My bet is on pterodactyl.

[io9]

Welcome to Indonesia, where safety is job one on our construction sites. Make sure you wear your hard hat and goggles at all times and stiffen up that right cross for the occasional lizard attack.

JAKARTA, Indonesia – An Indonesian worker freed himself from an attacking Komodo dragon by punching the reptile’s snout until it released him and ran away, a national park official said Monday.

Agustinus Jenaru, 20, was working inside an unfinished wooden bungalow on Rinca island when the 6.5-foot (two meter) lizard entered and bit onto his left hand on Saturday, said Komodo National Park official Daniel Bolu Ngongo.

Jenaru hit the jaws of the giant lizard for several seconds until it freed him. Jenaru was taken to a clinic for treatment of lacerations and a puncture wound.

…and beyond that, no one is sure if that lizard was even union.

[AP]

No one expects to Sget their camera stolen by an octopus. Which makes it the perfect crime…

[Stuff.co.nz via Pharyngula]

The trio determines what would force them to become vigilantes. Andrew describes his frightening superhero creation that involves deranged circus animals and human dismemberment. Brian tries to retcon the creation in a most horrific way.

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Florida is under attack from giant snakes. If that’s not bad enough, in a turn fit for the SyFy channel, authorities now worry that different breeds of python may be merging together into some new kind of “super snake”. From the Sun-Sentinel:

…state environmental officials worry that the rock python could breed with the Burmese python, which already has an established foothold in the Everglades. That could lead to a new “super snake,”…

The rock python, native to Africa is know for eating crocodiles and even children. If it breeds with the more common Burmese python, the hybrid could end up being even meaner and larger than either individual species.

The semi-good news is that the cold weather is bringing them out into the open and killing a few off. The bad news is that we might be left with really hardy snakes seeking out warm places. Did we mention that Weird Things HQ is located in Florida right off a canal?

link: Pythons in Everglades: African rock pythons add to worries about snakes in Everglades – South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

The crew of the Diasan Shinsho-maru were plunged into the ocean off the coast of Japan when they tried to haul in their net filled dozens of giant jellyfish.

Each of the jellyfish can weigh up to 200 kg and waters around Japan have been inundated with the creatures this year. Experts believe weather and water conditions in the breeding grounds, off the coast of China, have been ideal for the jellyfish in recent months.

Lately the Sea of Japan has been invaded by the giant creatures. Overfishing of their natural predators is one probable cause.

Giant creatures brought on by environmental damage wreaking havoc on Japan; what an interesting story point…

link: Japanese fishing trawler sunk by giant jellyfish – Telegraph

Giant Jellyfish: Arctic Lion’s Mane | Cyanea capillata

After thorough forensic analysis of the remains of the lions featured in the film Ghosts in the Darkness (based in part on the book The Man-eaters of Tsavo – which I kid you not, was bedtime reading in my household growing up), researchers from University of California, Santa Cruz have concluded that the murderous pair of lions only ate 35 people and not the 135 some had reported.

By looking at isotopes in the teeth of the lions (currently on display at the Chicago Field Museum) scientists were able to put together a very detailed picture of the lions eating habits:

The results suggest that during the final months of what John Patterson described as the lions’ “reign of terror,” fully half of one lion’s diet consisted of humans, with the balance made up of mid-sized grazing animals such as gazelles and impala. Strikingly, the other lion ate very few humans, subsisting instead on herbivores. That dietary disparity leads Dominy and Yeakel to infer that the Tsavo lions worked together to scatter everyone, both humans and wild game, setting the stage for one to gorge on humans and the other to feed on herbivores.

While some may say that 35 or 135 is really just detail, especially since the research only shows how many humans the lions *ate* and not just murdered, it’s a fascinating example of how modern science can be used to look at historical accounts.

Reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

UCSU: Legendary “man-eating” lions of Tsavo likely ate about 35 people–not 135, say scientists

Tsavo maneaters – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sea Monsters are awesome. What’s even more awesome than that? Live blogging your investigation of said sea monster in 1855! How is that even possible? In 1855 the New York Times was on the cutting edge of tech journalism utilizing telegraphs and locomotives to report the news live from the scene:

Having received this morning very private information, a vague account of the discovery of another sea-serpent near our city, we immediately dispatched seventeen of our reporters to the spot, having first “chartered” the “exclusive” right of the telegraph, and eleven locomotives.

By securing an communications connection via telegraph, reporters were able to send back a blow-by-blow account of their investigation as it unfolded.

Two minutes past 10 o’clock A.M – Serpent’s head seen – struck at one of the party with a stick – blow missed – terrible splashing.

One o’clock P.M. – Serpent showing himself frequently; struck at by Zedekiah Hornbush; club hit Zeke Williams; fight; puddle very rily.

Two o’clock P.M. – Serpent hit by a boy with a stone; dove when hit with a triple bellow – (that sounded as if it came from a neighboring pasture,) rose to surface again; hit by Dutchman; blood flowing from Serpent’s nose; awful scene; contortions of reptile; final capture.

What was this mysterious creature that Zedekiah and Zeke fearlessly confronted with their clubs? The report doesn’t quite get into specifics other than to say it may be of the “Garter” species – which suggests that it’s what we call a Garter snake today. They point out that there is no doubt he was in some relation to the Serpent that tempted Eve, “as he looks very wicked”. Wicked indeed. Remember this was four years before Darwin published The Origin of Species.

