This week, some animals on the larger side of things took over news headlines. And when we say "large" we're talking a 3,000-pound horse and an 884-pound fish. Yeah, we're talking big.
But first we've got a black bear who decided to stalk two joggers in Canada. (Via The Huffington Post)
And what do you do when you're being chased by a bear? You film it, of course. OK, maybe not. But that's what these two joggers did, and they posted the video on YouTube showing the bear followed them for more than five minutes. (Via YouTube / Bruce D. Allan)
CTV spoke with Bruce Allan and Greg Armour about their narrow escape.
"We got to a point where he basically had us cut off."
"I was ready for him to pretty much pounce on me at any time. For about three or four minutes, I figured, 'What part of me is going to get gouged open?' type of thing."
The men didn't have any bear spray with them, so they tried yelling at the bear to get it to stop, which is exactly what the Get Bear Smart Society recommends. It also says you should slowly walk backward — not run — and maintain eye contact with the animal.
Wildlife officials told CTV they believe the bear was used to being around humans and was probably looking for food. But let's all keep to jogging in areas that aren't teeming with potentially ferocious animals, just to be safe.
Imagine coming across a 3,000-pound Belgian horse just stuck in some mud. I'm imagining it right now. (Via Flickr / photophilde)
That's exactly what happened when someone came across Spike the horse, who was stuck in a muddy ditch in Washington state.
A neighbor of Spike's owner captured footage of Spike after rescuers got him out of the ditch. In the video, he's lying on his side because he can't stand without assistance. (Via YouTube / Wahine Paniolo)
"But rescuers were able to get a harness around him and lift him into a tow truck." (Via ABC)
That tow truck brought Spike back to his stable, where — with a little bit of rest — he's doing just fine.
Finally, we have a fish tale to end all fish tales — and this one didn't get away. It's a sturgeon weighing in at 884 pounds, and it was caught by a father and son in British Columbia. (Via Fox News)
Ron and Paul Jarvis, who are originally from Georgia, were finally able to reel in the sturgeon after about an hour of hard work. Thankfully, they had each other to lean on. (Via YouTube / Great River Fishing Adventures)
Paul told Great River Fishing Adventures he was really surprised at the sturgeon's size. "I am a big guy, and I could barely hold onto the rod, let alone begin to reel the fish. ... When I saw that head come out of the water, it was massive."
Now the Jarvises caught a white sturgeon, which British Columbia's Ministry of Environment says can weigh up to 600 kilograms. That's more than 1,300 pounds.
Wow, suddenly 884 pounds doesn't seem that big.
CBC reports the surgeon fish is on the list of endangered species, so therefore the Jarvises released it back into the water.
The Jarvises aren't sure where their catch ranks on the official record of the largest sturgeon ever caught because doing so would have required killing the fish. Somehow, we're thinking it would have ranked pretty high. It's not all that often you go swimming in a lake and see a monster-sized fish pass you by.
