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Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
X Factor star reveals surprise career change and it's got nothing to do with music
X Factor star Sam Callahan has taken a surprising career turn away from music. The Essex singer appeared on the reality TV show in 2013 at the age of 19 but he has since tried his hand at a whole host of different careers. Now, a post shared to his Instagram page revealed how he is working as a marksman in a huge move away from his music background. He runs his own company, called Essex Country Marksman, which offers pest control and wildlife management across the county. According to his business' social media, Sam specialises in wild game management, with a range of photographs showing him posing with rifles. The description reads: 'Professional, ethical pest control & UK wild game management with rifles. 'Fully insured, discreet & accurate. Ideal for rural properties in Essex.' A recent post, shared to the platform last week, showed Sam modelling his hunting gear while holding an air rifle. He captioned the images: 'Putting the @jack_pyke gear to the test, with some great shooting out on the farm today. Good quality 'get up' breeds good performance if you ask me!' Sam also works with a local butcher to process small game - including rabbits or pigeons - that he captures through his work. That is not his only business as he is also the owner of On The Limit, where he works as a car tuning specialist. Car tuning refers to modifying vehicles to improve their performance, usually for racing or to enhance the driving experience. However, Sam has not completely left his love of music behind and took to the stage to perform at Bournemouth Pride, which took place on July 11 and 12. Sam rose to fame on The X Factor back in 2013, where he impressed the judges with his rendition of James Blunt's You're Beautiful in the audition rounds. The then 19-year-old soared into the live shows but ultimately came in 7th place, being beaten by Sam Bailey, who won the 10th series of the talent show The then 19-year-old was part of the 'Boys' category and was mentored by Louis Walsh during his stint on the competition. He soared into the live shows but ultimately came in 7th place, being beaten by Sam Bailey, who won the 10th series of the talent show. When Louis quit The X Factor back in 2018, Sam branded him as 'useless' and claimed he 'didn't know what he was talking about'. Sam said at the time: 'I'd rather have someone young and hungry and a bit more with the times, [rather] than someone who can tell me about their credentials, but probably can't keep up in this day and age.' The X Factor first launched in 2004 and its final episode aired on screens in December 2018, though it wasn't officially cancelled until 2021.
The Guardian
21-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
How do airports try to prevent bird collisions? It's a never-ending job
My tone wavered between enthusiasm and concern. 'Is that a great black-backed gull,' I asked. It was a cold December morning, and I was cruising along the interior roads of Boston's Logan international airport in a white pickup truck. At the wheel was Jeff Turner, who, among other duties, oversees efforts to control wildlife at the airport, including making sure that errant gulls and other birds don't stray into flight paths and cause an accident. He glanced toward the harbor and confirmed that a lone great black-backed was indeed mixed in with a few herring gulls. There is nothing remarkable about spotting this species on the shorelines of Boston. But it sure is fun to gawk at them. They're gluttonous omnivores that will devour rats, rabbits and rotting garbage, and they can be obnoxiously loud and territorial. They're also enormous: the largest of all gull species with wingspans that top out at 5.5ft (1.7 metres), a feathered Goliath that no pilot wants to see perched near a runway. We spent a moment admiring it while commercial flights taxied behind us and roared overhead. 'When you see one sitting next to a herring gull, it's crazy just how much bigger it is,' Turner said. 'Surprisingly, we don't see a lot of black-backed strikes. The majority of our gull strikes are herring gulls.' With that, he parked the truck, walked over to a silver-barreled air cannon set up on a small platform in a patch of grass, and let it rip. The whompfff of the blast made me flinch and sent the gulls scattering. We got back in the truck and rolled onward, looking for more loitering birds to harass. Every day, birds and airplanes collide. The Federal Aviation Administration recorded approximately 19,000 such incidents across nearly 800 US airports in 2023. In total, those strikes cost airlines an estimated $461m. The issue has been in the headlines in recent months following a string of high-profile bird strikes. Korean officials found the remains of Baikal