Huge Alligator 1 Man Minus 1

Huge Alligator Tears Snorkeler's Arm Off
AP

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (Sept. 17) - A 59-year-old man's arm was bitten off by an alligator as he snorkeled in a South Carolina lake, but doctors were unable to reattach it.

Bill Hedden, of Summerville, was bitten by an 11-foot, 10-inch alligator on Sunday afternoon in Lake Moultrie.

Hedden was taken to the Medical University of South Carolina, which declined Monday to release any information on his condition or treatment, citing the family's request for privacy. He was listed in critical condition Sunday.

The (Charleston) Post and Courier reported that a family member said doctors were unable to reattach the arm, but that Hedden was nevertheless in good spirits.

"The first order of Bill's care has been to stop the bleeding and save his life. His surgeons and health care team are determining the next steps in his care at this time," the family said in a statement Monday. "We are in good spirits and thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers."

Authorities say Hedden, a retired master chief with the U.S. Navy, was snorkeling at the Short Stay Navy Outdoor Recreation Area when the 550-pound alligator tore his arm from his shoulder.

Hedden stumbled into a party of picnickers with his arm missing and blood gushing from his wound. Five nurses were among those at the gathering and put ice on his wound and kept him awake until paramedics could arrive.

His arm was retrieved from the alligator's belly after wildlife officers shot the animal. The limb was then rushed to the hospital in an ice cooler with a police escort.

There have been no confirmed deaths in South Carolina involving an alligator attack, state wildlife officials said.

What can I say, "they live in that water, YOU, are an uninvited guess"! Sorry it happened. It sucks for the gator. It was put down for protecting it's home and territory. Life is so fair isn't it?

Animalz Rule(even Gators),

Bobby Sharpe www.myspace.com/akuasharpe Orlando Sentinel - Community Winter Park Blog -

Hungry Colorado Bears Searching For Food

Black Bears Need To Eat Too

DENVER (Reuters) - Colorado wildlife officers have killed dozens of black bears this summer after catching the marauding bruins rummaging through campsites, foraging in neighborhood trash cans and breaking into homes for food.

Weather conditions decimated the natural food supply this year for the roughly 10,000 black bears in Colorado.

"It has been a bad summer for human and bear interaction," said Tyler Baskfield, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

From small mountain resorts to eastern Colorado's highly populated urban corridor, 35 bears have been killed under the state's two-strike policy so far this year.

Once a bear has been caught feeding near humans, the animal is tranquilized, tagged and returned to the backcountry. If a tagged bear is caught again, it is killed.

"The problem is not with the bears -- they're just opportunistic feeders -- but with the way humans behave," Baskfield said, adding that unsealed garbage containers, bird feeders, pet food left outside and even the smell from a barbecue grill will attract bears.

Once the bears lose their fear of humans and associate people with food, the animals must be destroyed, Baskfield said.

Other Western states battling drought conditions have also reported an increase in the number of bear problems.

In New Mexico, two campers were bitten -- not seriously -- while inside their tents, and the Lake Tahoe, California and Reno, Nevada areas have reported a higher than usual number of bears invading cabins and homes.

LACK OF FOOD

A number of factors have contributed to the problem of the nuisance bears forays into populated areas, Baskfield said. A late spring freeze killed off the mountain wild berry crop that the omnivorous animals normally rely on.

In addition, a hot and arid July dried out other high-country vegetation, forcing the bears to look for other food sources at lower elevations.

There have been no bear attacks on humans reported in Colorado, Baskfield added, but authorities want to avoid a tragedy that could happen such as the June mauling death of an 11-year-old boy by a black bear in the neighboring state of Utah.

The Colorado bear population has remained fairly constant over the three decades that the numbers have been tracked.

In late summer and early fall, black bears forage voraciously for the 20,000 calories per day they need to consume before winter hibernation. Baskfield said sows teach their cubs where to find food including from human sources, a trait they will then pass on to their offspring, creating future generations of bears accustomed to feeding near people.

Until more study is done, Baskfield is hesitant to blame climate change for the situation. The western United States has been in the grips of a decade-long drought, but in 2006 just nine bears in Colorado had to be destroyed, he noted.

Sharon Baruch-Mordo, a doctoral candidate in ecology at Colorado State University, is studying the possible effects of climate change on bears and has found several making unexpected journeys in springtime, earlier in the year than thought.

