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Fairfax County, VA - Police Received Two Reports of Black Bear Sightings in the Vienna/Oakton Area

Fairfax County, Virginia - Police received two reports of black bear sightings in the Vienna/Oakton area between Wednesday and Thursday morning, the Fairfax County Police Department said. This follows an earlier sighting of a black bear and a cub in Vienna on Sunday, March 20. 

According to police, a black bear and a cub (possibly a yearling) were spotted in the 2700 block of Bowling Green Dr., Vienna Thursday morning. Police say a residence in the area reported the spotting. In a press release sent out Thursday police said, "The bears were reported to have taken down a bird-feeder and plastic cabinet on the resident's patio. The bears also took a bag of birdseed from the cabinet before heading into the wooded easement along Interstate-66."

On Wednesday morning police also received reports of two small black bears seen crossing Oakton Road. Police say the bears were spotted near Waples Mill Meadow, Difficult Run Stream Valley Park and Tattersall Park.

Police said in the release, "Bears typically avoid humans, but in their search for food it is not uncommon to see one. Residents should not panic or feel alarmed when they see one. Bears are attracted by bird feeders, garbage, outdoor pet food, compost piles, fruit trees, and berry-producing shrubs. If addressed quickly, situations can be resolved almost immediately by removing the food source. Sometimes, the bear may return searching for food, but after a few failed attempts to find it, will leave the property. Most often, bears will keep moving through an area once they fail in their attempts to find food."

The Fairfax County Wildlife management Specialist and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries give the following suggestions as precautions if encountered by a black bear:

• Keep a respectful distance! In most cases, the bear will move on quickly.

• If a bear is up a tree on or near your property, give it space. Do not approach, and bring your pets inside to provide the bear a clear path to leave your property.

• If you see a very small cub, do not try to remove it from the area or "save it."

• The best way to encourage the bear not to return is to remove food sources.

• Do not store household trash, or anything that smells like food, in vehicles, on porches or decks.

• Keep your full or empty trash containers secured in a garage, shed or basement.

• Take your garbage to the dump frequently.

• If you have a trash collection service, put your trash out the morning of the pickup, not the night before.

• Take down your birdfeeder for 3-4 weeks after the bear visits.

• Encourage your neighbors to take similar precautions.

• Unless the animal is sick or injured, or poses a threat to public safety, Animal Control Officers do not take actions to attempt to remove bears from a neighborhood.

Police say bear sightings should be reported to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries through the Virginia Wildlife Conflict Helpline at (855) 571-9003.

For more information on bear sightings and how to respond safely click HERE. 

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Heartbreaking Photo of a Stray Dog Hugging a Teddy Bear Has Gone Viral: Triggering a Bit of Controversy

Houston, Texas - This heartbreaking of a stray dog hugging a teddy bear on socialmedia -- and triggered a bit of controversy.

This is the picture. A sadder-than-sad stray dog who has found a tiny bit of comfort...by snuggling up to a forsaken teddy bear.

The picture was taken by a Houston woman named Yvette Holzbach with the group 'Forgotten Dogs of The Fifth Ward'.

When she posted it on her Facebook page, there was criticism.

Why didn't you rescue the dog?"

This is her explanation: "We can feed up to 50 stray dogs [daily]. Of those 50 dogs we are lucky if we are able to save one because...there are not enough foster homes."

"[To] understand what we are faced with we welcome you to do a ride along with us. You will be astounded at how many homeless dogs there are."

That is as true in Southern California - as it is in Houston.

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First Responders Called to a Sushi Restaurant After a Man Allegedly Threw a Giant Python on the Floor and Walked Out

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, L.A. first responders say they were called to a sushi restaurant on Sunday after a man allegedly threw a giant python on the floor and walked out.

“Probably one of the weirdest calls that I’ve ever heard us respond to,” LAPD Lt. John Gavin told Fox 11.

Police say the man had already showed up at the restaurant with a smaller snake earlier that night. When he started arguing with another diner, he was asked to leave.

So the man did – but then he came back, this time with a 13-foot python.

“Customers are yelling, ‘Get this thing out! Are you crazy,’” Jessie Davaadorj, a server, told KCAL 9.

Lt. Gavin said the suspect, who was later arrested, didn’t deny his involvement.

He said that “he was mad, and that he felt that was the only way he could get even,” said the lieutenant.

Thankfully, the fire department and animal control were able to safely corner the snake into a box.

Police say the man, who is homeless, has been charged with criminal threats from “using the snake as a weapon and threatening the patrons.”

