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Mother Nature often works in mysterious ways, but the recent birth of a baby anteater has the staff at a Greenwich conservation center stumped.

The mystery begins in August, when Armani, a female giant anteater at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center in Greenwich, gave birth to baby Alice. It was a joyous occasion for all involved, except perhaps for @Alf, baby Alice's father. Male anteaters are known to commit infanticide, so Alf had to go. He remained at the center, but was kept away from mom and baby for several months.

Fast forward to one morning in April. A tender went into Armani's enclosure and received quite a shock.

Armani, sometime during the previous night, had given birth to another baby.

The sudden appearance of little Archie was a surprise, to say the least. The gestation period for anteaters is six months. Armani and Alf had not been back together long enough to do what they needed to do to put the cycle of life into gear a second time.

The staff at the conservation center immediately got to wondering. Either this was a case of immaculate anteater conception, or Alf had somehow gotten the keys to Armani's pen one night in October.

Marcella Leone, founder and director of the conservation center, has another idea. She thinks it might have been a case of delayed implantation, when fertilized eggs remain dormant in the uterus for a period of time.

The phenomenon has been observed in sloths and armadillos, which belong in the same group of mammals as anteaters. The difference is, those animals are able to delay one pregnancy, but some experts say they've never seen a second embryo implant after a mammal has just given birth.

"It is a bit of a mystery," admits Leone, who directs the nonprofit conservation center and breeding facility, which runs education programs and breeds animals for zoos and other sites, such as the Six Flags Great Adventure Wild Safari in New Jersey.

Stacey Belhumeur, species survival plan coordinator for the North American population of giant anteaters, and a zookeeper at Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Ariz., said delayed implantation coinciding with another pregnancy has been observed in marsupials, but that it wasn't likely in giant anteaters.

"When she gives birth, her entire uterus is going to clear out," Belhumeur said. "Anything that's in her uterus, even another undeveloped embryo, would clear out."
[...]

Belhumeur said she thinks the most likely scenario is that the two anteaters were, somehow, able to mate.

"My guess is they thought they had him separated," Belhumeur said. "We've seen incredible feats of breeding success. We've had animals breed through fences."

Leone said she couldn't see that happening.

"There is a place they could share a fence line, (but they) should not have been sharing that fence line during that time," Leone said.

As it stands, the case will likely be something animal experts can talk about, but since there was no formal scientific study done, there is no way to prove what took place.

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A new company has emerged in the Middle East that smuggles fast food from an Egyptian Kentucky Fried Chicken to Gaza residents through a tunnel.

People in the conflicted region can now satisfy cravings for food from the Louisville-based fast food headquarters by ordering through a company that charges the American equivalent of $30 for smugglers to bring the greasy goods from Al-Arish in Egypt to the doorsteps of hungry customers.

Deliveries take approximately three hours, according to the Christian Science Monitor. But for those who use the business, the end result is worth the wait.

http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2013/0...-strip-for-30/

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Fifteen people were hospitalized and even more were injured after an escalator stopped and changed directions at the Henry B. Gonzalez Center on Wednesday afternoon, according to convention center officials.

Convention Center Spokeswoman Andrea DeLaune said 20 people were injured when the escalator they were riding suddenly stopped around 1 p.m., sending the visitors tumbling down over top of one another. She said 14 of the injured were taken to a local hospital with injuries varying from serious to moderate.

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The web was abuzz today with the apparent news that a man in Sweden had died after trying to have sex with a nest of hornets.

The 35-year-old, apparently known only as Hasse, was said to have been found unconscious next to his farm in Ystad, Sweden.

However, it now appears as though the story was too good to be true, albeit not for the unfortunate Hasse, as he is said to not even exist.

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There's really no other way to say this: A Swedish man has died after attempting to have sex with a wasp's nest.

An investigation and autopsy led police to conclude that Hasse had tried to have sexual intercourse with a wasp's nest. His body was covered by 146 stings, including 54 on his genitals. Traces of his semen were found on dead wasps inside the nest, which had collected a few pubic hairs at its entrance.

