AD » Animals

Squirrel uses engine as nut store!

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 23:17:14 +0000

Basingstoke patrol Andy Smith could ‘nut’ believe it when he attended a car parked next to an oak tree on a farm in Micheldever, Hampshire. Andy says: “The member said their car had no power, so they assumed it was a problem with the turbo. However, when I looked over the car there was no obvious fault. I tried all the usual things but was left puzzled when nothing worked.” Not to be beaten, Andy pressed on and got to the bottom of it after spotting an air pipe collapsing while the engine was being revved. Realising it must be blocked, he took the air intake off and the cause of the problem became immediately apparent. More

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Flying cow writes off Citroen C5!

admin — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 21:34:54 +0000

A motorist in Staffordshire who hit a cow which jumped over a fence in front of his car escaped the freak accident with cuts and bruises. Robert Gould said he is lucky to be alive after his car went careering onto the other side of the road and skidded 80 yards. He was traveling at 60mph at the time and described seeing a ‘flying cow’. The frightened Friesian cow wrote off his Citroen C5 after denting the bonnet and breaking a wheel. Sadly, the cow died at the scene in Leek and had to be removed using a JCB. The 24-year-old said: ‘I am now looking out for low-flying cows whenever I am driving.’ More

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Snake slithers across windscreen while family driving at 65mph!

admin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:14:09 +0000

It’s a miracle the driver managed not to crash – let alone keep in a straight line. A snake terrified a young mother when it suddenly appeared on her SUV’s windscreen after slithering out of the engine as she drove along an expressway into Memphis, Tennessee. Rachel Fisher said she’s not usually scared by snakes but she ‘was clenching everything’ as she drove at 65mph with the unusual hitchhiker on board – and her three young children in the back. As she screamed and giggled hysterically, her husband recorded the incident on his camera phone and then posted the video on YouTube, where it has gone viral in just three days. It happened last week as Mrs Fisher drove her husband, Tony, and their three children Elizabeth, three, Judah, two and Rivers, four months, back to Memphis after visiting her parents in Cordova. More

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Bees almost destroyed man’s car!

admin — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:18:41 +0000

A swarm of bees almost destroyed a man’s 11-year-old car after deciding to make it their home. Clueless as to why the car would not pass its MOT, Alf James, 81, took the £2,000 Peugeot 106 into his local Bosch Car Service garage in Haslingden, Lancashire, to get it checked. The mechanics at the garage were shocked to discover that two of the vehicle’s cylinder head ports were completely covered with honeycomb. Mr James, a retired environmental technician from Park Avenue, Haslingden, said: “I thought the garage was playing a trick on me, I thought it was a joke.” More

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Dog survives 20 miles stuck in grille of car!

admin — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 22:57:23 +0000

A MIRACLE mutt survived a terror road trip after becoming trapped on the front of a moving car — for 30 MINUTES. Donald, a 14-year-old Jack Russell cross, got wedged into the grille of a Honda Civic after being accidently hit by the car. He was then carried 20 MILES down a dual carriageway at speeds of more than 60MPH. The petrified pooch only managed to get the driver’s attention — as he slowed down near his home in Silverdale, Staffs — by frantically barking. Donald is believed to have been blown into the path of the car by a huge gust of wind as the driver headed on to the A50 in Uttoxeter. The motorist, who refused to be named, thought he had hit a fox and only realised what had happened half an hour later. He immediately rang firefighters who cut Donald out of the car and the pet has now been reunited with his doting owners Ann Armett and her son Robert. Robert, 25, who has grown up with the family’s pet, said: “It’s absolutely incredible really. “You would have thought the driver would have been going 60mph-plus on the A50. “It’s amazing he wasn’t more seriously hurt.” Donald disappeared on Friday morning sparking a massive search by his owners. But after the driver phoned the bizarre incident in the police reunited the family with their pet the next day. And Donald has been dubbed a “miracle mongrel” by the vets who checked him over after he survived without any lasting injuries. Ann, 55, said: “Amazingly he has only suffered a few scratches and is eating and drinking like his normal, old self again.” More

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Foxes take a shine to brake cables!