teals in both engines of the Jeju Air flight that crashed in December and killed 179 people (the extent to which the animals contributed to the crash remains under investigation). In February of this year, a hawk obliterated the nose of an Airbus A320 in Brazil. Then in March, a FedEx cargo plane made a fiery emergency landing in Newark, New Jersey, after one of its engines ingested a bird and started spewing flames. Two weeks later, a bird rocketed through the windscreen of a private airplane in California, injuring the passenger and precipitating another emergency landing. Turner's team, which includes five technicians and a contracted United States Department of Agriculture wildlife biologist, is responsible for minimizing the likelihood of such calamities at Logan. They use pyrotechnics and air cannons to scare away birds and do whatever they can to make the landscape as unappealing as possible – be it cutting the grass, draining standing water or ripping up berry-bearing bushes that might attract flocks of peckish blackbirds. When all else fails, the technicians have shotguns in their trucks. 'We always go heavy on harassment,' Turner explained. 'And then the last resort is lethal.' The goal, after all, isn't to kill birds. It's to keep them away from airplanes. That's a daunting task at Logan, where an average of 1,200 flights come and go each day. The airport sprawls across 2,400 acres (971 hectares) with water on three sides. During spring and fall migration, managing birds here is like defending against swarm warfare. 'The fact that we're surrounded by water is a huge challenge … If you're [a bird] flying down the coastline and you see this,' Turner said, gesturing to long stretches of grass on one side and the shallows of Boston harbor on the other, 'it's a whole different habitat.' Turner has worked at Logan since 2010. The most unexpected animal encounter during that time was with a ticked-off otter whose powerful bite left 'five or six holes in my hand', he said. Coyotes make occasional appearances in the winter, as do snowy owls, for which Turner depends on a skilled volunteer who carefully traps and relocates them. On a few occasions, deer have turned up near the runways: 'The most incredible part,' Turner said, is that the deer swam to the airport from the surrounding harbor islands. A breezy conversationalist, Turner's eyes never stopped scanning the perimeter of the airport. He pointed out brants, common eiders, a merlin, and bucket loads of gulls. As we drove on, we saw Canada geese congregating near the water and a few dozen European starlings zipping around further inland. Canada geese are famously associated with bird strikes thanks to the heroics of Capt Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger, who in January 2009 safely landed an Airbus A320 on the Hudson river after hitting a flock of geese in what's been dubbed the 'Miracle on the Hudson'. But European starlings can be every bit as dangerous. 'They just undulate everywhere and when you harass them they split and come back together,' Turner said. Starling murmurations are such a threat that Turner's team erected a trap made of wood and chicken wire with a one-way entry point at the top and food and water below. Pity the technicians who have to 'dispatch' the trapped birds by snapping their necks. If that sounds grim, it may help to consider the tragic history of European starlings at Logan. For several years prior to meeting Turner, I had been researching a book on Roxie Laybourne, a scientist who pioneered the field of forensic ornithology while working at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Her career took an unusual turn on 4 October 1960, when a flight taking off from Logan hit an enormous flock of birds and crashed into the water, killing 62 people. It was unprecedented and terrifying. Investigators needed to know the type of bird that caused the crash, so they sent some of the remains down to the Smithsonian. Laybourne and her boss sorted through the pieces and found enough feathers to confirm that starlings were to blame. In the following years, bird strikes caused more fatal airplane crashes: in 1962, tundra swans downed a commercial flight over Maryland, killing all 17 people on board; and in 1964, astronaut Theodore Freeman died after his training jet careened into a flock of snow geese near Houston. To establish new safety standards, engineers and regulators needed to know what types of birds were being hit most frequently and how much those birds weighed, so they turned to Laybourne for help. Using her microscope and the Smithsonian's vast collection of research specimens, she developed ways of identifying birds by analyzing the microscopic structures of feathers. She went on to apply her skills to criminal investigations, including murder and poaching cases, but more than anything focused on aviation, identifying the remains of more than 