The incident has reportedly angered animal rights activists, who took to online forums and Facebook to mourn the dead wasps.

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A neighbor called police complaining Debbie Alsip was jamming out to loud music, but it turned out to be the neighborhood frogs who were getting down.

Twice this month a neighbor has called Baraboo police to complain about loud music coming from the backyard of Debbie and Jeff Alsip’s Rivercrest Drive home. The responding officer found the culprits weren’t the Alsips, but frogs sounding mating calls at full throat. Among amorous amphibians, the Alsips’ koi pond is Baraboo’s answer to Studio 54.

“Every spring, this happens,” Debbie Alsip said. “It has woke (sic) us up before, if we have our windows open.”

Alsip said the frogs emit a loud, shrill sound as they seek out mates. When officer Mike Pichler arrived Sunday, he found about a dozen frogs at the pond. He saw a couple of them develop large bulges in their throats as they croaked to one another, and spotted one pair of horny toads mating. “You don’t see that many frogs at one time unless they’re mating,” Alsip said.

A neighbor whose back yard abuts the Alsips’ claimed the couple was pumping in music for ambience, and the noise was interrupting his sleep.

Pichler reported he could hear the noise from his parked squad, but soon learned the mood music wasn’t of the Alsips’ making. He explained the situation to their neighbor, who felt the Alsips should shoo the frogs along.
[...]

Alsip pleads not guilty to aiding and abetting amphibious action.

“I don’t know how I’m encouraging them,” she said about the neighbor’s complaints. “If he thinks I’m going to catch them and take them out, he’s crazy.”

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Some wealthy Manhattan moms have figured out a way to cut the long lines at Disney World — by hiring disabled people to pose as family members so they and their kids can jump to the front, The Post has learned.“My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,” crowed one mom, who hired a disabled guide through Dream Tours Florida.

Dr. Wednesday Martin, social anthropologist who discovered scheme.
“You can’t go to Disney without a tour concierge,’’ she sniffed. “This is how the 1 percent does Disney.”

The woman said she hired a Dream Tours guide to escort her, her husband and their 1-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter through the park in a motorized scooter with a “handicapped” sign on it. The group was sent straight to an auxiliary entrance at the front of each attraction.

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A freak accident in the heart of Otter Tail county, that has injured two 3-year old boys.

It happened on a farm near, Amor, Minnesota. The Otter Tail County sheriff's offices says the two boys wandered into a fenced in area for the buffalo.

Several buffalo became agitated, and trampled the two boys. One was brought by AirMed to Sanford Health in Fargo. Both are in stable conditions.

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This happened just west of Amor, Minnesota around 10:15 this morning.

The pasture that holds the small herd of buffalo is sandwiched between the owner's home, and the home where the young victims live. [...] The owner says he goes to great lengths to keep people from getting in this area, he has a six foot fence he says could hold back a car. And he said the mother of the boys was sleeping, when they wandered onto his property, slithering through this fence.

Now we noticed there were calves in that pasture, and when we were closer to the herd and got out of our vehicle the buffalo were acting protective and jumpy.
[...]

The buffalo owner just shook his head tonight and said this is a terrible day.

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A plastic surgery addict injected cooking oil into her face when doctors refused to give her any more silicone.

Former model Hang Mioku has been left permanently disfigured following the DIY beauty treatment.

After injecting an entire bottle of black market silicone into her face, Hang resorted to using cooking oil that left her face severely swollen and scarred.

Her plights was featured on Korean television and viewers donated thousands of pounds to pay for corrective surgery.

During the first of 10 operations, surgeons removed 60g of silicone, oil and other foreign substances from her face and 200g from her neck.

However, Hang is still disfigured and she said she wishes she could have her old face back.

Hang had her first procedure aged 28 and then moved to Japan where she had repeated treatments.

She quickly became obsessed with having smoother and softer skin.

Doctors eventually refused to carry out any more work on her after her face became noticeably enlarged.
[...]