admin — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 21:48:20 +0000

Animal experts have warned motorists that fox cubs have developed a taste for brake fluid which could dangerously affect the performance of their cars. A couple discovered the problem when they took their car to a mechanic after noticing “small bits of debris” on the ground under the spot where they park their car. The driver said: “The brake pad warning light came on when we next started up and the local garage cited fox damage.” The mechanics then remembered a spate of similar problems being reported to them and the damaged parts were sent off to wildlife experts, who found teeth marks similar to those made by a juvenile fox. The driver added that the experts warned “they like the taste of brake fluid and know how to find it”. It is not the first such series of incidents. A year ago, Kent Police investigated when several motorists said their cars had suffered damaged brake pipes and cables. Professor Stephen Harris, an environmental scientist Bristol University, who studies urban foxes and helped in Kent, said at the time: “They love chewing things More

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Swan gets frozen to driveway!

admin — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 21:53:41 +0000

An injured swan that was frozen to the ground as it sat in a driveway overnight has been rescued by the concerned homeowner. Jack Gilbert said his son discovered the stricken animal when he left the house to travel to London at 6am on Tuesday morning. He was able to free the bird by pouring warm water around it and melting the ice that was attaching it to the surface of the drive, but it only moved a few yards before stopping again. Mr Gilbert noticed that its left leg appeared to be damaged, and asked Bishops Wood Swan Rescue, a Worcestershire-based voluntary group, to come and collect it. More

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Joy riding bear trashes car!

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:23:22 +0000

A bear climbed into an empty car in the US state of Colorado, sounded the horn and sent the vehicle rolling down hill with the terrified animal still inside. The car’s owner, 17-year-old Ben Story, took a snap of the panic-stricken bear as it demolished the inside of his vehicle in its bid to escape. Police in Larkspur, near Denver, eventually freed the animal by opening the door from a distance using a rope. It is believed the bear was attracted by a sandwich left on the back seat. Mr Story and his family were asleep when the bear opened the unlocked door of his 2008 Toyota Corolla in the early hours of the morning and climbed inside. Mr Story’s father, Ralph, said the bear must have hit the car’s automatic transmission into neutral sending it rolling backwards 125ft (38m), off the driveway, down an embankment and into a thicket of trees. “The four-way flashers were on. It’s like he knew what was going on, and kept hitting the horn,” he told Denver’s 7News. Once the car door closed behind the bear, it was trapped inside. Ben Story said his car was wrecked. More

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Workers paint white lines around dead badger!

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:20:19 +0000

THE famous white stripes of the humble badger seem to have been put to an unusual use lately, saving the taxpayer money for paint and council contractors a few seconds on their long days. Reader Kevin Maul was on his way home from work when he noticed double white lines had been painted on an S bend near the county border on the A338. Lying sadly amid the fresh paint, however, was a badger who had breathed his last more than a week before. Mr Maul, who had been posting flyers for his business Lawntender around Fordingbridge and Damerham, said: “I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when I saw him, this poor old badger who had been there over a week. “I’d seen him every day as I went by and wondered if he was going to be picked up. Then on Friday I drove home to see his body between the lines – they had painted the road, but left a gap where he lay.” More

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High numbers of Deer accidents costing lives!

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:32:35 +0000

There are now more accidents involving deer than ever before – and the problem is getting worse. Gary Ennes had only one thing on his mind as he drove his Ford Fiesta home one evening along the A1060 in Essex, with his workmates following 100 yards behind. It was early December and after a long day at work Gary was thinking ahead to a family party planned for Christmas Day. Sadly, he never made it. “The next thing I remember was waking up; I thought it was the day after,” says the 60-year-old electrician, “except that I was in a strange bed…” In fact he was in intensive care and just regaining consciousness after hovering on the brink of death for five weeks. “I woke up in a different year,” Gary says. To the horror of his workmates, a deer bounded across the road and cannoned through Gary’s windscreen before crashing straight out again through the rear window. He was left fighting for his life with nine skull fractures, a smashed jawbone, a brain haemorrhage, a broken wrist and thumb. It took three years of painful operations and rehabilitation before he returned to work. A freak, one-off accident? Sadly not. Gary’s experience is far from unusual and, as figures obtained by Telegraph Motoring show, it’s becoming an increasingly common scenario. Experts we consulted estimate that accidents involving deer on British roads are on the rise by up to six per cent a year. We shouldn’t be surprised; traffic levels are rising and there are more deer than at any time in the past 1,000 years thanks to mild winters and more woodland cover. An average of 15 to 20 motorists die each year after encounters similar to Gary’s. A further 1,100 are seriously injured and some 700 sustain less serious injuries. More

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Stowaway cat stranded after ordeal in BMW!

