I don’t know what’s going on this week, but it seems like every time I turn on the TV there’s another animal story. Maybe this is par for the course. Maybe there’s always this much coverage of animals and for some reason it’s just catching my eye this week. Who knows? All I know is there are five species who all got their 15 minutes of fame this week whether they wanted it or not.
Peregrine Falcons
Yesterday I heard on Today that the San Jose City Hall celebrated Earth Day in a big way when three baby peregrine falcons hatched in the nest that calls the city hall home. There’s one egg left, and it’s expected to hatch at any time. (If it hasn’t already. I looked to see if it had but didn’t see anything about it.)
The city has even named the parents, Carlos and Clara. Clara gave birth last year as well, but with a different mate. Her fist love, Jose, disappeared last July according to an article published by Mark Gomez and Denis C. Theriault of Mercury News on April 22, 2008. Two suitors then vied for her attention and the one named Carlos won out. Now he’s the proud papa to three baby falcons, with a fourth coming soon.
Congrats, you high flying birds of prey!
College Croc
I also heard yesterday (but I forgot which station I was watching) about a croc that was captured in a canal near a Florida college. However, I forget exactly where it was in Florida. I only remember the man delivering the story said that students still shouldn’t skinny dip in the canal because that was only one of three crocs known to cruise that canal.
Zebra on Campus
Pranksters at Emory College in Georgia set a zebra loose. I’ve heard a couple different stories about things it ate before it was captured and returned to its rightful owners. Some reports say furniture, another had mentioned a class catalog. Wonder if the zebra learned anything while he was there?
Elephant Rampage in Hindu Temple
Where the first three stories were humorous, this one is not. Three people died when an elephant went on a rampage at a Hindu temple in India where he was being used in some kind of ceremony. He destroyed part of the temple and in general created major chaos.
The elephant was finally calmed down and brought under control, even though one of the people killed was one of his handlers.
Grizzly Attack
This one is also a sad story. An animal trainer was killed by one of the grizzlies at a training facility for animals used in movies. The bear only bit once, and they’re not sure why, but that one bite was on the neck and was all it took. The trainer bled to death. The bear’s fate is uncertain.
Amazingly enough. I thought for sure he’d be put right to sleep, but the matter is under investigation. (I’m glad he wasn’t immediately killed, and I hope he won’t be. I hate when animals are euthanized in situations like this. Especially because the bear didn’t make any other aggressive actions after the bite, and chances are he didn’t mean to bite to kill in the first place.)
However, some might also argue it’s his status as a star that’s saving his life right now. He did star opposite Will Ferrell recently in the movie “Semi-Pro”.
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