Lady left feeling embarrassed after mistaking flight of steps for entrance to car park

An embarrassed motorist could do nothing but wait for a tow truck after attempting to drive her vehicle down a pedestrian stairway. The incident happened at around 10.30am on Friday outside the Tai Ping Supermarket in Albany, Auckland, New Zealand.

Supermarket worker TK Ng said the woman was unhurt, and seemed more embarrassed than anything else, after missing the car park entrance a few meters away. "She's mistaken the stairs for the entrance. She was a bit shocked but then she just went shopping inside and then laughed about it later. She couldn't do anything but wait for the tow truck."
There was no significant damage to the vehicle, except the bumper. Mr Ng, who spoke to the driver, said she told him she had spent the early morning at a swimming pool and had dropped in to get some groceries. "She said after swimming she was a bit tired and I guess she just missed the [entrance sign]. I think she must've been rushing in for the specials," he laughed.

"But she was okay and that's the main thing." The woman's husband arrived a short time later and he stayed behind to wait for a tow truck while his wife went home. However, when the first tow truck arrived, it could not remove the vehicle as the back wheels were not on the ground. A second tow truck arrived and also failed to help, before another truck arrived to finally remove the car at around 4pm.

Petrol thief caught on camera hot-footing it away

Stealing fuel from a vehicle didn't go to plan when a thief set their feet on fire and hot-footed it from the suspected crime scene in Western Australia.

Busselton police senior sergeant Steve Principe said the incident happened at 9pm on Thursday night when a vehicle parked outside a house in West Busselton was targeted.
"Later in the evening the same vehicle was set on fire and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services were called," Senior Sergeant Principe said.

LiveLeak link.

He said when the police arrived at the scene a neighbor provided video footage of a person running away from the scene with their shoes on fire.

Man claims he danced on top of police vehicle to save children from vampires

Christian Radecki, 44, of Cape Coral, Florida, was arrested on April 7 after he was caught on surveillance video bumping his car into the back of a Lee County Sheriff's Office marked patrol vehicle. He then began dancing on the patrol vehicle's roof while music blared from his car.

Initially he danced to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl", ending after Supertramp's "Goodbye Stranger". He then broke the windscreen wipers and took an American Flag from the neighbor's yard. Redecki, a convicted sexual offender, was arrested for Disturbing the Peace and Criminal Mischief after the neighbors called the police.
According to a Cape Coral Police report, Radecki said it all began when a "woman with fangs" came to his door, threatening that a human sacrifice was about to occur involving vampires. "Therefore, Radecki made the conscious decision to get the Sheriff of Nottingham to help him stop the slaughter of small children," the report states.

YouTube link.

Radecki told officers that he had not taken any recreational drugs or alcohol, has not been diagnosed with any mental health conditions, nor did he take any prescribed medication. Radecki was taken to Cape Coral Hospital for medical clearance, then transferred to the Lee County Justice Center in apparent good health.

Stormtrooper arrested for loitering too close to school

Students in Lynn, Massachusetts, were surprised by a man dressed as a Stormtrooper outside their school on Wednesday, and the man is now facing charges. A man dressed up in an elaborate Star Wars Stormtrooper costume, complete with a black toy laser gun, appeared on the sidewalk outside the Brickett Elementary School moments before the school was about to release.

"I honestly opened my screen window, stuck my head out the window, and I was just like, 'wow,'" Jami Kelly, a concerned parent. With no clue who the man was or whether the gun was real, the principal delayed dismissal until police arrived on the scene, unmasked the masked crusader, arrested him, and placed him in a police cruiser.
George Cross, 40, of Lynn, was arraigned on charges of disturbing a school in addition to violating a city ordinance of loitering within 1,000 feet of a school. "I bought a costume, I was walking through the neighborhood showing friends, and then all that," said Cross as he left the courthouse.

YouTube link.

"We just can't have things like that taking place in front of the school," said Lt. Rick Donnelly of the Lynn Police Department. Police were not amused by Cross' costume caper, and neither were parents - especially, they said, in this day and age. "What if it was just like a thing saying, 'oh it was for the kids,' but actually it was, like, something bad was going to happen, you never know," said Tanya Dietz.

