Interesting & funny news from around the world, Интересные и забавные новости со всего мира

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Florida man finds alligator in his kitchen

A Florida man who left his patio door open for some fresh air ended up coming face-to-face with an alligator in his kitchen.

Paul Quinn said he was checking his email at his Fort Myers home on Sunday when he discovered an alligator had broken through the screen and entered through his open patio door.

Quinn called 911 and a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trapper was summoned to remove the approximately 8-foot-long gator.

He recorded video as the trapper used a catch pole to drag the reptile out of the house.

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TSA finds live turtle in traveler's pants at New Jersey airport

he Transportation Security Administration said an officer at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey found a live turtle concealed in the crotch of a traveler's pants.

The TSA said the East Stroudsburg, Pa., man was going through the security checkpoint's body scanner when it detected something concealed in his groin area.

An officer confronted the man, who "reached down the front of his pants and pulled out a live turtle that was wrapped in a small blue towel," the TSA said.

The approximately 5-inch-long turtle was identified by the man as a red-ear slider turtle.

Port Authority Police took possession of the turtle and contacted local animal control and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The man was not allowed to board his flight and was escorted away by Port Authority police.

"We have seen travelers try to conceal knives and other weapons on their person, in their shoes and in their luggage, however I believe this is the first time we have come across someone who was concealing a live animal down the front of his pants," Thomas Carter, the TSA's federal security director for New Jersey, said in the news release. "As best as we could tell, the turtle was not harmed by the man's actions."

The TSA did not reveal where the man had intended to fly and it was unclear why he had stashed the turtle in his pants.

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University graduate returns book to school's library after 64 years

A University of British Columbia graduate mailed a package to the school that turned out to be a book he had borrowed from the library 64 years earlier.

Susan Parker, a librarian at the university, said a package arrived in January and she opened it to discover a 1931 edition of Horace Kephart's book Camping and Woodcraft: Handbook for Vacation Campers and for Travelers in the Wilderness.

The book had been checked out of the library in 1960 by then-student Robert Murray.

"Most people return overdue books surreptitiously or anonymously," Parker said in a university news release. "I've never received one this long overdue."

The book was accompanied by a letter from Murray, now 83, along with a check for about $70.

Murray wrote that he had made good use of the tome over the years.

"I determined that this book was a treasure — a light year ahead of anything published on the subject at the time I borrowed it, and it has remained so over anything I've seen published since," he wrote.

Murray's package also included a newspaper clipping from 2013 about a 1965 edition of the same book being returned to the Prince George Public Library after 30 years.

Parker said Murray took good care of the book.

"Although he returned it six decades late, he was an ideal library book caretaker," Parker said. "I've seen books deteriorated more that were loaned out for much shorter periods of time, and even found a book where they had clearly used a piece of bacon as a bookmark."

Parker said the book had long-since been removed from the library's system, but he money Murray sent to cover the late fee will be put to good use covering other outstanding library fines.

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Ontario woman's missing cat turns up after 7 years

An Ontario woman was reunited with her beloved pet cat 7 years and 4 months after he went missing, thanks to the animal's microchip.

The Windsor/Essex Humane Society said on social media that the cat, named Julio, went missing in November 2017.

The shelter said Julio "somehow managed to avoid getting caught" despite being microchipped and his owner conducting a wide-reaching search that even involved multiple public notices being posted.

Julio turned up at the shelter during the weekend and was scanned for a microchip, which revealed his owner's information.

"I had given up hope," the cat's owner told shelter officials. "Hearing that he was alive and found yesterday was unbelievable! I am still in shock."

She said Julio is settling in nicely back at home.

"He has been so happy to be cuddled and listening to relaxing cat music," she said.

Julio's owner said his rediscovery after such a long period of time is "proof that we should never give up hope."

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Blobfish named New Zealand's Fish of the Year 2025

New Zealand's Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust announced the Fish of the Year 2025 competition was won by the blobfish, a species once voted the "world's ugliest animal."

The blobfish, famous for its unusual appearance once removed from the pressures of deep water, came out nearly 300 votes ahead of the "swimmer-up," the orange roughy, organizers said.

The Fish of the Year competition, voted on by members of the public, aims to highlight and promote conservation of New Zealand's native underwater species.

The Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust said 5,583 votes were cast for Fish of the Year 2025, a sharp increase from 1,021 in 2024.

The blobfish's campaign for the spotlight was spearheaded by More FM Drive hosts Sarah and Flynny.

"We and the people of New Zealand had had enough of other fish getting all the headlines. The blobfish had been sitting patiently on the ocean floor, mouth open waiting for the next mollusk to come through to eat. He has been bullied his whole life and we thought, 'Stuff this, it's time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun,' and what a glorious moment it is," the hosts said in the trust's announcement.

