Croc Mistakes Lawnmover for Lunch

OK, who's going to take away his lawnmower this time? Grumpy crocodile steals machines from park keepers to play with in pool

By ANTHONY BOND

They are among the most fearsome creatures around, often attempting to eat humans and large wild animals.

But workers at a reptile park in Australia were left amazed today when its grumpiest crocodile decided to steal a lawnmower.

Employees at the Australian Reptile Park, north of Sydney, realised something was wrong when they heard one of the keepers let out a yelp.

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Grumpy: Elvis the crocodile decides to steal a lawnmower off a worker at the Australian Reptile Park

'It's mine': Elvis takes his new toy into his lagoon and keeps guard of it

When they looked up they saw 16-foot giant saltwater crocodile Elvis lunging out of his lagoon at reptile keeper Billy Collett, who attempted to ward off the huge crocodile with his lawnmower.

Tim Faulkner, operations manager at the park, said: 'Before we knew it, the croc had the mower above his head. He got his jaws around the top of the mower and picked it up and took it underwater with him.'

Elvis then kept guard over his new toy, making it clear that it would not be wise for anybody to retrieve it.

Eventually, Mr Faulkner realised he had no other choice but to go back in after the mower.

Interest: Visitors soon gather in amazement to see Elvis next to his new lawnmower

Rescue: Reptile keeper Billy Collett feeds Elvis following the daring rescue attempt for the lawnmower

Along with Mr Collett, he devised a devious plan - a life or death plot to snatch the mower back from the cranky 50-year-old croc.

Mr Collett dangled a piece of raw kangaroo meat on the end of a stick at one end of the croc's pool and as the reptile swan towards it, Mr Faulkner made a daredevil leap into the water.

Standing waist deep, he grabbed the mower by its handle and hauled it from the pool and out of the enclosure.

Elvis was clearly annoyed, snapping his jaws in anger. But he did so with fewer teeth as he had lost a few munching on the mower.

Speaking after the daring rescue, Mr Faulkner said: 'He'll calm down eventually. To him this was just big game. He stole our mower and now he thinks he's king.'

For keepers at the park the battle over the lawn mower was a warning that Elvis had to be treated with the greatest respect.

The giant crocodile has a history of cranky behavior and has occasionally lunged at staff before, though this is the first time he has stolen something from one of the workers.

He was initially captured in the northern Australian city of Darwin, where he had been attacking fishing boats.

He was then moved to a crocodile farm, where he proceeded to kill his two crocodile girlfriends.

In 2008, he was moved to the reptile park, where he has enjoyed solitary confinement in his own enclosure.

'When they are the dominant croc, they're just full of testosterone,' Mr Faulkner said. 'He's got his beautiful own yard, he wants to be a solitary creature. He's happy.'

Back to normal: The lawnmower is safely back in the possession of the park keepers, with a grumpy-looking Elvis watching on

Lost items: Australian Reptile Park operations manager Tim Faulkner, left, and reptile keeper Billy Collett with Elvis the crocodiles teeth, which were lost after Elvis bit into the lawnmower

Despite having to give up the lawn mower, Elvis was clearly pleased with himself, Mr Faulkner said.

'He's beaten us today ... he's kingpin. He's going to be walking around with his chest puffed out all day.'

As for the staff at the reptile park?

'I can't lie, the bosses are not going to be happy about the cost of a new lawn mower,' Mr Faulkner said with a laugh.

'(But) we love it. No one's injured ... and when you get scared and it all turns out to be good, it's actually quite enjoyable.'

Park spokesman Libby Bain added: 'He is just about the most unfriendly croc you could wish to meet.'

Monkey Baiting

The Westminster-Pit: A Turn-up between a Dog and Jacco Macacco, the Fighting Monkey
by Henry Thomas Alken
Illustration, 1822

The Battle of the Bulldog and the Monkey
by Samuel Howitt
Engraving, published 1799

Fight between Jacko Maccacco a celebrated Monkey and Mr Tho. Cribbs well known bitch Pus
by Edwin Henry Landseer
Illustration, 1825

Tom & Jerry sporting their Blunt on the phenomenon Monkey Jacco Macacco at the Westminster Pit

by George and Isaac Robert Cruikshank

Copperplate engraving, 1821

             ................................................................................................................................
 'Dog versus Monkey'

The English were always keen for something new to challenge their dog fighting breeds. This resulted in rather strange fights, in part with completely surprising outcomes. 'Dog versus Monkey' was shown to be such a match-up.