98-year-old Chalkboard Drawings Discovered in Oklahoma School

Sometime in 1917, probably in November, Emerson High School in Oklahoma City got new chalkboards. Apparently they installed them right overtop the old chalkboards, which were only discovered this past week as chalkboards are now being replaced with whiteboards. The older chalkboards still had lessons drawn on them, untouched since that time!

“The penmanship blows me away, because you don’t see a lot of that anymore,” Emerson High School Principal Sherry Kishore told the Oklahoman. “Some of the handwriting in some of these rooms is beautiful.”

The writing also gives us a glimpse into the teaching methods used in the early part of the 20th century. See all nine pictures at The Washington Post.

Robot Teacher at Work in China

This is Xiao Mei, a teacher at Jiujiang University in southwestern China. Although you may not be able to tell from the photo, she's not human. She's a robot built by researchers at that school, allegedly after only a month of work. According to China News, she can deliver a lecture, use PowerPoint, and interact with students. I can't find a listing for her at Rate My Professors.

Zoo hopes to reunite sock with owner after it was eaten by curious emu

A stray green sock dropped at Wellington Zoo in New Zealand became a snack for Georgia the emu. The zoo is hoping to reunite the sock with its owner, if they still want it after what it's been through, that is. A visitor to the zoo alerted staff the sock had been picked up and eaten by Georgia who had mistaken it for food.

Veterinary science manager Dr Lisa Argilla says socks don't normally feature in the diet of emus, with its nutritional value minimal at best. "Emus generally eat a variety of plants and insects, and play an important role in seed dispersal – but a sock is pretty unusual," she says. "Like many animals, emus are curious birds and will explore new items in their environment. Unfortunately, sometimes this includes things which are unhealthy for them to eat.
"It shows how important it is to make sure we keep belongings with us, clean up after ourselves and leave natural environments as we find them." The zoo's vet team took scans of Georgia and found the sock in part of her digestive tract, and while it wasn't causing any problems for food getting through, they took action to ensure it was removed before it made it to her intestines. Leaving it to pass through the bird could have caused a blockage, Dr Argilla said.
An endoscopy was performed on Georgia to remove the sock, which involved using a gastroscope with a camera specifically designed to examine the gastrointestinal tract. The camera allowed the vets to see the sock and use forceps to get the sock out of her stomach. The procedure was a success, with Georgia not needing any further treatment and getting right back to her normal self. "Her appetite is just as keen as usual," Dr Argilla added.

Police held dog identity parade so bite victim could point out her four-legged assailant

Police in Aberystwyth, Wales, held a canine identity parade to enable a teenager to pick out a collie which attacked her, a court has heard. Dog owner Edward Andrew Davies was fined £400 and ordered to pay £200 compensation, after he pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dog which caused an injury while dangerously out of control. Davies, 47, appeared before Ceredigion magistrates on Wednesday.

The court heard that the 17-year-old victim was walking past Davies’ property on October 1 last year, when she heard barking, and a black and white border collie and a smaller dog rushed out of a property. The larger dog bit her on the leg, causing her a sharp pain, and she limped home before attending Bronglais Hospital for treatment. She was given a course of antibiotics, and her leg became swollen and bruised. Ellie Morgan, prosecuting, told the court that the dogs had previously been seen coming out of their property to chase vehicles and bite at tyres.
She added that the incident had left the victim fearful of walking her usual route home. Miss Morgan said: “She spoke to the police and was involved with a dog identity parade to identify the dog which caused her injury. She was able to point out the larger of the two dogs.” The court heard that Davies, of Aberystwyth, was fully cooperative with police, and border collie Nell, a rescue dog and her companion, collie-cross Rex, had attended obedience training and had never shown signs of aggression.
His 13-acre smallholding was fenced, but there were gaps were the dogs could escape. David Hinton Jones, defending, said Nell had lived with Davies’ family for five years, and he was not aware of any problems involving his dogs leading up to this incident. He added that Nell had been taken to a rescue centre to be re-homed, and was no longer owned by his client. Magistrates imposed an order prohibiting Davies’ dogs from being out of control and requiring him to secure his property. Davies was ordered to pay a total of £725 in fines, compensation and court costs.

Prized koi carp stolen then barbecued and eaten

A prized Japanese koi was stolen, then barbecued and eaten by thieves just a few meters from its lake at a pedigree fish farm, the site's manager has said.

