Topic: NATURE - on August 21, 2004 at 1:29:00 PM CEST
Bear rocks out during garden raid
Not even loud rock 'n' roll music could discourage a 350-pound bear that repeatedly raided plums and watermelons from a couple's garden.
Eldon and Gerry Nihues hung a radio from the plum tree, tuned it into a rock station and turned it up loud in hopes of scaring off the bear, which helped itself to about 50 watermelons, including 11 in one night.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 18, 2004 at 10:20:00 PM CEST
Alaska man grows record-breaking cantaloupe
A Palmer man has done the impossible in any other Alaska summer: growing a record-breaking cantaloupe, a fruit that craves heat and founders in rain.
In a season marked by hotter and dryer weather than usual, Scott Robb has produced a 64.8-pound muskmelon — an unofficial world record. He plans to enter the colossal fruit in the Alaska State Fair in Palmer next week.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 18, 2004 at 6:33:00 PM CEST
Piranha Fished from Canal - and Thrown Back!
A fisherman caught a South American Piranha in a Dutch canal -- and then threw it back, local media reported Wednesday.
"Due to its bright red belly, I first thought it was a rock-bass," Patrick Scholte told daily De Telegraaf. A fellow angler was quick to point out it was a piranha.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 18, 2004 at 6:30:00 PM CEST
Wolves send text messages
It sounds odd at first, but researchers are using mobile phone technology to track a young wolf's 1,000 kilometer (621 mile) trek from Hedmark to Nordland. The wolf will 'keep in touch' by sending regular SMS (Short Message Service) bulletins, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reports.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 18, 2004 at 6:26:00 PM CEST
Rabid Raccoon Takes Down Officer, 4 Employees
City Manager William Fazioli has fired the city's animal-control officer and the four other employees who staffed the municipal animal shelter, for what he says was a "willful failure" to protect visitors and animals alike from the spread of rabies.
Fazioli announced the dismissals after reviewing the results of a three-week police investigation into how and why a rabid raccoon ended up in the city-run shelter, and ended up being petted and touched by more than 50 people.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 18, 2004 at 4:56:00 PM CEST
Bear Drinks 36 Cans of Favorite Beer
Rain-eeeeer .... Bear? When state Fish and Wildlife agents recently found a black bear passed out on the lawn of Baker Lake Resort, there were some clues scattered nearby — dozens of empty cans of Rainier Beer.
The bear apparently got into campers' coolers and used his claws and teeth to puncture the cans. And not just any cans.
"He drank the Rainier and wouldn't drink the Busch beer," said Lisa Broxson, bookkeeper at the campground and cabins resort east of Mount Baker.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 17, 2004 at 6:29:00 PM CEST
Rare Giant Squid Caught Off Canary Islands
The squid measures nearly 30 feet long and weighs 222 pounds. It was found tangled in the fishermen's nets. It had already died.
There have only been 300 confirmed sightings of giant squids over the past 500 years. None have ever been seen alive.
The creatures usually live at depths of more than 660 feet, but sometimes surface to feed on fishermen's bait.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 17, 2004 at 12:26:00 PM CEST
Kids Plus Rocks Equals 120,000 Angry Bees
Kids throwing rocks stirred up more trouble than they bargained for when they dislodged a swarm of bees from an enormous hive built in the wall of a Southern California apartment building, authorities said on Friday.
An estimated 120,000 bees held residents of the apartment building and nearby homes hostage in Santa Ana, California after the children pelted their 500 pound (227 kg) hive with rocks on Thursday, Santa Ana Fire Captain Steve Horner said.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 14, 2004 at 1:17:00 PM CEST
Hedgehogs to dinner every day
Iberia snails, sour cream and eggs beaten with sugar are the favorite dishes served to the young hedgehogs living in Ingrid Solberg's garden in Ulvøya. She has rescued and raised a total of 60 hedgehogs, and 11 of them are regular dinner guests now.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 13, 2004 at 11:12:00 AM CEST
Ants Form Supercolony Spanning 60 Miles
Normally clannish and agressive Argentine ants have become so laid back since arriving in Australia decades ago that they no longer fight neighboring nests and have formed a supercolony here that spans 60 miles, scientists say.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 13, 2004 at 11:11:00 AM CEST
Thousands of Bees Swarm Neighborhood
A Santa Ana neighborhood is getting back to normal after thousands of bees swarmed the streets this afternoon, stinging bystanders, firefighters and news reporters.
A woman and little girl were hospitalized after being stung.
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Topic: NATURE - on August 10, 2004 at 11:07:00 AM CEST
Gorilla signs to get help on toothache
Koko the gorilla knows how to get what she wants - just ask for it.
The 300-plus-pound ape used the American Sign Language gesture for pain and pointed to her mouth. Koko has mastered more than 1,000 signs and used her vocabulary to tell her handlers she needed help with a toothache.
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