Hello all: I had to schedule this update late Thursday night, all the while hoping no interesting stories appear on Friday morning. But if they do, I’ll pick them up next time. Sadly, one has to have a day job. But here’s the best of what I found this week.
To begin, there is an update on the background of the weird dog-ish animal that was captured in southwestern Pennsylvania last month.
Wiley animal was indeed a coyote
In the January 28th edition of WWN, I linked to a story and picture of a “rescued mystery animal” that ultimately escaped from a facility where it was being treated. I noted, “Honestly, it’s so obviously a coyote, I’m questioning the framing of this story.” Sure enough, the DNA tests came back as 100% coyote. The lede gets buried in some of these weird stories. The more interesting aspect is why people want this to be news. And, why the media would push the angle that the animal was “mysterious” and help make it internet famous. Not cool, but this stuff sure is common. Our society is so desperately detached from nature. Instead of leaving it alone, people seem to be intent on capturing it again. Coyotes are very common even along the edges of urban areas of Pennsylvania. https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/dna-test-confirms-animal-that-escaped-from-westmoreland-rehab-center-was-a-coyote/
Birds that flock together, perish together
Two disturbing stories of mass animal deaths made headlines in the past week. The first was accompanied by a video that was frightful to watch. A security camera in Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, Mexico captured a huge mass of yellow-headed blackbirds appearing in a black cloud that headed for the street pavement early morning February 7. Some of the birds crashed and died. The timing and video of the event lead to the explanation that the birds were frightened by something that resulted in a mass movement - some in the large flock did not react in time to pull up. This sometimes happens. Birds will crash into structures, iced over ponds, or wet roads by accident. Most of the birds flew away. It’s important to note that these types of events are brutal but do not account for the death toll of songbirds from other sources, such as domestic cats. https://gizmodo.com/disturbing-video-of-hundreds-of-blackbirds-crashing-int-1848541001
The second story, from Pembrokeshire, Wales, describes some 200 starlings that fell to the ground. Unlike the Mexico incident, the birds appeared to fall down dead. The most plausible explanation appeared to be electrocution from power lines. Locals noted a flash and heard a “bang” a short time before. But it’s still unclear as the birds could have been otherwise injured before eventually dying over a period of time. Or they could have been disturbed in the darkness and subsequent collisions caused their death. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-60345914
Once again, we find that “end times” or “earth mystery” commentators will remark that such mass mortality events are a sign of something ominous, but sometimes, they simply just happen in uncontrollable circumstances with no nefarious force to blame.
A lucky fish out of water
Here is a good news story for a change. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife tracked down a poacher who caught a protected green sturgeon near Tracy, California. Their quick work paid off when the fish was found still alive after 90 minutes of the water. The officers took the fish back to the marina where they revived it in shallow water and it swam away. https://www.kcra.com/article/threatened-green-sturgeon-survives-poaching-fisherman-cited-taking-fish-water/39043044
Stray coatimundi
A white-nosed coati, a relative of raccoons native to the southwestern US, Mexico, and Central and South America was found on the streets of Raleigh, North Carolina. Its owner was found. It is not illegal to keep them but the city is currently discussing regulating exotic animals because of past problems, particularly with venomous snakes. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article258436443.html
A “freemu” on the loose
Meanwhile, an emu is still roaming free in Virginia. The large flightless bird has been spotted on the lam for two weeks but the owner is unknown. https://wset.com/news/local/emu-limu-giant-bird-on-the-loose-franklin-county-virginia-crossroads-ferrum
Cold case child murder solved through geneology
Nine-year-old Marise Chiverella was murdered and her body dumped in Hazleton, Pennsylvania in 1964. The crime remained unsolved until police announced this week that they have found her killer based on DNA evidence. Current and retired detectives and volunteers continued to work on the case when, in 2007, a DNA sample didn’t match the existing database. Using a genealogical database, a very distant relation was matched. An 18-year-old genealogist traced the family tree back to a potential suspect who had died in 1980. The body of James Forte was exhumed and found to be a match. He was 22 when he assaulted and killed Marise in what was probably a random attack. He had been convicted of assault and other lesser crimes. It’s the 4th oldest case in the country to have been solved using genetic genealogy. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/10/us/hazleton-pennsylvania-cold-case-solved-trnd/index.html
Modern-day witch hunt
Think that accusing witches is a thing of the past? How about conversing with demons? Controversial preacher Greg Locke announced on stage at his church in a televised sermon that there were six witches making trouble in his church, two were in his wife’s Bible study group. He had gotten their names via demons who spoke to him. Locke has made insane claims regarding election fraud and against vaccines, as well as various slurs against minority groups and Democratic politicians. He now denies his own words. You know what? I doubt he’s a Christian because he sounds more like a master deceiver. The so-called witches’ names were not revealed but I’d bet they were exposing some nasty truths about Pastor Greg. https://religionnews.com/2022/02/15/tennessee-preacher-greg-locke-says-demons-told-him-names-of-witches-in-his-church/
Long-lost village surfaces
Drought in Spain has exposed the village of Aceredo that had been flooded to create a reservoir in 1992. The exposed buildings, streets, and remains have resulted in tourists visiting the sad place. As global warming and problems with the scarceness of freshwater continuing to worsen, we might expect similar exposures of long-lost remains. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/11/ghost-village-emerges-in-spain-as-drought-empties-reservoir-aceredo
Seal of encouragement
A man who fell overboard far out in the Santa Barbara channel had a five-hour swim in frigid waters to make it to an oil rig and safety. After his boat moved away without him, he began swimming for his life. Along the way, he was nudged on by a curious seal who appeared alongside him. The man saw the animal as a sign that he could make it and he did. The crew on the rig called for transport to the hospital. https://abc7.com/southern-california-boater-lost-at-sea-safely-rescued-inspired-by-harbor-seal-nudge/11565143/
All currents lead to Norway
It took 462 days for a small boat with local goodies set adrift by schoolkids in New Hampshire to make it to Smøla, Norway. https://apnews.com/article/oddities-europe-education-new-hampshire-portsmouth-3034938f7f8ee9ec5acc25292306e5c7
But it’s unknown how long it took for a hard hat from the Maine Department of Transportation to land 3,300 miles away on the Norwegian coast. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/02/15/metro/maine-department-transportation-hard-hat-was-found-fjord-norway-3300-miles-away/
He was eggstatic
The Guinness Book of World Records announced that the previous record holder for stacking eggs broke his own record after he managed to balance 4 eggs. Mohammed Muqbel of Yemen says the feat takes enormous focus and calmness to do, but it’s just physics. He creates social content related to various balanced objects. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2022/2/man-from-yemen-stacks-four-eggs-to-break-gravity-defying-record-692089
Fish fall on video
Finally, Paul Cropper and I have been collaborating on an examination of the data from the fascinating Texarkana fish rain of December 29. We’ve confirmed that a video from a local auto center does indeed show falling fish. As far as we know, this is the first time it’s been this well-documented. We’re working on a write-up of the event but here is Paul’s blog post on what has been found so far. https://thefortean.com/2022/02/05/texan-rain-of-fish-captured-on-video/
Re the pastor with resident church witches: Why on earth wouldn't you just go ahead and expose the witches! It'd be like saying "Six of the people here have a deadly contagious disease...and I'm seriously thinking about naming you!" And what's with the little table/rap dance move as he swoons across the stage?