Deputy Sheriff fights alligator from middle school

Jessica McGregor and the alligator has caught (Sheriff's Office Lake County)

Florida Sheriff's Deputy took matters into their own hands last week when was spotted a seven-foot alligator trying to break through the fence of a local middle school.

Jessica McGregor, Deputy Sheriff of Lake County, a 29-year-old mother of two, has answered the call, fashioned a noose from a 30 foot rope and "saw the would-be attacker," the Orlando Sentinel reports.

"I got it turned around, and began to spin and jump and flop," McGregor told the newspaper. "Once he got tired, he just laid there and wiggled his tail. I threw the rope above him and fall down with your knees behind the front legs. He jerked around a bit and just gave up.

The Congressman, who said she and her brother used to catch alligators for fun, explained that she didn't want to wait the two hours estimated for the professional trapper arrive.

"I lived in Lake County my entire life," McGregor told the newspaper. "Back in the day, you've got these things come on your land, and just took 'em and 'em threw back into the nearest drinker."

Not a big deal.

While alligator encounters are common in the State, attacks are less and even then are rarely fatal. Still, it can be frightening. Last summer, two teenagers in Florida were attacked by alligators in a span of five days. One of them lost the bottom half of his right arm in the near-fatal encounter.

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Aquarium fights to get disabled turtle swimming again

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
KOBE, Japan (Reuters) - Life looked grim for Yu, a loggerhead turtle, when she washed up in a Japanese fishing net five years ago, her front flippers shredded after a brutal encounter with a shark.

Now keepers at an aquarium in the western Japanese city of Kobe are looking for a high-tech solution that will allow the 25-year-old turtle to swim normally again after years of labor and 27 models of prosthetic fins behind them without achieving their goal.

Yu, weighing 103 kg (227 pounds) and 82 cm (32 inches) long, first came to the attention of keepers at the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe after she was rushed there from a port on the southern island of Shikoku in 2008.

"She was in a really bad way. More than half her fins were gone and she was bleeding, her body covered with shark bites," said Naoki Kamezaki, the park's director general.

After nursing the loggerhead - an endangered species - back to health, keepers enlisted the help of researchers and a local prosthetics-maker to get her swimming again.

Early versions of prosthetic flippers caused her pain or fell off quickly, and with money short, Kamezaki said he sometimes felt like packing it in.

"There have been times I wanted to give up and just fix her up the best we can and throw her back in," he told Reuters. "Then if luck's on her side she'll be fine, if not, she'll get eaten and that's just life. The way of nature, I suppose."

The latest version - made of rubber and fixed together with a material used in diving wetsuits - was unveiled on February 11 and proclaimed a success, with Yu swimming smoothly around her tank.

But on Friday, one flipper slipped out as soon as she hit the water, forcing keepers back to the laboratory again.

Though Kamezaki admits that it's unlikely Yu will ever live a normal turtle life, he still has hopes.

"My dream for her is that one day she can use her prosthetic fins to swim to the surface, walk about, and dig a proper hole to lay her eggs in," Kamezaki said.

"When her children hatch, well, I just feel that would make all the trauma in her life worthwhile."

(Reporting by Ruairidh Villar, writing by Elaine Lies, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Aquarium fights to get disabled still swimming turtle

KOBE, Japan (Reuters)-life looked grim for Yu, a Loggerhead turtle, when washed in a Japanese fishing nets five years ago, its front fins shredded after a brutal encounter with a shark.

Now an aquarium keepers to the Western Japanese city of Kobe are looking for a high-tech solution that will allow the turtle 25-year-old to swim normally after years of work and 27 prosthetic fin models behind them without reaching their goal.

Yu, weight 103 kg (227 kilos) and 82 cm (32 inches) in length, first came to the attention of keepers at the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe after she rushed there from a southern port on the island of Shikoku in 2008.

"She was in a really bad way. More than half its fins were gone and she was bleeding, his body covered with shark bites, said Naoki Kamezaki, Director of the Park.

After nursing Caretta-an endangered species-back to health, keepers enlisted the help of researchers and a local prosthetics maker to get her swimming again.

Early versions of prosthetic fins caused pain or fell quickly, and on a shoestring, Kamezaki said that sometimes it felt like packing.

"There were times that I wanted to give up and just her Fix as well as possible and throw her back in," told Reuters. "So if luck on her side that she will be fine, if not, she'll get eaten and that is just life. The way of nature, I suppose. "

The latest version-fixed and rubber together with a material used in wetsuits-was presented the 11 February and proclaimed a success, with Yu swimming smoothly around the tank.

But on Friday, a Pinball slipped out just hit the water, forcing even the keepers back to the laboratory.

Although Kamezaki admits that Yu is unlikely to ever live a normal life, turtle still has hopes.

"My dream for her is that one day she can use her prosthetic fins for swimming on the surface, walking around and dig a hole to lay her eggs in," said Kamezaki.

"When the children hatch, well, just feel that would make all the traumas of its useful life.

(Reporting by Paola Villar, writing by Elaine Lies, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Chinese millionaire fights with thin air pollution

BEIJING (Reuters)-two weeks China's foulest air pollution in memory has rekindled a tongue-in-cheek campaign by a billionaire with a streak of showmanship that is selling canned fresh air.

Chen Guangbiao, who made his fortune in the recycling sector and is a high-profile philanthropist, on Wednesday handed out cans of soda pop-air size, presumably from distant regions of pristine China like Xinjiang Northwest of Taiwan, southeast coast.

"I mean mayors, county chiefs and heads of major corporations: not only pursue GDP growth, not chase higher profits at the expense of our children and grandchildren and at the cost of sacrificing our ecological environment," said Chen.

China's air quality is watched closely because it fluctuates dramatically from day to day, but in recent weeks has recorded so far in unhealthy area.

Air pollution is measured in terms of PM2, .5 or particulate matter 2.5 microns in diameter, which are absorbed by the lungs and can cause lung diseases and heart. The World Health Organization recommends .5 levels of PM2 20 daily and says that levels above 300 are serious health hazards.

Beijing's air quality often surges over a 500 level and 12 January rose to 755, the highest in memory.

Go out, walk for about 20 minutes, and my throat hurts and I feel dizzy, Chen told Reuters in an interview on a busy Beijing sidewalk.

He handed out green and orange cans of "fresh air" with a caricature of himself on them saying, "Chen Guangbiao is a good man."

"Being a good person, have a good heart, doing good things," reads a message along the bottom of each can.

The 44 year old entrepreneur, whose wealth is estimated at $ 740 million according to Hurun rich list last year China's humanists, is an exuberant and relentless self promoter.

He is something of a celebrity in China, with more than 4 million followers on Sina Weibo, microblogging platform like Twitter more popular in China.

He admits that his effort to canned air is the tongue in cheek, but says it is a way to awaken people about the importance of environmental protection. The campaign is enticing bewilderment but also acclaim by the media and by people desperate to escape from the smog.

"Air in Beijing really needs to improve, then we need a good man like him to appear," said a resident surnamed Hu 21-year-old. "It reminds people to use less fuel and do what they can for the air of Beijing".

Air cans were free on Wednesdays, but usually sell for 5 yuan (80 cents) with proceeds going to poor regions of China and places of historical importance and revolutionary.

Sales, which had been moderate, are taken off after the recent streak of bad air days, with 8 million cans sold in the last 10 days, Chen said.

(Written by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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