Free Republic

A recently released video captured the moment a dog belonging to a North Carolina assistant fire chief ironically sparked a small house fire by chewing on a lithium-ion battery. The Chapel Hill Fire Department released the video last Monday showing Assistant Fire Chief David Sasser's dog, Colton, as the cause of the incident. According to the department, the battery was fully charged, unplugged and not subject to any recalls, but it had not been stored safely., "Colton is a good boy, but he counter-surfed while his humans were away and got hold of a device with a lithium-ion battery," the...

This bull elk was among four illegally shot and left to rot in southern Colorado. (Courtesy Colorado Park and Wildlife) ============================================================================= In a poaching case that one wildlife official said is the worst he’s ever seen, four trophy-sized bull elk were shot and left to rot in southern Colorado, in one of the state’s most prized hunting areas. The bulls’ carcasses were found abandoned on four separate ranches in Las Animas County, Colorado. Investigators suspect the elk were shot at night, Mike Brown, area wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), told Cowboy State Daily. The elk were apparently...

A pair of Ice Age “puppies” preserved in Siberian permafrost for over 14,000 years have turned out to be wolves, not early domesticated dogs. A recent study of two ancient “puppies” dating back more than 14,000 years suggests they were actually wolves, not early domestic dogs as once believed. Genetic testing revealed that the cubs were sisters, around two months old. Like modern wolves, they ate a combination of meat and plants. What surprised researchers most was the discovery of woolly rhinoceros remains in their stomachs, since such a massive animal would have been a difficult target for wolves to...

According to figures released by the national statistics agency INSEE, out of 660,787 babies born in France last year, 225,591 – or 34.1 percent – had at least one parent born outside the country. Of these, 125,440 babies – 19 percent of all births – were born to two foreign-born parents, the highest level recorded to date.

A nematode shown after jumping from the surface of the experimental chamber and attaching to the rear leg of a charged fruit fly. (Credit: Victor Ortega-Jiménez) =============================================================================== In A Nutshell Microscopic nematodes launch themselves into the air and use static electricity to home in on flying insects. Electrostatic attraction boosts hunting success from 5% to nearly 100% in lab tests. Wind and electric fields work together to guide worms toward their targets. This discovery reveals how invisible forces shape life at microscopic scales. ============================================================================= BERKELEY, Calif. — Parasitic worms smaller than a grain of sand have evolved their own version...

The island of cats has a cat problem. Officials in Cyprus, the small island nation in the eastern corner of the Mediterranean, estimate there is roughly one feral cat for every one of its 1 million inhabitants — though activists contend the actual population is hundreds of thousands higher. In late September, the island’s parliamentary committee on the environment was told that an existing sterilization program is too limited to contain the burgeoning cat population. “It’s a good program, but it needs to expand,” said Environment Commissioner Antonia Theodosiou, noting that the program conducts only about 2,000 sterilizations annually on...

A new study reveals that avian influenza virus can persist in raw milk cheeses made from contaminated milk, posing potential risks to consumers. Credit: Shutterstock ====================================================================== Cornell scientists found H5N1 virus can persist in raw milk cheese for months. More acidic cheeses appear to prevent the virus from surviving. Raw milk cheeses made from contaminated milk were found to contain active avian influenza virus, posing potential health concerns for consumers, according to new research. However, no trace of the virus was identified in samples of highly acidic raw milk cheeses. Feta cheese, for example, represents one of the more acidic...

A massive gorilla was seen charging at the wall of its enclosure at a California zoo, smashing a portion of a thick glass panel in front of horrified onlookers, shocking video captured. Denny, a 10-year-old western lowland gorilla, shattered one layer of a three-layered tempered glass panel at the San Diego Zoo’s gorilla forest habitat on Saturday, zoo officials confirmed in a statement to The Post. Footage obtained by CBS8 captured him catapulting toward the glass wall, causing several onlookers to gasp and scream as they walked away from the habitat. Images also showed members of the crowd investigating the...

Prosecutors say Dickey crept into her bedroom, startled Logan awake and forced her to her knees while she was naked and begging for help. He is accused of shooting her in the chest with a stolen 12-gauge shotgun. Prosecutors say he then fled in a stolen vehicle. He has not entered a plea in the case.

Like many snowbirds, the massive shark Contender is gorging on fatty foods up north in preparation to go south to Florida for the winter. The New York Post: The biggest great white shark ever recorded in the Atlantic has resurfaced just off the coast of Canada – where he is plumping up on seals ahead of winter. Contender, a 14-foot beast, was tagged in the North Atlantic by OCEARCH in January – a non-profit organization that conducts research on large marine animals – 45 miles off the Florida-Georgia coast, off Jacksonville. His tracker only transmits a locating signal when the...