10,000 airplane-struck birds. Nowadays, most airlines voluntarily report bird strikes and send the splattered animal bits they recover to the Smithsonian's Feather Identification Lab, run by Carla Dove, who trained under Laybourne. The lab works with the FAA, the US air force and the US navy, and identified more than 11,000 bird-strike remains last year, dozens of which of which were collected in Boston. Most bird strikes cause no damage whatsoever. But every once in a while, things go awfully wrong and that's what keeps Turner on his toes. His job is a never-ending, always-evolving risk-benefit analysis in which mundane tasks such as trimming the grass can be a catch-22. Whenever the mowers go out in the summer, he explained, huge amounts of barn swallows come swooping in for the buffet of insects that get kicked up in the process. 'We don't want the bird strikes, but we gotta cut the grass,' he added, playing up the damned-if-you-do nature of it all. In this line of work, even the most well-intentioned actions can have undesirable consequences. He offered up the example of Boston harbor, once one of the most polluted harbors in the country. After decades of clean-up efforts and programs to reduce sewage overflows, the water is swimmable and it's a legitimate environmental success story. While Turner loves seeing such progress, the wildlife manager in him laments the fact that better water quality means more productive shellfish beds, which in turn means more gulls. 'The gulls have adapted to it,' he said, pointing to shards of oyster shells on the side of the road. 'They're taking them out at low tide, dropping them on the pavement or on the runways, and cracking the shells open to have a nice little feast. It's a pain.' With air traffic increasing at Logan and pretty much everywhere else, Turner is a realist who knows that bird strikes are a problem that cannot be stopped, only mitigated. 'It's inevitable that something's going to happen,' he said. 'And we just do everything we can do to make sure it's not going to be one of those catastrophic strikes.' Chris Sweeney is the author of The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne, coming 22 July from Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster
The Sun
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
X Factor star Sam Callahan reveals shocking new job and it's worlds away from music
SAM Callahan 's new career is a huge pivot from his rise to fame as a pop star on X Factor. Essex singer Sam appeared on the reality singing series in 2013 and since then has moved into a number of different careers, including a racing car driver. 5 But a recent post on his Instagram revealed that the 31-year-old now works as a marksman for his own company which offers pest control and wildlife management in Essex. Sam modeled some of the gear he wears and uses, including a 12ft/lbs air rifle sub. "Putting the @jack_pyke gear to the test, with some great shooting out on the farm today. Good quality 'get up' breeds good performance if you ask me," Sam captioned the post where he posed in camouflage gear while holding the large rifle. The business is described as "professional and ethical pest control and UK wild game management, carried out using precision rifle methods and "ideal for rural properties across Essex." Along with modelling some of his favourite hunting clothes, Sam also revealed he'd recently partnered with a local butcher to process small game, such as rabbit, pigeon or partridge among others, that he captures through his work. "Proud to be turning pest control into a real food resource and reducing waste whilst helping landowners manage their properties," Sam wrote on the business' Facebook page. Sam also runs another business where he offers mobile car retuning around Essex. But the X Factor alum has not given up on singing entirely and last week performed a set at Bournemouth Pride, where he sang a number of cover songs, including Prince's Purple Rain and Robbie Williams' Rock DJ. Sam has also worked as a personal trainer and a racing car driver, including behind the wheel of a sporty Porsche, on the GT4 Supercup series. As if that all wasn't enough, Sam regularly stars in Christmas pantomimes. Sam Callahan sings You're Beautiful by James Blunt in his X Factor audtion The singer still has a legion of fans thanks to his X Factor fame, as proven by the fact he's able to knock out calendars of himself topless year after year. Sam was mentored by Louis Walsh on X Factor, but he didn't quite make it to the final on X Factor with a performance of Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls seeing him bow out of the contest. Last year, Sam popped the question to girlfriend, Charlie, a veterinary nurse and the pair will soon tie the knot. 5 5
CBS News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Federal bill banning hunters from bear baiting on public lands introduced by Michigan representative
