An Austrian woman on vacation in Wisconsin is getting rabies shots after she said she was bitten several times by at least two otters while swimming in a lake.
Brigitte France, 51, told the Duluth News Tribune that she was swimming on Lake Owen near Drummond, Wis., last Wednesday when she heard something hissing behind her.
She spotted an otter. "I thought it was really cool," she said. "I'd never seen an otter before. Then, all of a sudden, there were three of them."
She felt uncomfortable and swam to shore. She said she had her hands on the shore and legs in the water, "and there they were -- one on the right leg and one on the left leg"...
Capital Times
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, June 01, 2009
Connecticut bride saves family from house fire while wearing wedding gown
A Connecticut family has been saved from a house fire by a new bride who rushed inside through thick smoke while wearing her wedding gown.
Officials say Georgette Clemons had just left her wedding reception Sunday evening when she spotted smoke coming from a Bridgeport home.
Clemons got out of the car she was riding in and ran into the home. She says a woman was yelling about her animals and didn't want to leave, so she had to pull her out, according to the Connecticut Post...
--USA Today
Officials say Georgette Clemons had just left her wedding reception Sunday evening when she spotted smoke coming from a Bridgeport home.
Clemons got out of the car she was riding in and ran into the home. She says a woman was yelling about her animals and didn't want to leave, so she had to pull her out, according to the Connecticut Post...
--USA Today
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Brown Highland cattle produce rare white calf
The five-day-old calf, named Heather, was born to cow Isabelle and bull Robert, which both have the species' distinctive long and shaggy brown hair.
Breeders say Heather is not albino, but has a recessive gene which means she has been covered in completely white and pale hair.
The distinctive Highland cattle are one of Britain's oldest breeds and are instantly recognisable for their rusty, red and brown hair and long horns.
Heather's owner Andrew Nunn, 42 from Bere Ferrers, Devon, said he was surprised when he saw her colouring.
He said: "I looked out of the window after breakfast and just saw this pure white calf – I was stunned. I could see her from right across the field.
"At first I thought I was seeing things, but there she was. I was elated. She is just gorgeous. She is so friendly, a lot of cattle are wary of people, but Heather will come up to you like a dog...
--Telegraph.co.uk
Breeders say Heather is not albino, but has a recessive gene which means she has been covered in completely white and pale hair.
The distinctive Highland cattle are one of Britain's oldest breeds and are instantly recognisable for their rusty, red and brown hair and long horns.
Heather's owner Andrew Nunn, 42 from Bere Ferrers, Devon, said he was surprised when he saw her colouring.
He said: "I looked out of the window after breakfast and just saw this pure white calf – I was stunned. I could see her from right across the field.
"At first I thought I was seeing things, but there she was. I was elated. She is just gorgeous. She is so friendly, a lot of cattle are wary of people, but Heather will come up to you like a dog...
--Telegraph.co.uk
Dolphins join fight against Somali pirates in Gulf of Aden
A pod of dolphins has hampered an attempted Somali pirate attack on a convoy of Chinese commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden, Chinese media reported on Tuesday.
International Radio China reported that more than 1,000 dolphins had encircled several Chinese ships sailing through the Gulf of Aden on Monday, creating a live barrier between the commercial vessels and the Somali pirates.
The China Daily reported that the dolphins "suddenly leaped out of water between the pirates and merchants when the pirate ships headed for the Chinese vessels." The pirates were unable to approach the Chinese commercial vessels and had to retreat...
--RIA Novosti
International Radio China reported that more than 1,000 dolphins had encircled several Chinese ships sailing through the Gulf of Aden on Monday, creating a live barrier between the commercial vessels and the Somali pirates.
The China Daily reported that the dolphins "suddenly leaped out of water between the pirates and merchants when the pirate ships headed for the Chinese vessels." The pirates were unable to approach the Chinese commercial vessels and had to retreat...
--RIA Novosti
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Top 10 oddballs of the animal world
From the outside, the platypus looks like a grade-school art project assembled by a kid too busy making spitballs to pay attention in class. The creature, which is classified as a mammal, has a duck's bill and webbed feet, lays eggs like a reptile, but has fur and rears its young on milk.
Researchers say the platypus genome is equally cobbled together from bird, reptile and mammalian lineages. One more oddity: Males can deliver venom from tiny spurs on each hind limb. Click on the "Next" arrow above to learn about nine more oddballs in the animal world...
