Woman attacked by otters in Wisconsin lake

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

Postal workers attacked by wild turkeys

While rain and snow may not deter the postal service, wild turkeys are a bird of a different feather.

Mara Wilhite, manager of the Hilldale Station Post Office, said wild turkeys have been pestering postal delivery workers in Parkwood Hills, a neighborhood on Madison 's West Side near Owen Conservation Park and home to a number of the large birds.

Between five and 10 large male turkeys, or toms -- apparently a little giddy with the onset of turkey breeding season -- have been bullying postal workers as they make their rounds, pecking at them and even trying to rough them up with the sharp spurs on their legs. One of the birds launched itself through the open door of a mail truck and scratched the driver.

Eric Lobner, regional wildlife program supervisor for the state Department of Natural Resources, is on the case, investigating the turkey gang...

--Madison.com

Ponytail Helps Save 10-Year-Old Who Fell In Icy Canal

Jazmine Peters, 10, escaped drowning in the historic Portage Canal by the hair on her head.

Cousin Jeff Gjavenis, also 10, grabbed Jazmine's thick ponytail to keep her head above water after she slid off the Ice Age Trail and into the canal Sunday night.

The scene of the incident is well known to the family members. Jazmine's mother, Terri Reilley, grew up with a sister and cousin on the Old Indian Agency House land where her parents have been resident caretakers for decades. The site is where travelers centuries ago portaged canoes between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers and where the canal eventually was built.

Jazmine, Jeff and three other cousins had gone for a walk and went across a bridge to the other side of the canal. That's when Jazmine fell in and her cousins came to the rescue, Jeff holding her head above water with her ponytail and Taylor Weirich pulling her with the strap on her snow pants...

--WISC TV

3-year-old boy finds woolly mammoth tooth

Gary Kidd had a pretty good idea that what his 3-year-old grandson had found was no rock, but the tooth of a woolly mammoth. That's because he had found one himself nine years ago.

Kaleb Kidd was chasing squirrels Monday at a family friend's property near La Crosse when he spotted what looked like an unusual rock.

"Grandpa, what's that?" Kaleb asked.

He told his grandson it looked like the tooth of the extinct woolly mammoth.

Next stop was the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, which confirmed that it was, indeed, the tooth of a mammoth...

--USA Today

Rubber sidewalks flex their muscle in Poynette, Wisconsin

Environmentally Friendly Sidewalks Save Trees

Poynette, Wis. -- Village officials in Poynette are bouncing with pride with their groundbreaking move to save some of the city's oldest trees.

Tree-lined streets are majestic and beautiful, but they come at a cost, WISC-TV reported."What was happening was the roots further down were lifting the soil and that was lifting the concrete," said Poynette Village Commissioner Dennis Lynn.

It's a problem faced along many urban streets: older trees breaking through sidewalks and causing dangerous obstacles for walkers...

--WISC TV

Owners reclaim snake left in rental car

Sammy the boa survives two weeks chilling in chill in Dodge Charger

MILWAUKEE - A snake and his owners were reunited this week after the missing reptile was found in the glove compartment of a rented car.

Sammy, a 4-foot red-tailed boa constrictor, disappeared two weeks ago after his owners left him in the car while they went into an east side video rental store.

Richard Houston and Rosanne Burks were puzzled — their CDs and other items were still in the car. They searched the vehicle, looking under the seats and in the trunk. Finally, puzzled, they concluded Sammy had been stolen...

MSNBC

Trees cut to shed light on turtles, sex addicts

MAZOMANIE, Wis. -- Trees are being cut down near Mazomanie's nude beach as a crackdown on sexual activity, reported WISC-TV.

The state Department of Natural Resources said willow trees lining the nude beach have been removed...

--WISCTV.com