The List: Scariest animals in the movies - washingtontimes.com

4 August 2011

The film “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” opened Aug. 5 in the U.S. The film, directed by Rupert Wyatt, is a prequel to “Planet of the Apes” set in the present day, when man’s experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of superintelligent apes. This week, the List looks at some of the scariest movies involving animals.

• Rogue, 2008 (saltwater crocodile) — Unsuspecting tourists on a riverboat become the meal of choice for a monster saltwater crocodile in this entertaining suspense thriller set in Australia's Northern Territory.
• Anaconda, 1997 (large anaconda) — Call this one, set in Brazil at the mouth of the Amazon, “Jaws in the Jungle.” Jennifer Lopez and a boat full of dispensable characters battle with a 40-foot-long reptile that crushes its victims and swallows them whole.
• Piranha, 1978 (piranhas) — Teenagers exploring an abandoned military installation take a dip in what appears to be a swimming pool and suddenly are attacked by an unseen force and disappear under the water. These are not goldfish.
• Them! 1954 (ants) — Man encounters a nest of gigantic irradiated ants in this American black-and-white science-fiction film. Since its original release, “Them!” has become regarded generally as one of the very best science-fiction films of the 1950s.
• Congo, 1995 (gorillas) — Laura Linney and Tim Curry star in "Congo", based on the 1980 Michael Crichton best-seller about a booby-trapped expedition into the jungle that has to fight off a species of killer apes called “gray gorillas.”
• Lake Placid, 1999 (giant crocodiles) — In a bit of a slapdash spoof of “Jaws,” a gigantic crocodile savages a moose, a bear and several head of cattle before underestimating a human hunting party and ending up caged in the cockpit of a helicopter.
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, 1954 (giant squid) — Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus battle a giant squid in this Jules Verne classic. The giant-squid battle sequence is amazing.
• King Kong, 1933 (giant ape) — The film contains one of the indelible scenes in film history, when Kong stands atop the Empire State Building and battles a swarm of fighter planes.
• Cujo, 1983 (Saint Bernard dog) — One of the best films from a Stephen King book, “Cujo” is about a killer Saint Bernard dog that has rabies and becomes demonic. This is one nasty dog.
• Jurassic Park, 1993 (velociraptors) — Steven Spielberg’s big-screen treatment of Michael Crichton's novel about a dinosaur theme park gone mad is brilliantly done. Nothing is safe in this futuristic theme park on a private island devoted to resurrecting dinosaurs that suddenly turn on the humans. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.
• Arachnophobia, 1990 (spiders) — Spiders are not animals, but you get the point. Just when you thought it was safe to go play in the barn, along comes a spider who makes killer bees look like Bambi. A deadly spider, transported in the coffin of photographer bitten in a Venezuelan rain forest, suddenly runs havoc in a sleepy American hamlet.
• The Birds, 1963 (birds) — The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, turned this short story by Daphne du Maurier into a horror classic. Birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people in a Northern California town.
• Jaws, 1975 (great white shark) — Steven Spielberg’s film about a killer shark terrorizing beach-goers is the benchmark for all scary films involving animals. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” says Roy Scheider in one of cinematic history’s most memorable lines. The film frightened some moviegoers out of the water for years.
• (Good to see a couple of croc's feature in this list!)

Rangers search river for troublesome crocodile - abc.net.au

4 August 2011

Northern Territory wildlife rangers are trying to find a large crocodile in the Katherine River.

The crocodile is reported to have been approaching boats and behaving aggressively.

Wildlife Officer John Burke says rangers want to make sure it does not get into the catchment area near the town.

Mr Burke says rangers caught a three-metre crocodile about 45 kilometres downstream from Katherine on Tuesday but are still looking for a second, bigger one.

"The larger animal that we are looking for is estimated to be about 3.6 metres to four metres," he said.

"It is hard to guesstimate the length of the animal in the water but we will spend a good part of today having a look for it, and probably some of this evening."

Mr Burke says rangers want to make sure the big crocodile does not get into the catchment area near the town.

"I believe it has just started coming up around boats more frequently, hanging around, and the guys have moved away," he said.

"Obviously the croc has just hit the bottom again but it is a concern to us because it is in the management zone."

Surprise! Grand Rapids officer searching parolee's basement finds crocodile-like animal - mlive.com

4 August 2011

GRAND RAPIDS -- The five live chickens attached to strings in a Tulip Street SW basement was enough for a Grand Rapids police officer to call for animal control today.

But when he turned and found a huge aquarium with a crocodile-like creature inside, it set animal control officers on their way a little faster.

Police were doing a routine parole check on a man this morning at his residence on Tulip Street SW when they found the 2-foot caiman, of the crocodile family.

The animals are considered exotic and not allowed as pets in Kent County, according to county ordinance.

Animal control officers had no trouble taking the caiman from the aquarium and placing it in a cat-type carrier for transport to the Kent County animal shelter.

Grand Rapids police Officer Gregory Bauer said the parolee, who owns the caiman, likely would be able to get the animal back if he agrees not to keep it in Kent County.

