Bird experts were puzzled after a razorbill was rescued 60 miles from the coast – only the third time in a century that the sea bird has been spotted inland.
Vanessa Hill was on the way to pick up her daughter from school in Tockwith, North Yorkshire, when she saw what she thought was a penguin on the quiet country lane. The mother, who runs Leeds Cat Rescue, coaxed the bird into a bag and took it to a vet to be checked over.
She said: “He looked a bit confused when I found him and was very indignant when I tried to gather him up – I got a nasty peck for my troubles too. I looked online to see where razorbills ‘hang out’ and came across RSPB Bempton Cliffs, so got in touch with them.”
Gay penguin couple foster chick
Male penguins Jumbs and Kermit had plenty of females to choose from at Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent Online reports, but they only had eyes for each other and now the gay couple have become foster parents.
The extraordinary pair have intrigued their keepers, who watched them form the unlikely friendship and even build a nest together. So when a heterosexual couple of penguins abandoned their own egg, the keepers gave it to Jumbs and Kermit who nurtured it and have now hatched a thriving young chick.
Keepers say they are proving to be the 14-strong group’s best penguin parents. Head of birds and mammals at the park Becky Johnson said: “It was a shame to see the heterosexual pair leave their egg, largely because the male deserted his share of the duties.”
Wales ‘hotspot’ of alien activity!
Telepathic aliens are targeting Wales in a bid to harvest superior genetic material, according to “abduction victim” Hilary Porter.
While Hilary’s stories might sound outlandish or unbelievable, she dismisses those who scoff for being closed minded, Wales Online reports. The 67-year-old ufologist is claiming a stretch of road between Swansea and Cardiff is a “hotspot” of alien activity.
Hilary says she was so traumatised by her abduction she was too scared to return to Wales for four decades. When she did return in 2009 to visit a friend, she says she drove through the danger area unharmed – only to be abducted from her bed within a day of arrival.
Controversial cartoon retracted
Officials in Denmark have retracted a controversial animated cartoon that was intended to inspire young people to vote in upcoming elections for the European Parliament.
The 90-second video featured a muscular man aggressively interrupting a couple having sex and punching people into a polling station. It was posted on the Danish parliament’s social media sites. Parliament speaker Mogens Lykketoft said the 179-seat Folketing should “be more careful with what we put our name to”. Lawmakers were cited by media as saying it was done without their knowledge.
Cat litter cause of radiation leak
A mysterious radiation release that indefinitely closed the US government’s only permanent nuclear waste dump might have been caused by cat litter.
Officials are following up a theory that the leak, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico, was caused by a switch in the type of kitty litter that is mixed with the toxic waste. The Carlsbad Current-Argus website reported that a scientist who worked at the facility until 2010 believes a change from non-organic to organic litter caused a chemical reaction inside a waste drum, releasing the radioactive isotopes.
New Mexico Environment Department secretary Ryan Flynn confirmed he has heard officials discuss the possibility that kitty litter might have been to blame for the leak. Mr Flynn stressed it is just one of many theories the department is exploring.
Girl, 8, helps mother deliver baby
An eight-year-old girl helped her mother deliver a baby boy while waiting for paramedics to arrive at their home.
Tampa Fire Rescue said the girl’s mother was in labour at home when she called 911. The dispatcher alerted paramedics, but they were not quick enough to get there before the baby started to arrive.
Authorities said the dispatcher talked the girl and her mother through the delivery of the baby during an eight-minute call. The girl calmly relayed the dispatcher’s instructions to her mother, got towels and other items for the baby and secured the boy’s head. Paramedics later took the baby and mother to a hospital, and both are doing fine.