Until wide-ranging scientific studies are completed, educating people to minimize activities that will lure the bears closer to civilization is the goal of wildlife managers, according to Baskfield.

"We have a saying that a human-fed bear is a dead bear," he said.

This sounds almost like what we have here in Florida with the gators. Listen, I know there is a line here, we have to protect people from these "wild animals", BUT, these animals have a right to try to fend for themselves and their families also. It is not their fault that their natural food resources are not at hand.

What is the answer? I don't know. I do know that indiscriminatly killing these intelligent creatures out of fear and ignorance is NOT THE ANSWER!

Animalz Rule(even hungry Black Bears)

Bobby SharpeBobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz" www.myspace.com/akuasharpe

Free The Minks Finland

Minks freed from cages, farmers give chase
Fri Aug 31, 2007

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Farmers and other locals were chasing thousands of minks let out of their cages at a fur farm in western Finland early on Friday by suspected animal rights activists.

About half the 2,500 minks released from unlocked cages in Mustasaari, 400 km (250 miles) northwest of Helsinki, had been recaptured by 1000 GMT, but it could take several days to round up the others, police said.

"We have no firm suspects at the moment. But the letters EVR were spray-painted on a feed silo at the farm. In this connection it usually means Animal Liberation Front in Finnish," Chief Inspector Mika Jylha told Reuters, but added: "Of course, anyone could write that."

Being the animal person that I am, I got quite a kick out of this story. However, these type places should not even exist. Though mink are some pretty nasty critters in general, they should not be subjected to this kind of life so some "rich, pretentious, nose in the air" disgrace can have a mink coat or whatever else made from mink fur.

Animalz Rule(even minks)

Bobby SharpeBobby Sharpe's " Opyn Mindz": "Goat Sucker" Chupacabra, Real Or Not www.myspace.com/akuasharpe

Shark (Jaws) Attacks Surfer

Shark Attacks Surfer in California
By JORDAN ROBERTSON

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Aug. 28) - A surfer was attacked by a shark in Monterey Bay early Tuesday and airlifted to a hospital with bite wounds to his torso and thigh, according to hospital and state park officials.

The 24-year-old victim, whose name was not released, was surfing with a half dozen other people at Marina State Beach when the shark attacked him from behind around 11 a.m., according to Loren Rex, a California State Parks spokesman.

The victim screamed and started punching the shark while trying to flee, Rex said.

"Then the shark took him down under the water," he said. "Witnesses saw a lot of thrashing and some blood coming up. Other witnesses saw the shark let him up before biting him one more time."

One witness said the shark was a great white shark measuring at least 20 feet long, which rescuers weren't able to immediately confirm, Rex said.

Surfers pulled the victim to shore and administered first aid, using a surf leash and a blanket as tourniquets to stop the bleeding until rescuers could arrive, Rex said.

The victim was conscious and breathing when he was taken away by ambulance. He was then airlifted to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, where he was in fair and stable condition Tuesday afternoon with lacerations to his torso and thigh, according to hospital spokeswoman Joy Alexiou.

The victim was going into surgery and was expected to survive, Alexiou said.

The Monterey County beach, located about 35 miles south of Santa Cruz, is well known for its sand dunes, hang gliding and rugged surf with very strong rip currents. The area where the surfer was attacked is considered an advanced surfing spot suitable only for skilled surfers.

Because of the attack, state officials closed all the beaches from Monterey State Beach to Moss Landing, a 15-mile stretch where people were forbidden from entering the water Tuesday.

Rex said this was the first recorded shark attack at Marina State Beach, but added that some divers have been attacked in Monterey Bay.

Here we go again. Another shark attack in waters that are known to have sharks. Listen, YOU play with fire, YOU get burned! YOU swim with sharks, YOU run the risk of getting hit if YOU are lucky. Getting dead, if YOU are not lucky. As long as YOU go in knowing this, then it is on YOU! Remember, "the sharks live there, YOU, are just visiting"!

Animalz Rule (even Great Whites),

Bobby Sharpe BobbySharpe.blogspot.com www.myspace.com/akuasharpe

College Student Mauled By Shark

Florida student mauled by shark

A college student has been bitten by a shark in Florida, leaving her needing more than 100 stitches to 17 wounds.

Andrea Lynch, 20, told how she was attacked as she floated in the sea during a boat trip off Sarasota Bay.

Doctors said the shark's teeth got close to her lungs during the attack, on Wednesday night, but missed all major organs.

