[Head injuries in Duckburg in 1959 and 2009].

Comic books have been a part of popular culture through generations. Debates concerning their graphic depictions of violence have been ongoing for nearly as long. Our aim was to examine if the violence in "Donald Duck & Co." (a weekly published Danish comic book), illustrated through the number of head injuries, increased in the period from 1959 to 2009. The comic book vintages from the years 1959 and 2009 were read, and the number of head injuries noted. The head injuries were characterized by severity, in part by a modified Glasgow Coma Scale and in part by a newly developed Comic Book Coma Scale. The number of head injuries were equal in the examined years, however, the number of head injuries per page decreased from 1/10 pages to 1/20 pages. Donald Duck sustained a better part of the injuries increasing from 17% in 1959 to 33% in 2009. The study indicates that we, with peace of mind, can read a comic book while the rest of the family takes care of the dishes at Christmas.

Using an alternate light source to detect electrically singed feathers and hair in a forensic setting.

Mortality due to electrical injury in wildlife may occur in the form of lightning strike or power line contact. Evidence of electrical contact may be grossly obvious, with extensive singeing, curling, and blackening of feathers, fur, or skin. Occasionally, changes may be subtle, owing to lower current or reduced conductivity, making a definitive diagnosis of electrocution more difficult. We describe the use of an alternate light source in the examination of cases of lightning strike and power line contact in wildlife, and the enhanced detection of changes due to electrical currents in the hair and feathers of affected animals. Subtle changes in the wing feathers of 12 snow geese and 1 wolf that were struck by separate lightning events were made obvious by the use of an alternate light source. Similarly, this technique can be used to strengthen the evidence for power line exposure in birds.

Diseases and mortality in free-ranging brown bear (Ursus arctos), gray wolf (Canis lupus), and wolverine (Gulo gulo) in Sweden.

Ninety-eight brown bears (Ursus arctos), 20 gray wolves (Canis lupus), and 27 wolverines (Gulo gulo), all free-ranging, were submitted to the National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, during 1987-2001 for investigation of diseases and causes of mortality. The most common cause of natural death in brown bears was infanticide. Infanticide also was observed in wolverines but not in wolves. Traumatic injuries, originating from road or railway accidents, were the most common cause of death in wolves and occurred occasionally in brown bears. Most wolverines were submitted as forensic cases in which illegal hunting/poaching was suspected. Sarcoptic mange was observed in several wolves but not in brown bears or wolverines. Sarcoptic mange most likely was acquired from infected red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) that were killed by wolves. Other parasites and infectious diseases were only found sporadically.

[Killing a wolf--an unusual case of forensic veterinary pathology]. / Tötung eines Wolfes--ein aussergewöhnlicher Fall forensischer Veterinärpathologie.

During a hunt in Western Pomerania in January 1999 a wolf, injured at the left hind leg, was killed by a shot in the chest region. It was a 2-year-old male that probably came to Germany from Poland by crossing the Oder River. The hunter was reported to the police afterwards, because there were doubts as to the legality of the lethal shot. The hunter pleaded relief by reason of section 22 a German Hunting Law (prevention of avoidable pain or suffering of wild animals). After the shooting there was a number of wrong expert statements by a veterinarian and two zoologists concerning the age of the injury on the left hind leg and the direction of the shot to the chest region, which were corrected by subsequent medico-legal examinations performed on the order of the prosecution.