Charming photo. . .

Crocodile chomps off zoo worker's arm

TAIPEI, Taiwan - A zoo worker had his forearm reattached Thursday after his colleagues recovered the severed limb from the mouth of a 440-pound Nile crocodile, an official said.

The crocodile severed Chang Po-yu's forearm on Wednesday at the Shaoshan Zoo in the southern city of Kaohsiung when the veterinarian tried to retrieve a tranquilizer dart from the reptile's hide, zoo officials said.

The Liberty Times newspaper said Chang failed to notice the crocodile was not fully anesthetized when he stuck his arm through an iron rail to medicate it.

As Chang was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday, a zoo worker shot two bullets at the crocodile's neck to retrieve the forearm, said Chen Po-tsun, a zoo official.

"The crocodile was unharmed as we didn't find any bullet holes on its hide," Chen said. "It probably was shocked and opened its mouth to let go of the limb."

The 17-year-old reptile is one of a pair of Nile crocodiles kept by the Kaohsiung zoo. The crocodile is listed as an endangered species, and is rapidly disappearing from its native African habitat.

Chen said the zoo purchased the crocodile from a local resident who had kept it as a pet.

This little piggy went. . . well, two places at once

John Kerry has announced he wants to adopt the pig as a mascot for his next campaign. . .

In the odd animals hall of fame, this little piggy takes the cake.

Pigs are a sign of fertility in China, and in the Year of the Pig, this piglet got more than his fair share, being born with two mouths, two noses and three eyes.

Liu Shuping, a farmer specialising in raising pigs, presented the new-born piglet in Xi an, in north-west China's Shannxi province yesterday.

But it's not unique. Only last month there were reports of a pig being born in Quanzhou in East China's Fujian province with two mouths and four eyes.

More weird aminals (I know what I typed)

Rare primitive shark captured on film


A species of shark rarely seen alive because its natural habitat is 600 metres (2,000 ft) or more under the sea was captured on film by staff at a Japanese marine park this week.

The Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo, was alerted by a fisherman at a nearby port on Sunday that he had spotted an odd-looking eel-like creature with a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth.

Marine park staff caught the 1.6 metre (5 ft) long creature, which they identified as a female frilled shark, sometimes referred to as a "living fossil" because it is a primitive species that has changed little since prehistoric times.

The shark appeared to be in poor condition when park staff moved it to a seawater pool where they filmed it swimming and opening its jaws.

"We believe moving pictures of a live specimen are extremely rare," said an official at the park. "They live between 600 and 1,000 metres under the water, which is deeper than humans can go."

"We think it may have come close to the surface because it was sick, or else it was weakened because it was in shallow waters," the official said.

The shark died a few hours after being caught. Frilled sharks, which feed on other sharks and sea creatures, are sometimes caught in the nets of trawlers but are rarely seen alive.

The man with no heart

Truly amazing. This guy doesn't have a heard beat, he has a consistent flow of blood.

Weird!!


Man with no pulse considered a medical breakthrough
PETER RAKOBOWCHUK
Canadian Press

MONTREAL — A 65-year-old Quebec man who received a new long-term mechanical heart last month is being described as the only living Canadian without a pulse.

Dr. Renzo Cecere implanted the “Heartmate II” mechanical heart into Gerard Langevin in an three-hour operation Nov. 23.

Officials at the McGill University Health Centre say the device, which is about the size of a flashlight battery, could last up to 10 years.

That is longer than other models which are thought to be good for only two or three years.

Mechanical heart recipient Gerard Langevin shows a model of the mechanism he has implanted in him at a news conference in Montreal Wednesday (CP)

The new mechanical heart, which is powered by batteries located in pouches on Mr. Langevin's body, provides a continuous flow of blood so the patient has no pulse.

“Mr. Langevin happens to be the only individual currently living in Canada without a pulse and without a measurable blood pressure,” Dr. Cecere said Wednesday.

