Homes are being sought for a litter of pet degus abandoned by their owner. The 18 chinchilla-type rodents were left inside a box in a garden in the Hutchison area of Edinburgh. They were found by a member of the public, with a note from the owner saying they could no longer cope with them.
The animals are now in the care of the Scottish SPCA’s rescue centre in Balerno. Assistant manager Kenny Sharpe said: “We are now looking for homes for the degus. They are active, intelligent and sociable creatures that enjoy living in pairs or small groups.”
Double vision for Thrones star
Game of Thrones star Kit Harington’s attempts to film his new movie in a London street were thwarted when a double-decker bus with a picture of him on it appeared behind him during one scene.
The star, who plays Jon Snow in the fantasy drama, was filming the spy spin-off Spooks: The Greater Good when he ran into trouble.
He told Graham Norton on his BBC1 chat show: “I was doing a scene and they called ‘cut’, which was odd as it was going so well. But then I looked behind me and a bus goes past with my face on it. I had a movie coming out called Pompeii and there I am in a gladiator outfit and all bare-chested and 10-foot high on a bus. It was funny the first two times.”
Help needed to save British bees
Wildlife TV presenters are urging the public to take part in this year’s Great British Bee Count to chart how wild bees are faring in the UK.
They are also encouraging householders to take easy steps to make their gardens more “bee-friendly” as part of efforts to reverse declines in bees, which conservationists say are under threat from loss of habitat, pesticide use and climate change.
Presenters Steve Backshall, Michaela Strachan and Miranda Krestovnikoff are calling on people to get outside and count the bees they see for the Great British Bee Count, which is organised by Friends of the Earth, Buglife and Waitrose and takes place in May. The data will be used by experts investigating the plight of bees.
Man punches bear on the nose
A 75-year-old man in California said he punched a trespassing bear on the snout to send it fleeing from his property.
Carl Moore said he acted on his boxer instincts when the animal rose up on two legs and turned towards him and his two dogs outside his Meadow Vista home.
Moore said he boxed competitively in his youth and also had his fair share of fights as a bouncer. The hard-to-believe encounter was witnessed by two friends and employees of Moore, who were inside his house when he encountered the bear.
Dead man convicted of theft
A Greek court has convicted a dead man of stealing electricity from a power company, giving him a six-month suspended jail sentence.
Defence lawyer Christos Bakelas told the Thessaloniki court that his client was deceased, and asked to have the trial deferred until he could deliver a death certificate. But the court refused and convicted his client in absentia.
Thessaloniki police records show the 46-year-old unemployed father-of-three died on April 8, but Bakelas was not informed until the eve of the trial. The man was charged last year after activists reconnected his electricity supply after it was cut by the utility company over unpaid bills.
Stolen dog is homeward bound
A Yorkshire terrier picked up as a stray in Iowa is heading back to the Louisiana home he was stolen from three years ago.
Sam was found on April 14 and Cedar Rapids city animal control officers were able to contact his owners in the New Orleans suburb of Bridge City thanks to a microchip implant.
The dog was a gift to a five-year-old girl about 10 years ago and was taken from the family’s garden three years ago. Sam was given veterinary care in Cedar Rapids, and flown home.