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:52:04 +0000

A STOWAWAY cat hitched a 30 mile lift in a BMW’s spare wheel compartment – but was only discovered when the driver reached Beaconsfield. The tail of a female tabby was spotted sticking out the side of the car when the motorist stopped off at the Beaconsfield service area off junction 2 of the M40. However, it could have been an even longer journey for the unwitting furry traveller on Saturday. The pair were travelling from London to Manchester and only stopped to get a drink. Station Manager Danny Whitelock from Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service was called out at 11.43am. He said: “As the driver got out of the car he noticed something sticking out near the back wheel, above ground level. “He touched it and it moved and he realised it was a cat’s tail. More

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Motorists warned of fox dangers by new road sign!

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:29:02 +0000

Animal lovers in Oxfordshire keen to protect foxes from speeding motorists have combined the traditional road sign with a bit of cheeky humour to get their point across. The unique new sign was installed on a rural road between Wheatley and Waterperry and reads “For fox sake slow down”. More

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Call for ‘amphibian-friendly’ roads!

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:45:52 +0000

Wildlife campaigners are calling for more “amphibian-friendly” roads to protect common toads from being crushed under vehicles during their spring migration to breeding ponds across the country. Volunteers for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (Arc) are hoping to save nearly 40,000 migrating toads from road traffic this year. The charity has urged authorities to introduce measures to help the amphibians, such as “toad tunnels”, wildlife bridges and lowered kerbs that the creatures can climb. Meanwhile, under Arc’s annual Toads on Roads scheme, people carrying torches and buckets will head out during spring evening to help the toads cross busy roads at designated points. More

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Man loses licence for walking dog while driving!

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:21:18 +0000

County Durham man banned from driving after cyclist reported seeing pet being dragged along country lane. A dog owner too lazy to walk his pet has lost his driving licence after getting caught walking the animal while driving his car. Paul Railton, 23, of County Durham, had wound down the window of his Nissan Navara to exercise his lurcher when police caught him. Officers reported seeing him driving at 5mph along a country lane. Yesterday, at Consett magistrates court, Railton pleaded guilty to not being in proper control of a vehicle. Sharon Lowrie, prosecuting, said a cyclist alerted police that two men were dragging a dog along from a car. She said: “The driver was hanging on to the dog’s lead through the driver window, approaching a blind summit.” Railton was told to put the dog in the back of the car and was allowed to go, but five days later police turned up at his home to charge him. A police statement read out to the court said that “due to the narrow road there was no area for other cars to pass ng pet being dragged along country lane. More

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Wallaby has motorists hopping mad on the motorway!

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:33:22 +0000

Motorway traffic was brought to a standstill in Blackpool on Sunday as police attempted to catch an escaped wallaby. The animal, which is privately owned, was seen bouncing down a road near to Junction 4 of the M55. Police slowed traffic while RSPCA inspectors attempted to catch the animal. A Lancashire Police helicopter was also at the scene. The drama began at 8.55am after several motorists called 999. It ended four hours later when a vet was drafted in from Blackpool Zoo to sedate the wallaby with a tranquilliser dart. The animal, which was cornered by police in a garden, is now safely back with its owner. Insp Alistair Campbell of Blackpool Police: “We had nine officers at the scene and the police helicopter was also deployed. We slowed traffic on the motorway down to 30mph. More

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Fox turns to car crime and damages locals vehicles!

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:14:58 +0000

For eight months it was a suburban mystery. A series of car owners in a leafy enclave awoke to find their brake cables had been severed overnight. One baffled driver in West Wickham, Kent, found two cars on his driveway had been targeted in one swipe. The police were called and the finger of suspicion fell on a dangerous villain who for unknown reasons was swooping under cover of dark and putting lives at risk. But after a lengthy investigation, forensic testing and CCTV surveillance, police discovered they had been outfoxed – by a fox. A single four-legged felon with a bushy tail and a taste for brake fluid is thought to have been the culprit. The mystery of the West Wickham cable cutter began in February when a motorist reported that his brake cable had been cut. Over the next seven months, the phantom vandal struck eight more times – indiscriminately hitting three Mercedes, a BMW, three Fords, a Nissan and an Austin. The crime spree escalated from August onwards. At first, police in Bromley, Kent, thought a two-legged villain was behind the ‘criminal damage’ and they submitted the severed cables for forensic testing. When no fingerprints were found, they were baffled and set about checking CCTV cameras in the area to see whether they could identify any repeat overnight visitor. Then, as suspicion grew that their culprit may not, after all, be from the criminal world, police sent the evidence to an expert in biological science at Bristol University. He knew within seconds that the cable cutter was a fox. More