Allan Joyce, who runs Tranquil Waters Aquatic Centre in High Ongar, Essex, said the carp's bones were found on a bed of coals on the site. "It's just a shocking and horrible thing to find. It's like losing a child, or a dog," Mr Joyce said. The ill-fated fish was worth between £200 and £300, he estimated.
It is not yet known who is responsible for the theft, but Mr Joyce said he had heard of other bodies of water in the area being targeted for similar reasons. "We're aware of local lakes and rivers being slowly depleted and we all know there are carp-eating fans out there. It is quite a delicacy in some other ethnic origins," Mr Joyce said.
He said CCTV was being installed to monitor security at the site's 19 lakes in the wake of the theft, which is believed to have taken place between 22 and 25 May. "We'd like to put a warning out to local residents to keep an eye on their own ponds," he said. A spokeswoman from Essex Police confirmed the incident had taken place and added: "The fish is believed to have been eaten."

Chopper the Biker Dog stripped of his therapy certification for wearing costume

Chopper the Biker Dog, a 5-year-old Boston terrier, lost his therapy dog certification for wearing his costume while visiting people at San Diego veteran’s hospitals, senior centers and schools, according his owner. Mark Shaffer, who has worked with therapy dogs for a decade, says Pet Partners, the certifying agency, had full knowledge that Chopper had been wearing his costume, a leather vest, biker goggles and a bandanna, for years.

“I’ve been doing this for 10 years and they’ve acknowledged that I do this,” he said. “As soon as Chopper rides into someone’s room on his motorcycle, the patients start to laugh and smile. Each therapy dog brings something different to the table and Chopper’s whole package provides the therapy.” Chopper was certified with Pet Partners, formerly The Delta Society, for five years and Shaffer’s previous dog, Bandit, was certified for five years as well.
Shaffer's reaction when he found out Chopper was decertified? "Disbelief," he said. "There was anger and there was a lot of hurt.” Pet Partners has a policy prohibiting costumes, citing safety for both the handlers and their pets and the patients they visit. “It’s not a problem for dogs to wear costumes around town, but in the context of a therapeutic visit it’s not appropriate,” Glen Miller, the national director of communications, said.

YouTube link.

Miller noted that Pet Partners has over 11,000 teams of handlers and pets across the country and it’s hard to monitor that everyone follows this rule. Shaffer was mailed a warning about a year ago about Chopper’s costume, Miller said. Pet Partners suspended Chopper on May 14, Shaffer said, adding that Chopper’s visits were always on his own time and not organized by Pet Partners. Shaffer said that he plans to get Chopper certified with another organization and continue to keep Chopper’s biker dog image. "It’s not a costume," Shaffer said. "It’s his persona."

Woman surprised to find bear cub behind the wheel of her truck

A mother bear, accompanied by her two cubs, broke into a woman's truck and vandalized it in Peguis First Nation, 180 kilometers north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Anita Sutherland woke up to the sound of her truck's horn honking at around 6:30am on Thursday.

At first, she thought someone was trying to steal her truck so she ran to her window, only to see a mother bear and cub climbing on the roof of the vehicle. She grabbed her phone. "I started taking pictures of them and recording them. And then, I noticed the movement inside my truck ... and the truck is honking and then I realized, 'Oh that's a bear in my truck,'" Sutherland said.
Sutherland said she is not exactly sure how the bear got into the vehicle but after the incident one of her door handles was broken, so she believes that the cub was able to use the handle to let itself in, although a window was also left ajar. "It was just really shocking to see a bear, well to have just a momma bear and a cub bear outside but to have one inside my truck. I just did not know what to think," Sutherland said.

YouTube link.

In the heat of the moment, Sutherland said her son told her to call 911 and she couldn't think clearly enough to remember the phone number to dial. Sutherland and her children were too frightened to go outside but a neighbor drove over in their own vehicle and leaned out the window to open the truck's door and let the cub out. "He just totally shredded two doors, the roof of my truck, pulled out some speakers. And he left some presents in the back seat," Sutherland added.
You can see Ms Sutherland's original Facebook video, complete with sweary language, here. There's a second video showing the neighbor opening the truck door to release the cub here.

German Shepherd Protects Lobster

I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy. Come on, Squishy Come on, little Squishy.

