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Every golfer needs a putter he can rely on — especially when an alligator decides to play through. “As I was walking about 5 to 6 feet away from the water I heard a splash, and as soon as I heard that splash I knew it was an alligator, and he got me,” Aarts said. The gator grabbed Aarts by his right ankle. He wound up on his back and rolled into the nearby water hazard as they struggled. “I remember having a club in my hand, and as soon as he had me in the water up to my...

A 6ft 5in drag queen with a shock of bright orange hair stole the show at the ceremony to choose Germany's new president in Berlin. Olivia Jones, real name Oliver Knobel, posed for photos with Chancellor Angela Merkel and brought a touch of glamour to the occasion. The 47-year-old was invited to be among the 1,260 voting delegates by the Green Party. They chose the Social Democrats' Frank-Walter Steinmeier, 61, who described President Donald Trump as a 'hate preacher' during last year's US election, as the new president in Germany. She is famous in Germany for her guided tours of...

Like most members of law enforcement, Lynn Koch dreads the day he has to draw his service weapon. Even if to protect his own life, it can mean death to another person. But on a cold winter day Koch, a Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks game warden, drew his .45 Glock to save the lives of two animals, and ensure the safety of another game warden and his own. “I have a lariat in my pickup, but knew there was no way to use it without one of us maybe getting hurt,” Koch said of when he and fellow...

In what can only be described as a youngster doing the 'puff, puff, pass', West Australian dolphins may be using blowfish - or 'blowies' - to get high, scientists have found. Murdoch University researcher Krista Nicholson, who monitors dolphins occupying the Peel-Harvey coastal waters off Mandurah, said there were several records of them interacting with blowfish in estuaries and coastal waters around the world. The young dolphin Huubster tosses a blowfish in the air. Photo: Mandurah Dolphin Research Project ============================================================================================================================== She said that in Australia, scientists had seen juveniles mouthing blowies in the Leschenault estuary in WA's South West and...

In a battle between America’s symbolic bird of prey and Florida man’s nemesis, a Parrish man said not on his watch. A male bald eagle sat at the edge of a pond behind his home in the Copperstone subdivision when the alligator clamped its jaws on the bird Wednesday. “It’s our bald eagle. It’s our treasure,” Anderson, who is also going through chemotherapy, told Fox 13. “It stands for who we are and what we are.” A neighbor called Justin Matthews of Matthews Wildlife Rescue and he arrived clad in a cowboy hat and camouflage cargo shorts. The eagle’s legs...

An alligator in a South Carolina neighborhood has been nicknamed "Rusty" and the "Trump-a-gator" due to its unusual orange color. The alligator, estimated at 4-5 feet long, has become famous on social media after local residents photographed it swimming in the retention ponds at Tanner Plantation in Hanahan. Herpetologist Josh Zalabak offered one possible explanation for the unusual coloring of the reptile. "Algae -- maybe some pollutant in the water, but it's hard to say unless the water is tested," Zalabak told WCBD-TV. Jay Butfiloski, the state Department of Natural Resources' Alligator Program coordinator, said the color is likely tied...

Photo credit: Denni ScnappFleaScienceSummary Cat fleas can survive and reproduce on a diet of human blood alone. However, in normal settings they don’t live or breed on humans. Females must feed freely for many hours to be able reproduce on humans. This doesn’t happen outside of laboratories.Survival Cat fleas can survive solely on a diet of human blood. They’re capable of living for 139 to 185 days if fed on human arms for 15 minutes each day.2 10 minute feeding intervals can keep females alive for up to 30 days, and males for 17 days.1 In a recent study,...

A snake catcher called to remove a huge python from an Australian home's driveway live-streamed video of the serpent eating a possum. The video, posted to Facebook by Snake Catchers Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan & Gold Coast, shows the scene snake catcher Lana Field was greeted with when she arrived Thursday at the home in the Chapel Hill area of Brisbane, Queensland. Field arrived to find the python in the midst of eating a possum, which it had about halfway into its mouth. "As you can see it's already got the front shoulders down and we're already half-way down the body,...

Terrified hiker captures the moment he totally freaked out after spotting Yeti-like creature wandering through the woods – but is all as it seems?Man cowers behind a tree as the mysterious figure FOOTAGE of a terrified Ukrainian man cowering behind a tree as a figure he believes to be a Yeti walks past him has resurfaced. The petrified hiker trains his camera on the ape-like figure as it bounds through the forest. A terrified man caught footage of what he believed to be a Yeti-like figure in a Crimean forest But unable to hold his nerve, the whimpering cameraman drops...

A small town in Hesse has removed a children's song about a fox stealing a goose from its repertoire of town hall bell melodies, after a vegan resident became quite upset. The storybook town of Limburg an der Lahn in Hesse enjoys serenading its residents with melodies played by its town hall glockenspiel - an instrument made up of chimes, also called a carillon. The tunes included the classic 19th century children’s song Fuchs, Du hast die Gans gestohlen - “Fox, you stole the Goose”. That is, it included the folk tune until a vegan woman complained. The song describes...

