When it isn't hippo's........

[ian16th]

Its those pesky bears!

[PHXPhlyer]

At least the cub was missed.

http://www.avherald.com/h?article=4df460bc&opt=0

PP

[Ex-Ascot]

It is a huge problem here on the strips in the Delta. The guides drive down the strip before an aircraft arrives to clear it. Then the aircraft flies over the strip to check it but it is all pointless. At any time any animal can run out of the bush across the strip. Have a friend who wrecked the starboard landing gear on a warthog. Had to go around and land on two wheels. Did a good job. He was the chief pilot though. It was a piss take for years.

I once had to abort twice on take off for a dog on the runway at Dar es Salaam. Left to right on first attempt then he came back the other way on the second attempt. We were pushing brake temperatures on the third attempt. To be honest I do not know why I aborted he probably would not have done any damage to the aircraft. Just a rug on the runway.

[TheGreenGoblin]

It is a huge problem here on the strips in the Delta. The guides drive down the strip before an aircraft arrives to clear it. Then the aircraft flies over the strip to check it but it is all pointless. At any time any animal can run out of the bush across the strip. Have a friend who wrecked the starboard landing gear on a warthog. Had to go around and land on two wheels. Did a good job. He was the chief pilot though. It was a piss take for years.

I once had to abort twice on take off for a dog on the runway at Dar es Salaam. Left to right on first attempt then he came back the other way on the second attempt. We were pushing brake temperatures on the third attempt. To be honest I do not know why I aborted he probably would not have done any damage to the aircraft. Just a rug on the runway.

Last time I had to chase anything worthwhile off the landing strip was a giraffe and her calf at Shamwari in 2002. Hitting a mommy giraffe in a Cessna 210 wouldn't have been funny for giraffe, calf or aircraft. Biggest animals I have seen here in the UK are the mad March hares that seem impervious to the threat of being minced by props, wheels and the like. Mind you there is the right of way across the grass strip at Clacton and once had to go around due to pig headed walkers but one doesn't go to Clacton by choice. Tis a silly place and very ugly too!

[PHXPhlyer]

Monument Valley, Utah.
Unfenced one way dirt strip.
Horses, cattle, sheep, drunk Indians intoxicated Native Americans.
One C207 was hit by a horse. Ran into the aft fuselage just foward of the stabilizer. Horse survived. Pilot had a new callsign: Pony Boy.
Twin Offer hit a horse on take-off. Nose wheel to the head. Otter ok, horse dead.

Grand Canyon, AZ airport.
Cattle, deer, elk.
Coming back from maintenance after dark (tower closed) was standard procedure to make a low pass, do a whifferdill, and land the other way. One night three of the guys , coming back in one plane, were in a hurry to get to the bar. Straight in, landed on top of an elk. Took the elk's rack off and puncture skin under the wing. Elk left with no rack and a headache.
Many times before better fencing was installed, tower would report cattle on runway and instruct first plane in line for take-off to taxi down and herd the cattle off by revving engine(s).

JFK
Had to delay take-off for turtle on the runway.

PP

[TheGreenGoblin]

Monument Valley, Utah.
Unfenced one way dirt strip.
Horses, cattle, sheep, drunk Indians intoxicated Native Americans.
One C207 was hit by a horse. Ran into the aft fuselage just foward of the stabilizer. Horse survived. Pilot had a new callsign: Pony Boy.
Twin Offer hit a horse on take-off. Nose wheel to the head. Otter ok, horse dead.

Grand Canyon, AZ airport.
Cattle, deer, elk.
Coming back from maintenance after dark (tower closed) was standard procedure to make a low pass, do a whifferdill, and land the other way. One night three of the guys , coming back in one plane, were in a hurry to get to the bar. Straight in, landed on top of an elk. Took the elk's rack off and puncture skin under the wing. Elk left with no rack and a headache.
Many times before better fencing was installed, tower would report cattle on runway and instruct first plane in line for take-off to taxi down and herd the cattle off by revving engine(s).

JFK
Had to delay take-off for turtle on the runway.

PP

PP help me out here. The last time I saw an American turtle was when I was doing one of those bus tours at the Kennedy Space Centre. It was crossing the road and wasn't fussed by the traffic. Are they really turtles (i.e. water adapted creatures) or are they tortoises that have bulked up on steroids and weight lifting?

[PHXPhlyer]

TGG:
I'm pretty sure the one at JFK was a turtle. Tower sent Ops out to remove it and never heard on frequency exact description.
In the East and South they are mostly turtles, I think. (See Wiki article)
Here in the Southwest we have Desert Tortoises. They are a protected species and many are adopted out as pets when housing developments are being built. The builders are responsible for rounding them up and Game And Fish Dept. adopts them out or transports them to a new location. They hibernate in burrows during the "winter" here.

I have three African Spur Thighed tortoises (Sulcatas). They are the third or forth largest species in the world.
Mine, actually two are my daughters', Christmas presents one year. One, escaped from my neighbor down the street, and found its way to my yard. I took it in and didn't find out til months later where it had come from. It lives in a separate part of the yard, but has broken through the now re-enforced pool fence trying to get to the other two.
My daughters' two were two or three inches in diameter when they got them and they came home in take-out burger containers. They are now the size of large serving platters and weigh 40-50 pounds. See picture in tortoise article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoise

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle

Naming and etymology
Turtle, tortoise, and terrapin

The common terms turtle, tortoise and terrapin, depending on the English dialect used.[6] These terms are common names and do not reflect precise biological or taxonomic distinctions.[7]

Turtle may either refer to the order as a whole, or to particular turtles that make up a form taxon that is not monophyletic, or may apply to only aquatic species. Tortoise usually refers to any land-dwelling, non-swimming chelonian.[8] Terrapin is used to describe several species of small, edible, hard-shell turtles, typically those found in brackish waters.

In North America, all chelonians are commonly called turtles. Tortoise is used only in reference to fully terrestrial turtles or, more narrowly, only those members of Testudinidae, the family of modern land tortoises.[9][8] Terrapin may refer to small semi-aquatic turtles that live in fresh and brackish water, in particular the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin).[10][11][12][13] Although the members of the genus Terrapene dwell mostly on land, they are referred to as box turtles rather than tortoises.[7] The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists uses "turtle" to describe all species of the order Testudines, regardless of whether they are land-dwelling or sea-dwelling, and uses "tortoise" as a more specific term for slow-moving terrestrial species.[6]

In the United Kingdom, the word turtle is used for water-dwelling species, including ones known in the US as terrapins, but not for terrestrial species, which are known only as tortoises.

Fun fact: The University of Maryland sports teams are The Terrapins. Fear the Terrapins!

PP

[TheGreenGoblin]

Thank you very much for the fulsome and detailed response.

In North America, all chelonians are commonly called turtles. Tortoise is used only in reference to fully terrestrial turtles or, more narrowly, only those members of Testudinidae, the family of modern land tortoises.

I think that line above explains my slight misunderstanding.

I have seen some of the bigger African tortoises up north but the average wild tortoises in the Cape were plate sized.