Gordon Grice's Blog, page 100

Rhinoceros attacks 7-year-old

In India, a seven-year-old girl was "grievously injured" when a rhinoceros strayed from a wildlife park and attacked her in the courtyard of her house.
The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Rhino attacks child at home

Never Get Off the Bus

In China, a bus driver giving a tour of a wildlife park left the bus to check on things when it got stuck in the snow. A resident tiger pounced and dragged him into the woods.
And I thought snow was a hassle in Wisconsin. . . .
Siberian tiger attacks and kills bus driver in China as tourists watch in horror

Endangered crocodile species kills man

In Malyasia, a man was killed by a false gharial. Although all crocodilians are potentially dangerous, this species has not previously been known to kill people. It specializes in fish. The bottom photo shows that it has a long, slender snout adapted for that purpose. Its legs are also small for a crocodilian; that's because it spends a lot of time in the water even by croc standards and doesn't need to get around on land.


One factor that probably made a difference in this case was the gharial's size. The bigger a crocodilian gets, the greater the range of prey it can take.
Endangered crocodile species kills local man – Orangutan Foundation

Colonoscopy result: a cockroach

As mentioned in Deadly Kingdom, cockroaches have been found in pretty much all human orifices. Here's a lovely example:
NCBI ROFL: An unusual finding during screening colonoscopy: a cockroach! | Discoblog | Discover Magazine

The roaches above are harmless pets, never found in the location mentioned in the article. I hope. (Thanks to the crew at Twin Cities Reptiles for this photo op.)

Study writing with me

UCLA Extension and I are doing it again. This time, we're offering the popular online course Intermediate Creative Nonfiction. People have taken these courses from Italy, Malaysia, and even Antarctica, as well as all corners of the US. Most find the virtual classroom surprisingly comfortable and friendly. Here's more info, and of course you can email me with any questions.

Harvestman and Carrion Beetle

Liz sent me these nifty photos she took of a harvestman, or daddylonglegs.








In the bottom picture, you can see what looks like the bud of a purple flower. It's actually a carrion beetle, a very cool critter in its own right.



If you're wondering what a harvestman is, take a look at the mini-documentary Parker and I made about them a while back:

Monkey Gets Loose, Attacks Man

A pet capuchin monkey bit a man in Florida. His injuries are minor. Capuchins aren't especially big, but they've been known to cause serious injuries by biting repeatedly. In a 1997 case, one of them nearly killed its owner and amuptated some of her fingers.
The video linked below shows firefighters trying to capture the monkey. They eventually succeeded.

Monkey Gets Loose, Attacks Man - Video - WPLG Miami

Snapping Turtles

Thanks to Jake M., who worked as a wrangler at my summer wildlife program for kids. More recently, he was kind enough to show me some snapping turtles he captured. That's me above, handling one of the little beauties. I'm the one on the right. After cleaning the leeches off them (below), Jake released these turtles into the river where he found them.


Jake and I probably deserve any bites we get while playing with snapping turtles, but unprovoked attacks happen occasionally. Some swimmers have lost toes to large snappers. The power of the bite is phenomenal. The video below shows a captive snapper feeding on rats. It's a good illustration of the animal's predatory technique: seize with the mouth, then decapitate or eviscerate with a quick stroke of the claws.

This video is not for the squeamish.

Elephant kills 3

An elephant has killed three people and injured others near Dehra Dun, India. Male elephants in the condition called musth have always been a danger, but in recent years competition for resources has meant that almost any elephant can become dangerous.

Elephants are still used as beasts of burden in parts of India. Most of them never hurt anybody. 
Advise from WII sought to check attacks by rogue elephant - The Times of India

Reindeer attacks woman

In Britain, a reindeer spent more than two hours trying to gore a woman. She emerged with surprisingly minor injuries.