Bald Eagles are trashing Seattle’s suburbs
Some unlikely residents in Seattle’s suburbs are causing quite a problem at a landfill in King County. The landfill, which was slated to reach capacity years ago, is home to about 200 bald eagles that regularly eat from the mountain of trash. But they don’t leave their lunch at the landfill. The bald eagles pick up the waste and carry it with them, dumping the trash around neighborhoods surrounding the landfill.
The litter has become such a problem that King County has ordered a study to see what can be done to prevent the birds from trashing their surroundings. Drones and scarecrows have been used in the past to frighten the birds, but that method does not always work, as the eagles have begun to fight back and attack the drones. In other areas where eagles have become a problem, professional hazers have been hired to harass the bald eagles. No matter what King County decides, there’s no easy answer. “It’s like shoveling snow,” Dr. Kevin McGown of Cornell Lab of Ornithology told the New York Times. “You do it once, then you’re going to have to do it again.”
Woman who went missing in Smoky Mountain National Park died of hypothermia, autopsy reveals.
An Ohio woman who went missing on a trail near Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountain National Park last fall died of hypothermia, her autopsy reveals. Mitzie Sue “Susan” Clements was returning on a hike to Andrews Bald when she failed to meet her daughter in the trailhead parking lot. Her daughter had been with Clements on the trail, but hiked ahead to complete the walk up Clingmans Dome. When her mother failed to emerge from the trail, she alerted the authorities. Clements body was found a week later in thick vegetation about two miles west of the parking lot where she intended to meet her daughter. Each year, the Smokies conducts about 100 search and rescue operations, most of which are completed in a day.
Woman hiking on remote Arizona trail survives Rattlesnake bite
Vermont resident Kaija Johnson was hiking the Arizona Trail with a friend when she stepped on a rattlesnake and was bitten. Johnson said she never saw the snake and that the bite hurt no more than a bee sting. She realized the severity of her situation, however, when her leg began to swell. Johnson’s hiking partner ran five miles to find a cell phone signal and called 911. She was airlifted to Banner University Medical Center Phoenix and treated for a severe bite, receiving 26 vials of anti-venom. Johnson’s quick reaction to the situation saved her leg and possibly her life and she credits knowing “in the back of my mind what to do and who to contact” in an emergency with helping speed up her rescue. She is expected to make a full recovery.
