A Texas woman is recovering after a frightening encounter with bison in Caprock Canyons State Park, located in Briscoe County, Texas.

While hiking here, Rebecca Clark, noticed a group of bison. In a video posted to TikTok she is heard saying, “I don’t want to deal with them,” as she carefully tried to pass by without disturbing the animals.

“I just want to go by, come on, keep going…I didn’t want to go through the bushes again,” she says in the video.

The suddenly she is heard in the video screaming as at least one of the bison is heard apparently charging towards her.

Clark, while now recovering, required a helicopter evacuation as well as a stay in a hospital after she said she was gored by one of the wild animals.

@rebeccaclark Solo hiking at Caprock Canyons State Park & Trailway in Texas. I was charged and gored by a bison because I was to CLOSE to be passing them on a trailway They are beautiful creatures protected by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) and are a part of the Texas State Bison Restoration Project where the park has restored the historic Charles Goodnight Bison herd (The Official Texas State Bison Herd) to a portion of its former range in the park. I am posting to support safety while enjoying Texas State Parks #TPWD #bisonetiquette101 #hikingsafety #llbean #chaos #rei ♬ dumb dumb - sped up - mazie

Clark said in a follow up video posted to TikTok that she was able to use her phone to call for help, but laid in the national park for nearly an hour waiting to contact someone before being taken to a hospital in Wichita Falls, Texas.

@rebeccaclark I am okay! Thank you for all your concerns and to tell you the truth your humor as well. I'm on the road to recovery after a run-in with a bison at Caprock Canyon State Park. #caprockcanyonsstatepark #TPWD #hikingsafety ♬ Asking Alll Them Questions Tik - AmongMemes

She said the bison gored her and threw her into a mesquite bush.

She said she escaped the ordeal without any permanent injuries.

The National Butterfly Center sits along a natural border, the meandering Rio Grande. And for the center's executive director, Marianna Treviño Wright, that's what draws thousands of nature lovers every year to rural Mission, Texas. 

"The Butterfly Center is a place where people come to unwind, to enjoy wild free-flying butterflies, to bird watch, some of them just sit in the blind by the stream, because the sound of the water as you can hear is very relaxing," Treviño Wright said.

But amid the tranquility, Treviño Wright now lives unsettled, after getting a multitude of death threats based on lies and a smear campaign against the center.

"They know that they're full of it," Treviño Wright said. "They know everything that they're saying is false."

A Rumble user named Christie Hutcherson posted, "Why are you more concerned about butterflies than the children being trafficked right behind this center?"

"None of that is remotely true," Treviño Wright said. "We're open seven days a week to visitors, most of whom have very long camera lenses to families. We have the sleepover under the stars for Girl Scouts here where we camp out. We do camping one to one for families. We go on night hikes for owls and and black lightning to sea creatures that glow in the dark. None of that is remotely true. It is 100% a lie."

The allegations hurled at the center started in 2019 when it stopped the Trump administration's border wall building efforts on its land in court. It aroused the ire of immigration hardliners.

In January the region hosted a conservative conference and fundraiser called "We Stand America," drawing far right personalities, activists and a congressional candidate from Virginia named Kimberly Lowe.

Lowe, with her children in the car and a companion named Michelle, showed up to the center on a quiet Friday and live streamed.

Treviño Wright's son was covering for an employee who was out sick. 

"He doesn't normally work here," Treviño Wright said. "I was in the conference room on a call when he interrupted me. He came in with a note and he said, 'Mom, there are two women here, and one of them said she's running for Congress, and the other one says she's secret service.' So, of course, that gets my attention." 

Lowe is a Republican seeking to be the nominee for the 9th House district in Virginia. Her social media shows images of her attending the Jan. 6 rally which then turned into an attempt to over turn the 2020 election. In an interview with Newsy, she says she did not enter the Capitol. Her Facebook shows various videos and photos of her journeying across the southwest border looking for evidence of undocumented immigration and child trafficking. None of which she shows in her live streams.

Lowe sent Newsy screenshots of messages directing her to the center, but she did not identify who the reporter was. Treviño Wright says she grew suspicious of Lowe's intentions after her son told her about social media history.

When Lowe and her companion were told to leave, things started to go awry. 

"Then they start with, 'So you're okay with the illegals and the babies being raped' and all this stuff," Treviño Wright said. "I told my son... just go ahead and call the police."

Wright says she blocked Lowe's phone camera and knocked it down, then the two then struggled.

"Kimberly tackles me, and then my arm on the ground, and my son busts out of the building and I'm on the ground, and he's kind of over me and between me and Michelle in just a flash."

Then Lowe and her companion high tailed it in her car.

Treviño Wright says the recording of Lowe's livestream, which Lowe has since deleted off her own Facebook page, shows the moment Lowe nearly ran over Wright's son.

A spokesman for the Mission Police Department says a misdemeanor assault charge has been referred to the city attorney against Lowe. He added that the department has never been called to investigate child trafficking anywhere near the center. The U.S. Border Patrol does not provide migrant apprehension data by station or zone.