Numerous operations paid for by donations have managed to reduce the size of her face and neck but she is still significantly disfigured.

Recently the former model was working in a recycled clothes shop, called The Beautiful Shop, and receiving handouts from the state.

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A Polish man was filled with so much anger after awaking to find his family had gone on an outing without him, that he retaliated by blowing up their home with himself inside.

69-year-old Czeslaw Kaminski reportedly set his home on fire recently after finding a note from his wife, Grazyna Kaminski, stating that she had taken their children on a day-long picnic trip, U.K.’s Orange.com reported Wednesday. Kaminski allegedly threw two cylinders of gas in the basement of their Chechlo Durgie, Poland, home, leading to an explosion; the house is now left in shambles in what appears to be in a collapsed state.

Grazyna said she had received an outraged call from her husband hearing what she thought were empty threats after he had located the note. The woman stated that he told her his plans to set fire to the home.

“He called me on the home and demanded that I go home, but when I refused he said he was going to get revenge. I did not take him seriously and then I returned home to find this,” she said.

Kaminski was unable to leave the home before the property exploded, and was rushed to a local hospital via an air ambulance. Authorities classified his condition as critical. Hospital spokesperson, Bozena Kozanecka, confirmed Kaminski was being treated for a coma in the intensive care unit.

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A Tucson man was found dead Monday hanging in his rappelling gear from a cliff on Mount Hopkins south of Tucson. He had been attacked by bees and suffered hundreds of stings, but investigators don’t know if that caused his death.

Steven Wallace Johnson, 55, was an experienced hiker and climber who went to rappel on Friday, said Lt. Raoul Rodriguez of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department.

One preliminary theory is that Johnson disturbed the bees while hammering his spike into the cliff, Rodriguez said.

Johnson’s dog, which also was attacked by bees, was found dead on top of the ridge that Johnson was rappelling, Rodriguez said.

When Johnson did not show up to work Monday, co-workers reported him missing to the Tucson Police Department.

Authorities learned that Johnson planned to hike in the Santa Rita Mountains, and also in other locations in Santa Cruz County.

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Johnson was working an area of Mount Hopkins to prepare it for future climbers. He had his dog with him.

A spokesman with the sheriff's office told News 4 Tucson that a friend saw a posting on Facebook asking about Johnson's whereabouts, which ultimately led them to Johnson. However both Johnson and his dog were dead by the time search and rescue teams reached them.

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Reports of a natural gas smell sparked the evacuation of several buildings in downtown Great Falls on Wednesday morning, but it turns out scratch-and-sniff cards were to blame and not a widespread gas leak.

Nick Bohr, general manager at Energy West, said workers at the company were cleaning out some storage areas and discarded several boxes of scratch-and-sniff cards that it has sent out to customers in the past to educate them on what a natural gas smells like.

“They were expired, and they were old,” Bohr said. “They threw them into the Dumpsters.”

When they were picked up by sanitation trucks and crushed, “it was the same as if they had scratched them.” Workers were still downtown checking for possible gas leaks at noon “to make sure two things didn’t happen at once.” Workers followed the garbage trucks out to the dump and went through those loads of garbage after they were dumped.

“There’s no problem with contamination,” he said, and the smell samples “can be buried with normal garbage.” He said 25,000 of the samples were sent out at one time.

Bohr said the company apologizes for the problem, especially since the smelly culprits originally were just part of a process to make everything safer.

“In a sense, it worked the way it was supposed to,” Bohr said of the numerous calls reporting gas leaks.
[...]

The chemical has a very strong smell, so as the garbage truck drove around downtown it left behind the smell of natural gas.
[...]

The smell of mercaptan wafted into downtown buildings, and emergency crews responded to several reports of gas leaks Wednesday morning and at least six buildings were evacuated.
[...]

Mercaptan, which smells like rotting eggs, isn’t poisonous, Jackson said.

Fire crews gave the all clear to re-enter the Civic Center shortly before 9:30 a.m. Some of the first people in the building were those with Municipal Court appointments.