Ms Lynch said local shark experts told her the animal that bit her was likely to be a 6ft (2m) bull shark.

"I got on the boat and my friend was like, 'Do I need to call 911?'", she told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune newspaper.

"I reached back with my hand and felt all these gashes on me, and there was blood running down my body and pooling in the boat," she added.

The newspaper reported that it was only the seventh reported unprovoked shark bite in Sarasota County since 1882 - but the second one this year.

When the shark attack victim is YOU, it doesn't matter what number it is or, over what period of time it occurred! The best way to avoid "shark attacks", is to "stay out of the occupied water". Especially at NIGHT!

Animalz Rule, (even sharks)

Bobby Sharpe www.myspace.com/akuasharpe BobbySharpe.blogspot.com

Cobra's Carry On, Check The Crocs

Crocodiles, cobras found in luggage
Mon Aug 13, 2007

CAIRO (Reuters) - A Saudi passenger tried to smuggle a large number of reptiles, including cobra snakes and infant Nile crocodiles, out of Egypt in his luggage, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported Sunday.

The discovery of the reptiles in the passenger's bags triggered a brief panic among security personnel at the Cairo International Airport, witnesses said.

The 22-year-old passenger, identified only as Anas, said he needed the reptiles, which also included chameleons, for scientific research at his university in Saudi Arabia.

His collection will be handed over to Egypt's main zoo in Cairo.

Hey, what can I say, "YOU do what YOU gotta do"! Can You imagine the security personnel? I would have quit on the spot!

Animalz Rule, (even snakes and crocodiles)

Bobby Sharpe BobbySharpe.blogspot.com www.myspace.com/akuasharpe

Goodbye Friend, Extinction Sucks!

Dolphin Species Driven to Extinction
By Charles Q. Choi

(Aug. 8) - The Yangtze River dolphin is now almost certainly extinct, making it the first dolphin that humans drove to extinction, scientists have now concluded after an intense search for the endangered species.

The loss also represents the first global extinction of megafauna—any creature larger than about 200 pounds (100 kilograms)—for more than 50 years, since the disappearance of the Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis).

The Yangtze River dolphin or baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) of China has long been recognized as one of the world's most rare and threatened mammal species.

"It's a relic species, more than 20 million years old, that persisted through the most amazing kinds of changes in the planet," said marine biologist Barbara Taylor at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service. "It's been here longer than the Andes Mountains have been on Earth."

In 1999, the surviving baiji population was estimated to be as low as just 13 dolphins, compared to 400 known baiji in 1981. The last confirmed glimpse of a baiji was documented by a photo taken in 2002, although unverified sightings were reported as recently as 2006.

An international team of scientists conducted an intense six-week search for the dolphin in two research vessels during November and December 2006, covering the entire known range of the baiji in the 1,037-mile (1,669-kilometer) main channel of the Yangtze River. The researchers and their instruments failed to see or hear any evidence that the dolphin survives.

"It was a surprise to everyone on the expedition that we didn't have any sightings at all, that the extinction just happened so quickly," Taylor recalled.

This would make the baiji the first cetacean—that is, dolphin, porpoise or whale—to go extinct because of humans.

The species was probably driven to extinction by harmful fishing practices that were not even devised to harm the dolphins, such as the use of gill nets, rolling hooks or electrical stunning. The findings are detailed Aug. 7 in the journal Biology Letters.

"In the past, you had this out-of-control whaling that still didn't result in any extinctions, but these accidental deaths, which are much less visible to people, are much more insidious," Taylor said.

Even if any baiji exist that scientists did not find, the continued deterioration of the Yangtze region's ecosystem—home to roughly 10 percent of the world's human population—means the species has no hope of even short-term survival as a viable population, the researchers added.

"To help save the endangered Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis) that also live in the river, we'll likely have to keep them in lake preserves or raise them in captivity, because the situation in that river doesn't look like it can be controlled at this point," Taylor explained.

With the loss of the Yangtze River dolphin, the world's most critically endangered cetacean species now is the vaquita or Gulf of California porpoise (Phocoena sinus), of which 250 survive. The vaquita and other coastal dolphins around the world now face the same peril that claimed the baiji—accidental deaths from fishing.

"We have to find a way to let small-time fishermen put food on their tables that doesn't involve putting gill nets in the water that decimate these species," Taylor said. "Unless we figure out a way to deal with this problem, the baiji may be the first in quite a long line of animals to face extinction."

