Man Saving 'World's Biggest' Hula Hoop In Case Museum Wants It



A man who found the 'world's biggest' Hula Hoop is keeping it tucked away in a box in case a museum catch wind of his lengthy snack.

Rowan Umland, 19, opened up his favourite salt and vinegar flavoured Hula Hoops and was gobsmacked with what he was greeted with.

The student reckons it's the world's biggest - dwarfing the average sized snack and beating previous contenders.

Consequently, the crisp lover isn't eating the rare find - instead he's keeping it in a box and says he could be tempted to sell the 3.7in crisp it if the price is right.

For now he's keeping it safe just in case Guinness World Records get wind of it.

Rowan from Peckham, south London, said: "I opened the packet and it was the first thing I saw - I couldn't believe it.

"I did consider eating it for a split second because I was hungry, but I thought it might give people a laugh so I put it to one side.

"I love Hula Hoops and I've eaten hundreds of bags in my lifetime, but I've never seen anything like this before.

"It's got to be one of the biggest - if not the biggest - in the world!

"I'm definitely not going to eat it, and it's being kept safely in a box - who knows who might want it one day? A collector, a museum? I've already had to tell my family 'hands off'!"

Rowan got the crisps from his local Sainsbury's and found the whopper on 11 May.

Previous records for the biggest ever were claimed in 2014 by a 31-year-old man who found a 3in long Hula Hoop and put it on eBay.

Then, in 2019 an eight-year-old lad beat it, with a 3in crisp he found in a bag he was munching as an after school snack.

Tom McGrath discovered the super-sized hoop before rushing to football practice to tell his pals.

At the time, the youngster said: "When I saw it, I was quite shocked and then I showed my mum and my dad and they were really surprised.

"I was tempted to eat it but it's lucky that I didn't because then it would have been gone for good."

His dad Fergal believed it could be a world record and described it as 'a whopper'.

Hula Hoops are produced by KP Snacks, a business founded in 1853 by Charles Kenyon but started making crisps in the 1940s. The popular snack launched in 1973.

https://www.ladbible.com/community/food ... t-20210516

[PennySerenade]

Toronto library sets world record with 8 million digital download during pandemic



TORONTO -- Canadians are known for being avid readers and that includes the citizens of Toronto as the city has a library system with the highest digital circulation in the world.

The Toronto Public Library system has 100 branches and while they're normally an excellent place to browse physical books and other resources, most have had to close at various points throughout the pandemic.

Due to COVID-19 the number of downloads of e-books and audiobooks last year jumped 32 per cent.

Shawn Mitchell with Toronto Public Library’s Membership Services said the online library set a new record of 8 million digital downloads of e-books and audiobooks in 2020.

“Toronto Public Library for the 8th year in a row is the largest consumer of e-content in the world, so it's quite a large system," Mitchell said.

The library is a great resource at the best of times, but during the pandemic it's been vital to help people in self isolation.

It has been fantastic for avid readers like Kristin Chong of Scarborough.

“With the pandemic and because I am home all the time and with the lockdowns and restrictions I’ve definitely been taking out a lot more books - specifically e-books" said Chong.

Chong bought an e-reader and signed up online with the library and has enjoyed the many services it has to offer.

“As much as I love having a physical book and love being able to hold the book and turn the pages, I think the e-reader option is really wonderful" said Chong.



Mitchell says even if you don't currently have a library card as long as you're a resident of Toronto you can register for a digital access card at http://www.tpl.ca

Once you have that not only can you download e-books and audio books for free, but also watch movies and listen to music. You can do online research and read magazines and newspapers.

The Kanopy streaming service has over 30,000 movies and documentaries you can also watch for free.

If you do want to have a physical item, the library does provide curbside pick-up.

“Customers are able to go online and place a hold and go to a branch for contactless pick-up," said Mitchell.

The online library is a wonderful resource to help people get through the pandemic and Chong says it's been a great benefit for her.

“If there is a one thing that is great about this year, it’s that it helped me re-ignite my love of reading and reading different types of books," said Chong.

No matter where you live you can check with your municipality to see what services are being offered by your library system.

They may also have curbside pick-up, as well as e-books, audio books, movie streaming and other digital services.

And 7,419,497 downloads were from me

[prokroustis]

Google Maps Users Spot Real-Life Teletubbies Walking Down Russian Street



Whenever you think that the Google Maps camera can't surprise you anymore it unveils yet more funny and bizarre human behaviour. This time it's Norilsk in Russia and four Teletubbies that have gone viral, after being captured by the camera car.