Sami the German Shepherd has always been a maternal dog. She’s cuddled with babies, kittens, and even a snake before. But this time, she’s latched onto a lobster that was purchased for dinner! Watch her protect the crustacean from anyone who would harm it.

(YouTube link)

The alternate theory is that she’s protecting her dinner, but if that’s the case, why doesn’t she go ahead and eat it? Not long after this video was taken, the family got a new puppy, and Sami was very happy to be its mother.

Animal Pictures

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Today in History

1064		Coimbra, Portugal falls to Ferdinand, king of Castile.
1534		Jacques Cartier sails into the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in Canada.
1790		Civil war breaks out in Martinique.
1861		Mary Ann "Mother" Bickerdyke begins working in Union hospitals.
1863		At the Battle of Brandy Station in Virginia, Union and Confederate cavalries clash in the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War.
1923		Bulgaria’s government is overthrown by the military.
1931		Robert H. Goddard patents a rocket-fueled aircraft design.
1942		The Japanese high command announces that "The Midway Occupation operations have been temporarily postponed."
1945		Japanese Premier Kantaro Suzuki declares that Japan will fight to the last rather than accept unconditional surrender.
1951		After several unsuccessful attacks on French colonial troops, North Vietnam’s General Vo Nguyen Giap orders Viet Minh to withdraw from the Red River Delta.
1954		At the Army-McCarthy hearings, attorney Joseph Welch asks Senator Joseph McCarthy "Have you no sense of decency?"
1959		The first ballistic missile-carrying submarine, the USS George Washington, is launched.
1972		American advisor John Paul Vann is killed in a helicopter accident in Vietnam.
1986		NASA publishes a report on the Challenger accident.

Holding Out For A Hero Like Buster Keaton

Joseph Frank 'Buster' Keaton (1895-1966) was an American actor, vaudevillian, comedian, filmmaker, stunt performer, and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname 'The Great Stone Face.'This video is dedicated to the great actor and director Buster Keaton.

YouTube link

Pink-haired shop worker must wear wig and cover tattoos

A woman has had to cover her tattoos and wear a wig over her pink hair to appear "more normal" while working at a Suffolk shop.

Friends said Trudy Moorhouse, from Badingham, had been at the Co-op in Laxfield for eight years without any complaints about her appearance. After a shop refit Mrs Moorhouse was asked to "dress more appropriately".
Mrs Moorhouse has now chosen to wear a black wig as she "did not want to get rid of her pink hair". She is also wearing long sleeves to cover her tattoos and has put sticky plasters on her face to cover her piercings.
A Spokesman for The Co-operative Food said: "There is a clear policy in place regarding dress code and how colleagues present themselves in our food stores. An amicable arrangement has been put in place at the store with Trudy." A petition has been set up calling for the store to change its policy. Mrs Moorhouse would not comment.

Elderly man fulfills wish to drive through garage door

91-year-old Walter Thomas’ bucket list was really short. There was only one thing on it. And that was fulfilled on Sunday.

“Every time I back out of the garage, I think about backing through the door,” said Thomas, from Woodstock, Illinois.
He mentioned his wish to his granddaughter Tanya Thomas, so she got the project going. The garage was coming down for a renovation project anyway.

YouTube link.

The vehicle that was used was donated and bound for the scrap yard. With his grandson by his side, and at the count of three, Thomas hit the gas and they barreled through the door. “That was easy,” Thomas said afterwards.

Ram raiders initially smashed into wrong shop before stealing haul of extra small clothing

Their plan was to reverse a car into upmarket clothes shop Garment Quarter in Cabot Circus, Bristol, and make off with handfuls of designer gear.
But a gang of ram raiders got their bearings wrong and smashed the car through the window of the Kuoni travel agent next door. Undeterred, the raiders eventually careered in to the right shop and made off with £20,000 worth of designer goods. But what the bungling burglars did not release is that all the clothes were size extra small.
The clothes shop only puts out its smallest sizes and so only the most petite ladies will be able to get into the garments. Staff at Kuoni said nothing was taken and that the burglars had made a mistake reversing into their store. Derek Jones, Kuoni managing director, said: "It's a case of the thieves who should have gone to Specsavers as they reversed into the wrong shop."
The raid happened in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Police are looking for three men who are thought to have carried out the burglary. They said a white Jaguar car was reversed into the shop fronts at around 2am, leaving shattered glass across the street. The car, which is thought to be stolen, then made off.
There's a short video of the incident here.