You know, this just really breaks my heart. Here, these unique creatures have been around for millions of years, and, get wiped out by humanity unintentionally and by accident. It is so sad that man, with his infinite wisdom, can't feed himself without destroying another species. Just shows the real short comings of humans.

Let's DO something so that this does not happen to anymore species!

Animalz rule,

Bobby Sharpe Bobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz" www.myspace.com/akuasharpe

Big Hungry Squid Invade California Waters

Voracious Jumbo Squid Invade California
AP

MONTEREY, Calif. (July 25) - Jumbo squid that can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 110 pounds are invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations, according to a study published Tuesday.

An aggressive predator, the Humboldt squid - or Dosidicus gigas - can change its eating habits to consume the food supply favored by tuna and sharks, its closest competitors, according to an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

"Having a new, voracious predator set up shop here in California may be yet another thing for fishermen to compete with," said the study's co-author, Stanford University researcher Louis Zeidberg. "That said, if a squid saw a human they would jet the other way."

The jumbo squid used to be found only in the Pacific Ocean's warmest stretches near the equator. In the last 16 years, it has expanded its territory throughout California waters, and squid have even been found in the icy waters off Alaska, Zeidberg said.

Zeidberg's co-author, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute senior scientist Bruce Robison, first spotted the jumbo squid here in 1997, when one swam past the lens of a camera mounted on a submersible thousands of feet below the ocean's surface.

More were observed through 1999, but the squid weren't seen again locally until the fall of 2002. Since their return, scientists have noted a corresponding drop in the population of Pacific hake, a whitefish the squid feeds on that is often used in fish sticks, Zeidberg said."As they've come and gone, the hake have dropped off," Zeidberg said.

"We're just beginning to figure out how the pieces fit together, but this is most likely going to shake things up.

"Before the 1970s, the giant squid were typically found in the Eastern Pacific, and in coastal waters spanning from Peru to Costa Rica. But as the populations of its natural predators - like large tuna, sharks and swordfish - declined because of fishing, the squids moved northward and started eating different species that thrive in colder waters.

Local marine mammals needn't worry about the squid's arrival since they're higher up on the food chain, but lanternfish, krill, anchovies and rockfish are all fair game, Zeidberg said.

A fishermen's organization said Tuesday they were monitoring the squid's impact on commercial fisheries.

"In years of high upwellings, when the ocean is just bountiful, it probably wouldn't do anything," Zeke Grader, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "But in bad years it could be a problem to have a new predator competing at the top of the food chain."

Ever notice how California always seems to get invaded or populated by some kind of sea monsters. Like, it's not bad enough that they are a feeding ground for "great white sharks". Now, they have "huge" squid that are not exactly cute, cuddly or friendly. Makes for a nice comfy day at the beach! But hey, they are our fellow creatures, and, as an animal person, I support them being there.

Animalz Rule,

Bobby Sharpe www.myspace.com/akuasharpe BobbySharpe.blogspot.com

Animal Rights In Spiritualism

Animal Rights in Spiritualism aims to function in the same way as any other animal rights group, the only difference being that A.R.I.S literature will emphasise the spiritual side of the argument and their venues for setting up stall will be churches/centres worldwide. Their words will be designed to bring about an awareness of the fact that animals are not only able to suffer on a physical, mental and emotional level (just as we are) but have a spirit capable of love, thought and survival over death.

Other creatures are not here for our use but for their own spiritual progression. What Great Spirit worth its light would divine a law that favoured one species at the expense of another? Material bodies.....are just vehicles for the soul to work through and when they are shed the spirit within is seen as the sum of the love it gave in life…..or didn’t......

Because we have entered bodies with greater brain capacity than that of some other animals, we have a duty to protect and care for them where it is needed and to leave them to fulfil their lives in their own environment where not. We cannot think that because they have a lower intellect than ours they have nothing to offer but their bodies for us to eat, wear, experiment upon and torment in the name of sport, science, fashion and our taste-buds, no more than we would consider roasting a mental patient for lunch.

So, where limited intelligence cannot be used as an excuse to inflict torture, society will look for a blessing to absolve itself of all wrong-doing…. in religion. Most faiths have a lot to answer for in this respect, for their denial that an animal has a soul implies not only that it has little sensitivity to pain and fear, but adds weight, in their follower’s eyes, to the belief that its life is pointless beyond one of servitude to homo sapiens.

