Syracuse.com - Python strangles man, seal cuddles next to duck hunters: Oddities in the Outdoors

[HuntingNY-News]

In Port Clinton, Ohio, residents of the small, fishing-oriented community bring in the New Year by dropping a huge, Fiberglas walleye as residents count down.

The following are among the more interesting, bizarre and humorous outdoors stories I've come across lately:

1). A security guard was killed by a python late last month near a luxury hotel on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, a hotel employee said.

The victim, Ambar Arianto Mulyo, a 59-year-old security guard at a nearby restaurant, had offered to help capture the 15-foot-long snake. Mulyo managed to secure the snake's head and tail and put it on his shoulders, but the python wrapped itself around his body and strangled him to death. The snake escaped into nearby bushes. Read more.

2). A pair of sea duck hunters off Cape Cod were paid an unexpected visit by a seal as shown by this video on fieldandstream.com.

The hunter in the video below, Jeremy Brooks, said he was concerned at first that it would bite, but it was unaggressive. Brooks thinks the seal may have climbed into the boat because there were sharks nearby.

3). It appears that firearms were in high demand this past holiday season in Florida - possibly as gifts.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says it is on target to conduct nearly 1 million background checks this year on private firearm purchases. The projection came as the department reported a record number of reviews conducted over the Thanksgiving weekend.

4). In Port Clinton, Ohio, the folks there have an outdoorsy way to bring in the New Year. The fishing-oriented community counts down the remaining seconds as a huge artificial walleye is lowered in the town square.

According to the walleyedrop.com, the first walleye was made for the drop by contemporary artist Andre Cuthel out of 120 pounds of paper, pulp, and assorted adhesives in 1996. Town officials replaced it with a 600-pound fiberglass fish that was used ever since. The celebration draws in thousands of visitors to the small town every year, which is known for its large population of perch, walleye, and other fish in waters nearby.

5). Closer to home, a rabid bobcat attacked a woman at the door of her Adirondack home early last month.

The woman, Cindy Bowman, who lives in Putnam in Washington County, told The Post Star of Glen Falls that the incident occurred as she was letting her dog out. The rabid animal latched on to her face and bit and scratched her head, shoulder, arms and thigh. The animal then attacked her daughter's boyfriend , who shot and killed the animal.

6). A New York City antiques dealer who pleaded guilty to conspiracy for smuggling artifacts made from elephant ivory and rhinoceros horns from the U.S. into China and Hong Kong was sentenced recently to three years in prison, according to the Associated Press.

Qiang Wang, also known as Jeffrey Wang, was sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court.

Authorities said Wang faked U.S. Customs documents on packages containing the artifacts. They also seized ivory carvings from his apartment.

Rhinos are an endangered species and elephant populations are shrinking because of ivory hunting.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog