Villagers in the Philippines have captured a one-ton crocodile they plan to make the star of a planned ecotourism park.
Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said dozens of villagers and experts ensnared the 6.4-metre male crocodile along a stream in Bunawan township in Agusan del Sur province after a three-week hunt.
Mr Elorde said the crocodile killed a water buffalo in an attack witnessed by villagers last month and was also suspected of having killed a fisherman who went missing in July.
After initial sightings, hunters set four traps, which the crocodile destroyed. They then used sturdier traps using steel cables, one of which finally caught it.
About 100 people had to pull the crocodile, which weighs about 2,370 pounds to a clearing where a crane lifted it into a truck.
The crocodile was placed in a fenced cage in an area where the town plans to build an ecotourism park for species, found in a vast marshland in Agusan, an impoverished region about 800 kilometres from Manila. (AP)
Mercury rising
A nursery school show-and-tell session turned into cold decontamination showers for about 30 pre-school children after an employee brought in an old blood pressure monitor.
Authorities in Ohio say the monitor was left on the floor and a child in a rocking chair rolled over it, breaking a glass tube on the device that contained mercury.
Toledo fire officials said five adult supervisors at Gingerbread House Too also went through the precautionary decontamination before everyone was given the all-clear. The day-care centre was closed while it underwent a thorough clean-up. (PA)
Gap-year oldies
Gap year trips are being grabbed by the “grown-up” market, it was revealed.
While British students struggle with tuition fees, the over-50s are taking more gap year-style breaks, according to travel operator Bridge the World.
Older travellers are going on trips as long as three months and spending around £7,000 per person, the company said.
Australia and New Zealand are the most popular destinations. (PA)
Kite bid flops
An attempt to break the world record for the biggest kite ever flown was called off at an event in Bristol, UK.
To break the record, the kite, which is larger than a football pitch, had to fly for more than 20 minutes. Two attempts on Saturday failed following a tear in the kite’s tails. A third try was abandoned after organisers of the Bristol International Kite Festival decided conditions were too windy. The kite is owned by the Al Farsi family from Kuwait, who also own the current world record holder – a 3D kite in the design of the Kuwaiti flag. (PA)
Big dig
With the recession having near-demolished the Las Vegas hotel construction industry, excavators and bulldozers near The Strip are being put to use as toys for thrill-seeking visitors.
A business owner has created what amounts to a life-sized sandpit for adults, who pay up to $750 each to push around dirt, rock and huge tyres with the earth-moving construction equipment. All it takes is a 10-minute classroom lesson and guidance from trainers through headsets.
Ed Mumm started Dig This after renting and operating an excavator for himself for two days while building a house in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He said: “I thought to myself, if I’m having this much fun, imagine the amount of people that don’t get to do this stuff that would love to do this.” (PA)
Monday motorists
Motorists might moan about Mondays but it is the day when they are at their most alert as drivers, a survey suggests.
The start of the working week is the time when drivers give most care and attention to the road, the poll by Kia Motors showed.Those looking for safe journeys would do well to avoid Thursdays as the survey of 2,000 UK motorists showed that was the day when drivers were at their most relaxed. (PA)
Winging ways
The “Black Widow” of eating contests has wolfed down 183 chicken wings in 12 minutes to break her own world record set last year in Buffalo, New York.
Sonya Thomas, of Alexandria, Virginia, took home first place at the 10th annual National Buffalo Wings Festival, beating Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, of San Jose, California, who came in second with 174 wings. Ms Thomas is called the “Black Widow” becomes she often beats male competitors in eating contests. (AP)