--MSNBC
Researchers say the platypus genome is equally cobbled together from bird, reptile and mammalian lineages. One more oddity: Males can deliver venom from tiny spurs on each hind limb. Click on the "Next" arrow above to learn about nine more oddballs in the animal world...
--MSNBC
Friday, February 20, 2009
Woman's hair weave stops bullet
Police said a woman's tightly-woven hair weave saved her life.
Police were called to a Kansas City market at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Arriving officers found the 20-year-old woman there. She told police she had pulled into the market and saw a man with whom she had recently ended an eight-month relation with inside a car, NewsChannel5 sister station KSHB-TV reported...
--MSNBC
Police were called to a Kansas City market at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Arriving officers found the 20-year-old woman there. She told police she had pulled into the market and saw a man with whom she had recently ended an eight-month relation with inside a car, NewsChannel5 sister station KSHB-TV reported...
--MSNBC
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Donor kidney removed via vagina
US surgeons say they have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor's vagina.
Removing the kidney through "a natural orifice" speeds up recovery and gives a better cosmetic result - avoiding a six inch abdominal scar - they say.
The Johns Hopkins team say the 48-year-old woman who donated the organ to her niece on 29 January is "doing well".
Surgeons have also removed gallbladders and appendixes through the mouth.
Diseased gallbladders, kidneys and appendixes have been removed through the vagina before.
But this is believed to be the first time that doctors have managed to harvest a healthy donor kidney for transplantation in this way...
--BBC News
Removing the kidney through "a natural orifice" speeds up recovery and gives a better cosmetic result - avoiding a six inch abdominal scar - they say.
The Johns Hopkins team say the 48-year-old woman who donated the organ to her niece on 29 January is "doing well".
Surgeons have also removed gallbladders and appendixes through the mouth.
Diseased gallbladders, kidneys and appendixes have been removed through the vagina before.
But this is believed to be the first time that doctors have managed to harvest a healthy donor kidney for transplantation in this way...
--BBC News
Monday, February 02, 2009
Mexico, Radio Shack turn to voodoo to beat United States
A Mexican sports daily is pinning its hopes of beating the United States in a World Cup qualifying match on voodoo — with help from a U.S-based electronics chain.
An advertisement in the sports daily Record on Tuesday invited fans to clip a coupon and redeem it at their local Radio Shack store for a voodoo-doll likeness of a U.S. player. The hope was that a little black magic might help Mexico break a decade of futility on the road versus its northern neighbor.
"Help end the losing streak so Mexico advances," the ad read.
An illustration showed a pair of scissors slicing off the leg of a doll in a U.S. jersey that was bruised, crying out in pain, leaking stuffing, and stuck with pushpins.
The press office of Radio Shack in Fort Worth did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment...
--USA Today
An advertisement in the sports daily Record on Tuesday invited fans to clip a coupon and redeem it at their local Radio Shack store for a voodoo-doll likeness of a U.S. player. The hope was that a little black magic might help Mexico break a decade of futility on the road versus its northern neighbor.
"Help end the losing streak so Mexico advances," the ad read.
An illustration showed a pair of scissors slicing off the leg of a doll in a U.S. jersey that was bruised, crying out in pain, leaking stuffing, and stuck with pushpins.
The press office of Radio Shack in Fort Worth did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment...
--USA Today
Sewage yields more gold than top mines
Resource-poor Japan just discovered a new source of mineral wealth -- sewage.
A sewage treatment facility in central Japan has recorded a higher gold yield from sludge than can be found at some of the world's best mines. An official in Nagano prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, said the high percentage of gold found at the Suwa facility was probably due to the large number of precision equipment manufacturers in the vicinity that use the yellow metal. The facility recently recorded finding 1,890 grammes of gold per tonne of ash from incinerated sludge.
That is a far higher gold content than Japan's Hishikari Mine, one of the world's top gold mines, owned by Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd, which contains 20-40 grammes of the precious metal per tonne of ore.
The prefecture is so far due to receive 5 million yen ($55,810) for the gold, minus expenses...
--Yahoo! News
A sewage treatment facility in central Japan has recorded a higher gold yield from sludge than can be found at some of the world's best mines. An official in Nagano prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, said the high percentage of gold found at the Suwa facility was probably due to the large number of precision equipment manufacturers in the vicinity that use the yellow metal. The facility recently recorded finding 1,890 grammes of gold per tonne of ash from incinerated sludge.
That is a far higher gold content than Japan's Hishikari Mine, one of the world's top gold mines, owned by Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd, which contains 20-40 grammes of the precious metal per tonne of ore.