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Former Ravens Defensive Tackle Terrence Cody: Sentenced to Nine Months in County Jail, After He Was Convicted on Misdemeanor Animal Cruelty Charges

Former Ravens defensive tackle Terrence Cody was sentenced to nine months in county jail, after he was convicted on misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.

According to Alison Knezevich of the Baltimore Sun, Cody faced more than two years in jail. He was convicted in November of two misdemeanor drug charges and multiple misdemanors regarding the death of his dog Taz.

Prosecutors said the dog was starved to death. He was also convicted of illegally possessing an alligator (of course).

The Ravens drafted Cody in the second round in 2010. He only played one game in 2014, and was released last February.

You may be interested in reading:

Ravens Defensive Tackle Terrence Cody Being Investigated For Animal Cruelty

Ravens Will Cut DT Cody Amid Animal Cruelty Investigation

Terrence Cody Indicted On Animal Cruelty Charges 

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Cat Parasite Linked to Mental Illness, Schizophrenia

Everyone loves cuddling with kittens. But there can be a little-known danger lurking behind that furry little face and that innocent-sounding meow: a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii).

T. gondii is the most common parasite in developed nations, according to Schizophrenia Bulletin. The cat-carried parasite can infect any warm-blooded species, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 60 million people in the U.S. may have it.

Most people never suffer any symptoms at all. But in those with weaker immune systems, infection with T. gondii can cause an illness called toxoplasmosis, which can result in miscarriages, fetal development disorders, weeks of flu-like illness, blindness and even death. It has also been associated with mental disorders including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Now two more studies explore the mental health issues in greater detail.

E. Fuller Torrey of the Stanley Medical Research Institute and Dr. Robert H. Yolken of Stanley Laboratory of Developmental Neurovirology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have been studying the link between infection with T. gondii and schizophrenia for close to three decades.

Their most recent study, published in Schizophrenia Research, along with researcher Wendy Simmons, compared two previous studies that found a link between childhood cat ownership and the development of schizophrenia later in life with an unpublished survey on mental health from 1982, 10 years before any data on cat ownership and mental illness had been published. Results of the analysis indicated that cat exposure in childhood may be a risk factor for developing mental disorders.

To read more on this story, click here: Cat Parasite Linked to Mental Illness, Schizophrenia

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A Pennsylvania Goldfish Might Be the 1st of His Species to Get Braces

A Pennsylvania goldfish named Mr. Hot Wing might be the 1st orthodontic patient of his species

Just weeks after photos of a Michigan dog with braces went viral, veterinary orthodontics are in the news once again.

This time, however, the patient is a goldfish. A standard orange goldfish. The kind who lives in a bowl, retails for roughly 27 cents, and sort of resembles a Buffalo chicken wing when you squint and really think about it.

His name is Mr. Hot Wing, and he's the first-ever pet of his kind to make headlines with a corrective dental appliance.

Philadelphia's 6abc Action News reports that Mr. Hot Wing, who lives in Allentown, Pa., was born without a lower jaw bone, which makes it impossible for him to hold his mouth open.

Because of this, the fish suffers from breathing and eating difficulties. Rather, he did before his owner brought him to Dr. Brian Palmeiro at Lehigh Valley Veterinary Dermatology.

Palmeiro, described by Action News as "the fish doctor," reportedly performed surgery on Mr. Hot Wing to open his mouth.

Then, after conducting "a lot of research" on the topic, he fashioned some custom braces out of a plastic credit card to correct Mr. Hot Wing's bite … or lack thereof.

"Fish Braces!!??" wrote the veterinary clinic on Facebook last week under a post-op photo of its little patient. "Mr. Hot Wing came in today for trouble breathing and inability to eat. He was born without a lower jaw bone and his mouth could not stay open. Brian Palmeiro did surgery to open his mouth and created this brace to help his mouth stay open."

Mr. Hot Wing may be the first fish to get braces, in a matter of speaking, but he's not the first to benefit from Palmeiro's plastic card veterinary devices.

The Lehigh Valley clinic shared a photo of a larger fish, who appears to have a makeshift splint on his fin, in November.

All in all, Mr. Hot Wing's braces were said to have cost about $150.

That may sound like an expensive vet bill for a fish that likely cost less than a dollar, but you can't put a price on family. And hey — it's still way cheaper than human braces.

Or dog braces, for that matter.