The story is a fascinating read and well worth checking out: Sea-Serpent in Wisconsin–another Monster–Terrible… – View Article – The New York Times

Inspired by this and recent accounts of a nearby sea monster, the Weird Things staff is contemplating live blogging its own expedition to find such a creature. We’ll keep you posted.

Hans Rollman, professor of Religious Studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland, writing for the Telegram has shared some details about Newfoundland sea monster lore. The best part? These are amphibious man eaters!

A sea creature of considerable ferocity is also known to the Inuit of Labrador. Nennorluk derives its name from the polar bear (Nennok, nanuk), but the Inuktitut affix “luk” indicates its evil intent. One of the earliest mentions of the Labrador Nennorluk appeared in David Crantz’s “History of Greenland.” Crantz, preserving a 1773 tradition from Nain, says that the legendary amphibious creature “hunted and devoured the seals.” Each of its ears was “large enough for the covering of a capacious tent.” Worse yet, the “beast did not scruple to eat human flesh, when he came on shore.”

link: The Telegram – St. John’s, NL: Columns | Newfoundland and Labrador sea monsters

In the NBA, they’re called crossovers or ankle breakers. An offensive player moves convincingly enough one way that a defender follows, only to realize he’s been had when the ball handler darts the opposite direction.

Enter the Tentacled Snake: the And 1 Mixtape baller of the Homalaspinae group of colubrids.

As illustrated in this video, TS is known to body fake snakes into fleeing the wrong direction, namely into the predator’s mouth.

Thanks to Weird Things reader Dodd Vickers for the video.

Bees decided to derail the ninth inning of a Major League Baseball game at PETCO Park yesterday in San Diego. According the MLB.com, a swarm of over 2000 flew into the stadium from center field, over the seats in left before settling into a jacket which was quickly abandoned by a ball girl.

The game was delayed, a local bee keeper was called and the game was resumed after a 52-minute delay.

Amusingly, MLB.com got comment form the manufacturer of the jacket which apparently served as a fun new hive for the swarm.

“To our knowledge this is the first time that bees have swarmed Majestic on-field MLB apparel,” Majestic said in a statement. “We can only guess that the bees are attracted as Major League players to the warmth and comfort of our performance fabrics.

“However, players and fans should rest assured that our product testing has shown no risk from swarming bees. We regret the inconvenience and Majestic will be providing the affected ballgirl a replacement jacket shortly.”

Good to know.

Image Credit: Alison Smith

For those of you that didn’t check out Der Spiegel’s headlines for today, you might have missed the title of this article:

Man Uses Live Swan to Beat up Victim

We did a double take too. According to Der Spiegel: the assailant, a Mr. Sebastian P., grabbed a passing swan from the bank of the River Munich by the neck and wielded it like a club, repeatedly striking his victim with the feathery armament. His victim, an east German tourist identified as Steven L., was not harmed in the altercation, nor was the winged billy club used in the beating. The assault weapon flew away unharmed.

Now you can write this off as random drunken Germans beating each other with the most convenient hitting implement, or you could take a closer weirdthings look. We believe this was no mere drunken shenanigan.

There is only one ancient order that is trained in the art of hand to swan combat:

Ninjas!

(more…)

Local fisherman around Vietnam’s Lake Rung suspected changing weather patterns were the culprit when fish started dying off in large numbers last year. When they headed out last month to collect fish they caught around two tons of a strange, blob like, creature. The fish caught along side the blobs perished soon afterward. Touching the blobs brought itchiness and sore eyes Thanh Nien News reports:

“We didn’t know if they were animals or plants and began called them the “strange creature,” Xuan said.

(more…)

Image Credit: AAP

The crocodile hood ornament these Papua New Guinea men are sporting on the front of their car was not a gift from Pimp-My-Polynesian Ride. It’s a killer 13 foot female crocodile that has been terrorizing their village in Madang Province. They lured the beast to its death in the Gum river with a piece of lamb on a giant hook.

Rumor has it that seven locals have been murdered by the reptile and the young men pictured utilized techniques their people had used for many croc hunting centuries to subdue the brute. They then sent DNA samples off for testing in Australia, hoping to prove that this was the croc who claimed the latest victim, a 17 year old girl.

Steve Irwin would be proud.

Also, a male rumored to be her mate is still at large….could they have caught….the wrong croc?

Queensland, Australia: Massive spiders have been invading the outback town of Bowen in recent days. Heavy, unseasonal rain has driven hordes of usually shy, behemoth Eastern Tarantulas (barking spider/bird eating spider) out of their hiding places in the brush onto the streets of Bowen. Local pest control experts have been hitting payday as thousands of calls ring in from around the town from desperate locals looking to get rid of the gargantuan arachnids. Eastern Tarantulas are among the world’s largest spiders as you can see in the video below:

Cottonwood, Arizona locals hanging out at Chaparral Bar had their evening rudely interrupted by an unwelcome whisker clad intruder. As you can see from the bizarre security camera footage above, the cat attacked and injured two patrons. We bet the guys hanging out at the bar have never been so freaked out by a cat fight before. Some fled, some jumped up on stools and tables and some grabbed pool sticks to defend themselves in what must have been quite a scene.

The cat knows how to make an entrance, we’ll give it that. This wasn’t the bobcat’s first stop on its night out on the town. A woman phoned police from a Pizza Hut after she was scratched by the animal and when police got a second call around 11 pm informing them that an underage felid was wreaking havoc down at The Chaparral, they caught up with the beast in the parking lot, where they shot and killed it. Let this be a warning to all Bobcats who want to go out for dinner and drinks: steer clear of Cottonwood, Arizona.