WEIRD WILDLIFE
Circling sheep, falling birds and an out-of-place masturbating walrus
LIKE SHEEP
In China, CCTV monitoring a sheep pen in Inner Mongolia filmed dozens of sheep walking in a circle for 12 days without stopping. The flock owner, named by the People’s Daily as Ms Miao, said that it began with just a few sheep circling and then others gradually joined in. It was suggested that they might be suffering from listeriosis, a bacterial infection sometimes known as “circling disease”, caused by spoiled or low-quality silage. The symptoms of this are described as follows: “Initially, affected animals are anorectic, depressed, and disoriented. They may propel themselves into corners, lean against stationary objects, or circle toward the affected side.” However, infected animals usually die within 48 hours of the symptoms appearing, and not all the sheep in the pen were affected. Others were standing outside the circle and watching, and out of 34 pens on the farm, only the sheep in one pen, number 13, were affected. Another possible explanation was offered by Matt Bell, a professor at the Department of Agriculture at Hartpury University, Gloucester. “It looks like the sheep are in the pen for long periods, and this might lead to stereotypic behaviour, with the repeated circling due to frustration about being in the pen and limited,” he said. “Then the other sheep join, as they are flock animals, and bond or join their friends.” nypost.com, 17+21 Nov 2022.
BIRD FALL
On the morning of 9 November, residents of Harney and Wallowa Counties in Oregon reported hundreds of birds falling from the sky. Casualties included 30 tundra swans, snow geese and numerous other waterfowl. Officials from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said that the birds were not suffering from avian flu or any other infections and explained that fall was due to a lunar eclipse coinciding with a severe snowstorm the night before. This, they said, caused the birds to become disoriented and crash into the ground, power lines, telephone poles and other objects. This fails to explain, though, why only wildfowl were affected. outdoorlife.com. 19 Nov 2022.
WALRUS SURPRISE
Following the European tour by Wally the walrus in 2022 (FT411:4-5, 413:26-27), another, this time nicknamed “Thor”, decided to come south for the winter. After first turning up in Hampshire in early December, Thor headed for the east coast and stopped off in Scarborough, where he attracted large crowds, and the council cancelled their
It began with just a few sheep circling, then others joined in
New Year fireworks to avoid frightening him. Thor rewarded onlookers by masturbating enthusiastically then slipping back into the sea and heading for Blyth in Northumberland before leaving the UK for the Arctic. Commenting on the increasing number of walrus visits to Britain, Molly Gray of British Divers Marine Life Rescue said, “It’s not very normal to see walruses down here so we imagine it is because of climate change.” theguardian.com, 8 Jan 2023.
CLEVER CAT
When Stefanie Whitley’s eightyear-old cat Lily failed to return home one night shortly after they moved to a new house in Long Island, she feared the worst. “Normally she comes home, but this time felt different and I didn’t think that Lily was coming home,” she said. However, four days later Lily turned up and announced her return by ringing the doorbell, a moment recorded by the Ring doorbell camera. “We all gasped. We were laughing. We were emotional. We were crying. It was a great moment,” said Whitley, who believes the cat knew exactly what she was doing. “She’s a very smart cat,” she added. [UPI] 16 Sept 2022.
TOUGH TARDIGRADES
Microscopic tardigrades have a reputation for being the toughest animal on the planet. They can survive extreme temperatures, the vacuum of space, decades without food and water and even being fired from a gun (FT385:9, 395:19, 401:21, 416:25). They do this by dehydrating themselves and turning into a small barrel-like form known as a tun, but until now, the exact mechanism that allows them to survive so long was unknown. Now, research by Takekazu Kunieda, a biologist at the University of Tokyo, has revealed their secret; tardigrades produce proteins unlike those seen anywhere else in the animal kingdom. These turn the inside of their cells into gel, preventing their cell membranes from crinkling and collapsing when stressed, which is what kills most other living things in conditions the tardigrades survive with ease. “No such proteins have been reported in other desiccationtolerant organisms,” said Kunieda. Other creatures that can survive desiccation, such as brine shrimps (sold in desiccated form as “Sea Monkeys”) mostly use sugars called trehalose to turn their cells into a glass-like state that protects them until they can rehydrate. livescience.com, 14 Sept 2022.