Nancy Pelosi has been very quiet lately. Where did she go? What is she doing during the shutdown? Hard to believe she has nothing to say. Hakeem needs to check on her. What is Paul doing? Is Nancy's daughter on the front lines with Antifa? Inquring minds want to know...

I'm in Washington D.C. with about 200 farmers lobbying against the Food Security and Farm Protection Act (aka EATS Act in the Senate) or the Save Our Bacon Act (SOB in the House). This legislative effort at the federal level seeks to overturn California Prop 12 from seven years ago and Massachusetts Question 3. These two states went beyond what 11 states have done in outlawing gestation crates in hog factories. Sows lives in these crates all their lives. They can only stand up and sit; they can't walk or turn around. While 11 states have outlawed this protocol, California...

As the federal government shutdown drags on into a second week, a critical animal recovery program based in Colorado has ground to a halt, delaying a reintroduction plan that could be crucial to the survival of an endangered species. Fewer than 1,000 black-footed ferrets remain on the planet, including around 280 captive-bred ones currently being housed at the National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center in Carr, Colorado. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had planned to reintroduce them at 15 sites across federal, tribal and private lands this fall, according to the conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife. Instead, the creatures are...

This spider is a bilateral gynandromorph specimen, a rare organism whose two halves of the body appear to express different sexual characteristics. Image courtesy of Varat Sivayyapram ================================================================ This pocket-sized new spider is rocking a unique look. Near perfectly split down the middle, its left legs are dark orange while its right is a whitish salt-and-pepper color. Remarkably, this is not just an aesthetic division: one side of the body is female and the other is male. Scientists at Chulalongkorn University and Ubon Ratchathani University were recently surveying a forested area of Phanom Thuan in Western Thailand, not far from...

A loyal dog named Eeyore guided an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputy to his injured "grandmother" after she fell during a late-night walk. Source: OCSO When a local woman took a tumble and injured herself while walking her son’s dog one recent night, her granddog became her lifeline to help. The woman’s husband called the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office after she hadn’t returned from what should have been a 10- to 15-minute walk. More than an hour had passed. “It’s over an hour now,” the husband told the responding deputy, explaining his wife had taken out the 100-pound dog. As...

There's evidence to suggest the ancient creature survived, at least for a little while, with two heads. Image courtesy of Bob Nicholls =================================================================== In 2006, a study published in the journal Biology Letters described a fossil unlike any ever seen before. It captured a prehistoric reptile that lived around 125 million years ago. That, in itself, wasn’t terribly surprising, but the fact that it had two heads really, really was. Bicephalism describes a quirk in animal development that results in an individual with two heads. We’ve seen remarkable examples of it in wild animals, such as this southern black racer...

This was already a difficult shot for Vince Whaley at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. But notice DIRECTLY BEHIND HIM in the water, taking a front-row seat, sits an alligator. VIDEO: https://x.com/i/status/1974937259829797184

A dedicated dog stubbornly refused to follow officers who tried to lead him back home — until they followed him to his owner’s missing elderly mother who collapsed during a late-night walk. A deputy with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call on Sept. 25 reporting a missing senior in Destin, Fla. One frantic man was waiting on his doorstep as he explained that his 86-year-old wife hadn’t returned from a walk with their adult child’s dog, according to body camera footage. “She just takes that dog, but she never takes more than 10 or 15 minutes. It’s...

A Missouri man was found dead from a likely bear attack this week, just two days after he sent photos to his family of a bear at his campsite in Arkansas, according to officials. Police found the 60-year-old man’s body several hundred yards from his campsite near Mt. Judea, Arkansas, on Thursday. The area showed signs of a struggle and had drag marks away from the camp. The man's son had asked for a welfare check because his dad hadn’t checked in for a couple of days since sending the photos. His body has "extensive" injuries "consistent with those expected...

A Mexican free tailed bat found on September 29th, 2025, in the Cachagua area of unincorporated Monterey County has tested positive for the rabies virus, the County of Monterey has reported. Hitchcock Road Animal Services investigated this incident and determined that there was exposure to owned pet(s) and those pet(s) that were exposed have been placed under quarantine. No human exposure has been identified. Officials also warn that domestic animals, including companion dogs and cats, are at higher risk for rabies once they come in contact with wildlife. Pet owners are reminded to visit veterinarians regularly and keep up with...