The prefecture is so far due to receive 5 million yen ($55,810) for the gold, minus expenses...
--Yahoo! News
N.J. disc jockey to part with Jenny's number
After five years fielding thousands of calls to one of rock 'n' roll's most celebrated phone numbers, disc jockey Spencer Potter is hanging up on Jenny.
Her seven digits are familiar to anyone who paid attention to pop music in the early 1980s: 867-5309, immortalized by the band Tommy Tutone.
Potter and his roommates requested the number on a lark for their home phone in northern New Jersey. They got it, along with about 30 to 40 calls a day...
--Yahoo! News
Her seven digits are familiar to anyone who paid attention to pop music in the early 1980s: 867-5309, immortalized by the band Tommy Tutone.
Potter and his roommates requested the number on a lark for their home phone in northern New Jersey. They got it, along with about 30 to 40 calls a day...
--Yahoo! News
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
First-grader crashes mother's car after 10-mile drive
A first-grader suffered minor injuries after crashing his mother's car into utility poll on Route 360 in Northumberland County. Police say the 6-year-old boy missed his school bus Monday morning and decided to drive himself to school. Investigators say the boy's mother was sleeping when he grabbed her car keys and got behind the wheel.
"He wanted to go to school, so he took his mother's car and drive 10.4 miles before he crashed," said Sheriff Churck Wilkins of the Northumberland County Sheriff's Office.
The accident happened a mile away from the boy's school. Investigators say they got a number of calls about the car swerving all over the road. Wilkins says the boy is lucky to be alive.
"He was asked by the investigator how he'd learned how to drive," Wilkins said, "and he stated that he played a lot of video games like Grand Theft Auto and monster trucks"...
--NBC12
"He wanted to go to school, so he took his mother's car and drive 10.4 miles before he crashed," said Sheriff Churck Wilkins of the Northumberland County Sheriff's Office.
The accident happened a mile away from the boy's school. Investigators say they got a number of calls about the car swerving all over the road. Wilkins says the boy is lucky to be alive.
"He was asked by the investigator how he'd learned how to drive," Wilkins said, "and he stated that he played a lot of video games like Grand Theft Auto and monster trucks"...
--NBC12
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Drought drains South Carolina lake
A decaying highway, plunged deep underwater after Lake Hartwell was dammed in the 1950s, sits exposed once again across what remains of the bay outside Big Water Marina.
It's a depressing reminder of the toll from a stubborn Southern drought that only recently began to abate with replenishing rains this fall. Much of the region has recovered, but a ring stretching from northeast Georgia to the western Carolinas remains stuck in "extreme" drought.
And Hartwell, a massive 56,000-acre lake straddling Georgia-South Carolina state line, is near the epicenter. Even after a spate of recent downpours, its water line is nearly 18 feet below normal levels.
"We never thought we'd see it. We never thought the lake would go this far down," said Jane Davis, who built the marina from the ground up with her husband. "Everyone needs water, but Hartwell has finally given more water than it can take."
Forecasters say there's no telling when the drought will end.
"When you start looking at an area like that that's been under duress so long, even one or two rain events aren't going to completely wipe away the long-term problems," said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center...
--Deseret News
It's a depressing reminder of the toll from a stubborn Southern drought that only recently began to abate with replenishing rains this fall. Much of the region has recovered, but a ring stretching from northeast Georgia to the western Carolinas remains stuck in "extreme" drought.
And Hartwell, a massive 56,000-acre lake straddling Georgia-South Carolina state line, is near the epicenter. Even after a spate of recent downpours, its water line is nearly 18 feet below normal levels.
"We never thought we'd see it. We never thought the lake would go this far down," said Jane Davis, who built the marina from the ground up with her husband. "Everyone needs water, but Hartwell has finally given more water than it can take."
Forecasters say there's no telling when the drought will end.
"When you start looking at an area like that that's been under duress so long, even one or two rain events aren't going to completely wipe away the long-term problems," said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center...
--Deseret News
Monday, December 01, 2008
Australians See Smiley Face in Night Sky
Australians are getting a big hello from the heavens as Venus, Jupiter and a waxing crescent moon combine to create a celestial smiley face.
The best time to see the friendly phenomenon is about 20 to 30 minutes after sunset, report the News Corporation's Australian newspapers.
Local astronomers said that Venus and Jupiter had appeared side by side in the evening sky over the past week or so, but Monday night would be the best night to see the "face" appear.