Evidently a fan of following the Google car around, four people wandering the streets of Norilsk in northern Russia have repeatedly been snapped dressed in colour-coded boiler suits that look an awful lot like Teletubby costumes.

The image also pans around to reveal that the eerie quartet are all wearing matching face masks too. They have clearly been saying eh-oh to the Google Maps car quite a bit as well, having been snapped in their outfits in dozens of images taken by the vehicle.



The group just happen to be in the right place at the right time, multiple times, or they know exactly where Google are headed and have been following them round. If you live north of the Arctic Circle in an isolated city you've got to get your kicks somehow.

It has been speculated that the four might in fact be Google employees, with one Reddit commenter saying: "Looks like the Google Maps street crew, since it's cold they are wearing the boiler suits."

That would make sense, given that their colours of yellow, green, red and purple do match the brightly coloured aesthetic of the Google brand.

Another theory is that they might be pranksters having a laugh. "This looks like one hell of a drunken walk," wrote one commenter.

[BigGlen]

ESA partners with startup to launch first debris removal mission in 2025



The recent fall to Earth of a massive Chinese rocket has renewed concerns about the perils of space junk and one project from the European Space Agency might be able to help.

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced plans to launch a space debris removal mission in 2025 with the help of a Swiss start-up called ClearSpace. The mission, dubbed ClearSpace-1, will use an experimental, four-armed robot to capture a Vega Secondary Payload Adapter (Vespa) left behind by ESA's Vega launcher in 2013. The piece of space junk is located about 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth and weighs roughly 220 lbs. (100 kilograms).

"Think of all of the orbital captures that have occurred up until this point and they have all taken place with cooperative, fully-controlled target objects," Jan Wörner, ESA Director General at the time, said in a December statement from the space agency. "With space debris, by definition no such control is possible: instead the objects are adrift, often tumbling randomly."

ESA recently signed a $104 million (€86 million) contract with ClearSpace to accomplish this feat. The team will use the ClearSpace-1 robot to capture Vespa from low Earth orbit and drag it down into Earth's atmosphere, where both spacecraft will burn up. If all goes according to plan, the mission will be the first removal of a previously generated piece of space debris from orbit, according to the statement.

"This first capture and disposal of an uncooperative space object represents an extremely challenging achievement," Wörner said in the statement. "With overall satellite numbers set to grow rapidly in the coming decade, regular removals are becoming essential to keep debris levels under control, to prevent a cascade of collisions that threaten to make the debris problem much worse."

Low Earth orbit is cluttered with debris, ranging from inactive satellites to the upper stages of launch vehicles and discarded bits left over from separation. These pieces of space junk move at tens of thousands of miles per hour and could collide with and cause damage to active satellites and spacecraft in their path.

"At orbital velocities, even a screw can hit with explosive force, which cannot be shielded against by mission designers; instead the threat needs to be managed through the active removal of debris items," Luc Piguet, founder and CEO of ClearSpace, said in the statement. "Our 'tow truck' design will be available to clear key orbits of debris that might otherwise make them unusable for future missions, eliminating the growing risks and liabilities for their owners, and benefitting the space industry as a whole. Our goal is to build affordable and sustainable in-orbit services."

This is the first time ESA has paid for a service contract such as this instead of directly procuring and running the entire mission. The space agency says that this new way of business is the first step in establishing a new commercial sector in space, according to the statement.

In addition to the contract with ESA, ClearSpace will rely on commercial investors to cover mission costs. As part of ESA's Clean Space Initiative and Active Debris Removal/ In-Orbit Servicing project (ADRIOS), the space agency will provide essential technologies, including advanced guidance, the robotic arms, navigation, control systems and vision-based AI, which will allow ClearSpace-1 to grapple its target autonomously.

Vespa is a reasonable first target for ClearSpace-1 given it is a relatively simple shape, sturdy construction, and about the size of a small satellite. If all goes according to plan, the team can leverage the same technology to capture larger, more challenging pieces of space debris in future missions. The team plans to first test ClearSpace-1 in a lower orbit of about 310 miles (500 km), prior to launching the mission to capture Vespa in 2025.

"The plan is that this pioneering capture forms the foundation of a recurring business case, not just for debris removal by responsible space actors around the globe, but also for in-orbit servicing," Luisa Innocenti, head of ESA's clean space office, said in the statement. "These same technologies will also enable in-orbit refuelling and servicing of satellites, extending their working life. Eventually, we envisage this trend extending into in-orbit assembly, manufacturing and recycling."