He was arrested this morning for what police described as minor parole violations.

According to a nature web site, wildernesscalssroom.com, male caimans can grow to 6-7 feet long while females generally reach a maximum of 4 feet.

"I think it's the first one I've seen," Bauer said.

Police said a woman who lives at the residence was allowed to keep the chickens because she promised to slaughter them in the next few days. The chickens were in the basement, kept captive with strings tied to one leg.

The woman was keeping them for meat.

Photo above:Two caiman of similar size to the one found in a Tulip Street SW basement (Courtesy:www.wildernessclassroom.com)

Killer Crocodile Eats Head, Hands and Feet of Teenage Boy - thejakartaglobe.com

1 August 2011

Sorong, Papua. An Indonesian teenager fishing with friends in Papua was snatched from his boat by a killer crocodile over the weekend.

The body of the victim, Hanry Rumfable, 14, was found the next day minus his head, hands and feet.

He was a single child.

According to survivors Steven and Melki, the three friends were fishing 500 meters from their village on a small boat on the Salafem River in North Misol, Raja Ampat, when the crocodile struck and dragged Hanry into the water.

“I saw when he was being pulled by the crocodile off the boat and dragged into the water,” said Melky, 15, whose unsuccessfully attempted to pull Hanry free of the crocodile’s mouth by pulling on his friend’s T-shirt.

Villagers accompanied by soldiers conducted a search for Hanry’s body shortly after the incident was reported, though it was not until the next day that they found his body tucked between mangrove trees.

Melky said he was still in shock after witnessing the gory attack and had been too afraid to return home to tell Hanry’s parents what had happened to their only son.

Crocodile has a brush with the law in Australia - telegraph.co.uk

28 July 2011

Authorities in Australia grab first tools they have to hand to keep a crocodile at bay after the reptile emerged from a drain in Cairns.

The 5-foot reptile was kept contained by road workers and police using large brooms after it crept out from a sewer in the north west Australian city.

A passing motorist first raised the alarm after spotting the crocodile as it wandered out onto a road.

"You don't see this everyday," said an unidentified local policeman as a crowd of onlookers gathered at a safe distance.

The crocodile was eventually recovered by a Queensland Parks and Wildlife Ranger who threw a towel over the creature's head before securing its mouth with a large rubber band.

This is the croc that attacked a woman - ntnews.com.au

28 July 2011

Scott Hislop photographed this saltwater crocodile in the swimming hole at Berry Springs on Sunday, two days before it attacked a woman

A SALTWATER crocodile had been lurking in a popular swimming hole for at least two days before attacking a woman.

Scott Hislop, 37, filmed the 1.5m female croc from underneath the water at Berry Springs on Sunday and even had footage of himself taken giving it the bird.

The croc was shot a few hours after biting a woman on the neck as she swam up to it despite being warned to stay clear. It was the first saltwater crocodile seen at the springs during the dry season in living memory.

Mr Hislop was swimming underwater when he looked up and saw the saltie lying on the surface under some pandanas.

"I was just about to surface when I saw it," the electrical technician said.

"We were only one metre apart. I couldn't believe it.

"I got out of there as fast as I could."

Mr Hislop, of Virginia, said he thought at first the croc was a "reasonable" size and feared for the safety of his two sons, Tain, 9, and six-year-old Jake, who were in the water nearby.

"I thought my kids were just the right size for it to take," he said.

But when he realised the saltie was only 1.5m, he and his sons swam under the croc and filmed it with an underwater video camera.

"My kids didn't believe the croc was real," he said.

The woman was recovering at her nearby home yesterday. She refused medical treatment and asked for the croc not to be harmed.

The attack was witnessed by several people.

Teal Coe, 20, of Virginia, said the woman "deserved" to be bitten because she got too close.

"I told her to stay away but she said she knew all about crocs," he said.

"She borrowed a mask and swam over to it.

Crocodile caught chilling out in Siberian lake - rt.com

27 July 2011

A two-meter reptile has joined the holiday-makers enjoying the cool waters of Shira Lake in Siberia.

The reptile was brought to the resort by a photographer who hoped to make some money by offering photo sessions with his sharp-toothed friend.

The business proved quite a success until the photographer, tired by the heat, went to have lunch. Alone, bored and hot, the photographer’s two-meter colleague could not resist the temptation to have a bath in the cold water.

At first, no one paid attention to the reptile that looked like an ordinary piece of wood drifting across the lake. But when a group of tourists in a boat tried to push “the garbage” away, it turned out to be alive.

Luckily for holiday-makers, the reptile had already had its lunch, and beach rescuers were quick to catch the animal and return it to the petrified owner. The photographer received a warning, while the rescuers were rewarded by memorable photos with the happy reptile.

The Siberian crocodile is not the first exotic creature to have fun in Russian waters. In early June, fishermen caught a couple of piranhas, native to Latin America, in the country’s south.

While locals are blaming global warming, scientists say the killer fish could have been released into the river by a disgruntled owner.