Man chewed through police car seat belt as he didn't want to miss his son's birthday party

A Chicago man who was arrested on Monday is accused of chewing through a squad car seat belt because he didn’t want to miss his son’s birthday party, police said.

Lashon Stuckey, 33, was arrested just before 2pm and charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of criminal damage to property, according to Chicago Police.
Police alleged Stuckey was seen conducting a suspected narcotics transaction and was arrested. He was found in possession of several bags of heroin.
While in a squad car, Stuckey chewed his way through the seat belt. Stuckey then told officers it was his son’s birthday and he didn’t want to miss it. He appeared in court on Tuesday and was held in lieu of $75,000 bail.

Man baked potato and raked leaves during break-in

A New Mexico man is facing charges after police say he walked into an unlocked home in Hobbs, stole car keys and stunned a resident who found him baking a potato and raking leaves. Patrick Lynn Waits, 45, was arrested early on Tuesday following the unusual chain of events.

A female resident awoke to noise in her kitchen, and found Waits allegedly wiping down a counter-top and baking a potato in her microwave oven, police said. "She asked him what he was doing there, and he told her he was making a potato," according to a police report.
When told to leave, a criminal complaint says Waits walked outside and left his potato in the microwave. The report said Waits then went outside to rake leaves in the front yard. The female resident convinced Waits to stay by saying she wanted to pay him for his service, police said.
The move was apparently a ploy to get Waits to stay long enough before authorities arrived, police said. Waits was found stumbling while walking, and he slurred when he talked, officials said. Waits was arrested on burglary and unlawful entry charges. He also faces several felony warrants for failure to appear in court.

Science teacher suspended for using signal jammer to block student's phones

A Florida science teacher has been suspended for using a signal jammer to prevent his students from using their cellphones in class. Dean Liptak was trying to get students to focus on lessons instead of their phones.

School board members in Pasco County approved Liptak's five-day, unpaid suspension on Tuesday. Liptak didn't contest the decision. Officials say Liptak activated the jammer in his Fivay High School classroom from March 31 until April 2. He later told a school district investigator he never intended to cause problems.
He said he thought the jammers were allowed as long as they weren't intended for malicious purposes. The district says Verizon chose not to prosecute him. Superintendent Kurt Browning wrote in a reprimand letter that Liptak had potentially violated federal law and that the signal jamming could have potentially interfered with others trying to call 911 during an emergency.

YouTube link.

"Verizon had come to the school saying someone had a jamming device, because the cell phone service was being interrupted in the area," Pasco County School District spokesperson Linda Cobbe said. Cobbe says Liptak's jamming device blocked communication to the cell tower on the school campus.

A Circular Rainbow at Niagara Falls

(Video Link)

Visitors to the Skylon Tower, an observation tower in Ontario that overlooks Niagara Falls, spotted this incredible meteorological find: a rainbow that arced a full 360⁰ degrees. Watch the video to see the full span. It’s a highly unusual event, but another one was photographed in 2013 in Australia.

Waterfall Of Loenen

The Netherlands is known for being a flat country, something that shows in its noticeable lack of mountainous terrain. In the so-called 'Low Country,' it doesn't take much to be declared the 'highest' anything in the country, as it the case with the tallest waterfall in the Netherlands which only drops 50 feet.
The Waterfall of Loenen, also known cheekily as the 'Niagara of the Veluwe,' is part of an artificial canal that was dug in 1869 and is almost four miles long. It was created to keep the water level of the Apeldoorns canal equal throughout the year. At some points the height difference was too great, so waterfalls were installed to prevent the stream from going too fast.

Man suffocated to death after getting trapped in rabbit hole

A man suffocated after becoming wedged in a hole at a beauty spot in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, while trying to catch a rabbit, an inquest heard. Stephen Norman Whinfrey had been rabbiting for most of his life and had carried out the hobby, which involves using ferrets and dogs to catch rabbits, alone many times before. Mr Whinfrey, aged 50, had gone to Squirrel Wood Scout Camp near Burghwallis on January 1. He was found by a member of the public shortly before 4pm on January 2. PC Richard Hall told Doncaster coroner’s court: “We found a male head first in a hole, only his legs and torso were visible.