[goldie0608]

‘VAX LIVE’ Concert Raises $304M to Fund 26 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses for World’s Most Vulnerable



A benefit concert that was broadcast in 100 countries last week helped mobilize $302 million in funding and over 26 million individual COVID-19 vaccine doses for the world’s most marginalized communities, and their health care workers in need of support.

Global Citizen, founded online in 2012 to address global poverty, organized the star-studded concert hosted by Selena Gomez, to support the nonprofit efforts of the ACT Accelerator (Access to COVID-19 Tools).

Played to an audience of fully vaccinated frontline workers in the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles County, California, the show was taped May 2.

The concert featured speeches by VAX LIVE campaign chair Prince Harry, along with performances from Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Vedder, and Foo Fighters. You can watch their top clips from the show, that include appearances by Ben Affleck (who did a Batman skit with Jimmy Kimmel), Chrissy Teigen, David Letterman, Gayle King, Nomzamo Mbatha, Olivia Munn, and Sean Penn.

The announcement last week from Global Citizen reported their results, so far:

$302 million was pledged by Canada and Croatia, and $2.5 million raised from the private sector.

13.25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were pledged from Norway, Spain, New Zealand, Croatia, and the UAE.

$39.6 million in commitments pledged by corporate and philanthropic partners—pledges that have been matched in funding to total $63.3 million.

In total, more than 26 million COVID-19 vaccine doses pledged by governments, businesses, and philanthropists to support those around the world most in need as a result of the aforementioned funding.

Prince Harry and Meghan also called for their fans to donate on the occasion of their son Archie’s birthday—and their call had mobilized $535,000 by the date of the concert, which will help purchase 107,000 COVID-19 doses.

[stanley123]

Man Who Vowed He'd Never Give Up On His Lost Dog Reunites With Him 4 Years Later



"I was like a kid on Christmas.”

In 2016, Michael Joy and his family were about to embark on a road trip when his three dogs got loose. Two returned, but Sam, a Lab mix who was only 4 months old at the time, went missing.

Joy searched everywhere — driving around his neighborhood in Georgia, checking the local shelters — but the army vet couldn’t find his beloved dog anywhere.

“I told my wife, ‘Hey, I’m gonna find this dog,’” Joy told WTSP. “I never stopped, I always — I even still follow the shelters’ pages just in case he would’ve shown up.”

The family eventually moved to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, but Joy refused to believe that Sam was gone for good. He traveled back and forth to Georgia, hoping that Sam would turn up.

Then, nearly five years after Sam went missing, Joy got an unexpected call from City Dogs Cleveland. “She goes, ‘We have Sam.’ In the back of my mind, I’m going, ‘This can’t be the same Sam! This is Ohio! This is, like, almost to Michigan!’” Joy told WTSP. “So I’m like, ‘Can you describe him for me?’ And she said, ‘He’s a lighter-haired dog,’ and I’m like ‘Where are you and when can I pick him up?’”

The rescue was able to identify Sam when they scanned him for a microchip during a medical exam.

The day he got the call, Joy made the eight-hour drive to Ohio and prayed that his dog would recognize him. After so many years, Joy had changed — he had a beard and long hair — but Sam had changed, too.

“As we get up there and I’m waiting for them to pull Sam out, you can just see the anticipation in my face. I was like a kid on Christmas,” Joy said.

You can watch the emotional reunion here:

Get tissues ready for this one...Sam was dropped off by police who found him. Kennel staff scanned & found a #microchip then contacted the number on file. Turns out, Sam was missing for 4 YEARS, from Georgia! His owner drove 8hrs to get Sam in an emotional #reunion.☺️#happyending pic.twitter.com/kGtaeN4iX1

Joy was thrilled to see his lost dog again, and though Sam seemed a bit confused by his dad’s new look at first, the pup couldn’t stop jumping and wagging his tail excitedly.

Now that Joy has been reunited with his best friend, he’s never letting him out of his sight again.

New York gets dizzying new glass elevator ride



Ever wondered what it would be like to take a glass elevator ride up the side of one of New York's tallest skyscrapers?
Well, visitors will soon be able to do just that thanks to Summit One Vanderbilt, a brand new attraction set to open at Manhattan's One Vanderbilt tower this October.
Ascent, an all-glass enclosed elevator, will travel 1,210 feet (369 meters) up the outside of the building, providing thrilling views of the city.
Those looking for something even more daring can opt for Levitation, a collection of transparent glass boxes that jut out of the tower, suspending guests 1,063 feet above Madison Avenue.

