16th August 2009

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Attention-hogging squirrel says cheese

Honeymooners Melissa and Jackson Brandts were all set up for a vacation photo in Alberta, Canada, when a cheeky squirrel popped up and siezed the opportunity to SHINE.

According to the AP (via NYDN), the Brandts, both 29, from Minnesota, were posed on the shore of Lake Minnewanka with the camera set up on a rock nearby. The timer went off, the flash flashed, the squirrel had perfect timing. (They think the curious rodent was attracted by the sound of the camera focusing.)

The couple sent in the photo to a National Geographic contest and has since received admiring emails and phone calls from Canada, Australia, Italy and South Korea.

Tags squirrelsphotosencounters

16th July 2009

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Girl catches catfish twice her size

What is it with these school-aged sportfishergirls catching enormous prizes? First there was 6-year-old Tegan Humphrey in Alaska, now 11-year-old Jessica Wanstall of Sittingbourne, Kentucky, has landed a nearly 9-foot catfish that weighs 193 pounds.

The catch sets a new world record for biggest freshwater fish caught by an angler under 16 years old, according to the International Game Fish Association (via the Daily Mail).

“My dad thought it was going to be a small one and I told him it didn’t feel small when I picked up the rod,” says Wanstall. “It was really hard work pulling it in and my arms turned to jelly.”

Wanstall waged a 20-minute battle to land her prize.

Tags fishingcatfishencounters

6th July 2009

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Pet psychic hears inner arfs

Pet psychic Sonya Fitzpatrick (who prefers to be known as an “animal communicator”) got a profile in yesterday’s Houston Chronicle. The former host of Animal Planet’s “The Pet Psychic” gives readings that start around $300 for half an hour. Video above.

Tags Sonya Fitzpatrickpsychicsencountersvideos

2nd July 2009

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Tiny tot snake charmers show no fear

The London Telegraph has a slideshow of kids in India’s nomadic Vadi tribe, who begin training in the technically-illegal art of snake charming at two years old. By age 12, training is complete.

Each snake is taken from its natural habitat for a maximum of seven months and fed an herbal diet that, according to chief charmer Babanath Mithunath Madari, renders the snake’s poisons useless.

Above, 4-year-old Meru Nath Madari communes with a poisonous cobra.

Tags snakeskidsencounters

16th June 2009

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Leisure-loving moose is insta-celebrity

A wandering moose in Saratoga Springs, New York, gained instant celebrity yesterday when it wandered through the downtown area before visiting the race course.

As breathlessly reported by the Albany Times Union, the 500-pound female “moose in the city” with “floppy ears and a long muzzle” “enjoyed more than eight hours of nightlife and morning fun in this horse town.”

Around midday, officials stuck the animal with two tranquilizer darts and loaded it onto a trailer for release in the Adirondacks, but not before the moose had indulged in some “modeling and relaxation,” captured in the shot above.

Tags mooseencountersstyle

10th June 2009

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Loose bear afeared of cattle

A black bear has caused a stir in Castalia, Iowa, where it was spotted roaming Monday.

Black bears aren’t usually found in Iowa, notes the AP, but the 200-ish pound beast may have wandered into the state from Minnesota or Missouri.

It was last seen traveling south toward Clemont by Todd Waterman of Castalia (he took the picture at right). “It was hauling butt going south,” Waterman told reporters.

As Waterman watched, a herd of cattle approach the bear, scaring it into a tree where it remained until nightfall. It hasn’t been seen since.

Tags bearscowsencounters