“The judge is probably still over at the Children’s Museum of Montana,” said one city staff member.

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A hiker whoplunged 1,000 feet to her death was eaten by Griffon vultures before she could be rescued.

The 52-year-old's bones, clothes and shoes were all that remained after being pounced on by the scavengers in the French/Spanish Pyrenees mountain range.
[...]

The woman is believed to have died during the April 14 fall, rather than from being attacked by the birds.

But the way her corpse was eaten has sparked a campaign among locals who want the vulture population to be culled.
[...]

TF1 reports that the female hiker was with two friends when she slipped and fell down the slope on the Pic de Pista.

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"There were only bones, clothes and shoes left," after the vultures got to her, Pericou said. "They took 45 to 50 minutes to eat the body."

“It is established that she died in the fall," he said. “When we first went out in the helicopter looking for the body, we saw numerous vultures without realising what they were doing."

The incident has sparked a campaign against the birds, known as Griffon vultures. French farmers complain of the vultures attacking livestock since new regulations have forced breeders to burn the bodies of dead animals, depriving the Griffon population of their normal diet.

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A man accused of taking items from a Derry store is trying to clear his name, saying that he was confused by the name of the store: Finders Keepers.

Police said Ruben Pavon was shown on surveillance video taking a grill from the porch of the Finders Keepers thrift shop.
[...]

Pavon admitted that it wasn't the first time he had taken something from there, but he said he thought the items were free.

"I just grabbed one. I thought it was there for the taking," he said. "The sign did say 'Finders Keepers.' So I took that DVD player, took it home. A couple of weeks later, the stuff is still there on the porch, so I'm thinking to myself, 'Finders Keepers. They probably just put stuff out there for people to take.'"

The store's owner, Laura Barker, said she doesn't buy Pavon's claim.

"I don't know of any stores where there's free stuff," she said. "It would be nice if there were. I'd be there on a regular basis myself."
[...]

The video also shows a child helping Pavon carry the box off the porch, police said. Pavon said he's not a bad person.

"I just want to clear my name and say I'm not a bad dad," he said. "I'm the best dad in the world."

Proceeds from items that are sold at Finders Keepers go to charities for children and U.S. troops.

Pavon has returned what was taken. Derry police said they are still investigating, and there's no word if there will be criminal charges.

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A 19-year-old male suffered severe injuries to his hand, lower extremities and face after a bomb he made detonated while he was carrying it in northeast Harris County, according to police.

The Houston Police Department said that at about 7:40 p.m. on Saturday the teen and another 18-year-old male had gone down to a bayou near the 3100 block of Valley Rim Drive. The teens had materials to create what is being called a “combustible mixture” with the intention of going to go “blow up turtles.”

Police said that at some point, the 19-year-old lit a cigar, and the ashes from his cigar fell near his pocket where he was carrying the explosive cartridges. Police said it is likely that the ashes ignited the cartridges.

The 18-year-old was not injured in the explosion, police said. No have been no arrests or charges in connection with the incident.

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"I heard 'boom,' an explosion. But I live right behind Ford Road, so I thought they shoot shotguns back there. So I dismissed that," neighbor Mark Contreras said. "Then I heard screaming."

Contreras says he didn't know what to think, but then came the sirens and emergency vehicles.

"Then my wife came home," Contreras said. "And she said there was a boy lying on the grass, bloodied up; his stomach and his face."

Neighbors who didn't want to talk on camera told us they saw three teenage boys running from the direction of a bayou through the subdivision after the explosion. One of the teens collapsed on a lawn at Wild Blackberry and Valley Rim Drive.

A trail of blood leads from a bridge over the bayou and back into the subdivision.

Neighbors are still trying to piece together exactly what the men were doing, but from what they could gather at the scene, it was probably not something they should have been doing

"He was trying to blow up some turtles, or whatever he was doing," Kevin Contreras said. "Could have hurt other little kids that were there at the pond."