Both are to be based across the four-level, 65,000-square-foot entertainment area and observation deck opening at the peak of One Vanderbilt, a $3.3 billion development that stands at 1,401 feet, making it the fourth tallest in New York City. The tallest is One World Trade Center, measuring 1,776 feet.
Summit One Vanderbilt will contain a cafe named Après, a terrace bar, food stalls and "the highest urban outdoor alpine meadow in the world."
Meanwhile, the team at boutique new media creative agency Kenzo Digital have designed a soon-to-be-unveiled immersive art installation for the observation deck.
"We have created a destination that offers an interactive experience that will be remembered for a lifetime with the best, amplified views in all of New York City," Marc Holliday, chairman and CEO of SL Green said in a statement.

"Summit One Vanderbilt is awe inspiring, magical and needs to be experienced to be understood," he added.
"It is a special, thrilling place that New Yorkers and travelers from across the country and the world will want to visit time and time again."
The news comes shortly after New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a $30 million tourism marketing campaign for the city, which saw visitor numbers fall from 66.6 million in 2019 to 22.3 million in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company, the organization which will launch the "NYC Reawakens" campaign in June, believes the launch of the attraction will provide a boost to the city as it begins to recover.
"New York City will be full of energy this fall, and Summit One Vanderbilt is an incredible addition to its attractions for locals and visitors," Dixon said in a statement.
Summit One Vanderbilt joins a number of well known observation decks in the city, including the six-level Top of the Rock observatory at the Rockefeller Center, where the upper decks are positioned 850 feet above street level.
In 2019, the Empire State Building launched a new 102nd-floor observation deck based 1,250 feet above street level.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html

[lush]

This Third Grader Created His Own Cozy Atmosphere To Read During Class
May 14, 2021*

A student at an elementary school in Indian Hill, Ohio is going viral after his teacher captured his cozy and creative reading setup.

Eli Bay's teacher Mari Mileham snapped a picture of him during the class's "Refresh and Reflect" time on Tuesday with a book and virtual fireplace playing on his tablet.

"This student created his own cozy atmosphere today and I absolutely love it," Mileham said.


@MariMilehamIHES

Originally, Mileham only wanted to send it to Eli's parents. She decided to tweet it, thinking people would love it -- and they did.

The tweet has almost 700,000 likes!

"There were so many adults saying, 'This is me! This is what I do when I read!'" said Mileham. "I think with everything going on in the world, people loved this. This made their day -- the positivity we just love to spread."

[johngriffen]

IN OTHER NEWS...
CURRENTLY OFFLINE

Hold off posting your news stories
The editors and accountant department are reviewing last weeks reports to insure that all our reporters get their proper paycheck

[johngriffen]

FOR STORIES POSTED THE W/O MAY 10
Our news editors at IN OTHER NEWS have carefully reviewed all the stories submitted by our reporters
Following is last weeks Reporter Log

LEGEND:
X = Acceptable Story
X = PULITZER PRIZE
NA = Not Acceptable Story
DS = Duplicate Story
NOTE: If you feel the editors made a mistake, please feel free to PM me so that we can review your claim

A SPECIAL THANKS TO 10 ACE REPORTERS WHO FILED A NEW STORY EVERY DAY
Fatima99
Fivetide
goldie0608
hija
Jmalarkey1010
lush
ozswede
PennySerenade
prokroustis
Zbignieww



Every week the editors will review all the stories and pick the one story that we feels deserves a
MOBI PULITZER PRIZE
There are many different categories for submissions. The previous week, the category was "MOTHER'S DAY"
But this week, the category was "BEST PICTURE"

W/O MAY 10 CATEGORY = BEST PICTURE
HogwartsExpress
DAY = WEDNESDAY MAY 12
STORY = "Walker 'stunned' to see ship hovering high above sea off Cornwall"
There were many, many great pictures this week, especially if you were an animal lover But this picture so vividly showing this optical illusion was a true classic.
WELL DONE to EVERYBODY THIS WEEK and keep those stories coming

CONGRATULATIONS TO THIS WEEKS MOBI PULITZER PRIZE WINNER = 100 WRZ


THE NEXT NEWS CYCLE WILL BEGIN SHORTLY

[johngriffen]

