Nature Acting Crazy

[Christina]

Ants swarm over Houston area, fouling electronics May 14 03:16 PM US/EasternBy LINDA STEWART BALLAssociated Press Writer DALLAS (AP) - In what sounds like a really low-budget horror film, voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and messing up computers.The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as "crazy rasberry ants"—crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on."They're itty-bitty things about the size of fleas, and they're just running everywhere," said Patsy Morphew of Pearland, who is constantly sweeping them off her patio and scooping them out of her pool by the cupful. "There's just thousands and thousands of them. If you've seen a car racing, that's how they are. They're going fast, fast, fast. They're crazy."The ants—formally known as "paratrenicha species near pubens"—have spread to five Houston-area counties since they were first spotted in Texas in 2002.The newly recognized species is believed to have arrived in a cargo shipment through the port of Houston. Scientists are not sure exactly where the ants came from, but their cousins, commonly called crazy ants, are found in the Southeast and the Caribbean."At this point, it would be nearly impossible to eradicate the ant because it is so widely dispersed," said Roger Gold, a Texas A&M University entomologist.The good news? They eat fire ants, the stinging red terrors of Texas summers.But the ants also like to suck the sweet juices from plants, feed on such beneficial insects as ladybugs, and eat the hatchlings of a small, endangered type of grouse known as the Attwater prairie chicken.They also bite humans, though not with a stinger like fire ants.Worse, they, like some other species of ants, are attracted to electrical equipment, for reasons that are not well understood by scientists.They have ruined pumps at sewage pumping stations, fouled computers and at least one homeowner's gas meter, and caused fire alarms to malfunction. They have been spotted at NASA's Johnson Space Center and close to Hobby Airport, though they haven't caused any major problems there yet.Exterminators say calls from frustrated homeowners and businesses are increasing because the ants—which are starting to emerge by the billions with the onset of the warm, humid season—appear to be resistant to over-the-counter ant killers."The population built up so high that typical ant controls simply did no good," said Jason Meyers, an A&M doctoral student who is writing his dissertation on the one-eighth-inch-long ant.It's not enough just to kill the queen. Experts say each colony has multiple queens that have to be taken out.At the same time, the ants aren't taking the bait usually left out in traps, according to exterminators, who want the Environmental Protection Agency to loosen restrictions on the use of more powerful pesticides.And when you do kill these ants, the survivors turn it to their advantage: They pile up the dead, sometimes using them as a bridge to cross safely over surfaces treated with pesticide."It looked like someone had come along and poured coffee granules all around the perimeter of the rooms," said Lisa Calhoun, who paid exterminators $1,200 to treat an infestation of her parents' home in the Houston suburb of Pearland.The Texas Department of Agriculture is working with A&M researchers and the EPA on how to stop the ants."This one seems to be like lava flowing and filling an entire area, getting bigger and bigger," said Ron Harrison, director of training for the big pest-control company Orkin Inc.

 

[Christina]

I also have heard several reports in the last month of Vulchers and Ravens attacking live animals Rabbits I believe.This has not been observed before it was many animals Ill try to find the article at the time I thought it just a fluke but maybe not. anyone else heard of strange behavior from nature??

 

[Christina]