Mr. Langevin admitted to reporters that, before the operation, he felt his time was up after he suffered his second heart attack in July.

He had the other in 2002.

“I was finished. I had no time left. I probably had only a few months left to live,” Mr. Langevin said.

He admitted he was afraid and hesitant about having the implant.

“My wife pushed me a lot to have the operation and I don't regret it.”

Mr. Langevin, who comes from Coteau-du-Lac, southwest of Montreal, added it was “better than staying out for the count.”

Dr. Nadia Giannetti, director of the MUHC's heart transplant program, said Mr. Langevin was deemed an unsuitable candidate for a heart transplant because of other medical conditions.
“Previously, we would have had little to offer and his heart would have continued to deteriorate,” she said.

Dr. Giannetti said the entire procedure cost $100,000, with the tab being picked up by the hospital foundation.

The “Heartmate II” is currently part of a clinical trial at several hospitals in Canada and the United States.

Only one other Canadian hospital—the Toronto General Hospital— was invited to take part in the study.

The device has yet to be approved for use in either country.

Doctors says Dr. Langevin is well enough to be released from hospital in the coming days.

Weird

BAR HARBOR, Maine -- A rare two-toned lobster is seen in Bar Harbor, Maine. The lobster caught by Alan Robinson in Dyer's Bay is a typical mottled green on one side; the other side is a shade of orange that looks cooked. Robinson, of Steuben, donated the lobster to the Mount Desert Oceanarium. Staff members say the odds or finding a half-and-half lobster are 1 in 50 million to 100 million. (07/17/06 AP photo/Bangor Daily News)

HOLLY HILL, Fla. -- An Ibis, shot with a 2-foot arrow, sits on a power line and looks down on bird rescuers waiting below hoping to capture the injured bird. After hours waiting and several attempts, the bird eluded capture. (07/12/06 AP photo)

LINCOLN, Neb. -- A rainbow trout fished out of Holmes Lake in Lincoln, Neb., on Dec. 17, 2005, features a double mouth. Clarence Olberding, 57, of Lincoln, wasn't just telling a fisherman's fib when he called over another angler to look at the two-mouthed trout. It weighed in at about a pound. Olberding, who plans to smoke and eat the fish, said the hook was in the upper mouth, and that the lower one did not appear to be functional. (12/22/05 AP photo)

Wow

PARIS -- This photo released by the IFREMER (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) shows a new crustacean called "Kiwa hirsuta". The eyeless shellfish, about 15cm long, was discovered in March 2005 during a diving mission led by American researcher Robert Vrijenhoek, of the MBARI Institute, in hydrothermal vents of the Pacific Antartic Ridge, south of Easter Island. (03/08/06 AP photo)

You just can't make this stuff up

Porn star exits Calif. race to be with injured mom:

Porn star Mary Carey said on Monday she was dropping out of the California governor's race to be with her injured mother, who has been hospitalized in Florida since jumping off a four-story building last month.

No one is asking the obvious question: What about the wedding?

Police: Mom Tried To Trade Son For Wedding Gown

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Police said an Iowa woman wanted a wedding gown so badly that she would have traded her child for it.

Davenport, Iowa, police charged 31-year-old Marcy Gant with one felony count of sale of an individual. She is accused of trying to sell her 4-year-old son.

They said Gant bought a wedding dress from a local street vendor, paid part of the tab, and offered her son to make up the rest of the balance.

"During negotiations for the payment of this wedding dress, on at least two occasions, Ms. Gant offered her 4-year-old son as collateral," Capt. Dave Struckman of the Davenport Police Department.

Neighbors said they were shocked.

"(There is) something very mentally wrong with her to think that that is OK," said Angie Bruce, Gant's neighbor. "(If) those children go back to her they're in danger. That's just not acceptable if the state lets her have those children back."

If convicted, Gant could face 10 years in prison.

Gant's 4-year-old son and her 10-year-old son have been taken into protective custody.