The monkey proved to be a formidable opponent for the canine warrior; owners and handlers of fighting dogs frequently underestimated the monkey's abilities. The monkey's intelligence, dexterity, unorthodox fighting style and gameness proved to be overwhelming for many canine opponents.


The following occurrence is from The Sporting Magazine in the year 1799:

A quite unusual fight between two animals was staged in Worcester. The wager stood at three guineas, according to which the dog would kill the monkey in at most six minutes. The dog's owner agreed that the monkey would be allowed to defend itself with a stick about a foot long.
Hundreds of spectators gathered to witness this fight and the odds stood at eight, nine and even ten to one in favour of the dog, which could scarcely be subdued before the fight. The monkey's owner took a stick, about twelve inches long, from his coat pocket, tossed it to the monkey and said:

"Now Jack, pay attention, defend yourself against the dog!"
The butcher cried:
"Now, get after the monkey!"

He let the dog go and it sprang at the monkey like a tiger. The monkey was amazingly nimble, jumped about three feet high in the air and when it came down landed directly on the dog's back, bit firmly in the dog's neck, grabbed his opponent's left ear with his hand thereby preventing the dog from turning his head to bite him. In this totally surprising situation the monkey now began to work over the dog's head with his club and he pounded so forcefully and relentlessly on the dog's skull that the poor creature cried out loudly. In short, the skull was soon cracked and the dead dog was carried from the ring. Yet, the monkey was only of medium size."

This monkey-baiting inspired the famous English animal painter, Samuel Howitt, to illustrate this account in the engraving entitled The Battle of the Bulldog and the Monkey circa 1799, which preserved this fight for future generations.


Main article: Jacco Macacco


Jacco Macacco was a fighting ape or monkey who was exhibited in monkey-baiting matches at the Westminster Pit in London in the early 1820s. He achieved some measure of fame among the sporting community through his reputed prodigious record of victories against dogs. He was described as ashy, with black fingers and muzzle and may have derived his first name from the his association with the Jack Tars that brought him into the country.

Jacco was reported to weigh 10 to 12 pounds (4.5 to 5.4 kg) and was pitched against dogs of up to twice his weight for a bet from ten to fifty pounds that the dog would not last five minutes.


According to William Pitt Lennox :

His mode of attack, or rather of defence, was, at first, to present his back or neck to the dog, and to shift and tumble about until he could lay hold on the arm or chest, when he ascended to the windpipe, clawing and biting away, which usually occupied him about one minute and a half, and if his antagonist was not speedily with drawn, his death was certain; the monkey exhibited a frightful appearance, being deluged with blood - but it was that of his opponent alone; as the toughness and flexibility of his own skin rendered him impervious to the teeth of the dog.[2]

Lennox writes that after several fights, Jacco adapted his technique and would overcome his canine opponents by leaping directly on their backs and manoeuvring himself into a position where he could tear at their windpipes while remaining out of reach of their jaws.


"The dog pit was packed in a few minutes and many people were turned away grumbling, as if they had been deprived of the most beautiful sight in the world. They were so disappointed that they could not secure places ahead of time. Jacco Macacco was now presented in a pretty, small cage and was greeted by the shouts and whistles of the spectators. He was not even polite enough to bow in thanks for these signs of approval, which were directed at him alone. Jacco had a thin chain around his waist, about two metres long, which was fastened to a steel spike and pounded deep into the ground. Then he was taken from his cage.

Immediately after that the dog was brought out and it charged directly at the monkey. The monkey, however, before the dog reached him, ducked low, with dexterity that would serve a prize boxer well and rolled into a ball in order to withstand the force of the collision with the dog. Nonetheless, the dog immediately dug under him and turned him over. At that moment, however, the monkey's teeth cut like a saw into the dog's throat and like a knife ripped a large wound.

Because of the great loss of blood, which all dogs that fought against Jacco Macacco suffered, most died shortly afterward. The monkey very rarely suffered even slight wounds in these fights. It was said of him that he was of such an unbelievably ferocious nature that it seemed expedient to his master to always have a steel plate between him and the monkey in the event that the inadvertently bit at his legs.

"What a monster!" said a greasy butcher, who sat there with open mouth, a red nightcap on his head, pointing at Jacco Macacco. "I bet a leg of mutton on the monkey! You could strike me down if I ever saw such a thing before in my life. It is truly astounding! He seems to destroy the dogs with such ease as if for decades he had done nothing but fight dogs!"