Ravens suddenly slaughtering lambs - what is going on?By JANE FRYER - More by this author » Last updated at 23:24pm on 4th May 2008 High in the darkening sky, a flock of enormous ravens swoop and swirl - narrow black wings stretched wide, heads protruding forward and huge hairy beaks scything through the air. Every few minutes they let out deep, throaty, honking calls as they soar effortlessly, circling around until, finally, they spot their prey and swoop. But forget dormice, voles or even small furry rabbits; these sinister looking birds are feasting on something far larger - newborn lambs. Raven attack: Farmers report a rise in the number of calves, lambs and sheep pecked to deathAnd instead of hanging around for a few discarded bones or a forgotten carcass to pick and claw at, they've started killing live farm animals - by pecking them to death, in horrific scenes reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier's The Birds, turned by Alfred Hitchcock into one of the most chilling movies of all time. Throughout Britain, traumatised farmers have reported a sudden and disturbing rise in the number of livestock being attacked by ravens. Farmer John Kirk, 50, from Nethybridge, near Aviemore, has lost more than 40 animals in the past few weeks. "It's like something out of a horror film. They are horrible, horrible birds. They see the young lambs and just fly down and help themselves," he said. "Sometimes you find a carcass with the eyes and tongue pecked out, but sometimes all you find is the skin. They peck away until nothing is left." And while some animals have been pecked to death, others have been left to die in agony after birds have feasted on their eyes, tongues and the soft flesh of their underbellies. The worst-hit areas are in Scotland and Wales, but there are also reports of random attacks across the South-West and the Lake District. The Scottish Isle of Mull has been badly hit, with one farmer losing 20 lambs in a fortnight. Another, Robert Millar from High Catterdale, Kintyre, said: "We've had 12 to 15 lambs attacked. It's got to the stage where you have to lamb indoors, or you don't stand a chance." And Jimmy Mills, a farmer from Stratherrick, south of Inverness, has lost seven lambs in just three days: "The lambs are born at 1pm and by four o'clock they've been taken to bits by the ravens," he says. According to Johnny Hall, of the National Farmers Union of Scotland, it's no longer just lambs: "Raven attacks have become a huge problem across a wide area of the country. "We have substantial evidence of them attacking adult sheep and calves, too. The attacks are so horrific that it's causing mental suffering to people who find the animals." The worst thing is, there's not much the farmers can do about it. Ravens are protected by law, so farmers can't shoot them as they would other vermin. They can be killed on special licence - due to a condition in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 - but only if the Government deems it appropriate. But farmers say the system is designed for the "odd rogue bird", not the huge swirling flocks of recent months, and are demanding the law is changed. The question is, why have ravens suddenly started to attack livestock? Experts cannot give a definitive explanation, but some believe it is simply the pressure on food resources caused by the increasing raven population.Others disagree with this,but offer no explanations Davy Thomson, vice-chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, says it is not breeding birds that cause the problem, but immature birds, scavenging in large packs. Irish folklore has it that each raven contains three drops of the Devil's blood, and anyone who hunted them would be on the receiving end of the Devil's fury and a lifetime of bad luck. Its status as a bird of ill omen is confirmed by a cameo appearance in Shakespeare's Macbeth - as the King nears the castle at Inverness, Lady Macbeth utters the ominous words: "The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements." Legend has it that if anything happens to the six resident ravens at the Tower of London - attended by a Yeoman Ravenmaster, and treated to a daily feast of raw meat and blood-soaked "bird biscuit" - England will be invaded. Aside from all the folklore, they're an impressive foe - up to 2ft long and worryingly adaptable: they can survive in Arctic, temperate and desert climates. Research published last year in the Scientific American also showed the raven to be one of the most intelligent species on the planet - up there with dolphins and apes and, unlike most other birds and animals, capable of learning from their own actions and from observing others' behaviour. They're thought to be one of the few birds that can count, and some have even learned to fashion leaves into special tools for extracting grubs from crevices in trees. In Japan, they were reportedly found dropping nuts onto a dual-carriageway, then darting down to eat them once the cars had cracked them open. Although older ravens (they live up to 25 years) mate for life and travel in pairs, young birds may form flocks of up to several hundred - collective nouns for ravens include an "unkindness", a "conspiracy", and a "murder" - which swoop on farm animals. They were almost exterminated during the 19th century, but in the past 20 years have made their dramatic comeback, partially because they have been protected. As Dr Farrar puts it: "A few years ago, you'd hope to see them only in Scotland, or Wales, but now they're popping up in parts of eastern England - they've even been spotted in Bedfordshire." But he insists it's not all bad. "Ravens are truly spectacular birds, with an amazing display flight - they flip over into a half-roll and back again when they're flying - and have a deep sonorous croaking call. They're stunning to watch." Which all sounds rather poetic, but must be scant comfort for the farmer rendered helpless as another dark, swirling, unkindness of ravens starts circling in the skies over his lambs.