I sometimes get REALLY DEPRESSED reviewing the news these days.
It's always about a global pandemic threatening life as we know it,
protests around the world, stupid politicians, natural disasters,
or some other really bad story.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Welcome to The mobi weekly news magazine
IN OTHER NEWS
MONDAY MAY 17
What is it?
Here is your chance to become an "ACE REPORTER" for our weekly news magazine.
It is your job to fine weird, funny or "good feel" stories from around the world and share them with our readers in our weekly magazine

How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

EXAMPLE POST

​Naked sunbather chases wild boar through park after it steals his laptop bag

A naked sunbather was seen chasing wild boar through a park after it stole his laptop bag.
Amusing photographs from Germany show the man running after the animal to try and claim the plastic bag back.
But the cheeky boar and its two piglets appear to be too quick for the sunbather, who can't keep up with their speedy little trotters.
As the incident unfolds, groups of friends and family sat on the grass watch on and laugh.
Heads are seen turning in surprise and amusement in the hilarious photographs.
The incident happened at Teufelssee Lake - a bathing spot in the Grunwell Forest in Berlin, Germany.

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You can post as many stories as you like, but you will only get paid for One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can only earn WRZ$ once a day.
Each news day will start when I post announcing it
OR at:
9:00 AM CHICAGO TIME (UTC -5)
2:00 PM GMT (UTC -0)
on those days I space out and forget to post or can't due to Real Life
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them short, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
All payments will be made at THE END of the weekly news cycle.
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

So help bring GOOD news to the members of mobi, and join our reporting team...

IN OTHER NEWS

[prokroustis]

Restaurant Claims 'Labour Inducer' Burger Has Helped 31 Women Give Birth

A restaurant claims to have created a burger that causes pregnant women to go into labour, and they say that so far it was worked 31 times.

Of course, they've got no empirical scientific evidence to prove this fact, but it's still a great gimmick for a burger, right?

The Suburban restaurant in Excelsior, Minnesota, reckons that their 'Labour Inducer' burger - which, pregnant or not, sounds absolutely delicious - is capable of making heavily pregnant women go into labour within 24 hours of eating.

They've had 31 people enter labour within a day of eating it, which is the criteria to be added to the count, including one of the restaurant's co-owners.

So, what's on this magical bun?



They entered it into the burger contest as 'The Labour Inducer' and then later added it to the menu.

As the word spread, more and more pregnant women came along to see if it could do the trick for them.

Cindy Berset explained to Fox 9: "It has been such a whirlwind. Every time a mom walks through that door, I know what she is coming in for and it's the 'Labour Inducer.'"

But, the real question is - what's behind all of this?



The likely answer is that heavily pregnant women who are trying to induce labour are quite close to doing so in the first place.

There is no real scientific evidence to suggest that eating foods can help induce labour as there's no known link between the stomach and the uterus.

Tales persist that suggest eating foods such as spicy mustard - which is on the burger - can help induce labour, but again there's no hard and fast link.

Still, you can do worse things with no provable scientific benefit than eating a delicious burger.

[ozswede]

'World first' as Cambridge vet saves tiger's eye


Tiger Ratna, almost 18 years old, needed an urgent operation to save her left eye

A tiger's eye has been saved in what is believed to be the first ever operation of its type in the world on a big cat.

Ratna, a 17-year-old Sumatran tiger, lives at Shepreth Wildlife Park near Cambridge.

Staff noticed her left eye - which had previously had a cataract removed - was deteriorating and a corneal ulcer was diagnosed by a specialist eye vet.

Corneal surgery, which is not uncommon on domestic cats and dogs, required "a lot more anaesthetic" on Ratna.

Surgeon Dr David Williams, from the Queen's Veterinary School Hospital at the University of Cambridge, said after two months of careful monitoring, he was "delighted to be able to sign Ratna off" as fully healed.

The tiger had cataract surgery before she and her daughter were moved to the wildlife park in early 2019 to live out their twilight years.


Vets carried out the surgery at the wildlife park

Because she needed daily eyedrops, the health of her left eye was being closely monitored by staff.


The tiger's left eye was deteriorating before the surgery

An initial operation, carried out in early February to treat a discolouration, did not have the desired effect and her eye continued to deteriorate.

Dr Williams, who went to Shepreth to check on the ulcer, said: "I think perhaps she'd managed to jab her eye on a stick of bamboo in her enclosure."