You could fill a small book with similar quotations, which came from the noisy and excited crowd, all of whom admired the 'finishing qualities' of Jacco Macacco. Some laughed, others yelled wildly and a few of the people constantly jumped up and down in a kind of ecstasy, pounded their canes on the floor and resembled closely the inmates of a mental hospital, who had escaped from their straight jackets."

Jacco had finished off fourteen dogs in a row, but then he was challenged by a canine named Puss, who had a similar record. Puss suffered a lacerated neck and Jacco had his jaw torn off, both died shortly after the match.

References:

Fleig, D (1996). History of Fighting Dogs. T.F.H. Publications. ISBN 0-7938-0498-1.
Lennox, Lord William Pitt (1860). Pictures of Sporting Life and Character. London: Hurst and Blackett.
[edit]Further reading

Homan, M. (2000). A Complete History of Fighting Dogs. Pg 105 - 109 Howell Book House Inc. ISBN 1-58245-128-1




External links
Monkey business

Monkey business

SOURCE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey-baiting

Brain-Eating Amoeba Cases Puzzle and Worry Scientists - The Daily Beast

Brain-Eating Amoeba Cases Puzzle and Worry Scientists - The Daily Beast:

"Two people have died after flushing their sinuses using neti pots that may have contained amoeba-contaminated water, causing scientists to look anew at a once rare disease that may be on the rise."

For sheer terror, “flesh-eating bacteria” can’t hold a candle to “brain-eating amoeba.” So it is little wonder that two recent fatalities in Louisiana in people who were killed by the amoeba after they used neti pots to flush their nasal passages with (apparently amoeba-contaminated) water has sinus sufferers in a panic. Until now, the only known cases of infection by the brain-eating parasite Naegleria fowleri have occurred when people swam in warm rivers, lakes, or other bodies of freshwater where the single-celled organism lives. If the two deaths in Louisiana were indeed the result of exposure to drinking water from a chlorinated municipal supply, that is worrisome. “We’re not exactly sure why this tragic situation occurred,” says Jonathan Yoder, a scientist in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of parasitic diseases. “We’re working with authorities in Louisiana to understand the characteristics of the water system that might have allowed this.”

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Oddity

Geisha

Great White Shark

Cage divers confront a great white shark. (© David Litchfield)

Snake Head

Naked mole rats don't feel pain from acid because of two mutations in a protein found in their pain-sensing neurons.
Credit: Roman Klementschitz/Wikimedia

No Acid Burn for Naked Mole Rats
by Sarah C. P. Williams on 15 December 2011,



This won't hurt. Naked mole rats don't feel pain from acid because of two mutations in a protein found in their pain-sensing neurons.
Credit: Roman Klementschitz/Wikimedia


The naked mole rat, native to East Africa, has no shortage of quirky biological features: it resides underground in near darkness, lacks hair, lives for more than 2 decades, and doesn't develop cancer. Now, another one of its unusual traits has been explained—its inability to feel pain from acid. The adaptation allows the mole rats to thrive in their communal tunnels, where acid levels rise because excess carbon dioxide builds up as the animals exhale.

"Understanding more about how pain pathways work is critical to developing new ways to treat pain," says the lead author of the new study, neuroscientist Ewan St. John Smith of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Germany.

Smith and his colleagues previously discovered that when they injected small amounts of acid into the paw of a naked mole rat, the animals showed no response. Mice, on the other hand, immediately pull back their paw and lick it. The pain is equivalent to what a person might feel when a cut is exposed to lemon juice. The acid is known to be sensed through nociceptors, receptors on pain-sensing neurons.

Smith expected that when he examined the neurons of the naked mole rats, they'd be missing the acid receptors, or have nonfunctional ones. But the naked mole rat nociceptors were present and functioned the same as those of mice. So Smith's team turned its attention toward channels that direct the flow of sodium across the cell membrane; such channels are responsible for generating a neuron's action potential—the electrical signaling wave that moves across a neuron when it's excited, to transmit a signal to the brain. The researchers discoveredtwo mutations in a sodium channel that's found almost exclusively in pain-sensing neurons. The mutations make the channel, called Na­V1.7, more easily blocked than it usually is. In naked mole rats, when acid molecules bind nociceptors to excite a neuron, they simultaneously block the Na­V1.7 channel, the researchers discovered. This stops the excitation from being propagated through the neuron and from sending a pain signal to the animals' brains.