"Obviously it's very irresponsible. Kids of any age, particularly somebody who should know better," neighbor Paul Gennusa said. "It's a little concerning. You just wonder what& they didn't have anything better to do with their time?"

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Caren and Laine Henry walked their pet beagle along a gravel road near Laine’s father’s home in rural Madrid on Sunday afternoon. Their dog was on a leash and happily trotting along the trail, leading its owners.

“It was a perfect spring day,” Caren Henry remembered.

Then a 50-pound Labrador retriever mix with a black-and-white coat bounded out of a yard. The dog, named Buddy, plowed into Caren Henry. It bit into her right thigh and abdomen, puncturing the skin in both places.

Then the dog went for her face. It bit and scratched at her eyes, breaking her sunglasses. Finally the dog clamped on her nose and tore it off.

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On a Saturday evening two weeks ago in Zedelgem, townsfolk were disturbed by the wail of a siren and the shriek of tires, the din of a high-speed car chase that broke the tranquility of their sleepy city. Suddenly, cash was flying through the air like confetti at carnival.
Dozens of people rushed out of homes or cars to grab a share of the accidental bounty: about 1 million euros ($1.3 million) in all. The small fortune had flown from a safe that cracked open when the fleeing robbers panicked and threw it out the window.
"It was," recalled Mayor Patrick Arnou, "a rainstorm of money." Everyone from kids to the elderly ran out to take part in the free-for-all.
Now, the cops want the money back, and the townspeople face a thorny dilemma: Play things badly, and you could face two years in jail. Keep a poker face, and the money could be yours to keep.
A veil of suspicion has fallen over the town: Neighbors watch neighbors as police go door to door, questioning townsfolk about what they did — and what they saw others do.
"People talk about nothing else any more in this town," said Arnou. "In the street itself, there is an atmosphere of bitterness."
Some Zedelgem inhabitants who missed the windfall said they understood the actions of their fellow townsfolk, but insisted the size of the cash pile should have made them think twice. "If it were a 20 euro note," said 77-year-old pensioner Hector Clarysse, "I'd pick it up, too, and join in."
But he added: "If you pick up so much money, you know it's not normal."
It all started when the robbers broke into a home in a neighboring town, and made off with the safe. The getaway car was soon identified; by chance a motorcycle police officer spotted it and gave chase.
When the cop and robbers hit Zedelgem's Ruddervoordsestraat, a street lined by simple red-brick row houses, the thieves tried to shake off the officer by throwing the safe in his way. As it careened down the asphalt, the box shot open: A cloud of bills — some worth as much as 500 euros — swirled through the air and drifted down.
Dozens of wide-eyed people flooded the street, grabbing handfuls of cash. Drivers got out of their cars, snatched money and sped away. One lady even came out of her house with a broom, Arnou said, and swept the money inside.

Police quickly returned and literally plucked cash from the hands of people who were too slow in stashing it away.

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The Mr. Ding-A-Ling truck hadn't been rolling through the streets here for more than a week before Joshua Malatino made his message clear: There ain't enough Fudgsicles in this city for the both of us.
Malatino, who owns the homegrown Sno Cone Joe franchise, had threatened rival ice cream trucks before, but police said he went too far earlier this month. It began with threats and taunts.
"You don't have a chance!" Malatino yelled to the 53-year-old Mr. Ding-a-Ling driver on one of his first days in Gloversville, according to court documents. "This is my town!"
Soon, police said, Malatino, 34, and his girlfriend, Amanda Scott, 21, were shadowing the rival driver across quiet city streets, blaring their jingles and trying to pry his customers away.
"Free ice cream!" they would yell to any parent or child sauntering toward the Mr. Ding-A-Ling truck, police said.
Police said Malatino and Scott's quixotic quest to run roughshod over their competition hit a roadblock Tuesday: Officers charged the operators with harassment, a violation, and misdemeanor stalking.
The ice cream truck turf war could land the couple in jail for three months if convicted.
Malatino's bullying came to a head April 19, police said.
A city officer was patrolling Prospect Avenue and North Main Street when he said he noticed one of Malatino's Sno Cone Joe trucks tailgating the Mr. Ding-A-Ling truck up to a stoplight.
"In the past, Malatino has been warned for this type of behavior," said Capt. John Sira, adding Malatino drove a different ice cream vendor truck out of town last summer.
The officer made note of the strange sighting and later asked the Mr. Ding-A-Ling driver if Malatino had spoken to him. The driver then told police about the threats and odd behavior.
Police said Malatino called the Mr. Ding-A-Ling headquarters in Latham and told them "I own this town!" and, police said, claimed "that his business controls the ice cream sales market in the city of Gloversville."
Malatino and Scott tailed the trucks and shouted at customers on April 16, 19 and 28, police said.
"We warned him before that this type of behavior would not be tolerated," Sira said. "This is a pretty open market here in Gloversville as long as you have a permit."

