A giant tortoise has been given a health check by zoo vets after developing a nasal infection.
Fourteen-stone (90kg) Helen was checked into an on-site clinic after keepers at Bristol Zoo noticed her unusual breathing.
One nasal flush, some diagnostic tests under anaesthetic and a course of antibiotics later, and Helen’s doing a lot better.
The 32-year-old Aldabran giant tortoise – a species classified as “vulnerable” – has been at Bristol Zoo for 11 years.
Fido’s top seed for Wimbledon
It is not just tennis fans who are able to enjoy a portion of strawberries during Wimbledon fortnight.
Canines can tuck into the traditional treat this summer thanks to a new dog food recipe made with fresh strawberries.
The recipe is Lily’s Kitchen’s new concoction called An English Garden Party.
Appeal to restore WWI truck
An appeal has been made for funding to complete the restoration of a three-ton lorry used in the First World War that is the last of its kind.
The Coventry-built vehicle was one of more than 1,700 Maudslays used in the conflict.
Coventry Motor Museum, which bought the lorry 14 years ago, needs to raise £5,000 to put the finishing touches to the restoration in time for the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the war this summer.
The Maudslay, which was used by the War Department for airfield duties in Scotland, had been used as a showman’s caravan, and as late as the 1970s was a holiday home.
Fast food? Knott a problem, sir
The owner of a takeaway restaurant refused to let floodwater keep him from delivering a customer order.
Hungry customers Mike Laiti and Brandon Borgens were near the end of a long drive up the Alaska Highway when they called in their order to Knott’s Take Out in the town of North Pole.
The couple later called back to say floodwater had created a sinkhole on the Richardson Highway and closed access to the Clear Creek Bridge.
But intrepid restaurant owner Anuson “Knott” Poolsawat drove more than 25 miles (40km) and waded through hip-deep water in the swollen creek to deliver Thai barbecue ribs and fried rice.
Dialect cannot be exterminated
A small circle of history researchers is racing to capture the last remnants of a little-known French dialect that endures in some old Missouri mining towns.
Missouri French is spoken by fewer than 30 people in Old Mines, southwest of St Louis, although dozens of others can still rattle off phrases from childhood songs or overheard conversations involving parents and grandparents.
Other languages once common in parts of North America have suffered similar fates, including some American Indian tongues.
Missouri French has the distinction of being one of only three dialects believed to have originated in the United States, and remained in wide use well into the 20th century.
Crook hails his super troopers
Acting courteously, even when arresting someone, has paid dividends for Alaska State Troopers.
A 49-year-old Anchorage man wanted on several warrants – including for escaping from a bail hostel and forgery and theft – decided to turn himself in after watching an episode of the reality show Alaska State Troopers on the National Geographic Channel.
Brian John Fahey approached two troopers in the car park lot of their Anchorage headquarters, saying they “were more professional and courteous to the people they arrested than other law enforcement personnel he had dealt with”.