Lookout Below

At least 38 Warao Indians in remote Venezuela were killed by rabies spread by bites from vampire bats.  Police have yet to confirm the cause, but the symptoms point to rabies.

If not vaccinated immediately after exposure to rabies, human victims will suffer horrible symptoms on their way to death.  Symptoms include fever, body pain, tingling in the feet, a progressive paralysis, and an extreme fear of water.  In the final days, victims will experience convulsions and grow rigid.  There is no truth to reports that victims grow fangs, hunger for blood and avoid daylight.

Venezuelan health officials are investigating the outbreak and planning to distribute mosquito nets to shield villagers from bats.  The government is also sending a medical boat to help treat victims.

Police shot and killed a wild black bear with a plastic jar stuck on its head.  The bear had led police on a six-day chase through Minnesota forests.  Officials had hoped to capture the bear but decided to shoot it after the bear wandered into a festival in the city of Frazee.  “When it got into town, our main concern was public safety,” said Rob Naplin, the Department of Natural Resources’ wildlife supervisor.

The bear was likely foraging for food when its head got head stuck in a clear, plastic container, most likely for bulk candy or popcorn.  Although the bear could breathe, it couldn’t eat or drink and was likely suffering from dehydration and hunger. “I’m sure there was high anxiety and frustration with its predicament,” Naplin said. “It is (a sad story).”

More at FoxNews

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest was swimming in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico on Sunday when he was bitten by a sand shark, he said on his radio show Monday.  Seacrest was "about eight feet out" when he felt something swim by his legs.  "I thought it was a stick," he said. "I wasn’t sure what had happened."  Then "I saw it swim! He took a bite, and he left."

The shark left a parting gift with Seacrest to remember the encounter: the shark’s tooth was embedded in Seacrest’s toe.  "It wasn’t a great thing to find. It was like finding a splinter!"  Although he was in pain, Seacrest wasn’t hurt too badly and only "needed to take an Advil."

When he was asked by his radio co-host if anyone else on the beach was bitten, Seacrest replied, "No, just me, of course! There were like 1,000 people in the ocean, and I get bit by the shark!"

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Goldilocks had it easy.  Three bears at a Ukrainian zoo tore a man "limb from limb" after he fell into their enclosure.  The 22-year-old man was drunk when he tried to photograph the Siberian Brown bears up close.  He lost his footing and fell into the cage.  The three bears charged the man immediately and ripped him apart as he tried to escape.  The man was dead by the time handlers were able to separate him from the bears.  The brown bear is very territorial and one of the world’s largest land carnivores.

The annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain has claimed 18 victims in the first two days including a California man.  Marcus Wolf, 22, suffered a 5-inch gash in his right buttock when a bull gored him.

"I am not hurt that bad," Wolf said after surgery.  "I was running and I got caught up with the people.  I fell down and the bull climbed up over me.  I felt the horn instantly.  It was my first and final run, but I will definitely come back to Pamplona," he said.  "I love it."

The bulls run at 8 a.m. daily and are the highlight of a centuries-old festival that became world famous with Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises."  Professional matadors fight and kill the bulls each afternoon at the festival.  Fourteen runners have died in the running of the bulls since 1924.

It’s the greatest animal warrior death-match since Alien vs. Predator. Paul van Bruggen snapped some amazing pictures of an 8-foot salt-water crocodile dining on a shark on the banks of the Daly River in the Northern Territory, Australia.

“We went past one section of the river and we heard some splashing,” Bruggen said. “We looked across and saw a shark’s tail coming up out of the water and then a crocodile’s head came up and grabbed it.”

The crocodile appeared to know exactly what it was doing, dragging the shark on to unfamiliar dry land before finishing off its prey.

News.com.au

Sadly, "Sharky" the dolphin died during a show at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida.  The 30-year-old female dolphin was performing an aerial stunt about 50 feet from spectators when it collided mid-air with a second dolphin, who was also injured but is expected to survive.

SeaWorld managers describe the incident as a "freak accident" and plan to review training procedures.  This was the first fatal dolphin collision at SeaWorld.

An Australian hospital is closing temporarily because of serious infestation of poisonous spiders.  The Baralaba Multi Purpose Health Service has removed all patients so officials can fumigate the building to get rid of Redback spiders that overrun the building.

Redback spiders, common throughout most of Australia, have a painful bite and toxic venom, although anti-venom is available.  Warm weather had caused more Redback spider eggs to hatch than usual.

"We believe the best way to deal with them, and the safest option for staff and patients, is to have the whole building fumigated so both the spiders and their eggs are killed," said Ellen Palmer, Director of Nursing.

From the Internet…

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty.

The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the “apex predator,” can still fall victim to implemented “teamwork strategy,” made possible due to the tight knit social structure and “survival of the pack” mentality bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine. Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator, preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing. The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.

Warning: Not for the squeamish!
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