When human or mouse neurons detect acid, the acid molecules similarly both activate the neuron and partially block the sodium channel. But the activation wins out. In naked mole rats, the difference is that Na­V1.7 is entirely blocked, Smith's team reports online today in Science.

Mutations in Na­V1.7 have previously been linked to the pain disorder erythromelalgia, a chronic disease characterized by periodic episodes of burning pain on the skin. And loss of the channel is known to lead to rare cases of people who are unable to feel pain. The finding in naked mole rats sheds new light on how to block the channel, says Smith, a possible avenue for future pain-killers.

"This is an extremely thorough study and the results are very exciting," says neuroscientist Harold Zakon of the University of Texas, Austin, who was not involved in the research. "Naked mole rats are becoming a more widely studied species because of their interesting adaptations to the subterranean environment. This explains one of those adaptations."

The finding that acid sensing in particular relies on both the nociceptor and the sodium channel is one that needs to be further investigated, Zakon says. "This is a balance between transmitting pain and inhibiting pain," he says. "We need to understand that better."

Crocodile

Dustercise

Curious Artifacts

 2011

Curious Artifacts

Recently, London-based photographer Thom Atkinson shot a series of curious and extrodinary artifacts from the Wellcome Collection. The small selections from the vast treasure trove was shot against a warm off-white background, to allow the objects to speak for themselves. Thom says, “We chose to keep to structures rules about scale, angle, background, and lighting so that the whole series would gel and so that you could better compare each object with another.”

Japanese Penguin Goes Shopping - YouTube

Japanese Penguin Goes Shopping - YouTube: ""

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Pet Penguin in Japan - YouTube

Pet Penguin in Japan - YouTube: ""

This 10-year-old King Penguin was rescued from a fisherman's line and refused to leave after he was healed. He was adopted by a family in a small town in Japan and became a beloved pet who has his own personal air-conditioned cold room. Lala is so smart - he walks to the fish store with his little backpack to shop for fresh fish every day. You are gonna love this little video!

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Predatory Behavior

Zoo Tiger

Tattoo Varaiety

Presently, both the tattoo lovers and tattoo artists find the Japanese symbols attractive. But over the years, Japan has developed and the significance of body art is greatly appreciated. During the early years, when you are in Japan, you would have tattoos of the people you would think that are associated to Yakuza, which is known to be a group of notorious Japanese criminals. Due to the popularity of body art many art lovers have tried to ink the Japanese tattoo symbols in their body.



Likewise, tattoo does not only add attraction but also used for sentimental reasons. Moreover, you should also keep in mind that this body art would reflect your personality and it serves as self representation. In this way you will be confident to flaunt your body art without worrying if anyone asks you what its significance is.

Before you decide to pick any Japanese tattoo symbols make sure to know first its meaning as well as what it stands for. It symbolizes jealous and hatred but Japanese believed that inking this symbol in their body would beget good fortune and keep away evil spirits. Hannya Masks – This mask has a demonic look that was originated in Japan’s Kabuki stage play. That is why it is necessary that we live life on its very meaning.

2011 Tribal Tattoo Designs

Celtic Tribal Tattoo Designs The basic tribal tattoo is characterized by long and solid symmetrical designs which look like sharp piercing spears and glowing flames. ...



On the other hand, living life to the fullest does not mean that we take for granted the possibility of death. In this sense, it implies that living life to the fullest is very important for us to see the beauty of life. The essential characteristic of cherry blossoms that makes it an important symbol is its ability to thrive in any weather condition though it is also delicate. Cherry Blossoms – This flower symbolizes life and is comparable to beauty.

Gang Tattoos

MEXICAN AND OTHER HISPANIC/LATINO GANG TATTOO PHOTOS

Street Gang Tattoos - Prison Gang Tattoos

Tattoos are worn by members of Mexican and other Latino (Hispanic) street gangs and prison gangs as a means of identifying their gang to others and for intimidation. Law enforcement agencies use the tattoos as a tool for gang member identification.

Below are photos of tattoos that have been found on gang members belonging to the 18th Street gang, 26 Nation, Latin Kings, Barrio Azteca, Florencia 13, Insane Deuces, Maniac Latin Disciples, MS-13, Ñeta, Simon City Royals, Sureños, Sur 13, Texas Syndicate prison gang, Trinitarios and many more.