22nd June 2009

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Sea lion pup captured on freeway

A young sea lion was rescued early this morning when it was found roaming the freeway in Oakland, California.

The pup, believed to be a year old, was “found waddling on the center divide of northbound I-880” at about 5:45 a.m., reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

A police cruiser picked up the animal and drove it to the Oakland Animal Shelter, where staffer Marjorie Boor was charged with helping officers of the law move the slippery sea creature from the back seat to a crate.

But the pup was too fast! It evaded the team, slipped out the door, and “played a game of hide-and-seek” under the car until about 6:45 a.m..

It is now in custody, seems “very active and alert” and has been given the highly embarrassing name “Fruitvale” after the Oakland neighborhood where the shelter is located.

Tags Fruitvalesea lionsThe Lawvideos

10th May 2009

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This sea lion stops traffic

A sea lion has taken up residence on the main street in the town of Bluff, New Zealand.

The animal has been there for more than a month, says the Southland Times, “playing chicken with traffic, lumbering after onlookers and generally making a nuisance of itself.”

Meri Leask, a worker at the Bluff Fisherman’s Shore Station, has more than once had to chase the animal away, wielding a garden hose. Encountered by the paper on the street in her bathrobe at 7:30 a.m., she told the reporter, “The darned thing keeps coming back.”

Sea lions are known to be territorial, and once one takes a liking to a spot, it is apt to return. Signs at both ends of the Bluff strip tell drivers to beware of the animal. Other tactics, such as putting up plastic netting on one side of the road, have proved futile.

Tags sea lionsencountersobstacles