The blobfish was previously most famous for being voted the "world's ugliest animal" in a vote organized by Britain's Ugly Animal Preservation Society in 2013.

Other fish appearing in New Zealand's top 10 included the longfin eel, tuna, whale shark, big-bellied seahorse, great white shark, lamprey and piharau.

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Painting bought for $2.99 at Goodwill auctioned for $2,875

An Ohio woman bought a painting for $2.99 at a thrift store and it ended up being auctioned for $2,875 when it was found to be the work of Johann Berthelsen.

Dayton resident Marissa Alcorn said she and her fiance stopped at a Goodwill store after dinner and were able to leave when she spotted an interesting frame on a cart brought out from the back by a store employee.

Alcorn told WDTN-TV she thought it was an "awful painting," but decided to buy it because it was only $2.99.

She said she was loading the painting into the car when something caught her eye.

"It had a little plaque at the bottom of the frame," Alcorn said. "Out of curiosity, I type in the name and find out it was Johann Berthelsen."

Berthelson, a famed American impressionist, died in 1972. His works often sell for thousands of dollars.

"My first thought was: 'This isn't real,'" she said. "It's probably just a fake."

Members of a free art appraisal group on Facebook urged her to have the painting authenticated, and she took it to Cincinnati auction house Caza Sikes, where experts confirmed it was indeed a Berthelson work titled "Chapel, St. Patrick's Church."

The painting sold for $2,875. Alcorn said the money will go toward her upcoming wedding.

"I think it's probably a once in a lifetime thing," she said. "I don't think I'll ever find something like that again, but you never know."

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Georgia men play single basketball game for record-breaking 121 hours

A group of Georgia men broke a Guinness World Record by playing a continuous basketball game for 121 hours and 3 minutes.

The men, members of the Atlanta-based nonprofit Men Opposing Sex Trafficking, or MOST, completed their game at 10 a.m. Friday in the gym at Landmark Christian School in Fairburn.

The 23 players ranged in age from 17 to 64, and were required to remain inside the gym for the duration of the attempt, even while taking breaks.

The final score was 13,096 to 12,972.

Money raised by the attempt went toward fighting sex trafficking and supporting recovery programs for survivors.

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Animal rescuer captures magpie trapped inside grocery store

An animal rescuer in Australia came to the assistance of a hungry magpie that went searching for food and ended up trapped inside a grocery store.

Nigel Williamson, owner of Nigel's Animal Rescue, responded to the Coles store in Coburg North, Victoria, where a magpie was found wandering loose through the aisles in a successful search for food — and an unsuccessful search for the exit.

Williamson posted a video to Facebook showing how he led the magpie to a trap he had set inside the store.

The magpie was taken outside the store and released back into the wild.

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Library book back in circulation after being 98 years overdue

Librarians in Ohio said a copy of Wild West by Bertrand W. Sinclair is returning to circulation after being returned 98 years past its due date.

The Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library said on social media that the tome was checked out in 1926 and returned to the Prince Hill Branch in late 2024.

Christopher Smith, the facility's genealogy and research services reference librarian, said the book was found by a family on the shelf of an elderly relative who recently died.

"We assume it's the person who checked it out, but we don't know that," Smith told WVXU News.

Smith said it would take a lot of digging through old records to find out if the library even has lending ledgers that old.

The library bought a new copy of the book a few years after it failed to return, and that copy is still in circulation today. Smith said it will now be joined by its long-absent twin.

"I just found it fascinating. The fact that it came back in decent shape, considering it's an almost a 100-year-old book — that's crazy," Smith said. "The fact that it made it back to us, and didn't just make it into the garbage or recycling or getting ground up for paper pulp? It's just amazing that a book like that made it back to us."

Smith said the library no longer charges late fees, but he estimated the 98-year overdue book would have accrued about $730 in fines under the old system.

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Goat opens gate, lets kangaroo loose in South Carolina

Police in South Carolina rounded up an escaped kangaroo, which turned out to have been released by a mischievous goat.

The Horry County Police Department said on social media that the 4th Precinct Patrol Division responded to a neighborhood where a kangaroo was seen on the loose.

The officers "returned this pouch potato pet home," the post said.

The animal's owner, Lindsey Richardson, said she had just woken up when a neighbor alerted her that her exotic pet was loose.

Richardson said she had to go out in her silk, pink pajamas to help police wrangle the loose 'roo.

Richardson later determined the kangaroo had gotten out thanks to her goat unlatching a gate.

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