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Couple crash into elephant!

admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:08:17 +0000

While listening to Bill Carpenter describe what happened to his SUV Wednesday night, you’d think he had been attacked during a safari. But he and his wife Deena were driving home from church on U.S. 81 in Enid when they hit an elephant. “Probably half a dozen people said ‘you hit a what?,”" Bill recounted with a smile. Enid Police say the 4,500-pound animal ran down the street from the Garfield County Fairgrounds after being spooked by an employee with the Family Fun Circus. Part of its tusk ripped a hole in bill’s car, and broke off. More

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Joy riding bear trashes car!

Campaign to promote awareness of deer on the roads!

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:01:29 +0000

Highways Agency highlights the dangers to deer and road users during autumn and the following spring. Up to 74,000 collisions between vehicles and deer happen on UK roads each year, figures from the Highways Agency show. Most deer are killed but thousands are left to die of injuries and the worst times of year are coming up; autumn and spring, especially around dawn and dusk. The Agency reports that each year people are killed and injured in road collisions with wild deer, and there have been over 1,000 deer-vehicle collisions recorded since September 2007 on the motorway and A-road network alone. More

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Driver rescues tortoise from M25!

admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:10:21 +0000

A tortoise nicknamed Freeway crossed five lanes of London’s M25 motorway and survived. Driver John Formby spotted Freeway and pulled over to rescue him. Mr Formby, from Worthing, said: “I saw this bundle in the road and thought it was a bit of debris. I went to swerve it but noticed it was moving – then saw it had a head. “I couldn’t believe it was a tortoise crossing the motorway, through traffic travelling at 70mph. “I pulled over and ran 400 yards back up the road to get it. More

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Toads to get more protection on the roads!

admin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:19:16 +0000

Global warming has led to a change in their breeding and migrating patterns and this has forced the Department for Transport into a rethink on the rules which governing temporary road signs. As the law stands councils can only put up “migratory toad crossing” signs between February and May. But under the changes announced by the DfT these signs will go up in January giving the toad – officially a “biodiversity priority species” – an extra month’s protection. It is estimated that there are around eight million toads in Britain, rather fewer than there were just after the war. The European Common Toad is found throughout the country, while the Natterjack is found in north west and southern England, according to John Wilkinson, research officer with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. “Because of changes in our climate they are breeding and migrating earlier in the year,” Mr Wilkinson added. More

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Horse crashes through driver’s windscreen!

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:02:03 +0000

Catherine Lawrence’s face was badly bruised and her car written off after the collision with the horse near Tasman. Catherine Lawrence thought the airbag had gone off in her car after she crashed. It came as a shock when she realised it was actually a horse. Mrs Lawrence, 74, is nursing a badly bruised face and injured eye, but is lucky to be alive after the horse catapulted through her windscreen into her Nissan March on Wednesday night. The horse was killed instantly and ended up draped across the seats, while the roof was peeled back by the impact. More

Snake scares lady as she drives down road!

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:27:41 +0000

Miss Dixon-Yeung, 27, was driving to the supermarket when the creature appeared from beneath the bonnet of her silver Audi TT. She enlisted the help of Asda worker Joe Moore to remove the removed the reptile, which was later identified as a harmless North American corn snake. It was then released in fields at the back of the store in York. Miss Dixon-Yeung said: “I’d been away on a conference so I jumped in the car to pick up some groceries last week. “It was a very hot day and I had the windows down and my music blasting out when suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw something on the windscreen. “It was bright orange and I soon realised it was some sort of snake trying to get in to my car. I’m absolutely terrified of snakes so I panicked and reached for the button to do up the windows, but I was shaking so much I couldn’t do it. “I daren’t stop in case it got me so I really put my foot down and swerved the car quickly from side to side to try and shake the thing off. Other drivers must have thought I’d gone mad. More

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