From a raccoon’s drunken rampage to some animal magic caught on CCTV… Your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world.
– Drunk raccoon passes out in toilet –
A raccoon who broke into a US liquor store went on a booze binge and ended up face down in a drunken heap on the toilet floor.
Photos of the creature spread-eagled next to the lavatory, with the aisle of the Virginia shop littered with broken whisky and vodka bottles, sent the internet wild with “That’s what you call a party animal” quips and memes.
Animal shelter staff confirmed it was not AI, and that the cheeky fellow had gone on a bender over Thanksgiving weekend.
“After a few hours of sleep and zero signs of injury (other than maybe a hangover and poor life choices), he was safely released back to the wild,” said the Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter.
Raccoons — sometimes nicknamed “trash pandas” for their cuteness and love of raiding bins for food — have long been known for their larcenous streak. But festive binge drinking appears to be a new borrowing from humans.
– Another night on the town –
It sounds like something from a children’s story — an otter and a fox go for a night out in an historic English city — but that is exactly what CCTV cameras picked up in Lincoln in footage that has baffled wildlife experts and melted hearts.
Security staff used to monitoring less wholesome nightlife followed the pair on their nocturnal odyssey through the city’s deserted streets and lanes, gobsmacked at the “blossoming friendship” between the two wild animals.
Councillor Lucinda Preston said staff realised “they were watching something really special and unusual”, with Steve Nichol of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Park saying the footage had to be seen to be believed.
Naturalist Mike Digler told the BBC that he had never seen or heard of a fox and an otter hanging out, calling it a “triumph of conservation”.
– No yolk holding that in –
He held on manfully, but a thief who allegedly swallowed a diamond-encrusted Faberge egg as he was nabbed fleeing from a jewellery store finally let the trinket slip into the hands of police after a six-day hold out.
Nature took its course, police in New Zealand’s largest city Auckland confirmed, and “the pendant was recovered” after officers put him under a near week-long watch.
The special edition locket worth $20,000 was inspired by the James Bond film “Octopussy”, which ironically revolves around a plot to steal a rare Faberge egg.
The episode also inspired a memorable AFP headline, “Thief swallows Faberge egg, caught before beating it.”
– Flipping hell –
India’s national cricket team is in a spin after losing a scarcely believable 20th coin toss in a row in one-day internationals.
With the odds at 1,048,576 to one that they would lose again, they promptly lost another on Thursday against South Africa.
“I’ve been practising, but clearly it’s not working,” said flummoxed captain KL Rahul, the third skipper cursed by the run of bad luck that goes all the way back to the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad.
“Honestly, that’s the most pressure I’ve had,” he said after the latest luckless flip.
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