Source: BBC

[Fivetide]

Belugas finally arrive at Mystic Aquarium after legal battle


A Beluga whale is transported at Mystic Aquarium after arriving from Canada, Friday, May 14, 2021 in Mystic, Conn. A total of five Beluga whales from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada will be moved
to the aquarium. The whales will be leaving an overcrowded habitat with about 50 other whales and will be at the center of important research designed to benefit Belugas in the wild. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Three Beluga whales arrived Friday night at their new home in a Connecticut aquarium after a legal battle to import them and two others from Canada.

The whales were flown from Ontario to Connecticut on Friday, secured in special stretchers inside individual tanks and accompanied by a veterinarian and other marine-life experts.

Accompanied by a police escort, they arrived in Mystic on three tractor-trailers at about 7:40 p.m., where they were lifted on their stretchers by cranes into their new habitat. The transfer from truck to habitat took about a half hour to complete.

The remaining two Belugas are set to arrive at Mystic Aquarium early Saturday from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Government officials from Fisheries and Oceans Canada last month approved the export of the whales, seven months after U.S. officials approved the move.


A Mystic Aquarium trainer rubs the tongue of a Beluga whale as a gesture of affection, Friday, May 14, 2021, in Mystic, Conn. Three Beluga whales will arrive at the aquarium later Friday from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The whales will be leaving an overcrowded habitat with about 50 other whales and will be at the center of important research designed to benefit Belugas in the wild. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Connecticut-based Friends of Animals and other activists sought to block the transport in a lawsuit last fall against the U.S. Commerce secretary and National Marine Fisheries Service, which had approved the research permit. A federal judge in March declined to issue an injunction.

The whales, which range in age from 7 to 12, were born in captivity and officials said they cannot safely be released into the ocean.

Mystic officials said the five whales left an overcrowded habitat with about 50 other Belugas in Canada to join three other Belugas at the center of important research designed to benefit the species in the wild.

The animals will be trained to voluntarily give blood, saliva, blowhole air and other samples in exchange for rewards.

“Having eight animals certainly helps when trying to draw conclusions with the research,” said Tracy Romano, Mystic’s vice president of research and chief scientist. “It’s priceless to be able to work with trained animals and be able to get biological samples on a regular basis and all of this will help us interpret what we’re seeing in the wild and help with the management and conservation of the species.”

[Zbignieww]

Man Finds Massive Three Metre Snake Hiding In His Laundry Room In Sydney



A man from Sydney was in for a nasty shock after encountering an enormous three-metre snake hiding out in his laundry room.

Robin Ford, of Hornsby Heights on Sydney’s north shore, clocked the formidable diamond python lurking on the top of his basement door, looking quite at home with its tail dangling about.

Posting a picture of the terrifying yet harmless snake in the Hornsby Height Community Facebook group, Robin revealed the creature had later been safely removed and released back into local bushland.

The photo has elicited shudders throughout Facebook, with many people expressing horror at the sight of the sneaky intruder, despite it being known to be quite a ‘shy and nervous’ creature.

One person commented:

Lets just say, that I would donate the house including all furnishings, clothes, spouse and children, and be in a taxi en route to a top floor flat in a 1010 story high rise block.

Another ophidiophobic individual gasped:

Imagine not seeing it, push the door and it lands on you?!? Eeek!! (Beautiful looking snake, but still…!)

However, others have praised the snake as ‘stunning’ and ‘magnificent’, noting that its predatory skills would actually be of great use to the homeowner when it came to keeping mice and ‘nasty spiders’ at bay.

As per the Australian Museum, the diamond python, or to give it its scientific name Morelia spilota spilota, can frequently be found writhing about in large bushland areas and national parks around Sydney. However, these creatures will often go undetected due to being nocturnal and slow-moving.

During the daylight hours, this snake may spend its time basking in trees and, on occasion, up in roofs and rafters, just above the heads of unsuspecting humans. They usually measure in at around two metres, but can grow up to a mighty three metres long.

According to Backyard Buddies, diamond pythons will commonly visit gardens where there are aviaries, chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs, viewing these pets as potential menu items.

Although pythons are fortunately non-venomous to humans, their bite – especially from a larger snake – can be painful, sometimes leading to nerve damage or even going deep enough to hit bone. There have been times where a python’s teeth have broken off during a bite, becoming embedded in their victim.

https://www.unilad.co.uk/animals/man-fi ... in-sydney/