Four McDonald's restaurants in the South Bay are testing out a new sandwich on their menu. It's called the McDonald’s Crab Sandwich. McDonald’s wanted to continue experimenting with local Bay Area flavors just like the garlic fries they introduced back in May. The Crab Sandwich will have snow crab meat on a sliced sourdough bun. When asked why McDonald's is using snow crab and not local Dungeness, McDonald's said: "The McDonald’s sourcing team had to weigh a variety of different factors when they approached how and where they were sourcing crab." The sandwich also comes with celery and seasoned mayo...

An Ohio truck driver is being credited for his warm heart and his ability to pay attention to things others may have overlooked. When Dan O’Grady passed a little dog on the side of the highway in Florida, he knew he had to do something. He pulled over on the next exit and walked back to find the little dog. The frantic Jack Russell terrier barked at O’Grady and continued to run away from him every time he got close. O’Grady refused to give up and followed the terrier into the woods by the highway. Underneath a bush, O’Grady saw...

In a photo provided by Stephen Tatum, an orange alligator is seen near a pond in Hanahan, S.C. Photos show the 4- to 5-foot-long alligator on the banks of a retention pond at the Tanner Plantation neighborhood. Jay Butfiloski with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources says the color may come from where the animal spent the winter, perhaps in a rusty steel culvert pipe. Experts say the alligator will shed its skin and probably return to a normal shade soon. Stephen Tatum HANAHAN, S.C. No one seems to know why there's an orange alligator in a pond near...

The photo of a pit bull and his owner has been shared more than 46,000 timesA dog pictured hugging his owner has melted the hearts of people on social media. Jamie Holt posted the photos on Facebook on Feb. 6 and since then the post has been shared more than 46,000 times. In the pictures, a pit bull named Russ is seen hugging Holt’s niece. Holt, who volunteers at an animal shelter, says Russ was recently adopted by her niece in Philadelphia. The owner said she instantly fell in love with the pup and had to bring him home. Holt...

A huge python was ripped to shreds by a pack of furious wild boars seeking revenge after the snake ate one of their young. At least eight of the wild beasts descended on the reptile after he slithered into their home and gobbled up a piglet.

Cats would keep their claws under a bill that would make New Jersey the first state to prohibit declawing. The measure, which cleared the lower house of the Legislature last month, bans onychectomies and flexor tendonectomies on a cat or any animal unless a veterinarian deems them medically necessary. A vote on the measure was delayed in a state Senate committee Monday, and it’s not clear when it will move forward. The practice, often undertaken to prevent cats from shredding furniture or injuring humans or other pets, is already banned in several California cities and in nearly 20 countries. …

The owner of a rabbit which has been mistaken for a dog owing to its size is looking to get her pet back into shape. Zeus, thought to be a Californian breed, weighs in at 8.2kg - the same as a one-year-old child, pet charity PDSA said. His companion Nala, a Lionhead, is 900g overweight and owner Sharon Close, of Leicester, took in the pair after finding them abandoned five years ago. The 46-year-old is looking to help the rabbits shift the pounds as part of the PDSA Pet Fit Club competition. She said: "Both Zeus and Nala are very...

A Texas homeowner found herself in a sticky situation after calling for help with what she thought was going to be a simple roof repair. When roofers went out to Latanja Levine's Houston-area house, they made a startling discovery, according to KIAH. "They discovered there was a bee problem, told me that (they) couldn't do anything on the roof until something was done with the bees," Levine said. Levine said professionals were able to remove much of the hive and close off the bees' access to the home, allowing the roofers to get back to work. But, when Levine returned...

A viral photo of a "demon" from Arizona has people around the world wondering about the mysteries of our universe. Are you freaking kidding? Reportedly, Phoenix resident Richard Christianson snapped the picture while in Tucson, then loaded it to his Facebook account on New Year's Day. "What the hell do you see in this picture for reals ??? Anybody," he wrote in the caption. He has since deleted the post. This is what passes for "for reals" news in an age when "fake news" gets so much attention. While people ponder whether Breitbart.com or DailyKos.com should be considered fake news...

Unaffected mice, at left, have sensory hair bundles organized in 'V' formations with three rows of cilia (bottom left). This orderly structure falls apart in the mutant mice (middle column), but is dramatically restored after gene therapy treatment. Credit: Gwenaelle Géléoc and Artur Indzkykulian ======================================================================================================================= In the summer of 2015, a team at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School reported restoring rudimentary hearing in genetically deaf mice using gene therapy. Now the Boston Children's research team reports restoring a much higher level of hearing—down to 25 decibels, the equivalent of a whisper—using an improved gene therapy vector developed at...