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Authorities are investigating the death of a cleaning contractor who fell into a mechanical blender late on Friday at a meat-processing plant with a troubled history.

Paramedics were called to Interstate Meat Distributors Inc. just before midnight and found Hugo Avalos-Chanon, 41, of Southeast Portland, entangled in a blender that is used to regulate the fat content of beef.

Firefighters went to the plant the next day to dismantle the machinery and remove his body.

A medical examiner ruled that he died of 'blunt-force injuries and chopping wounds'.

Oregon investigators are examining evidence, interviewing witnesses and reviewing records at the factory, which was cited in October for a safety hazard.

Inspectors with the state Occupational Safety and Health Division found that machinery in the meat-grounding room wasn't properly locked down during cleaning and ruled that an 'unexpected start-up of the machine' could cause injuries.
avalos-Chanon worked for DCS Sanitation Management Inc., which is contracted to clean meat-processing equipment daily at Interstate Meat Distributors.

Darrin Hoy, president of Interstate Meat Distributors, told the Oregonianthat company officials are cooperating fully with investigators, but said Avalos-Chanon's death was 'extremely unfortunate' and difficult to discuss.


'We're not looking forward to reliving through any of it again,' Hoy said. There was no interruption of business, and the plant remains open, he added.
[...]

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NEWTOWN, CT (WFSB) -
The bizarre discovery of 300 gallons of human urine were found in an abandoned home in Newtown over the weekend.
Environmental officials removed the hundreds of one-gallon jugs from the residence on Berksire Road. Now, they are trying to figure out why they were being stored in the home.

After the home was condemned on Friday, the state hired a contractor who had to pour the urine into large containers so it could be transported to a wastewater treatment plant.

State officials told Eyewitness News if the out-of-state owner is the one who was storing the urine, they would go after the money for cleanup reimbursement.

Neighbors said there has been an ongoing complaint against the home.

"I'm not happy," said one neighbor. "I have no idea."

The average man produces about 144 gallons of urine in one year
[....]

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Top Hooker, where the world’s best anglers (including contestant Larysa, above) are pitted against each other for out-of-the-box fishing challenges. The provocatively titled show, sure to catch the eye of channel surfers, will have anglers capturing fish using only their mouths, zipline fishing and catching fish that are nearly invisible to the naked eye.

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CLAREMORE, Oklahoma - An inmate in the Rogers County jail is dead after he electrocuted himself Monday morning.
Sources say 47-year-old Leslie Paul Jones was found dead in his cell. The Chelsea man was charged with several sex crimes including rape and incest.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has been called in.

"We got the call at 5:31 this morning," said OSBI spokesperson Jessica Brown. "It's pretty routine for jails to call OSBI in matters such as this."
According to court records, Jones's trial on charges of rape, rape by instrumentation, lewd or indecent proposals/acts to a child and incest was set to begin Monday.
He was arrested in December 2011.
Jones used a CPAP machine to electrocute himself, sources tell News On 6. CPAP machines are electric air pumps used in the treatment of sleep apnea.
"We're going to wait 'till the ME's office rules it," Brown said. "It will be up to them to decide it (cause of death)."

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