Flora & Fauna: Bee slaps ant off the plank; grasshopper sparrows are back; boars aren't boring -- they're dangerous

This bee has had enough of ants trying to sneak into
her hive. (Popular Science photo)

Humans aren't the only ones who reach maximum tolerance and get slap-happy -- animals do it, too. How about this real-life wing-drop-swing-swipe maneuver a bee puts on an unsuspecting ant? The Night at the Museum's smack-it-out scene between Capuchin monkey "Dexter" and Ben Stiller's night guard character is a play-by-play theatrical version of living creatures being frustrated. We all get frustrated. For people, humor and possibly catharsis can help.

A steer and a cow crossed the road to munch on grass on the other side. The traveling adventure of two curious bovines from rural western New York may sound harmless. It wasn't. When they "strayed from their pasture, they set off a chaotic chain of events involving death threats, chicken rustlers and Joaquin Phoenix," reports Christopher Maag of The New York Times. "The town of Newfane, N.Y., hasn’t been the same since."

Very hungry spined sea urchins 'clean' coral by eating
harmful algae growth. (University of Florida photo via Hakai)

A spiky sea animal is helping Caribbean coral reefs recover from an onslaught of smothering algae. "Long-spined sea urchins (Diadema antillarum) play a vital role in Caribbean coral ecosystems," reports Lisa S. Gardiner of Hakai magazine. "Dark and rotund with spines radiating in all directions, some as long as knitting needles, the urchins eat massive amounts of algae that would otherwise smother corals or prevent coral larvae from affixing to rocks and growing into colonies." Some experts call these busy creatures the "janitors of the reef because they're so efficient at cleaning reef surfaces."

Birds can be incredibly resilient, but in the case of Florida's grasshopper sparrow, scientists intervened. "Numbers of the Florida grasshopper sparrow, seen only in prairies in central regions of the state, dwindled so severely by 2015, mostly through habitat loss, that authorities decided to remove remaining breeding pairs into captivity," reports Richard Luscomb of The Guardian. "Their gamble was rewarded." Experts released their 1,000th bird back into the wild . . . "adding to an increasingly stable population that researchers believe has turned the tide towards the species’ survival."

Feral pigs are fierce and carry diseases.
(Graphic by Adam Dixon, Ambrook Research)

Worried about shark season? Maybe another animal is a bigger danger. "Scientists determined feral pig attacks are more than three times deadlier to humans than sharks worldwide," reports Emma Glassman-Hughes of Ambrook Research. "That, coupled with feral hogs’ capacity for carrying disease, has raised their profile from farm pest to existential threat. But not enough people seem to understand the gravity of the situation, according to experts — and municipalities are struggling to control it."

Silver carp jump in the Fox River in Illinois.
(Photo by Ryan Hagerty, Fish  & Wildlife Service via the Louisiana Illuminator)

Winner, winner, Asian carp for dinner. Sound yummy? Midwesterners working to keep the invasive fish from establishing itself in the Great Lakes hope so. "Silver carp particularly represent a huge threat to the fisheries in the Great Lakes. . . . One way to get the silver carp population under control seems relatively simple – eat the carp," reports Elise Plunk of the Louisiana Illuminator. Americans aren't convinced Asian carp is a great dinner entre, but marketers are working to change consumer opinion. "Creative cooking, such as making carp burgers with dill pickles and cheddar or New Orleans-style carp po’boys, when paired with the knowledge that eating carp helps the environment, could be more palatable to Americans."