"I never imagined that I would work at a place or be in charge of a place engaged in the horrible things they are lying about us doing," Treviño Wright said.

She says a Hidalgo County Republican advised her about the threats coming her way, so she shut the center down during the conference and now, indefinitely.

She says the threats began in earnest when a doctored image of a dock spread virally online in 2019, after the center sued the federal government and then later when the center filed suit against

"We Build The Wall" — a private border wall building effort spearheaded by former Trump advisor Steve Bannon.

"They chose to string us up and swat at us to use us as the straw man for these outrageous and malicious lies designed to inflame their donor base and motivate them to give more money," Treviño Wright said.

The fundraising effort later lead to federal fraud charges for Bannon, for which former President Trump pardoned him. But he did not pardon his partner Brian Kolfage, who repeated false claims about Treviño Wright and the center through various online publications. Kolfage did not respond to Newsy for comment.

Disinformation expert and journalist Brooke Binkowski says the purpose of the smear campaign is clear   

"They're trying to incite stochastic violence and terrorism against vulnerable groups for a specific political goal," Binkowski said. "What they're trying to do, again, they're trying to get a bunch of like racist vigilante groups down there to act on what they think are scenes of people being trafficked."

Treviño Wright says she now openly carries a pistol for protection.

"It has been distressing beyond words," Treviño Wright said. "It has definitely damaged my psyche. It has hurt my relationships. I've lost friends and even relations with family members because they believe this stuff."

She'd prefer that the only rabbit holes people see at the center are literal ones and not conspiracy theories.

Newsy is the nation’s only free 24/7 national news network. You can find Newsy using your TV’s digital antenna or stream for free. See all the ways you can watch Newsy here. 

BEND, Ore. — Patrik Nabelek lives with muscular dystrophy, but he loves to get outside.

“There's one thing to look at kind of nature stuff from afar, but it's another to kind of get really get in there," Nabelek said. "And so, I hope a lot of other people will get the same opportunity I have had.”

Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease that leads to muscle weakness over time, which is why he gets around in his power wheelchair.

“When I was younger, I used to do lots of outdoor stuff, like I used to go skiing and did some hiking and stuff," Nabelek said. "But then, as I got older and the disease got more severe, I couldn’t do that anymore. A real good change for me was when I got a nice power chair that allowed me to get out and go outside, like, go on kind of long walks on paved and stuff.”

The vast majority of nature trails aren’t paved, limiting Nabelek on his outdoor excursions until his mother, Anne Trehu, found out about AdvenChair.

“We’ve taken it to the coast. We’ve taken it on a number of trails around town here," Trehu said. "Narrow, muddy trails that were totally inaccessible for the power chair.”

AdvenChair is an adaptive, human-powered wheelchair designed to help people with physical disabilities get outside. The current design of AdvenChair is version 3.0. The first version was built in 2016. It was inspired and created by Geoff Babb.

“It means a lot for me, to me, to help people be outside,” Babb said.

Geoff Babb has experienced two strokes and now lives with quadriparesis, which means he experiences weakness in all four limbs. We first met him in 2020 when he was at the hospital for a medical emergency. Back then, there was only one AdvenChair. But now, 10 more have been built and sold to people like Nabelek.

“Despite all these setbacks, the pandemic and health and weather, we're really happy with where we are,” Babb said.

Now, there are AdvenChairs from coast to coast with one making it all the way to Machu Picchu. Babb says a couple from Los Angeles reached out to him with the desire to take the chair to the iconic spot.

“They were just ecstatic," Babb said. "Nelly is from Peru, but she’s never been to Macchu Picchu and so for her to be able to take Robert, her husband, who had a stroke, take him to Macchu Picchu in the chair, it was it's a big moment for them.”

Babb says they were able to use AdvenChair for everything—from getting on planes, trains, and buses to the Macchu Picchu trail. That’s one of the benefits of the latest design. It’s convertible to be used indoors and outdoors.

“We got this, in part, to travel to New Zealand, because power chairs and airplanes don’t mix very well, and with this front wheel off, it does serve as a regular wheelchair,” Trehu said.

As a professor in earth, oceanic and atmospheric sciences, Trehu says she hopes AdvenChairs can eventually help students with physical disabilities get out in the field for research. It’s something that could be happening very soon as Babb and his team ramp up for another production of AdvenChairs in 2022.

“Soon after the pandemic, we’ll get the chair out as much as possible and get more exposure and get as many smiles on faces as we can,” Babb said.
 

BALTIMORE, Md. — For nature’s flying, feathered friends, bird-friendly gardens, like the one in Patterson Park in Baltimore, can offer comfort and refuge. Lately, though, some wild birds are experiencing anything but that.

“They were showing symptoms, mostly having crusty eyes and neurological symptoms, too,” said David Curson, director of bird conservation for the Audubon Society’s mid-Atlantic chapter. “So, showing lethargy, twitchiness in their bodies, and disorientation.”

In pictures provided by the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center, which has been treating some of the sick birds, the symptoms can be obvious. Most of the ill birds die within days.

