Trouble with rhinos
A 4,000-pound rhinoceros named Archie escaped from his cage at a zoo in Jacksonville, Fla., last week, to the surprise of the zoo’s caretakers. Archie had apparently escaped from the zoo once before, but was led back to his pen with food. Employees of the zoo had no such luck this time, and were forced to corral the animal in the elephant compound where they sedated him and put him back in his enclosure. The animal never actually escaped from the zoo confines because of a large fence that kept him inside. Archie is 41 years old — pretty old for a rhinoceros considering their average lifespan is 35 to 50 years, so maybe all he wanted was to check out a retirement community.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire
What could McMinnville Fire Marshal Eric McMullen possibly mean when he said, “We were joking … about our new drive-up service” last week? Craig Brown was driving his truck through McMinnville early Friday morning when he noticed smoke pouring out from under the hood of his vehicle. Instead of stopping and calling 911, he drove a few blocks to the local fire station. A firefighter washing an ambulance outside saw Brown approaching. He ran inside to get help, then returned with several firefighters to put out the blaze developing around the car’s engine. Try offering that kind of service, McDonald’s.
Starving yogi of India
An 82-year-old Indian yogi recently claimed that he hadn’t eaten or drunk anything in 70 years. Indian military doctors put him under surveillance for a two-week period to test his claim. At the end of the two weeks he was perfectly healthy. Maybe the yogi hid a sandwich in his beard? Oh yeah, the yogi claims he never sweats, either.
Two doggie bags is one too many
In Edina, Minn., an affluent suburb of Minneapolis, city officials decided to stop providing free doggie bags for canine waste in the park. Citing both budget cuts and people taking advantage of the free service, the city said citizens would unnecessarily take much more than one bag, which increased costs “dramatically.”
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