“He was at a 45 degree angle, curved around the hole. There was a hand coming out of the hole, in between the male’s legs. I could not see the other hand. There were scratch marks on the ground. It became obvious that the man was deceased.” PC Hall said Mr Whinfrey was ‘wedged in’ the hole. “There was hardly any room at all, he was wedged in,” he said. Mr Whinfrey had taken off his wellington boots and his jacket, which were found next to the hole along with two bags, one which contained ferrets, a spade, knives and a net.
There was also a dead rabbit and a fresh mound of soil next to the hole. His dog was found tied to a tree nearby. Paramedics and fire crews attended shortly afterwards and Mr Whinfrey was pronounced dead. The court heard Mr Whinfrey, who was unemployed at the time of his death but had previously been a coal miner. Mr Whinfrey, of Skellow, had told his family he would see them for lunch at around 1pm on January 1. But when he did not arrive they became concerned and when they still had not heard from him by the following day they called the police.
Dr Susan Rodgers, who carried out a post-mortem examination, said Mr Whinfrey had died from asphyxia due to a lack of oxygen. “It is difficult to say exactly when Mr Whinfrey died. He had probably been dead for some hours by the time he was found.” She said a toxicological screening found alcohol and amphetamine in Mr Whinfey’s blood and, though it was impossible to say how much of either substance was present, they may have affected his decision making process. Assistant coroner Mark Beresford recorded a misadventure verdict and said: “Misadventure occurs when a person undertakes a task that goes unexpectedly wrong. This is what has happened in this case.”

Despite mounting fines woman won't remove screen put up to block view of neighbor's home

A woman from Thetford, Vermont, erected a 60-foot by 24-foot barrier obstructing her view of her neighbor's new home. Ruth Dwyer has lived on her 200-plus acre farm in for more than 40 years. For almost all of that time, Dwyer said she and her 150 animals had most of the surrounding area to themselves. That changed two years ago with the construction of a new home across the street, overlooking her farm. “Everything that goes on over there is taking place in a way that it distracts the livestock because of the location of all the activity, and it's very close. There never used to be any activity there. It's all normal activity for a house. It's just not normal for my livestock,” Dwyer said, adding she has no ill will towards her neighbors.

Dwyer recalled one instance when she was loading one of her horses onto a van and it was spooked by a child who had come outside to play basketball in her neighbor's driveway, which she said was clearly visible from her barn. “I knew it was going to be a problem,” Dwyer said. So she planted cedar trees on her property line, but said they’ll take years to grow tall enough to block the view of her neighbors’ activity. In November, she built what she described as a ‘temporary screen’ to shield her view. “I had a friend who's a contractor and he said, ‘You know, I could put up a piece of fabric between some telephone poles and we'll brace it and that's it,’” Dwyer said. Once the structure was up, town officials took notice.
Thetford zoning director Mary Ellen Parkman said she notified Dwyer in November that she needed to apply for a building permit for the structure. Under Thetford zoning laws, any wall or fence more than 10 feet tall requires a building permit. Dwyer said her structure doesn’t fall into those categories, therefore it does not violate any rules. “It’s not a wall, it’s not a fence, it’s a screen for livestock control,” Dwyer said. Parkman said Dwyer applied for a building permit in December, which was denied in February because “it did not fit the character of the neighborhood.” Parkman said at that point, the ‘screen’ became an ‘illegal structure.’ Dwyer said she considered other options, like installing a solar array or building a more permanent fixture, like a barn. However, she said those options aren’t economically feasible for her, and she didn’t want something to stay there long-term.

YouTube link.

"That’s why I built a temporary structure,” Dwyer said. In early March, Parkman sent Dwyer a violation notice, fining her $200 each day that her structure remains on her property. Those fines have now accumulated to more than $15,000. Regardless of what the structure is categorized as, her neighbor, Patrick Perry, who lives across the road, said it’s an unpleasant sight. “I think it's one of those things when you first see it, you're sort of struck by the size of it,” Perry said. Perry moved into the neighborhood about 18 months ago. He said Dwyer’s screen doesn’t make him feel at home. “I think 'unwelcoming' is probably the best way to describe how it feels being on this side of the wall,” Perry said. Despite the daily fine and her neighbor's concerns, Dwyer said the screen isn’t going anywhere any time soon. She said she’s going to keep fighting to keep the structure up until her cedar trees grow tall enough to block the view of her neighbors’ activities.

