Neil and Michael Fletcher, brothers from Sudbury, Ontario, found a bald eagle with one foot stuck in a hunting trap. They approached the skittish bird and draped a sweater over its head. The eagle eventually calmed down enough so that the brothers could open the trap and remove the bird.
"The eagle was actually holding on to [the trap] and we were having a hard time getting him to let go," he said.
Once the eagle's foot was out of the trap, Neil suggested they take a selfie with it.
"I knew this would never happen again, so before we let it go, I told my brother Michael, 'we should take a picture with it.' The bird had its mouth open, but he never tried to fly or bite or do anything," he said.
"It made it pretty easy [for us to] take a picture with it."
After documenting the rescue, they released the eagle. Chris Blomme of the Sudbury Ornithological Society said it was a brave thing to do. The story at CBC News has videos of the rescue and the release.
Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuqueque, New Mexico, went on lockdown on Wednesday after someone heard what they thought was gunfire. They heard three loud pops. Security personnel in tactical gear were scrambled to investigate. After about 45 minutes, the lockdown was lifted when the source of the noise was determined to be someone popping the bubbles on some heavy-duty bubble wrap.
Jeremy Allen is the chief of police in the town of Arma, Kansas, until his planned resignation takes effect on Monday. Allen was arrested after his car hit a cow early last Friday. Allen failed a sobriety test and was arrested. Upon his release from the Crawford County jail, Allen placed himself on unpaid leave.
The cow was uninjured.
David Spargo is a fan of the Australian band Peking Duk. Wednesday night in Melbourne, he went to the backstage area of a concert, where he was stopped by a security guard. Spargo told him he was band member Reuben Styles’ stepbrother. The guard demanded proof, so Spargo pulled up Peking Duk’s Wikipedia page on his phone and pointed out his name. The name he added only a few minutes before. The security guard let him in.
“It was probably the most genius, mastermind move that I’ve ever witnessed,” said Adam Hyde, Styles’ bandmate. “It’s crazy. He just did it on the spot, in a second on his phone.
“He told the security guard he was our stepbrother or something, and showed them the Wikipedia page and his ID.”
It goes to show, said Hyde, “never trust Wikipedia”.
Spargo introduced himself to the band, who were more impressed by his ingenuity than concerned by the security breach.
The band shared a few beers with Spargo and later told the story on Twitter, using the Anchorman catchphrase “I’m not even mad.”
Ian Pierce dearly loved his Dalmatian named Eliska, who he says saved his life. When he and his son were scheduled to travel to Thailand in 2004, they had to cancel because they couldn’t get someone to care for Eliska while they were gone. A Tsunami destroyed the Thai resort they had booked and killed many tourists inside. In gratitude, Pierce named his house Eliska and painted Dalmatian spots on it in 2005. The house in Peacehaven, East Sussex, UK, became quite famous for its unique paint job. Now the 67-year-old Pierce is moving to a smaller home with his second Dalmatian (also named Eliska) and Eliska House is for sale. The asking price is £500,000.