Others suggest that these creatures do have a soul but know they are here for human benefit, gladly giving themselves as a sacrifice for our good. Tell that to the cow who walked five miles, searching frantically for her calf who had been taken away to slaughter, the turkey, living in a crowded shed with no windows, suffering painful joints due to the way it is bred for the Christmas dinner plate or the laboratory animal living in near darkness, having a fit after being force-fed drugs through a stomach tube. It may be true that most of these victims do not bear a grudge (and it is this selfless virtue that is picked up by some psychics who put forward this theory) but that does not mean they accept the horrors we inflict upon them.

"Below are some extracts from both the teachings and philosophy of the renowned guide SILVER BIRCH regarding animal abuse:

“How can that which is cruel be right? How can that which causes pain, inflicts torture, be right? It is contrary to all that we teach. It is wrong to experiment on those who are not capable of resisting. Your world cannot produce remedies for the diseases which it has created by living contrary to the laws of The Great Spirit. There will be found remedies for all your diseases but they will not be found by experiments on animals.”

Let us have a voice on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, from the rostrum, in the newspapers and after service at every spiritualist/psychic centre in the world. Pledge your help now!

Hope this article wakes some folks up that have NO respect or anything for our fellow creatures. As the picture says, "animal love is pure love". It is also unconditional!

If YOU would like more reading materials on animals and spiritualism and, their oneness with us, check out "The Spiral Circle" bookstore at New Age, metaphysical, bookstore, spiritual, enlightenment

Peace & Love, Animalz Rule

Bobby SharpeBobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz" www.myspace.com/akuasharpe

Chinese "Dragon Bones" and Amazon Monster

Chinese Villagers Eat Dinosaur Bones

BEIJING (July 4) - Villagers in central China dug up a ton of dinosaur bones and boiled them in soup or ground them into powder for traditional medicine, believing they were from flying dragons and had healing powers.

Until last year, the fossils were being sold in Henan province as "dragon bones" at about 4 yuan (50 cents) per kilogram (2.2 pounds), scientist Dong Zhiming told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Dong, a professor with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said when the villagers found out the bones were from dinosaurs they donated 200 kilograms (440 pounds) to him and his colleagues for research."They had believed that the 'dragon bones' were from the dragons flying in the sky," he said.

The calcium-rich bones were sometimes boiled with other ingredients and fed to children as a treatment for dizziness and leg cramps. Other times they were ground up and made into a paste that was applied directly to fractures and other injuries, he said.

The practice had been going on for at least two decades, he said.

Dong was among a team of scientists who recently excavated in Henan's Ruyang County a 60-foot-long plant-eating dinosaur, which lived 85 million to 100 million years ago. Local officials held a news conference Tuesday, showing off the find to the public for the first time.

Another two dinosaur fossils were being excavated in the area, which is rich in fossilized dinosaur eggs, Dong said.

The Chinese have also recently discovered bones they say belonged to a dinosaur that was as big or bigger than a T-Rex and could fly! Who said "dragons don't or didn't exist? I seriously do not believe these people are fabricating all this stuff with "dragon bones" etc. We shall see, sooner or, later!

Amazon Monster Is Only a Myth. Or Is It?
By LARRY ROHTER

RIO BRANCO, Brazil (July 8) -- Perhaps it is nothing more than a legend, as skeptics say. Or maybe it is real, as those who claim to have seen it avow. But the mere mention of the mapinguary, the giant slothlike monster of the Amazon, is enough to send shivers down the spines of almost all who dwell in the world’s largest rain forest.

The folklore here is full of tales of encounters with the creature, and nearly every Indian tribe in the Amazon, including those that have had no contact with one another, have a word for the mapinguary (pronounced ma-ping-wahr-EE). The name is usually translated as “the roaring animal” or “the fetid beast.”

So widespread and so consistent are such accounts that in recent years a few scientists have organized expeditions to try to find the creature. They have not succeeded, but at least one says he can explain the beast and its origins.

I keep telling everyone, "there is stuff here that NO ONE wants to acknowledge, but, sooner or later, it all comes to surface"! If YOU would like to read the rest of this story, click the link Amazon Monster Is Only a Myth. Or Is It?

"The more YOU know, the more YOU grow,

The more YOU grow, the further YOU go"

Bobby Sharpewww.myspace.com/akuasharpe BobbySharpe.blogspot.com