Doctors used basil to coax out worm that had been living in teenager's eye for a month

Doctors in Peru have used basil to help remove a worm from a teenager's eye that had been in there for around a month. The 17-year-old arrived at the National Children's Hospital in Lima, with a very swollen left eye. Medics quickly discovered that a three-centimeter (one inch) worm was responsible for the swelling after living in his eye for weeks.

They made the discovery after taking an MRI scan of the young man, who has not been named. Ophthalmologist Caroline Marchena said the worm posed a serious risk to the boy's health because of swelling near a sensitive part of the face from which infections can spread to the brain.
She said: "The location of the worm from the lower lid, which was getting bigger, made the risks increase because the youth's tissue was swelling in an area close to the sinuses that's close to the delicate part which is the triangle of death (danger triangle of the face)."

YouTube link.

Basil, a common culinary herb, was used as a way of attracting the worm out due to its smell. Once the hungry worm had poked its head out in search of the basil, doctors used tweezers to pull it out in its entirety. The worm did not cause any long-term damage to the teenager.

Neighbors unhappy with man who's dumped chocolate chips in bid to deter fouling dogs

A man in San Diego’s North Park community has dumped chocolate chips in an effort to deter dogs, but the act is upsetting neighbors. Frustrated with neighborhood dogs leaving waste on his lawn and a grass verge outside his home, and with dog owners not picking up after their pets, a man known as "John" recently scattered several pounds of chocolate chips. John said it was an experiment – and that it worked. Over the last several days pet owners have been steering clear of his property, with some neighbors afraid the chocolate will make their animals sick.

Why Thousands Of New Animal Species Are Still Discovered Each Year

Every spring, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry releases a list of the top ten new animal discoveries. Luckily, even after 250 years of professionals documenting thousands of new plants and animals every year, the rate at which new species are discovered remains relatively stable. Somewhere between 15,000 and 18,000 new species are identified each year.
However, that number is somewhat misleading: it also includes the correction of taxonomic mistakes, movements from one family to another, and decisions that will end up being overruled in years to come. But where would you go if you wanted to find a brand new animal species?

Eel-like fish are falling from the sky in Alaska

Fish have literally been dropping from the sky in Fairbanks, Alaska. Four eel-like fish called lampreys have been found in odd locations around Fairbanks, far from the water, according to Mike Taras of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Most were dead, but one was found alive outside a Fairbanks thrift store. “Two gentleman came in and asked if we have a bucket with water because there’s an eel in your parking lot,” said the store’s manager, Sue Valdrow. She put the fish, which was about a foot long, into a container of water and called officials.
At this point, nobody knows for sure, but the Alaska Department of Fish and Game believes the answer is gulls. The birds are likely catching the fish from the Chena River and then dropping them during their flight. “If you look closely at them, they have holes on both sides that may have been made by a gull or some other kind of bird,” notes Taras.

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Even in their natural habitat, lampreys are strange fish, with disconcerting feeding habits. The young are blind and live in the mud for years, feeding on algae and microorganisms. As adults, they are parasites, attaching to other fish and relying on them for subsistence. They die soon after spawning. “I wasn’t sure what to do when lampreys fall from the sky,” Sue Valdrow added. “I’ve lived in Alaska for 12 years and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Raccoon took refuge from rain under umbrella

A raccoon in Kansas went to great lengths to find shelter from the rain.

Bri Smith spotted the raccoon outside her home in Topeka on Wednesday standing underneath her mailbox's cement umbrella.

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The Caterpillar with Penguins on Its Back

If you look at the caterpillar of the forest tent caterpillar moth (Malacosoma disstria) with a little imagination you can see something remarkable. Found throughout North America, along the top of this caterpillar is ranged a set of what looks like dancing penguins.
This is of course one of nature's inadvertent acts of mimicry. It is a warning sign to predators that the caterpillar will not taste especially nice. Its penguin shape is coincidental but nevertheless entertaining and perhaps even charming to us.

Animal Pictures