“It's a mystery illness,” Curson said. “There are wildlife disease labs around the country working on trying to figure out what the illness is. They have been analyzing corpses of dead birds that have been sent to them.”

Reports of the mystery bird illness first emerged in May in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. However, it appears to be spreading, with wildlife officials now finding similar sick birds in West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida.

“So far, at least 1,000 birds have been affected,” Curson said. “And it's probably quite a few thousand when you consider the large geographic area.”

Scientists have ruled out West Nile virus and avian flu but otherwise remain stumped.

“The most common species that have been affected so far are common grackles, American robins, blue jays, and European starlings,” Curson said. “So, common birds that are likely to come to your feeder.”

That is why experts are now recommending everyone remove their bird feeders.

“Many people worry that the birds are depending on them. And what I would say is that it's midsummer and there was a huge amount of natural food around,” Curson said, “and these birds really don't need your human bird feeders at this time.”

By removing the bird feeders, it could prevent the potential spread to other places of the mystery disease among any birds that might congregate there.

“People who appreciate birds and love birds and like watching birds really need to be convincing the birds to socially distance right now,” said Tony Brusate, president of the Central Kentucky Audubon Society.

In addition to taking down bird feeders, experts also recommend:

• Cleaning bird feeders with a 10% bleach solution, to kill off any potential pathogen
• Don’t handle any dead birds or ones showing symptoms of the illness
• Wear rubber gloves if handling any sick birds
• Keep your pets away from birds showing symptoms
• Report sick birds to state fish and wildlife agencies

“I think the last year has told us that we need to think a lot more about diseases in general than we have been used to doing,” Curson said. “Disease pathogens evolve and mutations can create new versions of them. So, we don't want to be alarmist, but I think it's really important to take a precautionary approach.”

It’s an approach that could help ensure the sound of songbirds doesn’t fade away.

The United States is home to a number of beautiful public green spaces (think: Longwood Gardens or the Chicago Botanic Gardens), but none of them compare to the Netherlands's Keukenhof.Located in Lisse, Keukenhof is home to seven million flowers each year. It's the second-largest flower garden in the world behind the Dubai Miracle Garden. According to its website, Keukenhof is specifically a "spring park." For eight weeks each year, it invites flower enthusiasts from all over the world to admire its seasonal blooms, which are all planted by local companies. This annual event gives each company a chance to display its living catalog to the public, but it also takes millions of dollars and year-round labor to prepare for.As Insider reports, gardeners must map out their design and select which particular flowers to feature in their display — which can take months to finalize. Next, they must order the bulbs and hand plant all of the seeds ahead of Keukenhof's opening, a feat that usually takes gardeners about three months. Before planting, they must also spend time ripping out the bulbs from the year prior. The majority of the flowers are, of course, tulips. For this year's show, 800 different types were hand-selected by quality and color. Because tulips have a life span of around a week and a half, gardeners use a special technique in which they stagger early- and late-blooming bulbs to make sure tulips continue to flower throughout Keukenhof's eight-week season. Last year, Keukenhof was closed for the first time since its opening in 1950 due to COVID-19. This year, Keukenhof decided to take a risk and gear up to re-open for its spring flower exhibition, but due to public health guidelines, the garden's opening has been postponed until further notice.That said, we simply can't let seven million beautiful flowers go unnoticed! Keukenhof has created a virtual tour of its gardens, so you can enjoy its beauty no matter where you are.The "Keukenhof Spring Series" is a six-part series that showcases the garden's diverse and colorful blooms. The best part: It's available to watch on Youtube free of charge. So sit back, enjoy the show, and start planning for next year's in-person visit.Part 1PGlmcmFtZSB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSI4MDBweCIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS9lbWJlZC9GdFNXYlVTbExjWSIgdGl0bGU9IllvdVR1YmUgdmlkZW8gcGxheWVyIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3c9ImFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXI7IGF1dG9wbGF5OyBjbGlwYm9hcmQtd3JpdGU7IGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYTsgZ3lyb3Njb3BlOyBwaWN0dXJlLWluLXBpY3R1cmUiIGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbj48L2lmcmFtZT4=Part 2PGlmcmFtZSB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSI4MDBweCIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS9lbWJlZC83RDdrczVtTUlNcyIgdGl0bGU9IllvdVR1YmUgdmlkZW8gcGxheWVyIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3c9ImFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXI7IGF1dG9wbGF5OyBjbGlwYm9hcmQtd3JpdGU7IGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYTsgZ3lyb3Njb3BlOyBwaWN0dXJlLWluLXBpY3R1cmUiIGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbj48L2lmcmFtZT4=Part 3PGlmcmFtZSB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSI4MDBweCIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS9lbWJlZC9VN2l0b1dZd25OOCIgdGl0bGU9IllvdVR1YmUgdmlkZW8gcGxheWVyIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3c9ImFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXI7IGF1dG9wbGF5OyBjbGlwYm9hcmQtd3JpdGU7IGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYTsgZ3lyb3Njb3BlOyBwaWN0dXJlLWluLXBpY3R1cmUiIGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbj48L2lmcmFtZT4=You can watch the remainder of "Keukenhof Spring Series" here.