By John Salak –
Maybe it’s global warming, climate change, a weird lunar cycle or perhaps the anxiety caused by the pending presential elections, but nature seems to be acting up these days, ultimately getting a little too close for comfort.
This confluence of strange events isn’t tied to weather—unrelenting storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and recording breaking high temperatures all seem to be the norm these days. No, Mother Nature’s family of creatures seems to be turning up in the strangest places with increasing frequency for all sorts of reasons. Often, in fact, these encounters are happening in turf usually reserved for people.
Consider what happened in just a few days in the middle of August. A herd of water buffalos decided to take repeated strolls through neighborhoods in Nashville, Tennessee. This southern city is renowned for its country music not for these Asian beasts, so it is little wonder that area residents were a bit surprised to see these enormous horned animals trucking through their streets.
Okay, it turns out the water buffalos escaped from a nearby zoo, but still, it’s strange. The same can be said for the appearance of a couple of kangaroos hopping around Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Again, these marsupials broke out of a local zoo, but this breakout couple, with the move by the Nashville water buffalos begs the question of whether some sinister elements are afoot in the animal kingdom.
Of note, one of the two Czech roos already turned itself in after a few days on the loose, while as of press time, one hoppy fugitive remained on the lam.
Still not convinced there is a coordinated escape plan underway, A desert tortoise was tracked down by an Arizona trooper after taking an unauthorized powder from an ostrich range three miles away. How this slow-moving fugitive busted out is unclear, as is why the tortoise, AKA Stitch, was held at an ostrich range to begin with.
If these jailbreaks aren’t curious enough, there is also the case of the Lake Erie gator. A five-foot alligator has been cruising the shore of this Great Lake for days, sending residents, police and animal trappers into a frenzy.
In what may be the understatement of the summer given that gators are far from native to Pennsylvania, Erie Port Authority Executive Director Julie Slomski told Erie News Now: “This has been very unique for us. We’re taking this very seriously and our team is being very, very diligent just to make sure we are keeping everyone safe.”
If gators aren’t spooky enough, what about a bear and its cub climbing into a car for anything but a joy ride? A homeowner in Winsted, Connecticut confronted such a dilemma when he discovered these two interlopers inside his car having a good old time trashing it to the extreme.
Sure, maybe all these encounters can be explained away by wishful thinking, curious coincides or unique happenstances. After all, there was no immediate harm to people.
Well, what about the light-beaked seagull or the domestic-terror dog fiend? A Nantucket-based seagull nabbed a guy’s wallet right before his eyes in August. This feathery criminal even had the audacity to give the wallet’s owner a long-term stare-down before grabbing the man’s billfold and flying away. Sure, everyone knows that seagulls are scavengers, but even on Tony Nantucket, they usually reserve their snatches to fish, fries or maybe an odd piece of calamari. But wallets? That’s strange, audacious and a bit frightening.
For those still not convinced that animals may, in fact, have had enough and are now teaming up to fight back, there is the tale of the Oklahoma canine who decided to light up the house while its owners were away.
Video cameras clearly show a dog chewing on a lithium battery until it explores and the house catches fire, all while another dog and cat keep a lookout. Not surprisingly, all three fury culprits watched the flames grow before escaping without injury or incident. The house, however, was severely damaged.
Admittedly, all these animal incidents could just be a coincidence giving humans little to worry about. Then again, may be the animals are planning something sinister and these acts are just the start.
