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The Lyrebird is known in the animal kingdom as being the greatest copycat in the wild. The BBC covered the bird’s amazing mimicking abilities back in 2007. The bird can recreate almost any sound it ever hears.

I know next to nothing about optics. I want to look at the birds more closely at the feeders at home. I will be looking through double paned windows. The feeders are four to ten feet away. Then there are the birds in the trees that are up to 25 feet away. Any recommendations for binoculars? I wear glasses and am nearsighted. I would appreciate any input. I think they are going to be my Christmas present to myself. That or a receiver for my old stereo that I am trying to resurrect. But that will be another thread! Thank...

The cold front passed through Colorado today. I had a long drive home from Colorado Springs to NW of Golden. The roads had been warm so the snow initially melted, then froze when the temperature plummited. So many people driving way too fast. Saw so many wrecks and cars off in the ditch that I lost count. Near home the highway was closed for a while to clear a two-truck collision. Right now it is 10F. The wood-burning stove fireplace insert has a blazing fire and it is 70F inside. Anyone else here on FR affected by this cold front?

Friday, November 07, 2014 07:15AM CHICAGO (WLS) -- Aviation officials reported delays and some cancellations for flights at O'Hare Airport Thursday due to high winds, making landings for some flights - like this one - a bit tricky.

This video was taken at the 2011 Pea Ridge Mule Jump. If you don't like it, you can....hehe....kiss their

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A private club for thrillseekers in Los Angeles will remain men-only after members took the issue to a vote. On Thursday night, for the first time in its 93-year history, the Adventurers’ Club of L.A. faced the monumental decision of whether to allow women to become members of this males-only institution. A two-thirds vote by the members was required in order to allow women in and change the bylaws. However, members voted with a resounding “no,” according to KCAL9’s Kaj Goldberg. “It was massive resistance. I mean, people stood up. I gave my pitch as to...

Florida man who calls himself the "Alligator Whisperer" was arrested after officials received complaints that he was swimming with and kissing gators in the Everglades, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife. FWC officials had been tracking posts on Hal Kreitman's Facebook page, where they found photos of him kissing, caressing and swimming with alligators, promising others they could do the same if they paid $250 to participate in an "Alligator Experience," KeysInfoNet reports.

This afternoon a district court in Utah held that the federal prohibition against “taking” Utah prairie dogs — listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act — exceeds the scope of federal power under the Commerce and Necessary and Proper clauses. Here is how Judge Dee Benson summarized his conclusion in People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Although the Commerce Clause authorizes Congress to do many things, it does not authorize Congress to regulate takes of a purely intrastate species that has no substantial effect on interstate commerce. Congress similarly lacks authority...

Dog shot dead by SWAT team during alleged dispute over neighborhood dog waste • A small dog was filmed being shot by advancing police officers in Racine, Wisc. on Saturday after police were called about violent threats made by the dog's owner, said a neighbor. Police Chief Art Howell said the owner threatened to kill the officers with an armor-piercing crossbow before setting his dog loose. A SWAT team sent to handle an alleged neighborhood dispute over dog waste ended up killing the dog, and igniting a firestorm of criticism against the local police force. In dramatic video capturing the...

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Nik Wallenda, 35 y/o, is known for his high wire acts that are done without a net. He was the first person to walk a tightrope directly over the Niagara Falls. Nik was the first person to high wire walk across the Grand Canyon. In the tradition of his great grandfather; Karl Wallenda, Nik will put on another show that defies fear, gravity, and all negative probability. His plan is while blindfolded, and without a net below, to walk a high wire from the top of one skyscraper to the top of another while using a wire which will hang...

Thailand’s famous moon parties banned in drug and alcohol crackdown This story was published: 1 day ago November 01, 2014 12:00AM THAILAND’s fun police are likely to throw the plans of thousands of Australian backpackers into turmoil after banning three of the four main monthly “moon” parties. Half and Quarter Moon shindigs — along with some supplementary jungle parties — will no longer be staged on the islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, near Koh Samui, for ‘drug and alcohol’ reasons. The only beach rave left standing is Koh Phangan’s original Full Moon Party which last month attracted about...

More than 60 years after its last confirmed sighting, a strange deer with vampire-like fangs still persists in the rugged forested slopes of northeast Afghanistan according to a research team led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which confirmed the species presence during recent surveys.

British photographer Max Ellis (whom we wrote about previously here) is a pro at capturing brilliantly staged shots of wild squirrels. When he noticed that the suspended Jack O’ Lantern in his backyard was attracting the attention of a squirrel, he got to work snapping these delightful photos. Ellis gets the squirrels to post for photos like these by leaving them treats in places that will force them to interact with his props. In his previous interview with Bored Panda, he stressed that the squirrels were never harmed in his photos and that they were probably “much better fed than...

GoPro runs into mountain. GoPro, Inc. is an American corporation that develops, manufactures and markets high-definition personal cameras, often used in extreme action video photography.

Two bears fought in a rural New Jersey neighborhood, and a brave bystander caught all the exciting action. The video was uploaded to YouTube this week, but the brawl took place on August 14, according to the video's description. The animals duked it out in Rockaway, about one hour northwest of Manhattan.

When a man shooting a .500 Smith & Wesson pistol for the first time took aim at a target and fired, he wasn’t expecting the target to strike back, but it did. The result was a very quick and comical exit to the right once someone yelled at him to “Watch out. Move, move!” And move he did! The incident happened earlier this month while a group of guys were enjoying a night out together with food and a campfire, and a little target practice. “My brother, who is featured in the video, was shooting a .500 for the first...

While PMR30 rides in a Jim Ryan custom holster, CMR30 topped with a Lucid M7 red dot is in action. Between the pistol, the carbine, and one magazine pouch, the shooter has 90 rounds available. The long-awaited companion carbine to KeltecÂ’s 22WMR pistol is finally nearing public release. Sensitive to the charges of releasing only trivial numbers of new products, Keltec is preparing to ship several thousand CMR30s late this year. The carbine was originally introduced as RMR30, but the name was changed because of TrijiconÂ’s opposition (they manufacture a small red dot sight called RMR). CMR30 ships with a...

The National Park Service is investigating a woman who appears to have traveled from New York to several Western states in recent weeks in order to paint pointless, embarrassingly unsightly drivel all over a bunch of America’s most pristine and most iconic national parks. The crap sketcher is Casey Nocket, Modern Hiker reports. Nocket, 21, left her trail of twaddle in nearly a dozen federally-protected parks including Yosemite National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Joshua Tree National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.

Hikers in Sierra Nevada are being told to stop taking selfies with the wild bears.The worrying and very real trend has seen visitors to South Lake Tahoe, California, put themselves at risk to get a share-able snap of themselves with a bear in the background.Hikers have got as close as a few feet away from the wild bears, and officials have now been forced to send out an official warning.   (edit)A recent visitor at the site said she saw dozens of people taking selfies with the bears, who were unafraid of the group.‘There were like 30 people taking pictures...