Viewers in Western Australia have the best view, with the moon appearing closer to the "eyes" formed by the planets.
While the planets and moon appear to be close together, in reality they're not. The moon is 250,000 miles away, while Venus is 93 million miles away and Jupiter 540 million miles away...
--Fox News
The best time to see the friendly phenomenon is about 20 to 30 minutes after sunset, report the News Corporation's Australian newspapers.
Local astronomers said that Venus and Jupiter had appeared side by side in the evening sky over the past week or so, but Monday night would be the best night to see the "face" appear.
Viewers in Western Australia have the best view, with the moon appearing closer to the "eyes" formed by the planets.
While the planets and moon appear to be close together, in reality they're not. The moon is 250,000 miles away, while Venus is 93 million miles away and Jupiter 540 million miles away...
--Fox News
Monday, November 03, 2008
Rare, Prehistoric-Age Reptile Found in N.Z.
A rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years, officials said Friday.
Four leathery, white eggs from an indigenous tuatara were found by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital, Wellington, during routine maintenance work Friday, conservation manager Rouen Epson said.
"The nest was uncovered by accident and is the first concrete proof we have that our tuatara are breeding," Epson said. "It suggests that there may be other nests in the sanctuary we don't know of."
Tuatara, dragon-like reptiles that grow to up to 32 inches, are the last descendants of a species that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say...
--Discovery Channel
Four leathery, white eggs from an indigenous tuatara were found by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital, Wellington, during routine maintenance work Friday, conservation manager Rouen Epson said.
"The nest was uncovered by accident and is the first concrete proof we have that our tuatara are breeding," Epson said. "It suggests that there may be other nests in the sanctuary we don't know of."
Tuatara, dragon-like reptiles that grow to up to 32 inches, are the last descendants of a species that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say...
--Discovery Channel
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Cheetah gets loose on Delta flight
A Delta baggage worker got a bit of a fright when she opened a jetliner's cargo door and found a cheetah running loose amid the luggage.
Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said Friday that two cheetahs were being flown in the cargo area of a passenger flight from Portland, Ore., to Atlanta a day earlier when one escaped from its cage.
Talton said the airline summoned help from an Atlanta zoo. Experts rushed to a closed airport hangar and tranquilized both animals and took them back to the zoo...
--MSNBC
Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said Friday that two cheetahs were being flown in the cargo area of a passenger flight from Portland, Ore., to Atlanta a day earlier when one escaped from its cage.
Talton said the airline summoned help from an Atlanta zoo. Experts rushed to a closed airport hangar and tranquilized both animals and took them back to the zoo...
--MSNBC
As economy melts away, so does N.Y. sculpture
The economy is melting — literally.
Two artists on Wednesday installed a 1,500-pound ice sculpture that spelled the word "Economy" in Manhattan's financial district.
The "Main Street Meltdown" was to remain in Foley Square until it melted — about 24 hours. By Wednesday evening, the E and the C had already thawed and vanished.
The backdrop to the sculpture — the wide stairs and row of pillars fronting the state Supreme Court building — is instantly recognizable to millions of viewers of TV's "Law & Order."
"To see the word 'economy' melting down is representational of an extreme time," artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese said on their website...
--USA Today
Two artists on Wednesday installed a 1,500-pound ice sculpture that spelled the word "Economy" in Manhattan's financial district.
The "Main Street Meltdown" was to remain in Foley Square until it melted — about 24 hours. By Wednesday evening, the E and the C had already thawed and vanished.
The backdrop to the sculpture — the wide stairs and row of pillars fronting the state Supreme Court building — is instantly recognizable to millions of viewers of TV's "Law & Order."
"To see the word 'economy' melting down is representational of an extreme time," artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese said on their website...
--USA Today
Friday, October 24, 2008
Voter registration materials mailed to dead Illinois goldfish
The only "agent of change" Princess ever supported was the person who freshened the water in her fishbowl.
So election officials in Chicago's northern suburbs want to know why voter registration material was sent to the dead goldfish.
"I am just stunned at the level of people compromising the integrity of the voting process," said Lake County Clerk Willard Helander, a Republican, who said she has spotted problems with nearly 1,000 voter registrations this year.
Beth Nudelman, who owned the fish, said Princess may have landed on a mailing list because the family once filled in the pet's name when they got a second phone line for a computer.
"There was no fraud involved," said Nudelman, a Democrat who supports Barack Obama. "This person is a dead fish"...