 

[Christina]

Giant Bird ReportThe Biggest, Baddest Thunderbirdof Them Allby Brad Steiger(Copyright 2008, Brad Steiger - All Rights Reserved)Posted: 13:10 May 18, 2008American Indian Thunderbird March 2008 reports of strange, flying creatures in Chile and other areas of South America, coupled with the November 2007 sighting made by Frank Ramirez of a large, bird-like creature buzzing South Texas, has set me to thinking about one of my favorite monsters, the Great Thunderbird. The Texas sightings included many accounts other than those made by Ramirez. Numerous individuals claimed to have seen a very large, raptor-like bird with an 18 to 20 foot wingspan. Interestingly, in the last 100 years or so, many people have claimed to have seen a great bird, far larger than the eagle, flying overhead. In fact, numerous witnesses have claimed to have seen creatures that resembled pterodactyls, the winged reptiles that should have been extinct 60 million years ago.A few weeks ago, my friend, author-researcher, Jerome Clark, knowing of my fascination with Thunderbird/pterodactyl reports, sent me an October 4, 1890 account of a “strange monster with wings, a monstrous head, with horns, a mouth like an alligator’s, its body green and covered with scales…and it … sounds like a combination of the roar of a lion and the scream of a wildcat.” This winged monstrosity was sighted near Independence, Iowa, over a hundred years ago, but we need not travel as far back in time to detail other very impressive Thunderbird accounts.On April 9, 1948, a farm family outside of Caledonia, Illinois saw a monster bird that they all said was bigger than an airplane. In different parts of the state on the same day, a Freeport truck driver said that he, too, had seen the creature. A former army colonel admitted that he had seen a bird of tremendous size while he stood talking with the head of Western Military Academy and a farmer near Alton.On April 10, several witnesses saw the gigantic bird. One man said that he had at first believed it to have been a type of plane that he had never before seen. On April 24, back at Alton, a man described it as an enormous, incredible thing, flying at about 500 feet and casting a shadow the same size as that of a Piper Cub at the same height. Two policemen said that the monster bird was as big as a small airplane.******

 

[followerofchrist]

...well I think the name of this thread pretty much sums it up. Nature's gone crazy.I was actually talking to one of my friends at school this morning and just a few days ago they have got this terrible ant infestation in their pool house. The ants have taken root inside they're television. He said the friday they're were just two ants they saw on the tv, and last night he killed around 5 with one swipe from a fly swatter. Maybe its the same kind of ants

 

[Christina]

(followerofchrist;49922)
...well I think the name of this thread pretty much sums it up. Nature's gone crazy.I was actually talking to one of my friends at school this morning and just a few days ago they have got this terrible ant infestation in their pool house. The ants have taken root inside they're television. He said the friday they're were just two ants they saw on the tv, and last night he killed around 5 with one swipe from a fly swatter. Maybe its the same kind of ants
Houston was where the writter reported the problem I dont know how far your friend is from there but perhaps they are going to take over the state. They are real little ants just lots of them I can see the headlines "Everything used to be bigger in Texas till it was eaten by little ity bity ants"

 

[followerofchrist]

(kriss;49933)
Houston was where the writter reported the problem I dont know how far your friend is from there but perhaps they are going to take over the state. They are real little ants just lots of them I can see the headlines "Everything used to be bigger in Texas till it was eaten by little ity bity ants"

We're less than 2 hours away from dallas.

 

[tim_from_pa]

Worse, they, like some other species of ants, are attracted to electrical equipment, for reasons that are not well understood by scientists.
Now that's what I call a real bug in the computer program!

 

[Jerusalem Junkie]

They most likely know something we don't too bad they cannot talk...

 

[followerofchrist]

(Jerusalem Junkie;50035)
They most likely know something we don't too bad they cannot talk...
If they could we would never hear the end of the magnifying glass incedent haha

 

[Jerusalem Junkie]

(followerofchrist;50036)
If they could we would never hear the end of the magnifying glass incedent haha
You got a point....

 

[followerofchrist]

(Jerusalem Junkie;50103)
You got a point....
Lets just hope they stay quite, or else!!