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Mr. Hot Wing, who lives in Allentown, Pa., was born without a lower jaw bone, which made it hard for him to breathe or eat before his 'braces' were put on. (Lehigh Valley Veterinary Dermatology/Facebook)

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(Left: Matt Elsberry/Flickr, Right: Ernesto Andrade/Flickr)

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Tags;

Goldfish, Fish, Pet, Pet Health, Goldfish Gets Braces, Braces, Veterinary Orthodontics, Lehigh Valley Clinic,

Mr. Hot Wing, who lives in Allentown, Pa., was born without a lower jaw bone, which made it hard for him to breathe or eat before his 'braces' were put on. (Lehigh Valley Veterinary Dermatology/Facebook)

                   (Left: Matt Elsberry/Flickr, Right: Ernesto Andrade/Flickr)

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Meet Ruger, The First Anti-Poaching Dog in Zambia, Where He is Now Responsible for Putting 150 Poachers Out of Business

Ruger, once considered a “bad” dog, is perfect for his job.  Because he had a very rough start in life, he was aggressive and would snap at people, but part of his personality has made him easily trained to become the first anti-poaching dog in Zambia, where he is now responsible for putting 150 poachers out of business.

“Bad dogs have an overwhelming desire to bring you things,” Megan Parker told The Guardian. “Dogs love telling you what they know. They have an inability to quit.

”Parker is the director of research at Working Dogs for Conservation in Montana.  She searches shelters for difficult, “unadoptable” dogs who’d have no problem putting poachers in their place.

Ruger was born on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana.  When he was young, his owner shot his littermates, but he was able to flee.  He wound up in a shelter, where he was noticed by a trainer who told WD4C about him.

At first, Ruger was aggressive, and would bite people.  Parker had a hard time getting him to the vet, and he hated small spaces.  But there was something about him that encouraged her to keep working with him.  However, there was something else that stood in Ruger’s way of becoming an anti-poaching dog at all.

“Early on in his training, Meg was under pressure from her colleagues to decide if Ruger would make the cut,” said Pete Coppolillo, executive director at WD4C. “If a dog doesn’t work out, we make sure they have a forever home. We all wondered if Meg should start finding a place for Ruger, who was losing his sight.

”But she knew that Ruger had the drive necessary to make the cut.

“These dogs have an unrelenting drive,” she said. “For a dog that doesn’t stop, you can train that dog to bring you things.”

Parker was eventually able to match up Ruger with the Delta Team scouts, a law enforcement unit operated by the South Luangwa Conservation Society and the Zambia Wildlife Authority.  The scouts had little experience with dogs, and were leery of the idea that a dog could help.

Ruger proved his worth at his first day on the job.  Roadblocks were set up to search vehicles for illegal paraphernalia.

“It takes humans an hour or more to search a car,” said Coppolillo, “whereas it takes dogs three to four minutes.”

Ruger sat down and glared at one of the passing cars.

“That’s his alert [signal],” Coppolillo continued.

Several pieces of luggage were inside the vehicle, and the scouts who searched them came up empty-handed.  But Ruger kept his eye on one bag, which contained a matchbox in a plastic bag.  Inside of it was a primer cap, which ignites gunpowder in the illegal muzzle loaders that poachers rely on.

“At that moment, everyone believed that Ruger knew what he was doing,” said Coppolillo. “They learned to think of Ruger as a colleague.”

Now he’s been a valuable team member for a year and a half.

“He’s a hero who’s responsible for dozens of arrests and has convinced many skeptics of his detection skills,” Coppolillo noted.

Some people likened his skills to witchcraft, but at a courthouse demonstration, a scout hid a piece of ivory and Ruger found it in only a couple minutes.  And his deteriorating vision hasn’t impaired him one bit.

“His skills have sharpened.  He’s working with a few younger dogs, who are somewhat goofy and get distracted like most puppies do,” Coppolillo said. “Ruger remains focused despite many distractions, such as having wild animals close by. Baboons are the worst. His lack of eyesight works in his favor because he almost entirely focuses on his sense of smell.

”Because the work is very dangerous, Ruger does not have to work every day, and Godfrey, a scout, rewards him with games of tug-of-war when he nabs someone.

“Poachers are well-armed and well-trained,” Coppolillo said. “African elephants don’t live throughout the continent. Poachers kill elephants where they reside and smuggle them to places where they don’t live to throw law enforcement off their tracks.

”Though it is illegal to hunt within South Luangwa National Park’s boundaries, poachers do it anyway, and over the years, many scouts have colluded with them.  Good scouts are hard to come by, and in Africa, it’s even more difficult to find dogs like Ruger.

“Good dog selection is absolutely essential,” Coppolillo said. “Village dogs simply don’t have the drive to do this kind of work. There are only a handful of suitable and reputable kennels in Africa. Most are focused on selling security and military dogs, so they’re not as well socialized as a conservation dog needs to be. Plus, they generally sell those dogs for much more than what it would cost us to source a dog in the US.

”Parker will continue her dedicated work of finding suitable American shelter dogs to send to Africa to keep saving the lives of countless elephants.

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