Oddities

PRAGUE (AP) — A Chinese pangolin has been born in the Prague zoo, the first birth of the critically endangered animal in captivity in Europe, and is doing well after initial troubles, the park said on Thursday.

COHASSET, Mass. (AP) — A former employee of a Massachusetts town is facing charges of allegedly setting up a secret cryptocurrency mining operation in a remote crawl space at a school, police said.

Consumers are willing to pay monthly subscription fees for streaming services, pet food and even toilet paper. And now some restaurants are betting they'll do the same for their favorite meals.

NEW YORK (AP) — The alligator that was rescued from a chilly lake in New York City over the weekend had swallowed a bathtub stopper, authorities said.

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — A 31-year-old man who showed up to a California courthouse over the weekend to inquire about an upcoming hearing in a vandalism case broke into a courtroom and started a fire, authorities said.

BERLIN (AP) — Russian pranksters posing as Ukraine’s ex-President Petro Poroshenko managed to contact Angela Merkel by phone to discuss developments in Ukraine and Belarus, although the former German chancellor appeared wary during the call.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The sight of a massive hammerhead shark was a rare treat for 32 travelers on a tour boat in the Bahamas this week. But then, something stranger still: A dog dove from a nearby dock to confront the monstrous sea creature.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Those melancholy tunes sung by humpback whales may really be a sign of loneliness.

Scientists who tracked humpback whales in Australia noticed that fewer whales wailed to find mates as their population grew.

McDonald’s McNuggets are going fowl-free.

The Chicago-based fast food giant is introducing plant-based McNuggets next week. Germany will be the first market to get them.

McPlant Nuggets __ made from peas, corn and wheat with a tempura batter __ are the second product McDonald’s has co-developed with Beyond Meat, an El Segundo, California-based maker of plant-based meats.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Bengal tiger cub found by Albuquerque police in a dog crate last month now has a new home in Colorado.

Officials at the ABQ BioPark Zoo, where the 4-month-old cub has been receiving care, told the Albuquerque Journal that he was transferred to The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado.

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s no urban legend: An alligator was found in a chilly New York City lake on Sunday, far from the subtropical and tropical climates where such creatures thrive.

The 4-foot (1.2-meter) reptile was pulled from Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn around 8:30 a.m.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — As Rio de Janeiro kicked off its Carnival on Saturday, about 100 dogs barked and wagged their tails to the tune of samba music as they paraded in front of pet lovers in a canine costume competition.

JUNO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A loggerhead sea turtle named Rocky paused briefly on the sand Wednesday morning before slowly crawling into the Atlantic Ocean after spending six weeks rehabbing at Florida's Loggerhead Marinelife Center.

LONDON (AP) — A man who prosecutors said broke into a U.K. industrial park to steal almost 200,000 chocolate Easter eggs has pleaded guilty to theft and criminal damage.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that Joby Pool, 32, used a metal grinder to break through a gate at an industrial park in Telford, central England, on Saturday, then used a stolen semi truck to tow away a trailer loaded with Cadbury Creme Eggs and other chocolate goods worth more than 31,000 pounds ($38,000).

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish mother of seven has successfully given birth to premature quintuplets, hospital officials in southern Poland said Tuesday.

The two boys and three girls were born through cesarean section Sunday, in the pregnancy’s 28th week, at the University Hospital in Krakow.

BERLIN (AP) — A German newspaper critic had animal feces smeared on her face in the city of Hannover by a ballet director who apparently took offense at a review she wrote.

The Hannover state opera house apologized for the incident and said Monday that it was suspending ballet director Marco Goecke with immediate effect.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — In a game where Auburn struggled with its 3-point accuracy, the best long shot of the afternoon by far belonged to a student in the stands.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A rare Harley-Davidson motorcycle built in 1908 has become the most expensive motorcycle ever sold at auction, according to data compiled by a website that tracks vintage motorcycle sales.

EAST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (AP) — A large pet bird that is normally native to Australia caused a ruckus south of Boston after escaping from her home.

The bird is an emu, which is the second-tallest bird on Earth after its close relative the ostrich.

BOSTON (AP) — Rhapsody Stiggers has been dancing since she was 2, but the 20-year-old college junior has never taken a dance class quite as challenging as the one she's in now.

She is one of 38 students at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee enrolled in the first for-credit college dance class taught by the Radio City Rockettes, the precision dance team famous for its annual high-kicking “Christmas Spectacular," seen by more than 69 million people since 1933.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A tiny California mouse now has a big title after winning a Guinness World record for longevity.

A Pacific pocket mouse named Pat — after “Star Trek" actor Patrick Stewart — received the Guinness approval Wednesday as the oldest living mouse in human care at the ripe age of 9 years and 209 days, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance announced after a certification ceremony.

NEW YORK (AP) — One day in 2020, at the pandemic’s height, an earnest-looking man with long hair the color of Buffalo sauce stepped up to a podium in Lincoln, Nebraska, to address his city council during its public comment period.

Fans filed into the rink for a minor league hockey game, vendors sold concessions and the visiting team took the ice for warmups. The national anthem played, and officials were ready to drop the puck.

MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — Dennis the Menace has been found.

A statue of the comic strip character that was stolen from a park in Monterey, California, last summer was found submerged in a nearby lake.

PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) — Crime might not pay, but authorities say a criminal tried to.

Authorities arrested a Florida man who they said broke into a convenience store and took a few items, although he left his debit card behind.

NEW YORK (AP) — Every New York City mayor in history has battled rats. But for current mayor Eric Adams, the war on vermin has taken a peculiar turn as he tries to burnish his image as the city's exterminator-in-chief.

Chick-fil-A is jumping on the plant-based bandwagon.

The Atlanta chain said Thursday that it’s testing its first plant-based entrée __ a breaded cauliflower sandwich __ at restaurants in Denver; Charleston, South Carolina; and the Greensboro, North Carolina, area.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s government-run animal welfare department has appealed to citizens to mark Valentine’s Day this year not as a celebration of romance but as "Cow Hug Day” to better promote Hindu values.

NEW YORK (AP) — An owl who escaped from the Central Park Zoo after someone damaged his cage has become New York City's latest avian celebrity, attracting gawkers as he surveys the park from one tall tree or another but stoking fears that he can't hunt and will starve.

BOSTON (AP) — A proposal to let Massachusetts prisoners donate organs and bone marrow to shave time off their sentence is raising profound ethical and legal questions about putting undue pressure on inmates desperate for freedom.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A herd of city goats well-known in Portland, Oregon, were temporarily set free Tuesday morning in what appeared to be an act of protest against a planned sweep of a nearby homeless encampment.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand police said Wednesday they found more than 3 tons of cocaine floating in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean after it was dropped there by an international drug-smuggling syndicate.

DALLAS (AP) — A 24-year-old man now linked to an unusual string of crimes that kept the Dallas Zoo on the lookout for missing animals told police that after he swiped two monkeys from their enclosure, he took them onto the city's light rail system to make his getaway, court records show.

MILLER PLACE, N.Y. (AP) — An 82-year-old woman was pronounced dead at a New York nursing home but found to be breathing three hours later at the funeral home where she had been taken, authorities said.

SEATTLE (AP) — A stolen yacht. A dramatic Coast Guard rescue. A dead fish. And the famed home featured in the classic 1985 film “The Goonies.”

DALLAS (AP) — The arrest of a 24-year-old man accused of taking two monkeys from the Dallas Zoo has shed some light on a mysterious string of events there as police said Friday that they’ve also linked him to the escape of a small leopard and a gash in the fence of another monkey habitat.

ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) — Customs agents say they discovered a dolphin skull in luggage left at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Friday that agents found the skull last week when they conducted a routine x-ray scan of the luggage, which had been inadvertently separated from owners during transit.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — A man walked into a Southern California police station, left a human jawbone and other items and then left, authorities said.

The incident occurred Thursday in the city of San Bernardino, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.

CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man says he was left with a $1,000 bill after his 6-year-old son ordered a virtual smorgasbord of food from several restaurants last weekend, leading to a string of unexpected deliveries — and maybe a starring role in an ad campaign.

Rodents predicting weather trends. Why?

Just as fair a Groundhog Day question, though, is this: Why not? And more importantly, why should Punxsutawney Phil always get to, well, hog the press?

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — A furry critter in a western Pennsylvania town has predicted six more weeks of winter during an annual Groundhog Day celebration.

People gathered Thursday at Gobbler’s Knob as members of Punxsutawney Phil’s “inner circle” summoned the groundhog from his tree stump at dawn to learn if he has seen his shadow — and they say he did.

It would have been a great college prank, but the Iowa athletic department crushed it.

The Illinois student spirit group “Orange Krush” had its order for 200 tickets to the men's basketball game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday canceled Wednesday after Iowa discovered the person who made the purchase falsely claimed the tickets were for a Boys and Girls Club in Champaign.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro's brutal summer heat has reached 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) on some recent days, sending locals to cool off in the ocean. There weren't many options for residents of the city's zoo, however, until a team of experts started offering them exotic frozen treats.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The sweet smell of green chile roasting on an open flame permeates New Mexico every fall, wafting from roadside stands and grocery store parking lots and inducing mouth-watering visions of culinary wonders.

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Authorities in Western Australia on Wednesday recovered a tiny but dangerous radioactive capsule that fell off a truck while being transported along a 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) Outback highway last month in what an official said was like finding the needle in the haystack.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The dodo bird isn’t coming back anytime soon. Nor is the woolly mammoth. But a company working on technologies to bring back extinct species has attracted more investors, while other scientists are skeptical such feats are possible or a good idea.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The smoke was coming from inside the fire station.

Firefighters in suburban Atlanta returned from a call Sunday to find their own breakfast was in flames.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African animal welfare officials on Monday successfully sedated and captured a tiger that was spotted roaming a residential area to the east of the capital Johannesburg.

Guards monitoring security cameras on an office building in the Johannesburg suburb of Edenvale say they spotted the big cat early Monday and took part in its capture during which officials used darts containing sedative.

PERTH, Australia (AP) — A mining corporation apologized for losing a highly radioactive capsule over a 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) stretch of Western Australia, as authorities combed parts of the road looking for the tiny but dangerous substance.

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Authorities in Western Australia were searching for a tiny but potentially deadly radioactive capsule that got lost while being transported on a truck from a mine to a depot in the city of Perth, officials said Saturday.