’d kind of crunch,” Cummings continued.

The two men were somehow able to break free from the attack and call 911 which elicited an immediate response from both Park County Search and Rescue and personnel from the Wyoming Game & Fish Department.

“With the assistance of a hunter in the area, a local resident and other members of their party, the two men were able to reach the trailhead where they met search and rescue and were transported from the area,” said the Wyoming Game & Fish Department.

One of the victims was flown by helicopter to a local hospital while the other was taken by an ambulance, authorities said.

Both men, wrestling teammates at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, reportedly underwent multiple surgeries after sustaining major lacerations to the body and face. Lowry has a broken arm, reports said.

“Special thanks to Park County Search and Rescue and the Park County Sheriff’s office for their quick response and coordination of the rescue,” said Dan Smith, Cody Region wildlife supervisor.

An investigation into the attack is ongoing but authorities say this just appears to be a “sudden, surprise encounter with a grizzly bear.”

Officials added that there has been “an abundance of bear activity at low elevations” throughout the region in the last few weeks and urged people to use a lot of caution in the area where the attack took place.

“In the vicinity where the attack occurred, reports from landowners and hunters indicate there may be six to 10 different bears moving between agricultural fields and low elevation slopes,” Smith said. “Game and Fish will continue to monitor bear activity in the area and work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make management decisions in the best interest of public safety.”

“This is a sad and unfortunate situation, we wish both victims a full and speedy recovery,” Smith added.

For now, however, both Lowry and Cummings are counting their blessings and consider themselves lucky to have survived the attack at all.

“I don’t know what I’m going to pay him back, I don’t. I owe him everything,” Brady Lowry told the Cowboy Daily Press regarding Cummings’ quick actions that potentially saved his life. “We’ll be best friends for the rest of our lives.”

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Teacher Grows Gigantic Pumkin, Breaking the Previous Record – VIDEO

Travis Gienger, a horticulture teacher from Minnesota, grew a gargantuan pumpkin at home and drove it 35 hours across the country to enter it in an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California. The end result: a new U.S. record. 

Gienger, of Anoka, Minnesota, set the new record with a 2,560-pound pumpkin in the 49th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

Gienger’s two-day trip to California saw him treat the pumpkin with special care, wrapping it in plastic and wet blankets for the ride, according to Minneapolis news channel ABC 5 (KSTP-TV).

“Minnesota has a great midyear, but our spring in our parts is really, really tough,” Gienger told reporters. “So to do it in Minnesota, it just shouldn’t happen. It’s like winning the Tour de France on a Big Wheel. You know, you can only hope, but it worked.”

Gienger, who won the same contest in 2020, narrowly broke a record set last week in New York, where a grower raised a pumpkin that weighed 2,554 pounds.

The record for the heaviest pumpkin in the world belongs to a man in Italy, who grew a 2,702-pound squash in 2021, according to Guinness World Records.

Gienger said hauling it across the country on an attached trailer proved to be a challenge in itself.

“You think driving in a snowstorm is bad? Try driving one of these things”

Original Article

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