--USA Today
So election officials in Chicago's northern suburbs want to know why voter registration material was sent to the dead goldfish.
"I am just stunned at the level of people compromising the integrity of the voting process," said Lake County Clerk Willard Helander, a Republican, who said she has spotted problems with nearly 1,000 voter registrations this year.
Beth Nudelman, who owned the fish, said Princess may have landed on a mailing list because the family once filled in the pet's name when they got a second phone line for a computer.
"There was no fraud involved," said Nudelman, a Democrat who supports Barack Obama. "This person is a dead fish"...
--USA Today
Monday, October 13, 2008
Angry about economy? Smash some plates and move on
All over sunny San Diego, tough economic times have forced people to cut back on their $4 lattes and sushi dinners.
But one new business is booming -- and ka-booming -- precisely because of frustration from the worst financial crisis to hit the United States in decades.
Welcome to Sarah's Smash Shack, where pent-up patrons can relieve stress by hurling dinnerware and bric-a-brac against a wall, as hard as they can, day and night, seven days a week.
San Diego entrepreneur Sarah Lavely charges her clients $10 and up to pulverize plates and glasses during 15-minute intervals. Music blares, clients dress in protective gear and a neon sign urges them to "Break More Stuff"...
--Reuters
But one new business is booming -- and ka-booming -- precisely because of frustration from the worst financial crisis to hit the United States in decades.
Welcome to Sarah's Smash Shack, where pent-up patrons can relieve stress by hurling dinnerware and bric-a-brac against a wall, as hard as they can, day and night, seven days a week.
San Diego entrepreneur Sarah Lavely charges her clients $10 and up to pulverize plates and glasses during 15-minute intervals. Music blares, clients dress in protective gear and a neon sign urges them to "Break More Stuff"...
--Reuters
Monday, September 08, 2008
Officials: Burglar wakes men with spice rub, sausage whack
Authorities say they've arrested a man who broke into the home of two California farmworkers, stole money, rubbed one with spices and whacked the other with a sausage before fleeing.
Fresno County sheriff's Lt. Ian Burrimond says 22-year-old Antonio Vasquez was found hiding in a field wearing only a T-shirt, boxers and socks after the Saturday morning attack.
He says deputies arrested Vasquez after finding a wallet containing his ID in the ransacked house.
The farmworkers told deputies the suspect woke them Saturday morning by rubbing spices on one of them and smacking the other with an 8-inch sausage...
--CNN
Fresno County sheriff's Lt. Ian Burrimond says 22-year-old Antonio Vasquez was found hiding in a field wearing only a T-shirt, boxers and socks after the Saturday morning attack.
He says deputies arrested Vasquez after finding a wallet containing his ID in the ransacked house.
The farmworkers told deputies the suspect woke them Saturday morning by rubbing spices on one of them and smacking the other with an 8-inch sausage...
--CNN
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Oddball museums around the world
If "Night at the Museum" had been set somewhere other than New York’s Museum of Natural History, it would be a very different movie. This 2006 blockbuster starring Ben Stiller made hundreds of millions of dollars and, reportedly, boosted museum attendance. But it could have been a much stranger beast. Instead of Teddy Roosevelt and Pocahantas, one night in Philadelphia’s Mutter Museum could've led to a romance between Siamese twin skeletons and the corpse of an obese woman whose fat has turned to soap. At the Venthaven ventriloquist museum, the big laughs could've given way to the scariest "Twilight Zone" episode ever.
World-class museums aside, a lot of people find second-rank museums lacking. At best, they're hermetically sealed repositories of dusty culture; at worst, they're tourist traps teeming with children on field trips. Sometimes, you gotta take a walk on the weirder side.
Doug Kirby, publisher of the book series and Web site Roadside America, has catalogued bizarre museums and other attractions best avoided by elementary school field trips. By heading off the beaten path, he says, “you’ll see amazing things—but just duck your head and make sure your tetanus shot is up-to-date”...
--MSNBC
World-class museums aside, a lot of people find second-rank museums lacking. At best, they're hermetically sealed repositories of dusty culture; at worst, they're tourist traps teeming with children on field trips. Sometimes, you gotta take a walk on the weirder side.
Doug Kirby, publisher of the book series and Web site Roadside America, has catalogued bizarre museums and other attractions best avoided by elementary school field trips. By heading off the beaten path, he says, “you’ll see amazing things—but just duck your head and make sure your tetanus shot is up-to-date”...
--MSNBC
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