U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Michigan's 13th Congressional District, is sponsoring a bill that would ban hunters from intentionally placing food on federal public lands to attract bears. The Don't Feed the Bears Act was introduced to the House by Rep. Thanedar on Wednesday. He said the practice, known as bear baiting, "Creates danger for both people and animals." The legislation directs federal land management agencies to enforce the ban, Thenedar's office said in a news release. "This bill is about strengthening public safety, animal welfare and responsible wildlife management," Thenedar said. He added that bait stations can cause bears to lose their natural fear of humans, which increases the chances of a conflict between a bear and human. Bear baiting is legal in Michigan, according to the state's Department of Natural Resources. Hunters are allowed to "establish or tend to" up to three bait stations, using meat, fish, baked goods, jams, jellies, sweeteners and candies, pie filling, yogurts and granola, the agency said. Bait placed on public lands in Michigan must be placed on the ground and cannot be held with containers of any kind, according to the DNR. "There are effective and ethical ways to hunt that do not endanger the public or alter the natural behavior of wildlife," Thenedar said. The bill is co-sponsored by three Democratic U.S. House members, including Rep. André Carson of Indiana, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C. According to one study that looked at brown bear attacks from 2000 to 2015, North America recorded an annual average of 11.4 attacks. In that period, most of them occurred in western mountain states and Alaska. CBS News Detroit has reached out to the Michigan Bear Hunters Association for comment.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bear killed in Yellowstone after 'concerning incidents' at campsite
A food-conditioned black bear was killed at Yellowstone National Park after a series of concerning incidents "posed a clear threat to visitor safety," officials said. The bear was lethally removed on July 11 at approximately 5 p.m. by Yellowstone National Park staff following "a series of concerning incidents at a backcountry campsite located in the Blacktail Deer Creek drainage in the northern part of the park," according to a statement from the National Park Service on Thursday. MORE: New York shuts down hiking trail in Adirondack Mountains due to moose engaging in 'unusual behaviors' The animal became the first black bear in five years to be killed in a management action situation in Yellowstone, with the last case coming in July 2020 when a black bear injured campers and accessed human food at a backcountry campsite in the park, officials said. "On June 7, the bear crushed an unoccupied tent at the campsite. A few weeks later, on July 11, the bear climbed the site's food storage pole, tore down properly stored food bags, and consumed the campers' food," the National Park Service said. MORE: Unidentified body discovered floating in the Atlantic off New Hampshire coast MORE: Plane crash kills 1 and injures 2 in remote area of Olympic National Park "Although it is uncommon for bears in Yellowstone to obtain human food, when it does occur, bears can quickly become food-conditioned and may act aggressively or dangerously around humans, putting both people and wildlife at risk. The bear's escalating behavior -- including property damage and obtaining a significant food reward -- posed a clear threat to visitor safety and warranted removal," officials continued. The decision to kill the bear was based on ongoing concern for human safety, property damage to camping equipment and the bear learning to defeat the park's backcountry food storage poles to obtain human food, according to NPS. MORE: 2 water buffaloes kill farmer after he becomes trapped in their enclosure "We go to great lengths to protect bears and prevent them from gaining access to human food in all areas of the park," said Kerry Gunther, Yellowstone bear management biologist. "But occasionally, a bear outsmarts us or overcomes our defenses. When that happens, we sometimes have to make the difficult decision to remove the bear from the population to protect people and property." Due to bear management practices and regulations at the park, each of Yellowstone's 293 backcountry campsites is equipped with either a food storage pole or a bear-resistant storage box, officials said. MORE: At least 7 geese dead after car strikes flock crossing New Jersey street "Park guidelines require backcountry campers to hang food from the pole or secure it in the box at all times except when cooking or eating," NPS said. "Yellowstone reminds all visitors that utilizing these bear safety measures remain crucial in ensuring public safety and preventing wildlife from developing dangerous habits." Solve the daily Crossword
